Royal Opposites

Chapter One

Joan Smith worked hard not to fidget while she waited at the back of the line that wound its way around the bank’s glossy interior. No fewer than twenty people awaited attention from the bank’s lone teller in the space not designed for such a crowd. To make matters worse, the woman seemed to take the longest time possible to complete even the simplest of transactions for the frustrated customers.

Since she’d opened her account with this bank a little over six years ago, Joan had noted their claim to fame seemed to be super bad service. All that was about to end, Joan thought, as the man being served snatched up his documents and stormed off. For her anyway. She’d opened another account with an online bank a couple years ago. They’d been fabulous. They’d even notified her when this bank had tried to initiate an automated loan transfer from her new accounts based on information she’d given them for one payment. Even though it was a huge pain in the rear end, that’s what had prompted her to finish paying off this loan with cash in person.

“Next.” Her tone dripped with boredom as the teller shrugged and took in the line with a nonchalant air.

When the customers inched forward, Joan fantasized at how wonderful it would feel once she was done with this institution.

She had one last payment on the loan she’d had to take out to repay the bank’s hefty overdraft fees incurred after they’d held a deposit without her knowledge. Just thinking of the way they’d drained her checking and savings accounts in less than two days was enough to get her steaming mad. So it was best not to think about it. Especially since they’d covered themselves so well they could legally steal all she had then make her repay them for the trouble.

Without some major clout or cash behind her, all that had been left for her to do was suck it up, pay off the debt and move on. After this final payment, that’s exactly what she planned to do.

Another customer stormed out, jarring Joan from her thoughts. She watched the woman shove the door open and stomp her way up the street. Oh yeah. It would be fantastic to be finished with this bank.

“Next.”

The line inched forward and Joan clutched the canvas shoulder bag just a bit tighter since it contained the eight hundred dollars in twenties that represented her freedom from this bank.

Even after all these months of large cash payments, she still hadn’t become comfortable carrying so much cash. She slid her hand inside the canvas bag and searched for the reassuring feel of the Ziploc baggie she’d put the money in. It was lodged under her coupon binder and she had to tug it free. Joan had no idea how much she had in change in the baggie, but it had been getting hard to zip when she put the payment in.

Her hand brushed against her camera case. In one last effort to keep from being screwed over yet again, Joan had brought her digital camera with her. The video function was going to be put to good use when she filmed her final transaction proving everything was paid on time and no additional fees had been incurred. Then she’d be finished with this bank forever. She couldn’t help the smile that blossomed on her lips.

“You’re quite mistaken. It is not possible for this account to be overdrawn.”

The cultured tones and hint of an accent drew Joan’s attention to the front of the line where the tall, handsome, strawberry blond man stood arguing with the teller. She’d noticed him before on several of her other payment runs and also in a couple of the local restaurants along Main Street. He’d always been alone and seemed preoccupied with writing in some kind of notebook while eating his food. Joan had never frequented the restaurants she’d seen him in because there’d never been a coupon for any of them. Maybe someday she’d convince herself to do something without a coupon. That day wasn’t today, however.

“Sir, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to calm down.

You’re causing a scene,” the teller admonished the man while staring at him over the tops of her wire-‐-rimmed glasses.

“You steal my money, yet I’m the one ‘causing a scene’? You must be joking.” The man had a way of looking down his long, straight nose at the teller that caused the woman to squirm.

Amused because she’d never seen anyone else get the best of the teller before, Joan leaned to the side to get a better view since the customers in front of her were doing the same. No one bothered to pretend like they were ignoring the altercation.

“I demand to speak with your superior right this moment.”

The man never raised his voice but his tone was forceful nonetheless. One had to be a complete idiot to continue arguing with him. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the teller was.

“There is nothing the manager can do. You’ve overdrawn your account. If you’d like to make a deposit…”

Joan frowned, remembering those same words said to her two years ago. Determined not to let the bank get away with this again and maybe because she didn’t want the poor guy to miss any meals, she pulled out her camera and started videotaping the scene.

“A deposit? It is clear, madam, that you’re out of your mind.

Why would I give you one more dollar when you’ve already misplaced the ones given to you previously?”

The woman’s cheeks reddened with embarrassment. “Like I said before, we have nothing to do with your account being empty.

You have to watch your spending habits. If you’ll step this way, we have counselors on staff to—”

“Am I to understand that you expect me to undergo counseling because you stole my money?”

“If you don’t calm down, I’m calling security,” the teller warned even though the man had yet to raise his voice.

“Please, call them. Tell them to bring my money with them.”

“That’s it, sir!” The teller picked up the phone and dialed. “I need you to escort a customer out.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you–”

Two security guards came out of nowhere and tackled the man in mid-‐-sentence. The three men went down with an audible,

“ommph.”

Joan’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in surprise, but she kept filming. There were audible gasps from several of the other customers. The man didn’t know it at the moment, but the bank had just made him a millionaire.

