The Princess Finds Her Match (5 page)

He waited several beats for Blair to enlighten her. He could see Lexie’s friend subtly widening her eyes, wiggling her eyebrows and cocking her wigged head several times in his direction in a mystifying non-verbal series of signals. Lexie stared back blankly, looking for the world as stumped as he was. In frustration, Blair rolled her eyes.

“What the hell,” she huffed, giving up. “You two have fun.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Nic said firmly, daring Blair to contradict.

Brown eyes speared him with warning. “Make sure that you do.” She turned to Lexie, a sudden naughty grin splitting her face and whispered loudly enough for Nic to hear, “Honey, let him take care of item number two on your list.” And with that parting shot, she was gone, the dorky man trailing after her like a lovesick puppy.

Even with the dim lighting inside the bar, Nic noted the blush that bloomed on Lexie’s cheeks. A list? Item number two that he could take care of? He grinned. Curiouser and curiouser.

S
tepping outside The Space Bar
, Lexie inhaled the dry, bracing desert air. It was a small shock how quickly her nose had adjusted to the odors inside the bar. Now the air smelled somewhat astringent. She risked a peek at Nic, who had fallen in step beside her as their footsteps crunched on the sidewalk pavement.

He shot her a side glance. A small smile was playing around his beautiful lips. “Here,” he said, taking off the navy blue sports coat he was wearing. “You’re cold.”

They paused in front of a brightly lit convenience store. Lexie took the coat without hesitation and covered herself with the lingering warmth from his body. She was indeed cold, more used to the Mediterranean climate of her island home. She looked up to thank him and the words died in her throat.

He appeared taller standing close to her. His plain V-neck shirt emphasized his broad shoulders, tapering to narrow hips hugged by denims. His dark hair was a bit longer than she was used to seeing on men, and the edges would have just touched the collar of the coat he had removed. In the reflected fluorescent light from the store, his cheekbones appeared more brutal, his jawline a slash of jagged masculinity. His skin was tanned, almost olive. But the single most arresting thing in his face were his eyes. The contrast of his electric blue eyes with his dark hair and skin was so unexpected Lexie couldn’t stop staring. Again.

And he was staring right back. Lexie’s breathing grew labored. She wanted to break the intensity of the moment, but she could not move. Was loathe to. All she could manage was to bite a corner of her lip and inflict pain on herself so she could snap out of this enchantment. He caught her small movement and his eyes drifted leisurely down to her lips.

“I−I want to thank you,” she found her voice at last. It sounded thin, tremulous. “For what you did back there.”

With seeming reluctance, he tore his gaze from her lips. “There is no need to thank me.” Lexie detected an accent in his deep baritone. Not American.

She dug her hands into the pocket of his coat and avoided his eyes. “I might have incited it.”

She saw his jaw clench and then his answer came out swift and angry. Lexie was startled by the sudden change. ”Don’t make excuses for that twat’s behavior. He was out of line. I’m glad I was able to land several on that arsehole.” Strangely, she was fascinated by this show of volatility. It was such a contrast to the men she came in contact with. Stefan was taciturn. Her male cousins were polite, amiable. Her bodyguards were probably advised not to get too friendly with her.

“Nevertheless, you have my thanks.” Her eyes sought his once more.
Dear God,
here we go again,
she thought, bracing herself for the discomfiting effect he had on her.

At the Royal residence in Seirenada, there was an old tower that had served as the lookout for marauding invaders during the Middle Ages. It was so high that on clear days you could see all the way to neighboring Malta. Lexie was ten when she was deemed capable enough to ascend the hundreds of steps all the way to the summit. Reaching the top, Lexie got her first look out of the open window and gasped in awe at the panorama of the sky, sea, and the hundreds of sienna-colored rooftops that was typical of houses in the principality. She leaned closer and looked all the way down. The sheer drop to the courtyard below made her suddenly dizzy. Her heartbeat started racing in fear but she couldn’t look away. She imagined herself climbing on the ledge and jumping off the window. Stefan’s hand on her shoulder broke the disturbing hold of the yawning chasm. It was the same strange pull she felt looking into Nic’s eyes.

“You’re hurt,” she said, her words coming out thick and slightly slurred, intoxicated more by this man than any substance she had ingested inside the bar. She spotted a small cut on the corner of his lip and the outer edge of an eyebrow. She felt guilty for just noticing. Before she even realized it, her hand had shot out and she was already tracing the gash by his mouth with a trembling finger. She heard his sharp intake of breath and noted the darkening in his blue eyes.

