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‘I can dance a little.’

‘Then let’s take to the floor.’ He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, holding her close as he smoothly glided across the dancefloor, one hand around her waist and the other holding her hand as they swayed to the music.

‘You’re quite the dancer!’ Shauna told him.

‘You’re not too bad yourself.’

‘You’re doing a good job for both of us. I hardly have to do anything.’

They were so close now, and he was leaning towards her so that, although he was a few inches taller than she was, their cheeks were touching. It occurred to her that he would barely have to move an inch to kiss her, and for a crazy second Shauna wondered what he would do if she kissed him instead. But before she could act on the urge, someone tapped her on the shoulder and she almost gasped to see Princess Grace and her dancing partner, a handsome young man.

‘You two look sensational together, quite the glamorous couple!’ she purred. ‘Demetrios, where did you find this adorable girl?’

She winked at Shauna, still swaying in time to the music. ‘I always make sure the orchestra plays this, but Rainier will never dance with me as he’s still sore about Frank Sinatra.’

Shauna couldn’t tell if she was serious. She noticed that the princess’s dance partner looked as starstruck as she felt.

‘You might want to hang on to this young lady, Demetrios, she’s a one-off,’ Princess Grace added with a smile, and in a flash she was gone, chattering away to her young companion as they danced.

Demetrios turned to Shauna and grinned mischievously. ‘She’s right, you know: we do look good together.’

‘Now I know you’re teasing.’

Demetrios’s smiled faded. ‘I never tease, not when it matters.’

Shauna didn’t know what to say to this, and for a moment they stood together, everything else fading away into the background. His eyes were studying her so intently it was as if he was looking deep inside her, and again she felt the urge to reach out and draw him towards her. Before the impulse could get the better of her, the band stopped playing and she realized they were back where they started. Demetrios smoothly retrieved their champagne glasses from the balustrade, handed one to her and then lifted his own in a toast. ‘To a night of surprises, Beauty.’

She raised her glass in response, but somehow knew the spell had been broken and the magic dispelled. They drifted back into the main hall, where Demetrios was stopped several times, usually by older couples who knew his parents or business associates of the family firm. None of them paid much attention to Shauna; it was as if she were merely an accessory. This didn’t trouble her, because the conversation invariably turned to people she’d never heard of and she had nothing to contribute. So she smiled a lot, nodded even more, and although she had little to add to the general small talk, she was quite happy soaking up the atmosphere, watching the other women and compiling a mental inventory of their dresses. There was so much to see and observe that she wasn’t at all bored, but she could tell that Demetrios was wearying of the frequent enquiries about his parents’ health, his company’s interests and what he thought of the latest takeovers and mergers in the shipping industry.

They had just been introduced to a tall blond Englishman called Richard, and were both listening with polite interest as he told them in great detail about the recording studio he was building in his Cotswold manor house, when Shauna registered a sudden change in Demetrios’s expression. She followed his gaze, which had fallen upon a strikingly beautiful woman who was wearing an incredible low-cut white gown that left little to the imagination. She locked eyes with Demetrios, and then her steely glare swept over Shauna. There was a flash of annoyance before the woman composed herself.

Demetrios touched the small of Shauna’s back. ‘Shauna, Richard, please excuse me for a moment.’

He walked over to the woman and as he kissed her on both cheeks, the woman’s eyes flickered over to Shauna. She then leaned in, whispering in his ear, and Demetrios whispered something in reply, but the woman did not appear pleased. As Richard carried on chattering, oblivious to Shauna’s lack of interest in the club he was thinking of buying in London, Demetrios and the woman pulled away from the small circle of people she was with and began talking animatedly to each other. Again the woman looked at Shauna, this time with undisguised animosity and, a moment later Demetrios returned with her by his side.

‘Richard, Shauna, this is Sofía Constantis, a dear friend of my family.’

Shauna immediately recognized the name of the woman that Normandie had accused Demetrios of sleeping with. She smiled and extended her hand. ‘Hello, Sofía. Nice to meet you.’

The woman’s eyes narrowed; she pointedly kept her own hand by her side, and made no attempt to return the smile. Instead, she turned to Demetrios and demanded, ‘Where did you find this one? She looks and sounds like an Irish peasant.’

For a second, Shauna was bewildered. Why had this woman picked her out for a fight? Richard, clearly embarrassed by the outburst, coughed politely and excused himself. Shauna briefly considered doing the same, but then she heard father’s voice urging her: Never let anyone tell you you’re not good enough, Shauna O’Brien. Always hold your head high.

Before she knew where the words came from, they were out of her mouth: ‘Oh, I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. The O’Briens are descended from a long line of Irish kings – but I don’t suppose you’d know that, not being royalty yourself.’

Demetrios let out a snort that he covered with a cough. There was a glint of laughter in his eyes and she could see he was working hard at suppressing a smirk.

‘Yes,’ he said, composing himself and turning to Sofía. ‘Shauna here is doing an excellent job of representing her country.’ Casting an apologetic look at Shauna, he asked her to excuse him for a moment, then he took Sofía’s elbow and said, ‘Come, Sofía, I believe Prince Albert wants to hear all about your recent trip to New York …’ and they set off for the other side of the room where the son of Rainier and Grace was chatting with his guests, Sofía turning one last time to shoot her a look of pure venom.

Shauna felt like a bird that had been singled out as prey by a rather vicious cat. She wondered what she had done to warrant such treatment. Though she tried to shake it off and focus on her grand surroundings once more, her feathers were ruffled all the same. Was this what it would be like to live in Demetrios’s world? An endless round of parties, batting away pampered and demanding hordes of women? No wonder he wanted a break from it all.

It seemed he was living up to his playboy reputation, in some respects at least. But she couldn’t stop thinking about the hardworking and serious side he’d revealed to her: the young man trying so hard to live up to his family’s expectations. Which one of these was the real Demetrios?

She sighed and drained her champagne glass. Barely a second later a waiter in a crisp white jacket and bow tie appeared, raising a bottle to fill it again. She placed her hand over the top of the glass as she had seen other guests do, to indicate that she didn’t want any more.

There was no way she would ever get to know the real Demetrios. It had occurred to her in the last hour that the reason few of Demetrios’s acquaintances paid any attention to her was because they were used to him having a different escort on his arm each time they saw him. The realization brought with it a welcome dose of common sense. She might be inexperienced and somewhat gauche, but she wasn’t stupid. This evening Demetrios had enjoyed the novelty of playing Pygmalion, casting her as his Eliza Doolittle, but as soon as the next group of his rich friends arrived he would lose interest. She’d been no more than a brief diversion so far as he was concerned.

Tomorrow they would be leaving Monaco to begin their voyage. In a few weeks she would be flying back to England to resume her education. The memories of tonight would fade and seem like a distant dream, something to tell the grandchildren: her night with the handsome playboy and the fairy-tale princess.