Authors: Maureen Child
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” she argued automatically.
He wondered if it was sheer politeness or a reaction to his change in attitude. The closeness, the heat that had been between them earlier and definitely cooled. But how could it not? She was a runaway princess, and he was the guy who knew better than to give in to his urges, now that he knew the truth.
She was a
princess
for God’s sake. Didn’t matter that his bank account was probably close to hers. There was wealth and then there was
royalty.
The two didn’t necessarily mix.
“Yeah,” he told her, “I really do.”
“I can take care of myself,” she said.
“I’m sure you can. But why wait for a cab when I’m here and ready?”
No way was he going to let her out of his sight until he knew she was safe. She was too high-profile. Princess Alexis’s pretty face had adorned more magazine covers than he could count. Reporters and photographers usually followed after her like rats after the Pied Piper. Her luck was bound to run out soon and once it did, she’d have people crowding all around her. And not all of them would be trustworthy.
Nope. He’d be with her until he got her back to her hotel, at least. Then he’d figure out what to do next.
“Well, all right then,” she said with a smile. “Thank you.”
The traffic gods were smiling on them and it didn’t take more than twenty minutes before he was steering his BMW up to the waterfront hotel. He left his keys with the valet, took Alex’s arm and escorted her into the hotel. His gaze never quit moving, checking out the area, the people, the situation. The hotel lobby was elegant and mostly empty. Live trees stood in huge, terra cotta pots on the inside of the double doors. A marble floor gleamed under pearly lights and tasteful paintings hung on cream-colored walls.
A couple of desk clerks were busily inputting things into computers. A guest stood at the concierge, asking questions, and an elevator hushed open to allow an elderly couple to exit. It all looked fine to his studied eyes, but as he knew all too well, things could change in an instant. An ordinary moment could become the stuff of nightmares in a heartbeat.
Alex was blissfully unaware of his tension, though, and kept up a steady stream of comments as they walked toward the bank of elevators. “It’s this one,” she said and used her key card to activate it.
While they waited, he took another quick look around and noted that no one had paid the slightest attention to them. Good. Seemed that her identity was still a secret. Somehow that made him feel a bit better about his own failure to recognize her.
But in his own defense, you didn’t normally see a princess in blue jeans taking a cab to Disneyland.
She was staying in the penthouse suite, of course, and he was glad to see that there was a special elevator for that floor that required a key card. At least she had semiprotection. Not from the hotel staff of course, and he knew how easily bribed a staff member could be. For the right price, some people would sell off their souls.
When the elevator opened, they stepped into a marble-floored entryway with a locked door opposite them. He waited for her to open the door then before she could say anything, he stepped inside, to assure himself that all was as it should be. His practiced gaze swept over the interior of the plushly decorated suite. Midnight-blue couches and chairs made up conversation areas. An unlit fireplace took up most of one wall and the sliding glass doors along a wall of windows afforded an amazing view of the ocean. Starlight filled the dark sky and the moon shone down on the water with a sparkling silver light.
He stalked across the suite to the bedroom, gave it and the master bath a quick, thorough look then moved back into the living room. He checked the balcony then swept his gaze around the room. No sign of anything and just the stillness in the room told him that there hadn’t been any intruders.
“What’re you doing?” she asked, tossing the key card onto the nearest table.
“Just making sure you’re okay.” He brushed it off as if it were nothing more than any other guy would have done. But she was no dummy and her blue eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.
Her nose was sunburned, her hair was a wild tangle and she looked, he thought, absolutely edible. His body stirred in reaction and he told himself to get a grip. There wouldn’t be any more kisses. No more fantasies. Not now that he knew who she was.
Alex was strictly off-limits. Oh, he wanted her. Bad. But damned if he was going to start an international incident or something. He’d met her father. He knew the king was not the kind of man to take it lightly if some commoner was sniffing around the royal princess. And Garrett didn’t need the extra hassle anyway. Yeah, she was gorgeous. And hot. And funny and smart. But that crown of hers was just getting in the way. And beside all that was the fact that she was here. Alone. Unprotected. Garrett was hardwired to think more of her safety than of his own wants. And mixing the two never worked well.
“Well, I appreciate it,” she said softly, “but I’m really fine. The hotel is a good one and they have excellent security.”
