Authors: Maureen Child
“Garrett…”
“Drop it, Griff,” he said tightly. “Just, drop it.”
“The most stubborn son of a—fine. Okay then, we’ve got a new client.” Griffin moved back to the chair and sat down, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankle. “He’s opening a luxury resort in Georgia and apparently he’s having trouble with some local protestors.”
“What’re they protesting?”
Griffin snorted. “He’s building a golf course and apparently threatening the home ground of the three-legged-gnat-catcher-water-beast-frog or some damn thing. Anyway, to protect the insects, they’re threatening our client, and he wants to hire us to protect his family.”
“It’s a weird world, brother,” Garrett muttered. “Protect the gnats by killing people.”
“You got that right. Still, upside is, the weirdness is good for business. Anyway…”
Garrett nodded and listened while his brother outlined his plans for their latest client. This was better. Work. Something definable. Something he could count on. All he had to do was keep his focus centered. Remember who he was and why it was so important to keep a hard demarcation line between him and Alex.
He took a seat behind his desk, picked up the pen and began making notes. King Security was his reality.
Not a runaway princess looking for a white knight.
Three days.
It had been three days since they were together on that boat. Three days since Garrett had touched her in any but the most impersonal way. Three days that Alex had spent in a constant state of turmoil, waiting for it all to happen again and then being crushed when
nothing
happened.
Which was making her insane.
“Honestly,” she demanded out loud of the empty room, “what is he waiting for?”
She knew he wanted her as much as she did him. When they were together, she felt the tension rippling off him in waves. So
why
was he working so hard at keeping her at arm’s length? And why was she allowing it? For heaven’s sake, this wasn’t the nineteenth century. If she wanted him, she should go after him. No subtlety. No more waiting. He was determined to ignore what was between them, and she was just as determined that he be unable to.
Time was running out for her, Alex thought grimly. Soon enough, she would be on a plane headed back to Cadria and all of this would be nothing but a memory. And damn it, if memories were all that was going to be left of her, then she wanted as many of them as she could make.
With that thought firmly in mind, she checked her mirror and gave herself an objective once-over. Garrett had had some business to take care of that morning and so she’d had a couple of hours to herself and hadn’t wasted them. A cab had taken her to the nearest mall where she had shopped until her feet gave out.
It had been good, walking through the Bella Terra mall, just another woman shopping. The freedom she felt was still thrilling, and she didn’t know how she would get used to being under the palace microscope once her bit of freedom had ended. Being just one of a crowd was so liberating. She’d laughed with salesgirls, had a hamburger in the food court and then spent a lovely hour in a bookstore.
In fact, it would have been a perfect morning but for the fact that she’d had the oddest sensation that she was being watched. Ridiculous really and probably her own nerves rattling around inside her. No one here knew who she was so why would anyone be interested in what she was doing? She simply wasn’t totally accustomed to being alone, that was all. Since leaving her guards behind her, she had been with Garrett almost every moment. Of course she would feel a touch uncomfortable. But it meant nothing.
Brushing off those thoughts, she returned to studying her reflection with a critical eye.
Hair good, makeup perfect and the slinky black dress she’d purchased just that morning clung to her like a second skin. The neckline was deep, displaying cleavage that should surely catch Garrett’s eye. And the hemline was just barely legal. Paired with a pair of four-inch black heels, she looked, if she had to say so herself, hot.
Which was her intention, after all.
Her insides swirled with anticipation as she imagined the look on Garrett’s face when he saw her. “Let him try to ignore me
now.
”
A smile curved her mouth as she let her mind wander to all sorts of interesting places. Damp heat settled at her core and a throbbing ache beat in time with her pulse. She needed him as she had never needed anyone before. And tonight, she was going to make sure he knew it.
An extremely vivid memory rose up in her mind. In a flash, she recalled just how it felt to have Garrett kissing her, touching her. Showering her body with the kinds of sensations she’d never known before. And she wanted it again, blast it.
“What’s missing in this holiday romance,” she told her reflection sternly, “is
romance
.”
Her time here was almost over. She couldn’t very well put off her return indefinitely. First of all, she wouldn’t do that to her family. But secondly, even if she
tried,
her father would never stand for it. If she didn’t go home soon, the king would have an army of investigators out searching for her and they
would
find her. Her father was nothing if not thorough.
Now that she considered it actually, she was a little surprised her father hadn’t already sent a herd of search dogs after her. It wasn’t like him to let her minirebellion stand.
Frowning at the girl in the mirror, Alex shifted her gaze to the telephone on the bedside table. Guilt gnawed at her as she thought about calling home. At least letting her mother know that she was safe. The problem was, reaching her mother wouldn’t be easy. The queen didn’t have an email account. And she refused to get a cell phone, despite the palace and the king’s insistence, so Alex would have to go through the palace phone system. Then she would have to talk to who knew how many ladies-in-waiting, assistants and secretaries before finally reaching her mother.
And during that interminable wait, everyone she talked to could spill the beans to her father the king, and Alex was in no mood to hear another lecture on the evils of selfishness.
