Authors: Maureen Child
And if that meant a twenty-eight-year-old woman had to run away from home—then so be it.
She only hoped her father would eventually forgive her. Maybe he would understand one day just how important her independence was to her.
Nothing had ever been
hers.
The palace deemed what she should do and when she should do it.
Even her work with single mothers in need, in the capital city of Cadria, had been co-opted by the palace press. They made her out to be a saint. To be the gently bred woman reaching out to the less fortunate. Which just infuriated her and embarrassed the women she was trying to help.
Her entire life had been built around a sense of duty and privilege, and it was choking her.
Shaking her head, she tried to push that thought aside because she knew very well how pitiful that sounded. Poor little rich girl, such a trying life. But being a princess was every bit as suffocating as she had tried to tell little Mia earlier.
Mia.
Alexis smiled to herself in spite of her rushing thoughts. That little girl and her family had given Alex one of the best days of her life. Back at the palace, she had felt as though her life was slipping away from her, disappearing into the day-to-day repetitiveness of the familiar. The safe.
There were no surprises in her world. No days of pure enjoyment. No rush of attraction or sizzle of sexual heat. Though she had longed for all of those for most of her life.
She had grown up on tales of magic. Romance. Her mom had always insisted that there was something special about Disneyland. That the joy that infused the place somehow made it more enchanted than anywhere else.
Alex’s mother had been nineteen and working in one of the gift shops on Main Street when she met the future King of Cadria. Of course, Mom hadn’t known then that the handsome young man flirting with her was a prince. She had simply fallen for his kind eyes and quiet smile. He kept his title a secret until Alex’s mother was in love—and that, Alexis had always believed, was the secret. Find a man who didn’t know who she was. Someone who would want her for herself, not for who her father was.
Today, she thought, she might have found him. And in the same spot where her own mother had found the magic that changed her life.
“I can’t feel guilty because it was worth it,” she murmured a moment later, not caring that she was talking to herself. One of the downsides of being by yourself was that you had no one to talk things over with. But the upside was, if she talked to herself instead, there was no one to notice or care.
Her mind drifted back to thoughts of her family and she winced a little as she realized that they were probably worried about her. No doubt her father was half crazed, her mother was working to calm him down and her older brothers were torn between exasperation and pride at what she’d managed to do.
She would call them in a day or two and let them know she was safe. But until then, she was simply going to
be
. For the first time in her life, she was just like any other woman. There was no one to dress her, advise her, hand her the day’s agenda. Her time was her own and she had no one to answer to.
Freedom was a heady sensation.
Still, she couldn’t believe she had actually gotten away with it. Ditching her personal guards—who she really hoped didn’t get into too much trouble with her father—disguising herself, buying an airplane ticket and slipping out of Cadria unnoticed. Her father was no doubt furious, but truth to tell, all of this was really his fault. If he hadn’t started making noises about Alex “settling down,” finding an “appropriate” husband and taking up her royal duties, then maybe she wouldn’t have run.
Not that her father was an ogre, she assured herself. He was really a nice man, but, in spite of the fact that he had married an American woman who had a mind of her own and a spine of steel, he couldn’t see that his daughter needed to find her own way.
Which meant that today, she was going to make the most of what she might have found with Garrett—she frowned. God, she didn’t even know his last name.
She laughed and shook her head. Names didn’t matter. All that mattered was that the stories her mother had told her were true.
“Mom, you were
right,
” she said, cradling her cup between her palms, allowing the heat to seep into her. “Disneyland is a special place filled with magic. And I think I found some for myself.”
He had already been cleared for the penthouse elevator, so when Garrett arrived early in the morning, he went right up. The hum of the machinery was a white noise that almost drowned out the quiet strains of the Muzak pumping down on him from overhead speakers.
His eyes felt gritty from lack of sleep, but his body was wired. He was alert. Tense. And, he silently admitted, eager to see Alex again.