The guards jerked him to his feet and dragged him toward the exit. The man looked livid, but he didn’t protest. The long line of customers stepped away from the procession when the three passed. Their move exposed Joan with her camera pointing right at them.

The guard closest to her stopped and snarled. “Give me that camera.”

Joan stepped out of his reach when he tried to snatch it from her. “No.”

The move pulled the man and the other guard off balance.

The two of them turned their attention to her to see what was happening. Having the man’s intense blue eyes on her caused her to pause a moment. If she’d thought he was gorgeous from a distance, she certainly hadn’t been prepared for the up close and personal.

Her hesitation cost her a little distance when her would-‐-be attacker shoved the stanchion aside and reached for her again. Joan backed away and tripped over the rope between stanchions on the other side. She landed hard on her behind, but avoided the man’s grip. The other customers recoiled away from the commotion.

The guard’s reach shortened quite a bit when the man yanked his body in the opposite direction. Since the guard still had a hold of his arm, the move twisted him away from Joan. She bounced to her feet and ran for the exit.

“Hey! Get back here!”

She looked back in time to see the guard let go of the man with the blue eyes and chase after her. Or he would have if the man hadn’t tripped the pursuing guard and shoved the other one away before joining her in her flight out the door.

****

Crown Prince Saracen Tomas de Raffertias du Bacoeur ran after the woman who might very well have just saved his butt back there in the bank. It would be such a shame. He’d managed to remain incognito for the last year. Now he was in danger of blowing it the day before he was to return home. Over something as silly as the bank misplacing the money he’d deposited with them no less.
How does a bank misplace a customer’s money anyway?
That organization would be out of business within the hour if something like this happened in his home country. And not just because he was their ruler, either.

He glimpsed a flash of peach fabric disappearing around a corner and pumped his legs faster. Whoever the woman was, she was fast. He risked a glance over his shoulder to see if he was being pursued. Both guards had given up about a block back. They stood on the corner panting. The heavyset one who’d tried to grab the girl was clutching his chest while the skinny one rubbed at his leg with vigor. He caught the eye of the large guard. With the smirk his mother always hated because it wasn’t befitting royalty, Tom executed a deep bow. When he stood again, he spun on his heel and strolled away. With any luck, the woman had stopped running, too, and he’d be able to track her down.

An hour later, he’d still had no luck. The woman seemed to have disappeared. While he’d searched, his mind replayed the incident. He needed to figure out what was going on. The more he thought about things, the more he was convinced that Marlachina had figured out his whereabouts and was trying to snatch up the business opportunities he’d discovered for herself and her people.

The thought that he was still a step ahead of her brought a smile to his face. Ever since they were children, she’d done her best to one-‐-

up him. If he were honest, he’d have to admit that she’d succeeded more often than he cared to admit.

He was determined that she wouldn’t this time. This trip was far too important. It was also one that he’d invested the last year of his life in. It wouldn’t do for him to return home empty-‐-

handed. If that happened, he couldn’t in good conscience ascend to the throne and rule as his peoples’ king. Thankfully, the young lady and her video camera had averted a quite serious crisis. He was scheduled to fly home in the morning. He’d already set up a plan of action for most of their new investment opportunities. He’d go straight to his office from the helipad to enact them. Marlachina wouldn’t have time to set up any of her roadblocks and Tom would be able to enjoy his coronation with a clear conscience in three months’ time.

His mind returned to his mysterious savior. To be honest, she wasn’t a complete mystery woman. He’d seen her around on several occasions during the past year. He’s chosen Santa Monica because the population was made up of a larger than average percentage of people who looked like him. His tall frame, blond hair, and blue eyes always turned heads. But he figured they would turn fewer heads if his weren’t the only tall frame, blond hair, and blue eyes in the vicinity. To his delight, it had worked. He’d kept an eye on the press. Until now, he’d have sworn none of his usual tormentors had a clue where he was. This fact had afforded him a good measure of peace during his year away and allowed him to conduct his research with little disruption.

As well as he blended in with the seaside community, the woman had stood out. She couldn’t help it with her Americanized African features. It was a testimony to her American heritage that her skin was much lighter than the many Africans he’d worked with on various business deals. She had a gorgeous figure. It would seem she thought she kept it hidden under flowing sundresses.

This was why he’d experienced a stab of recognition in the bank when the guard had discovered her camera. It was also why he didn’t peg her as paparazzi. Beside all that, she wouldn’t be this hard to find if she were. Those vultures would still be circling so they could get the aftermath on tape, too.

Then there was the fact he’d been checking out that rounded rear end of hers for months. Since celibacy was a requirement of his year away, he’d never made a move to meet her. When he set about choosing his queen in a few weeks, he had no doubt in his mind that a nice backside would be very high on his list of requirements even though he had no real expectation that it would be met. On that quite disturbing and sad thought, he headed across the street to the restaurant, which had become his favorite. He couldn’t indulge one of his appetites, but that didn’t mean they all had to suffer. Not to mention the fact that he hoped to be in business with this establishment very shortly.