Uh-huh. He wasn’t so sure of that, but he’d be doing some checking into the situation, that was for damn sure. True, it was a five-star hotel and that usually meant guests were safe. But as he had found out the hard way, mistakes happened.
“Thank you again.”
Alex walked toward him and everything in him wanted to reach out, grab her and pull her in close. He could still taste her, damn it, and he knew he wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon just how good she felt, pressed up against him. His body was hard and aching like a bad tooth, which didn’t do much for his attitude.
“I had a wonderful day.” Her smile widened and she threw her arms out. “Actually, it was perfect. Just as I’d always imagined my first day at Disneyland would be.”
That statement caught him off guard and he laughed. “You imagined a five-year-old talking your ears off?”
“I imagined a day spent with friends and finding someone who—” She broke off there, letting the rest of what she might have said die unuttered.
Just as well, Garrett told himself. He might be a professional security expert, but he was also a guy. And knowing that she felt the same pulse of desire he did was almost more than he could take.
Hell, if he didn’t get out of there soon, he might forget all about his principles and better judgment.
“Guess I’d better go,” he said, stepping past her for the open doorway while he could still manage it.
“Oh. Are you sure?” She waved one hand at the wet bar across the room. “Maybe one drink first? Or I could call room service…”
She wasn’t making this easy, he told himself. Need grabbed him at the base of the throat and squeezed. It would be so easy to stay here. To kiss her again and take his time about it. To feel her body respond to his and to forget all about who she was. Who he was. And why this was a really bad idea.
“I don’t think so,” he said, “but thanks. Another time.”
“Of course.” Disappointment clouded her features briefly. And after a day of watching her smile and enjoy herself, damned if he could stand her feeling badly.
“How about breakfast?” He heard himself say it and couldn’t call the words back.
That smile of hers appeared again and his heart thudded painfully in his chest. Garrett King, master of bad mistakes.
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll see you then,” he said and stepped out of the penthouse, closing the door quietly behind him.
In the elevator, he stood perfectly still and let the annoying Muzak fill his mind and, temporarily at least, drive out his churning thoughts. But it couldn’t last. He had to think about this. Figure out how to handle this situation.
Yes, he wanted Alex.
But his own code of behavior demanded that he protect—not bed—the princess.
He watched the numbers over the elevator doors flash and as they hit the first floor and those doors sighed open, he told himself that maybe he could do both.
The question was, should he?
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Three
“Did you and Mickey have a good time?”
“Funny.” Garrett dropped into his favorite, bloodred leather chair and propped his feet up on the matching hassock. Clutching his cell phone in one hand and a cold bottle of beer in the other, he listened to his twin’s laughter.
“Sorry, man,” Griff finally said, “but made me laugh all day thinking about you hauling your ass around the happiest place on Earth. All day. Still can’t believe you let Jackson con you into going.”
“Wasn’t Jackson,” Garrett told him. “It was Casey.”
“Ah. Well then, that’s different.” Griffin sighed. “What is it about women? How do they get us to do things we would never ordinarily do?”
“Beats the hell outta me,” Garrett said. In his mind, he was seeing Alex again as he said goodbye. Her eyes shining, her delectable mouth curved…
“So was it hideous?”
“What?”
“I swear, when I went to Knott’s Berry Farm with them last summer, Mia about wore me into the ground. That kid is like the Tiny Terminator.”
“Good description,” Garrett agreed with a laugh. “And she was pumped today. Only time she sat down was when we were on a ride.”
Sympathy in his tone, Griffin said, “Man, that sounds miserable.”
“Would have been.”
“Yeah…?”
Garrett took a breath, considered what he was about to do, then went with his gut. He was willing to keep Alex’s secret, for the time being anyway, but not from Griffin. Not only were they twins, but they were partners in the security firm they had built together.
“So, talk. Explain what saved you from misery.”
“Right to the point, as always,” Garrett murmured. His gaze swept the room. His condo wasn’t big, but it suited him. He’d tried living in hotels for a while like his cousin Rafe had done for years until meeting his wife, Katie. But hotels got damned impersonal and on the rare occasions when Garrett
wasn’t
traveling all over the damn globe, he had wanted a place that was
his.