Stupid, he knew, but there it was. He had no business allowing desire to blind him. She was a princess, for God’s sake and he was now, officially, her bodyguard.
Garrett caught his own reflection in the mirrored wall opposite him and scowled. He should have seen it coming, what had happened when he finally got through to the King of Cadria. The fact that he had been surprised only underlined exactly how off course his brain was.
In the seconds it took for the elevator to make its climb, he relived that conversation.
“She’s in California?”
The king’s thundering shout probably could have been heard even without the telephone.
Well, Garrett told himself, that answered his first question. He had been right. The king had had no idea where Alex was.
“Is she safe?”
“Yes,” Garrett said quickly as his measure of the king went up a notch or two. Sure he was pissed, but he was also more concerned about his daughter’s safety than anything else. “She’s safe, but she’s on her own. I’m not comfortable with that.”
“Nor am I, Mr. King.”
“Garrett, please.”
“Garrett, then.” He muttered to someone in the room with him, “Yes, yes, I will ask, give me a moment, Teresa,” he paused, then said, “Pardon me. My wife is very concerned for Alexis, as are we all.”
“I understand.” In fact Garrett was willing to bet that “very concerned” was a major understatement.
“So, Garrett. My wife wished to know how you found Alexis.”
“Interestingly enough, I was with my family at Disneyland,” he said, still amused by it all. Imagine stumbling across a runaway princess in the heart of an amusement park. “We met outside one of the rides.”
No point telling the king that Garrett had come to Alex’s rescue, not knowing who she was. No point in mentioning the kiss he had stolen in the darkness of a pirate ride, either.
“I knew it!” The king shouted then spoke to his wife in the room with him. “Teresa, this is your fault, filling our daughter’s head with romantic nonsense until she—”
Listening in on a royal argument just underscored what Garrett had learned long ago. People were people. Didn’t matter if they wore a king’s crown or a baseball cap. They laughed, they fought, they cried—all of them. And it sounded to Garrett that the King of Cadria, like any other man, didn’t have a clue how to deal with women.
The king’s voice broke off and a moment later a soft, feminine voice spoke up. The queen, Garrett guessed, and smiled as he realized that she clearly didn’t let her husband’s blustering bother her.
“Hello, Garrett?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Is Alexis well?”
“Yes, ma’am, as I told your husband, she was fine when I took her back to her hotel last night.”
“Oh, that’s such good news, thank you. You say you met her at Disneyland?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
More to herself than to him, the queen murmured, “She always dreamed of visiting the park. I should have guessed she would go there, but—”
A princess dreaming about Disneyland. Well, other young girls dreamed of being a princess, so he supposed it made sense. Garrett heard the worry in the queen’s voice and he wondered if Alex was even the slightest bit concerned about what her family was going through.
“Thank you again for looking out for my daughter,” the queen said, “and now, my husband wants to speak to you again.”
Garrett smiled to himself imagining the phone shuffle going on in a palace a few thousand miles away. When the king came back on the line, his tone was quieter.
“Yes, my dear, you’re right. Of course. Garrett?”
“I’m here, sir.”
“I would like to hire you to protect our daughter.”
Instantly, Garrett did a quick mental step backward. This wasn’t what he’d had in mind. He didn’t want to guard her body. He just wanted her. Not the best basis for a protection detail.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea—”
“We will pay whatever you ask, but frankly my wife feels that Alexis needs this time to herself so I can’t very well drag her back home, much as I would prefer it. At the same time, I’m unwilling to risk her safety.”
Good point, Garrett couldn’t help but admit. Whether she thought so or not, there was potential danger all around Alexis. Which is why he had placed this call in the first place. He thought she should be protected—just not by him. “I agree that the princess needs a bodyguard, but…”
“Excellent.” The king interrupted him neatly. “You will keep us informed of what she’s doing, where she’s going?”
Instantly, Garrett bristled. That wasn’t protection; that was being an informant. Not once in all the years he and his twin had run their agency had they resorted to snapping pictures of cheating spouses and damned if he was going to start down that road now.