“It’s nothing,” he dismissed, catching her hand with his own before she had a chance to pull it away, guiding her palm flat against the landscape of his jawline and cheek. Pinning her with a hot, intense gaze that made her tingle in several places all at once, he murmured huskily, “There is one thing you can do to make it better, though.”

The last thought Lexie had was that she was thankful she didn’t have onion rings to go with her burger before his hands cupped the nape of her neck to draw her in and claim her for an all-consuming, soul-destroying mating of lips, tongue, and mouth.

He started out gentle and warm, his seeking lips all over her face, tenderly brushing her forehead, then her eyelids, her nose, each cheek, and then her chin. Lexie smiled at his tender thoroughness then jerked in shock when his tongue swept from one end of her upper lip to the other before doing the same thing to her lower lip. She gasped in surprise, and Nic took the opportunity to plunge his tongue inside her mouth. As his actions grew bolder, Lexie’s knees grew weaker. Her arms clamped tighter around Nic’s back to prevent herself from collapsing like an accordion on the pavement. In return, he grasped her bottom and pressed her hips flush to his. And that was when Lexie felt his arousal.

Nic broke off the kiss, his breath sounding ragged. He drew Lexie to his chest, his chin resting on top of her head. She could make out the rapid beating of his heart and guessed hers was just as fast.

“Holy shite,” he uttered, and Lexie chuckled weakly because he perfectly encapsulated the giddy wonder she was feeling at their instant, total connection. A connection she could not, should not, allow to go further after tonight.

N
ic took
her hand firmly in his. She could feel calluses on his fingertips. She squelched her curiosity – she didn’t want to break the spell. If she started the questions, she would then have to answer his. No. Tonight she would be Lexie the…the Fearless! Yes, Lexie the Fearless. It had a very nice ring to it.

“You have a very determined look on your face right now.” Nic gave her hand a firm tug and anchored her closer to him, maneuvering her away from an uneven crack on the pavement. She smelled a hint of his crisp cologne, overpowered by the clinging notes of secondhand cigarette smoke and beer. Lexie suspected she didn’t smell any better.

“Do I?” she sidestepped the implied question. Out of the corner of her eye, he saw his lips pull into another smile.

“You had that very same look on your face before you started dancing on stage.” His head was dipped, his hands in his pockets. A small breeze played momentarily with his dark hair. The shadows between the street lights hid his expression. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Shite, it was
that
good.” His face came up and he was grinning boyishly, his lips tilting up at the corners and his eyes crinkling adorably. He was a lethal combination of boy-next-door good looks and just-wait-till-the-door-is-closed-so-I-can-have-my-wicked-way-with-you. Lexie was in imminent danger of melting into a gooey puddle at his feet. His voice dropped. “Believe me, it wasn’t only a heart attack you almost gave me. Any better and I would have embarrassed myself in front of your fans.”

Her face must turned have turned as red as her wig, judging by the warmth she could feel on her cheeks. To deflect the conversation to safer waters, she asked, “How about my singing?”

Without missing a beat, he said, “That was by far the most God-awful singing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”

Lexie stopped dead in her tracks so that Nic was forced to do the same. She covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God,” she groaned. “Oh my God.”

“Um, Red?” She could hear the hesitation in his voice, wondering if he had gone too far. “With some practice and may be singing lessons you could probably improve…” he finished lamely, but clearly his heart wasn’t in it.

Lexie couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her shoulders started shaking violently.

“Lexie?” Nic said in alarm.

A burst of giggles escaped from behind her hands. At the uncomprehending look on Nic’s face, she started laughing hysterically, clutching her tummy. He was a sharp one. In a few seconds, he knew he had been had and he started laughing, too. Not only was he drop-dead gorgeous and sexy, he also had a sense of humor. Lexie was in serious danger, the kind that had alarm bells ringing wildly in her mind and heart.

“Did you just snort?” he asked disbelievingly a few seconds later.

Lexie straightened her spine and said in her most imperious manner. “Excuse me? I do not snort. Ever.”

He looked at her again, with a little smile playing on his lips, a smile that seemed…fond. Yes, fond. As if he had smiled at her this way hundreds of times before, in exasperation, in amusement, in disbelief. But always with fondness. But his next words reminded her that they had no shared history. “Could have fooled me, princess.”

