Free Alexander & Rebecca (Royals of Valleria #1) by Marianne Knightly

and his fingers circled around the rim as he spoke. “I was fifteen when I had my first date. It had been arranged by my parents and the prime minister of Italy, who had a daughter near me in age. We attended the state dinner together, and barely spoke through two hours and a stiff dance.”
     
    “Sounds awful.”
     
    “It wasn’t so bad.”
     
    “I meant for her. What if that had been her first date, too? First dates mean more to women than men.”
     
    “There we disagree. Our first date has been something I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time; tonight means a lot to me.”
     
    When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “The first time I had sex with a woman, I was eighteen,” he started, and smiled when a blush spread across her cheek. He wondered what else might make her blush. “Another state dinner with the same Italian prime minister. This time, his daughter and I found much more to discuss.”
     
    “I’m sure,” she mumbled.
     
    “We’d both grown up in that time between state dinners, and we both understood, at least to some degree, the pressure and burdens on the other. It was her first time, too, and we fumbled through it quite nicely.”
     
    “I see,” she said, staring into her wineglass. Is that how her first time would be? Would she just fumble through it, too? Alexander would want an experienced woman for his wife, not a virgin in her thirties. She had never thought that she would reach this age and still be inexperienced; it had just happened. She had been on hundreds of dates it seemed like, but the men had only wanted her body when she was younger, and access to her political position when she was older. No one had ever wanted her .
     
    “Where did you go?”
     
    “Hmm?” she asked as she looked up into inquisitive eyes.
     
    “What were you remembering?” he asked as his hand picked up hers.
     
    “Nothing important.”
     
    “Were you remembering your own first time? You can tell me about it. I might have the man killed afterwards, but that’s no reason not to share,” he said with a smile.
     
    Rebecca huffed a laugh and tried to remove her hand, which stayed infuriatingly clasped in his tight hold. “It’s nothing.”
     
    “Tell me.”
     
    Her emotions had been on a whirlwind tonight. From believing she had no hope with Alex, to almost believing that she might. Would this push the balance in the other direction? “Let me ask you some questions first.”
     
    He gave her an assessing look, before he said, “All right. Ask away, but I reserve the right to ask my question again.”
     
    Rebecca nodded. “How many women have you been with?”
     
    “Ten.”
     
    Lower than she’d thought, but it meant he was much more experienced than her or any of her friends. “Have you ever had any relationships? The press never picked up anything, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
     
    “I promised you total honesty and I meant it. I mentioned I never had a girlfriend before, and that was true. No relationships. The women I’ve known, make no mistake, I’ve respected them and treated them with respect. I made it clear I couldn’t give them more than what I could, and I made my expectations clear before we were together. I enjoyed my time with them, and they with me, but I never considered a relationship with anybody but you.”
     
    “I just don’t understand why you never gave any hint to your feelings before, and why you’ve suddenly decided to pursue me now.”
     
    “I didn’t decide to pursue you now. It’s true that the feelings I have for you never really went away; they grew more complex and I just buried them. I decided to pursue you just over eight months ago, and tonight was just the first chance that I had to act upon it.”
     
    “Eight months?”
     
    “Yes. Eight months ago, you attended the Christmas Ball. You were beautiful, stunning in your rich red and gold dress. I had almost accepted my feelings for you before then but, when