“I’m not interested in being a spy, your majesty.”
A dismissive chuckle sounded. “A spy. This isn’t the situation at all. I’m asking that you protect my daughter—for a handsome fee—and along the way that you merely observe and report. What, Teresa?” Garrett heard furious whispers during the long pause and finally the king came back on the line. “Fine, it is spying. Very well. Observe and not report?”
He still didn’t like it. Then the king spoke again.
“Garrett, my daughter wants her holiday, but she’s managed to lose every guard I’ve ever assigned her. We would appreciate it very much if you would watch over Alexis.”
Which was why he had finally agreed to this.
Garrett came back out of his memories with a thoughtful frown at his image. He had the distinct feeling that this was not going to end well.
But what the hell else was he supposed to do? Tell a man, a king, that he
wouldn’t
protect his daughter? And still, he would have refused outright if the king had insisted on the spying.
But damned if he could think of a way to get out of guarding her. The king didn’t want Alex’s presence announced to the world, for obvious reasons, and since Garrett had already met her, and was a trained security specialist besides, how could he
not
take the assignment?
If he had said no and something happened to Alexis, he’d never be able to live with himself. His frown deepened as he silently admitted that the truth was, he already had one dead girl haunting him—he wouldn’t survive another.
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Four
At the knock on her door, Alex opened it and smiled up at Garrett.
The slam of what she had felt around him the day before came back harder and faster than ever. He was so tall. Broad shoulders, narrow hips. He wore black jeans, a dark green pullover shirt—open at the collar, with short sleeves that displayed tanned, muscular forearms. His boots were scuffed and well worn, just adding to the whole “danger” mystique. His features were stark, but somehow beautiful. His eyes shone like a summer sky and the mouth she had thought about way too often was quirked in a half smile.
“I’m impressed.”
“You are?” she asked. “With what?”
“You’re ready to go,” he said, sweeping his gaze up and down her before meeting her gaze again. “Not going to have me sit in the living room while you finish your hair or put on makeup or decide what to wear?”
Her eyebrows lifted. He had no way of knowing of course, but she had been raised to be punctual. The King of Cadria never kept people waiting and he expected the same of his family.
“Well,” she said, “that was completely sexist. Good morning to you, too.”
He grinned, obviously unapologetic. “Wasn’t meant to be sexist, merely grateful,” he said, stepping past her into the living room of her suite. “I hate waiting around while a woman drags her feet just so she can make an entrance.” He gave her a long, slow look, then said, “Although, you would have been worth the wait.”
She flushed with pleasure. A simple compliment simply given, and it meant so much more than the flowery stuff she was used to hearing. As for “entrances,” she got way too many of those when she was at home. People standing when she entered a room, crowds thronging for a chance at a handshake or a photo. A band striking up when she was escorted into a formal affair.
And none of those experiences gave her the same sort of pleasure she found in seeing Garrett’s reaction to her. Alex threw her hair back over her shoulder and tugged at the hem of her short-sleeved, off-the-shoulder, dark red shirt. She had paired the top with white slacks and red, sky-high heels that gave her an extra three inches in height. Yet still she wasn’t at eye level with Garrett.
And the gleam in his eyes sent pinpricks of expectation dancing along her skin. Funny, she’d been awake half the night, but Alex had never felt more alert. More…alive. She should have done this years ago, she thought. Striking out on her own. Going incognito, meeting people who had no idea who she was. But then, even as those thoughts raced through her mind, she had to admit, if only to herself, that the real reason she was feeling so wired wasn’t her little holiday. It was Garrett.
She’d never known a man like him. Gorgeous, yes. But there was more to him than the kind of face that should be on the pages of a magazine. There was his laughter, his kindness to his little cousins—and the fact that he’d ridden to her rescue.
And the fact that the black jeans he wore looked amazing on him didn’t hurt anything, either.
