Growing up, if I’d ever allowed myself a few spare minutes to day dream about what life would be like if I was a princess, I know that this very moment, would have been it.

If this was a movie scene, the credits would roll and the audience would start filing out of the theatre. Content that the couple on the screen was going to live happily ever after. Maybe, if I close my eyes and wish really hard …

“Excuse me, may I cut in.”

The unwelcome intrusion jolts me from my fantasy. Lucas stops moving and turns to the man who tapped his shoulder.

The man isn't quite as gorgeous as Lucas, but he comes in at a close second. His thick sand colored hair is a bit longer than is usually acceptable in polite society, the ends brushing against his color. His deep-set hazel eyes are sad – almost soulful.

They half remind me of the angst poetry I’d spent hours reading my freshman year of college. The man's slim navy blue tuxedo emphasizes a long, whip thin body.

"Duran," Lucas says tightly.

"Prince Lucas, it's only fair that you allow me the pleasure of a single dance with your wife. After all, you have a whole lifetime with her, while I will only have as long as the dance should happen to last."

The man's thick French accent and dramatic gestures would have been right at home in a 19^th-century court. Somehow, he manages to take what should sound like a cheesy, over dramatic speech and turn it into a romantic story.

Lucas grinds his teeth together. "Alexis, meet Duran Perren. Shelly's piano Maestro."

This was the man who had turned Shelly's life and heart upside down?

Duran lifts my left hand and places a light kiss on the back of it, all the while looking straight into my eyes. "Princess Alexis. You are by far the most beautiful woman at this event."

Okay, I get it now. Even I'm finding his charms hard to resist.

Before I have a chance to think of a response, he pulls me close and spins me on the dance floor.

I thought Lucas was graceful, but he's nothing compared to Duran Perron. He's like a conduit, drawing the music into himself and allowing it to flow out of his toes. He leads me expertly through each swirl, dip, and turn.

"Tell me something, Princess Alexis. How do you find married life? Is it all you'd hoped for? Or are you already bored with it all?" I sense his over dramatic speech pattern, as well as his effortless dancing, is a tool he uses to seduce women. Well it’s not going to work on me…

"It's lovely." As we sweep past the gazebo holding the orchestra, I nod towards Shelly. "How long have you been working with Shelly."

"Princess Shelly has been my pupil,” he pauses, moistening his lower lip. “For nearly seven months."

“She plays beautifully, you must be a talented teacher.”

I resist the urge to ask if he sleeps with all his students.

"She's coming along. I’ve arranged for her to play in front of crowds who will appreciate the delicate music she prefers. Classical music fans will fall in love with her, both as a musician and for the incredible woman she is."

I don’t comment. I feel him staring down at me. “You know of our relationship?”

I nod.

His gaze probes my face. “And you don’t approve. Why?”

Some men would take get upset or defensive, but not Duran. He seems genuinely curious.

Now that I’m with him, I understand exactly what Shelly meant. Duran exudes romance, it’s impossible to ignore, but it feels … like a gloss that exists solely to mask something darker underneath.

The fact that he’s conscious of the effect he has on women, and uses flamboyant gestures and wordy phrases to enhance the pull.

“I don’t approve.”

“Nor do I.”

This surprises me. “Then why do you continue to have sex with her. Why not set her free?”

His eyes turn sad. “If it was just about, as you put it, sex. I would. But it’s deeper than that. More complicated, as all good love affairs always are. I think you know that better than you want to admit.”

I tear my gaze free of his and look over Duran’s shoulder for Lucas. He’s standing at the far end of the garden, surrounded by a group of men.

Just looking at him causes a sense of self-satisfaction to come over me, and when I’m near him, even when he irritates and frustrates me, I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

I keep a piece of paper tucked in my purse that clearly states that our relationship is scheduled to be dissolved in a few months’ time, my connection to Lucas feels stronger than either of us, like it’s an integral part of the very fabric of the universe.

The more I’m with him, the more I sense he’s the one.

Duran bends my back in a low dip. When I straighten, I see that several of the men gathered around Lucas are laughing, but not him. He remains stone faced.

Whatever I’m feeling it can’t be love. I’d never fall in love with someone so damaged they can’t laugh.

I’m so preoccupied with my thoughts, I fail to notice that Duran has danced me right to the edge of the dance floor, that some of his turns actually rotates us into the milling crowed.

One minute I’m dancing. The next minute my body slams into someone else’s, and cold liquid dribbles down my cleavage.