“No,” she said, staring at the phone, “I’m sorry, Mother, but I’ll be home soon enough.”
Just thinking about home had Alex imagining the castle walls closing in around her. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was still free. Still on her own. She still had time to enjoy life in the real world. To enjoy her time with Garrett.
Garrett.
She frowned again and turned to the laptop computer sitting on the desk near the terrace. She still didn’t know Garrett’s last name. They’d never discussed it again after that first time when they had decided to keep their identities a mystery. But…she did know his
cousin’s
last name.
Garrett had kept her so busy the past couple of days, she’d hardly had a moment to think about the possibilities that knowledge provided. Every day had been so filled with activities and rushing about that when he brought her back to the hotel at night, she was so exhausted she usually just fell into bed.
But tonight…
She chewed at her bottom lip and wondered. What if there was a reason Garrett hadn’t made any further moves? Maybe he had lied when he said he wasn’t involved with someone. Maybe he had a
wife.
That thought jolted and rocked through her on an equal tide of disappointment and righteous indignation.
For the first time, she considered the fact that she actually had a
reason
for keeping her last name a secret. Perhaps Garrett did, too.
“Right, then,” she told herself. “Time to find out more about Garrett.”
Decision made, she walked quickly to the computer, booted it up and took a chance. She entered the name Garrett King in the search engine and hit Enter.
In seconds, her world tilted and her stomach dropped. The first listing read
King Security, Garrett and Griffin King.
King Security?
She couldn’t believe it. Mouth dry, heart pounding, she clicked on the link and watched as their website opened up. She clicked on the About Us tab and there he was.
Her Garrett.
Garrett King.
Security expert.
“Bloody hell.”
Garrett waited outside the penthouse door. He shot his cuffs, smoothed the lapels of his tailored, navy blue suit and wondered what the hell was taking Alex so long. Damn, hadn’t taken him much time to get used to her being painfully punctual. Now that she was taking a few seconds to open the door, he was both bothered and worried.
Was she safe?
He knocked again and the door flew open. Alex was there and she looked…amazing.
The misery of the past couple of days gathered into a twist of knots in his gut. Just looking at her was pure, unadulterated torture. How the hell was he supposed to not touch her?
Garrett took a breath and reminded himself
again
of just what had happened the last time he’d allowed his dick to make his decisions for him. He had thrown professionalism aside in favor of his own wants and someone else had paid the price.
He’d be damned before he’d do the same damn thing again and have Alex paying for it.
When she just stared at him, he finally said, “You’re so beautiful, you’re dangerous.”
She inclined her head in what he could only call a “regal” gesture. “Thank you.” Grabbing her black bag from a nearby table, she hooked her arm through his and stepped out of the suite. “Shall we go?”
“Sure.” Frowning to himself, Garrett felt the first stirrings of unease creep through him.
If he were out in the field, he’d be checking for snipers or some other bad guy sneaking up on him. It was just a feeling, but it had never let him down before.
Something was wrong.
Damian’s was the hottest new restaurant on the coast. Designed to mimic the lush, noir atmosphere of the forties, the restaurant boasted a view of the ocean, a teakwood dance floor, linen-draped tables dusted with candlelight and the best seafood in California.
The place had struck a solid chord with the public—older people loved coming here to remember their youth and the younger crowd seemed to enjoy the romance and elegance of another era. It was easier to get a private audience with the pope than it was to land a reservation at Damian’s. Not a problem for Garrett, of course. It paid to be related to the owner.
A singer on stage, backed by a small orchestra working to evoke the feel of the big band era crooned about apple trees and lost loves. Dancers swayed to the music, bathed in spotlights that continually swept the floor.
Garrett wasn’t surprised this place was a rousing success. Damian King was known for running restaurants that became legendary. At the moment, Damian was in Scotland, brokering a deal for a new “ghost” theme club to be opened in Edinburgh.
Jefferson King was happily living in Ireland. Garrett’s brother Nash called London home and now Damian was in Scotland. He smiled to himself as he realized the Kings of California were slowly but surely starting to take over the world.
“It’s lovely,” Alex said and he turned to look at her.
Those were the first words she’d spoken to him since they’d left her hotel. She’d been polite, cool and completely shut off from him. The complete opposite of the Alex he had come to know over the last several days. There was no joy in her eyes, no easy smile and her spine was so straight, her shoulders so squared, it was as if she were tied to her chair.
“Yeah,” he said warily. “Damian did a nice job of it. But then he always does.”
“This isn’t his only restaurant?”
“No, he’s got a string of ’em up and down California.”
“Interesting.”
Okay, this was not right. She couldn’t have made it plainer that something was chewing at her insides. He studied her and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. It was his
business,
after all, to be able to read people. But for the first time since he’d known Alex, he didn’t have a clue what was going on in her mind.
Her eyes were cool, dispassionate. Her luscious mouth was curved in a half smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She was the epitome of the kind of sophisticated, aloof woman he usually avoided. Who was she and what had she done with Alex?
“Your cousin. That would be Damian
King?
”