The Princess and the Playboy

Valerie Parv

Princess in Secret Love TrystPrincess Talay Rasada's reputation was compromised the minute the newspapers carried the phoptograph of her kissing the rugged Australian, Jase Clendon. Outraged, he wondered if ithad been a desperate ploy to get him to leave her island. He wasn't about to let her intended husband's challenge drive him away–no matter what danger was involved.Talay feared what would happen if Jase won her heart. He couldn't want to marry such an inexperienced woman, and she shouldn't want to marry such a seductive playboy….

Of all the reckless, foolhardy . . . (#u60ad7e38-ed0a-53bc-8637-35cc195aadc5)About the Author (#ua81c7a0c-b161-581a-9465-c51a7c674ae6)Title Page (#u62e7bf4a-3675-5de4-952d-7a7f384268fe)CHAPTER ONE (#u0ef16d80-2fb6-5682-b64f-1e5bbd627ee3)CHAPTER TWO (#u87b8b48a-b86a-5bb7-b2df-32ff06f68f1d)CHAPTER THREE (#u424c9fd6-e554-5111-af79-59f17a4384cb)CHAPTER FOUR (#ua1ee9a1c-b04d-515e-9384-63dbef7bbe42)CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Of all the reckless, foolhardy . . .

Jase’s condemnation of himself was total as he paced the length of the living room at the Martine villa.

From the start he had sensed that the woman wasn’t being honest with him. Letting himself kiss her before he had solved the mystery was the height of stupidity. Now “The Princess and the Playboy in Secret Love Tryst” was the national breakfast-time reading.

“Secret Plot Against Playboy” was more like it, he fumed inwardly. He had fought some tangled corporate battles in his time, but they paled alongside this for deviousness. Talay’s denials had sounded convincing enough, but it was too neat a scheme for him to believe she hadn’t foreseen this outcome.

Valerie Parv has been a successful journalist and nonfiction writer. She began writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon in 1982. Born in Shropshire, England, she grew up in Australia and now lives with her cartoonist husband and their cat—the office manager—in Sydney, New South Wales. She is a keen futurist, a Star Trek enthusiast, and her interests include traveling, restoring dollhouses and entertaining friends. Writing romance novels affirms her belief in love and happy endings.

In The Princess and the Playboy, Valerie Parv has returned to the fictitious realm of Sapphan, which she created in one of her previous titles, A Royal Romance.

The Princess and the Playboy

Valerie Parv

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

CHAPTER ONE

IT WASN’T always easy being a princess, Talay Rasada thought with a sigh. There were so many rules, things you could and couldn’t do, and endless protocol to be followed. ‘If I were an ordinary Sapphan woman I could arrange a meeting with this Jase Clendon and tell him all the reasons his plans are totally unacceptable.’

Her friend, Allie Martine, smiled understandingly. ‘But you are a princess, Talay. Your uncle is probably right. It isn’t good for your public image to be seen around a man with Jase’s reputation with women. What would Luc Armand think, for a start?’

Talay let her flashing eyes betray her opinion. ‘Luc Armand isn’t my keeper, no matter how attractive and highly suitable my uncle thinks he is.’

Allie grew serious. ‘It must be rough, having so many expectations heaped on you.’

‘It goes with being royal,’ Talay accepted, ‘although I’m so far away from the throne that I could be an old maid and nobody would notice.’

‘I’d notice,’ Allie said firmly. ‘This isn’t about being royal. It’s about you and marriage, isn’t it?’ When Talay nodded she went on, ‘When you lost your parents you lost more than anyone should have to bear, but denying yourself love for the rest of your life won’t change what happened.’

‘I know.’

‘So why not give Luc Arm