Something familiar to come home to.
He wasn’t around enough to justify a house, and he didn’t like the idea of leaving it empty for weeks at a stretch, either. But this condo had been just right. A home that he could walk away from knowing the home owner’s association was looking after the property.
It was decorated for comfort, and the minute he walked in, he always felt whatever problems he was thinking about slide away. Maybe it was the view of the ocean. Maybe it was the knowledge that this was his space, one that no one could take from him. Either way, over the past couple of years, it really had become
home
.
The study where he sat now was a man’s room, from the dark paneling to the leather furniture to the stone hearth on the far wall. There were miles of bookshelves stuffed with novels, the classics and several gifts presented to him by grateful clients.
And beyond the glass doors, there was a small balcony where he could stand and watch the water. Just like the view from Alex’s hotel room. Amazing how quickly his mind could turn and focus back on her.
“Hello? Garrett? You still there?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Then talk. No more stalling. What’s going on?”
“I met a woman today.”
“Well, shout hallelujah and alert the media!” Griffin hooted a laugh that had Garrett wrenching the phone away from his ear. “’Bout time you got lucky. I’ve been telling you for months you needed to loosen up some. What’s she like?”
“Believe me when I say she defies description.”
“Right. You met a goddess at Disneyland.”
“Not exactly.”
“What’s that mean?”
“She’s a princess.”
“Oh, no,” Griffin groaned dramatically. “You didn’t hook up with some snotty society type, did you? Because that’s just wrong.”
Frowning, Garrett said, “No, she’s a
princess
.”
“Now I’m confused. Are we talking a real princess? Crown? Throne?”
“Yep.”
“What the—”
“Remember that job we did for the King of Cadria a few years ago?”
Silence, while his brother thought about it, then, “Yeah. I remember. They were doing some big show of the crown jewels and we set up the security for the event. Good job.”
“Yeah. Remember the daughter?”
“Hah. Of course I remember her. Never met her face-to-face, but I saw her around the palace from a distance once or twice. Man she was—” Another long pause. “Are you kidding me?”
Garrett had gotten a few of those long-distance glances, too. He remembered not paying much attention to her, either. When he was on a job, his concentration was laserlike. Nothing but security concerns had registered for him and once that had been accomplished, he and his brother had left Cadria.
Since the small island nation was just off the coast of England, he and Griffin had flown to Ireland to visit their cousin Jefferson and his family. And never once had Garrett given the crown princess another thought.
Until today.
“Nope. Not kidding. Princess Alexis was at Disneyland today.”
“I didn’t see anything about it on the news.”
“You won’t, either.” Garrett took a swig of his beer and hoped the icy brew would cool him off. His body was still thrumming, his groin hot and hard, and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse for him, the longer he spent in her company. “She’s hiding out or some damn thing. Told us her name was Alex, that’s all.”
“What about her security?”
“Doesn’t have any that I could see.”
Griffin inhaled sharply. “That’s not good, bro.”
“No kidding?” Garrett shook his head as Griffin’s concern flashed his own worries into higher gear. Alex was all alone in a hotel room and
Garrett
was the only one who knew where she was. He couldn’t imagine her family allowing her to be unprotected, so that told him she had slipped away from her guards. Which left her vulnerable. Hell, anything could happen to her.
“What’re you gonna do about it?”
He checked the time on the grandfather clock on the far wall. “I’m going to wait another hour or so, then I’m calling her father.”
Griffin laughed. “Yeah, cuz it’s that easy to just pick up a phone and call the palace. Hello, King? This is King.”
Garrett rolled his eyes at his brother’s lame joke. They’d heard plenty just like that one while they were doing the job for Alex’s father. Kings working for kings and all that.
“Why am I talking to you again?”
“Because I’m your twin. The one that got all the brains.”
“Must explain why I got all the looks,” Garrett muttered with a smile.
“In your dreams.”
It was an old game. Since they were identical, neither of them had anything to lose by the insults. Griffin was the one person in his life Garrett could always count on. There were four other King brothers in their branch of the family, and they were all close. But being twins had set Garrett and Griffin apart from the rest of their brothers. Growing up, they’d been a team, standing against their older brothers’ teasing. They’d played ball together, learned how to drive together and dated cheerleaders together. They were still looking out for each other.