“What did you just call me?” Lexie’s tone was sharp
. Please don’t break the spell yet.
Had he known all along?

Nic stilled at her tone. “I said ‘princess,’” he repeated, wary. “What’s the matter?”

He couldn’t know. She was in disguise. The press hadn’t paid any attention to her in years. In her quest to be the most proper, staid, and well-behaved royal that ever lived, Lexie had managed to stay off the press’ radar since the incident. She had to shake off this paranoia. She was fearless.

Shaking her head, she took Nic’s hand again. “Nothing.”

He gave her a long look. “Okay.” He was letting her off the hook.
For now
. It was as if she had heard his thoughts.

W
here are you from
? Why are you wearing an atrocious wig? Have you ever felt this way about someone before?
He thought he had, once, but Nic was an optimist and he was not letting one bad experience color his future. His parents had fallen in love at first sight and married within months of meeting each other. Nic wasn’t hung up on the idea, but it was possible. It could happen. He scanned her fingers. No ring in sight but still, it didn’t really mean anything. Better keep his mouth shut for the moment. He was likely to scare the shit out of her on their first meeting if he bombarded her with questions. The championship was two days away though and he had to leave straight away for Los Angeles for a photo shoot and the Polo Expo. He would have to do some fast convincing to make her recognize there was something worth exploring between them.

“Where did you learn to dance like that?” Nic was burning to ask her a hundred questions but settled for an innocuous one.

“Like what?”

They were still walking aimlessly, past kitschy souvenir stores, sex toy shops, and run-down apartments. She stopped at one of the souvenir stores, surveying the display window.

“You knew how to move,” he shrugged as if that was self−explanatory.

“Years of ballet and jazz,” she tossed out, grasping the door handle. Nic saw her jump back in surprise.

“What is it?” Nic asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

“I got a shock from the door handle,” she said, laughing self-consciously.

“Happens to me all the time,” Nic grimaced in sympathy. “It’s the dry desert air. Give me your hand.”

Lexie did as told and Nic made a show of inspecting it. He swore he felt a different jolt when their skin touched. Then he kissed each finger. “All better?”

She nodded. “But now I’m scared of touching that door handle.”

“Leave it to me.” He approached the door, and he saw Lexie observing what he was going to do. He pulled out the bottom end of the front of his shirt, flashing her inadvertently with a view of his lower abdomen. He wrapped it on the door handle and tugged it open.

Lexie grinned in approval. “Very innovative.”

He winked and Lexie stepped past him inside the store.

“Looking for anything in particular?” A thin Asian man was working behind the cashier. He was the only one inside the shop and wasn’t particularly welcoming at half-past eleven in the evening.

“Good evening. I’m looking for a magnet, please.” Nic noted how polite and old-fashioned she sounded in contrast to the seductive minx she had been earlier at the bar. He mulled over the disparity and decided he rather liked it. Proper in public but sexy as hell in closed quarters.

The man gestured to a display on the side, looking less stern. He was visibly charmed by her quaint manners.

As with all females, Lexie had instantly become absorbed in comparing the merits of a roulette wheel magnet to a poker chip magnet. She wanted the poker chip magnet, but it didn’t say Las Vegas in the font she wanted. Nic told her he would buy both for her to put an end to her dilemma, at which she prissily told him it wasn’t the point. Nic rolled his eyes and she wrinkled her nose at him. God, even with the atrocious wig, she was beautiful. Nic left her to debate the merits of each item and wandered to another display cabinet. He called over the salesperson discreetly and pointed to an object that caught his interest.

Back outside, Lexie had shown him what she had decided to purchase. He chuckled. It was a magnet of a scantily clad Las Vegas showgirl complete with a huge feather headdress. “Very classy,” he quipped dryly.

“At least it had the font that I liked,” she answered cheekily. “What did you get?”

“Here.” He took her hand and gave her a small box. She appeared surprised and opened the package silently. Her wide, lush mouth broke into a smile. Inside were earrings nestled on a velvet cushion. Instead of jeweled studs, each earring had a silver dice with black numeral dots on each facet of the cube.

“Thank you,” she said simply, clearly pleased and touched by his gift. She immediately placed them on her dainty earlobes. “How do I look?” She tucked a lock of fake hair behind a dainty ear. There was uncertainty in those cat eyes.

Nic had known women far more beautiful than Lexie, but her appeal to him went beyond that. There was something almost unaffected about her. “You take my breath away.”