The Serenade: The Prince and the Siren [Daughters of the Empire 2] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) by Suzette Hollingsworth

prince?”
    “That is the question, certainly,” he mumbled. “Where have you been, Esteban?” The prince sighed heavily. He supposed he should be grateful that, for once, he was not bored.
    “Merely admiring the architecture of the building. I trust that I did not miss anything of importance?”
    “You did. Something of great significance and entirely unremarkable at the same time.” All feminine eyes were on them as they walked past.
    Had he not been royalty, the two of them standing together would have nonetheless attracted notice. Attentions were always accentuated when Esteban was with him. Both were athletic in build, but to this Esteban always added a fashion statement. Every attention had been paid to his formal dress, his thin moustache, and his short, pointed beard. His companion’s wildly disheveled curls were the only exception to his strict adherence to style.
    “Were there not sufficient fawning women to amuse you, Alejandro?” Esteban’s chiseled, angular face held a forced amusement.
    “That circumstance would have been a tolerable improvement,” Alejandro muttered under his breath. The contrast between his usual effect on women and the mysterious charmer’s reaction to him had left him feeling disgruntled.
    He resolved to correct that.
    The bell sounded, indicating that the first act would begin shortly. The fashionable clientele began to move past them, stealing interested glances. Alejandro averted his eyes to clearly indicate that he did not wish to be disturbed. He was most certainly already frowning.
    Her nature had been brash and genuine. And at the same time openly playful.
    She entrances me.
    He hoped it was playfulness, at least. Did he imagine the note of antipathy in her manner, which seemed to vacillate, as if she were uncertain as to whether or not she approved of him?
    “I am unaccustomed to people not holding me in regard, Esteban,” he blurted out under his breath, surprised that he had been unable to hold his tongue.
    “Everyone likes you, Your Highness. Even the people who don’t like you like you,” Esteban considered, his eyebrows raised indignantly. “And they all adore you.”
    “Not all.” What accounted for her disinclination to approve of him? He had not been impolite. If anyone had been rude, it was she.
    Why would she hold herself above him?He was the crown prince of Spain, for God’s sake. She was not higher born than himself. It was debatable whether anyone was.
    He could not place her—and he knew all European royalty. Diantre , they were his cousins. No, he had never seen this woman before—even in his wicked dreams.
    But I will now.
    “Of whom are we speaking?” asked Esteban.
    “It must be a façade—with some ulterior motive.” How could it be that one who had everything to gain from the association and nothing to lose was displeased with the prince of Spain? And even if she found nothing in him to attract her—that was a first in his experience—what was there to repel? She didn’t know him well enough to make that assessment.
    “What else could it be, Your Highness? You are perfect in every way.” Esteban stroked the short beard confined to his chin. “I take it we speak of a lady? Please, Alejandro, no more married women. It is vulgar—and selfish—to take that which is not yours when you have so much.”
    He noticed people moving toward him, and he turned and began walking to his seat.
    As he thought about her now—he could scarcely think about anything else—it seemed to him that she had been… teasing …him. Teasing him .
    “Find out who she is, Pancho,” he commanded tartly without turning to his page, fully expecting him to be awaiting his every command.
    “But, Your Highness, she is—”
    “I have had enough of your insolence, Pancho. One more such argumentative remark and you will be reassigned to a simple post in the royal country estate, do you understand? I begin to think you are in charge here.”
    Pancho’s grunts