Alex watched him now as he scanned the perimeter of the room as if looking for people hiding behind the couches and chairs. Frowning slightly, she realized that she’d seen a similar concentrated, laserlike focus before. From the palace guards and her own personal protection detail. He had the air of a man on a mission. As if it were his
job
to keep her safe. Doubt wormed its way through her mind.
Was it possible this had all been a setup? Had her father somehow discovered her whereabouts and sent Garrett to watch over her?
Then she silently laughed and shook her head at the thought. Garrett had been at Disneyland with his family. Their meeting was accidental. Serendipity. She was reading too much into this, letting her imagination spiral out of control. Alex was projecting her concerns onto Garrett’s presence with absolutely no reason at all to do so. The man was simply looking around the penthouse suite.
She was so used to staying in hotels like this one she tended to forget that not everyone in the world was blasé about a penthouse. Inwardly smiling at the wild turns paranoia could take, she ordered herself to calm down and patiently waited for Garrett’s curiosity to be satiated.
Finally, he turned to look at her, his features unreadable. “So. Breakfast?”
“Yes, thanks. I’m starving.”
He gave her that grin that seemed designed to melt her knees and leave her sprawling on the rug. Really, the man had a presence that was nearly overpowering.
“Another thing I like about you, Alex. You admit when you’re hungry.”
She shook off the sexual hunger clawing at her and smiled back at him. “Let me guess, most women you know don’t eat?”
He shrugged as if the women in his life meant nothing and she really hoped that was the case.
“Let’s just say the ones I’ve known consider splitting an M&M a hearty dessert.”
She laughed at the image. “I know some women like that, too,” she said, snatching up her red leather bag off the closest chair. “I’ve never understood it. Me, I love to eat.”
“Good to know,” he said, one corner of his mouth lifting.
And there went the swirl of something hot and delicious in the pit of her stomach. How was she supposed to keep a lid on her imagination if every look and smile he gave her set off incendiary devices inside her?
This holiday was becoming more interesting every minute. When he took her hand and drew her from the penthouse, Alex savored the heat of his skin against hers and told herself to stop overthinking everything and just enjoy every moment she was with him.
They had breakfast down the coast in Laguna Beach, at a small café on Pacific Coast Highway. On one side of the patio dining area, the busy street was clogged with cars and the sidewalks bustled with pedestrian traffic. On the other side, the Pacific Ocean stretched out to the horizon.
Seagulls wheeled and dipped in the air currents, surfers rode waves in to shore and pleasure boats bobbed lazily on the water. And Alex was only vaguely aware of any of it. How could she be distracted by her surroundings when she could hardly take her eyes off Garrett? His thick, black hair lifted in a capricious breeze and she nearly sighed when he reached up to push his hair off his forehead. The man was completely edible, she thought, and wondered vaguely what he might look like in a suit. Probably just as gorgeous, she decided silently, but she preferred him like this. There were too many suits in her world.
This man was nothing like the other men in her life. Which was only one of the reasons he so intrigued her.
But Garrett seemed…different this morning. Less relaxed, somehow, although that was probably perfectly natural. People were bound to be more casual and laid-back at an amusement park than they were in everyday situations. The interesting part was she liked him even more now.
There was something about his air of casual danger that appealed to her. Not that she was afraid of him in any way, but the sense of tightly reined authority bristling off him said clearly that he was in charge and no one with him had to worry about a thing.
She laughed to herself. Funny, but the very thing she found so intriguing about him was what drove her the craziest about her father.
“Want to share the joke?” he asked, that deep voice of his rumbling along every single one of her nerve endings.
“No,” she said abruptly. “Not really.”
“Okay, but when a woman is chuckling to herself, a man always assumes she’s laughing at
him
.”
“Oh, I doubt that.” Alex reached for her coffee cup and took a sip. When she set it down again, she added, “I can’t imagine too many women laugh at you.”
Amusement sparkled in his eyes. “Never more than once.”
Now she did laugh and he gave her a reluctant smile.