To Kings, nothing was more important than family. Family came first. Always.
Griffin finally stopped laughing and asked, “Seriously, what are you going to do?”
“Just what I said. I’m going to call her father. He gave us a private number, remember?”
“Oh, right.”
Nodding, Garrett said, “First, I want to find out if the king knows where she is.”
“You think she ran away?”
“I think she’s going to a lot of trouble to avoid having people recognize her, so yeah.” He remembered the blue jeans, the simple white shirt, the platform heels and her wild tangle of hair. Nope. Not how anyone would expect a princess to look. “Wouldn’t be surprised to find out no one but us knows where she is. Anyway, I’ll let the king know she’s okay and find out how he wants me to handle this.”
“And how do
you
want to handle it?” Griffin asked.
Garrett didn’t say a word, which pretty much answered Griffin’s question more eloquently than words could have. What could he possibly have said anyway? That he didn’t want to handle the situation—he wanted to handle
Alex?
Yeah, that’d be good.
“She must be something else.”
“Y’know? She really is,” he said tightly. “And she’s going to stay safe.”
Memories flew around him like a cloud of mosquitoes. Nagging. Irritating. He couldn’t stop them. Never had been able to make them fade. And that was as it should be, he told himself. He’d made a mistake and someone had died. He should never be allowed to forget.
“Garrett,” Griffin said quietly, “you’ve got to let the past go.”
He winced and took another drink of his beer. As twins, they had always been finely attuned to each other. Not exactly reading each other’s minds or anything—thank God for small favors. But there was usually an undercurrent that each of them could pick up on. Clearly, Griffin’s twin radar was on alert.
“Who’s talking about the past?” Bristling, Garrett pushed haunting memories aside and told himself that Alex’s situation had nothing to do with what had happened so long ago. And he would do whatever he could to see that it stayed that way.
“Fine. Be stubborn. Keep torturing yourself for something that you did. Not. Do.”
“I’m done talking about it,” Garrett told his brother.
“Whatever. Always were a hard head.”
“Hello, pot? This is kettle. You’re black.”
“Hey,” Griffin complained, “I’m the funny one, remember?”
“What was I thinking?” Garrett smiled to himself and sipped at his beer.
“Look, just keep me posted on this. Let me know what her father has to say and if you need backup,
call
.”
“I will,” he promised, even though he knew he wouldn’t be calling. He didn’t want backup with Alex. He wanted to watch over her himself. He trusted his brother with his life. But he would trust
no one
with Alex’s. The only way to make sure she stayed safe was to take care of her himself.
Alex couldn’t sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, her mind dredged up images snatched from her memories of the day. Mostly, of course, images of Garrett—laughing, teasing his nieces, carrying a sleeping baby…and images of him as he leaned in to kiss her.
Oh, that kiss had been…well, way too short, but aside from that, wonderful. She could still hear the water sloshing against the boat, the singing from the pirates and feel the hot wind buffeting their faces. Still feel his mouth moving over hers.
It had been, she told herself with a small smile,
magic
.
She picked up her hot tea off the room service cart and stepped onto the balcony of her suite. A summer wind welcomed her with the cool kiss of the sea. She stared up at the night sky then shifted her gaze to the ocean where the moon’s light danced across the surface of the water, leaving a silvery trail, as if marking a path to be followed. In the middle of the night, everything was quiet, as if the whole world was dreaming.
And if she could sleep, Alex knew her dreams would be filled with Garrett.
She took a sip of the tea and sighed in satisfaction.
Alexis knew she should feel guilty for having left Cadria the way she had, but she just couldn’t manage it. Maybe it was because of the years she had spent doing all the “right” things. She had been a dutiful daughter, a helpful sister, a perfect princess. She was always in the right place at the right time saying the right things.
She loved her father, but the man was practically medieval. If it weren’t for her mother’s restraining influence, King Gregory of Cadria would probably have had his only daughter fitted for a chastity belt and tucked away in a tower. Until he picked out the right husband for her, of course.
Alex had had to fight for every scrap of independence she had found over the past few years. She hadn’t wanted to be seen only at state occasions. Or to christen a new ship or open a new park. She wanted more. She wanted her life to mean something.