“Not intimidated by me at all, are you?” he asked.
“Should I be?”
“Most people are.”
“I’m not most people.”
“Yeah,” he said wryly, “I’m getting that.” He leaned back in his chair and asked, “So what next, Alex? Anything else on your ‘must see’ list besides Disneyland?”
She grinned. It was wonderful. Being here. Alone. With him. No palace guards in attendance. No assistants or ministers or parents or brothers hovering nearby. She felt freer than she ever had and she didn’t want to waste a moment of it. Already, her excitement had a bittersweet tinge to it because Alex knew this time away from home couldn’t last.
All too soon, she would have to go back to Cadria. Duty was far too ingrained in her to allow for a permanent vacation. Another week was probably all she could manage before she would have to return and be Princess Alexis again. At the thought, she almost heard the palace doors close behind her. Almost sensed the weight of her crown pressing against her forehead.
Poor little rich girl,
she thought wryly and briefly remembered Garrett’s tiny cousin wistfully dreaming of being a princess.
If only the little girl could realize that what she already had was worth so much more. A ripple of regret washed through Alex as she turned her gaze on the busy street.
She wondered how many of the people laughing, talking, planning a lazy day at the beach were like her—on holiday and already dreading the return to their real world.
“Alex?”
She turned her head to look at him and found his gaze locked on her. “Sorry. Must have been daydreaming.”
“Didn’t look like much of a daydream. What’s got you frowning?”
He was far too perceptive, she thought and warned herself to guard her emotions more closely. “Just thinking that I don’t want my holiday to end.”
“Everything ends,” he said quietly. “The trick is not to worry about the ending so much that you don’t enjoy what you’ve got while you’ve got it.”
Nodding, she said, “You’re absolutely right.”
“I usually am,” he teased. “Ask anybody.”
“You’re insufferable, aren’t you?”
“Among many other things,” he told her, and she felt a tug of something inside her when his mouth curved just the slightest bit.
Then he turned his back on the busy street and looked out at the water. She followed his gaze, and nearly sighed at the perfection of the view. Tiny, quick-footed birds dashed in and out of the incoming tide. Lovers walked along the shore and children built castles in the sand.
Castles.
She sighed a little at the reminder of her daydream, of the world waiting for her return.
“So no big plans for today then?” he asked.
“No,” she said with a suddenly determined sigh, “just to see as much as I can. To enjoy the day.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me. How about we explore the town a little then take a drive along the coast?”
Relief sparkled inside her. She had been sure he’d have to leave. Go to work. Do whatever he normally did when not spending time with a runaway princess. “Really? That sounds wonderful. If you’re sure you don’t have to be somewhere…”
“I’m all yours,” he said, spreading his arms as if offering himself to her.
And ooh, the lovely sizzle that thought caused. “You don’t have to be at work?”
“Nope. I’m taking a few days off.”
“Well, then, lucky me.”
The waitress approached with the check, Garrett pulled a few bills from his wallet and handed them to her.
“Hmm, that reminds me,” Alex said when the woman was gone again. “You owe me five dollars.”
His eyebrows lifted. “For what?”
She folded her arms on the table. “We had a wager yesterday and you never did guess where I’m from.”
He nodded, gaze locked on hers, and warmth dazzled her system. Honestly, if he were to reach out and touch her while staring at her as he was, Alex was sure she’d simply go up in flames.
“So we did,” he said and reached into his wallet again.
“You don’t have to actually pay me,” she said, reaching out to stop him. Her hand touched his and just as she’d suspected, heat surged through her like an out of control wildfire. She pulled her hand back quickly, but still the heat lingered. “I just wanted you to admit you lost. You did buy breakfast after all.”
“I always pay my debts,” he said and pulled out a five. Before he could hand it over, though, Alex dug into her purse for a pen and gave it to him. “What’s this for?”
“Sign it,” she said with a shrug and a smile. “That way I’ll always remember winning my first wager.”