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To Kiss a King
Maureen Child
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“I’ve been thinking about that kiss.”
Oh, he’d been thinking about it, too. About what he would have done if they’d been alone in the dark.
Garrett looked at her and knew instantly thinking about it had been a mistake. Desire glittered in her eyes. He recognized it, because the same thing was happening to him. He couldn’t seem to fight it. More, he didn’t want to.
He hadn’t asked for this. Didn’t need it. But the truth was, he wanted Alexis.
The worst part? He couldn’t have her.
He was working for her father. She was a princess. He was responsible for her safety. In the real world, a holiday romance was right up his alley. No strings. No complications. But this woman was nothing but complications.
Good reasons for avoiding this situation, he told himself. For keeping an eye on her from a distance.
And not one of those reasons meant a damn thing in the face of the need clawing his insides.
Dear Reader,
I love old movies. From romantic comedies to thrillers to ghost stories. The old movies—and I’m talking really old movies from the forties and fifties—all had a kind of magic you don’t see very often today.
And one of my absolute favorites has always been Roman Holiday, the story of a princess who runs away from her royal duties for a day of freedom.
In To Kiss a King, I was able to change that idea up a little and give it the romantic happily ever after it deserved. My royal princess, Alexis, escapes palace life to experience real life. And she starts out with her dream trip to Disneyland. Which, of course, since it’s my book, is where she meets Garrett King.
Garrett’s a security expert, and when he discovers that Alex is a runaway princess, he’s torn between protecting her and seducing her.
And that, I think, makes for a whirlwind romance filled with secrets, lies, seduction and—I sincerely hope—a wonderful love story.
I hope you enjoy To Kiss a King and I’d love to hear from you! Find me on Facebook or Twitter and e-mail me at maureenchildbooks@gmail.com.
Happy reading!
Maureen
About the Author
MAUREEN CHILD is a California native who loves to travel. Every chance they get, she and her husband are taking off on another research trip. The author of more than sixty books, Maureen loves a happy ending and still swears that she has the best job in the world. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children and a golden retriever with delusions of grandeur. Visit Maureen’s website, www.maureenchild.com.
To Kiss a King
Maureen Child
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To Susan Mallery, a great writer and an even better friend. For all of the shared dreams, all of the good laughs and all those yet to come.
Thanks, Susan.
One
Garrett King was in Hell.
Dozens of screaming, laughing children raced past him and he winced as their voices hit decibels only dogs should have been able to hear. Happiest Place on Earth? He didn’t think so.
How he had let himself be talked into this, he had no idea.
“Getting soft,” he muttered darkly and leaned one hand on the hot metal balustrade in front of him only to wrench his hand back instantly. He glanced at his palm, sighed and reached for a napkin out of his cousin’s bag to wipe the sticky cotton candy off his skin.
“You could be at the office,” he told himself sternly, wadding up the napkin and tossing it into a trash can. “You could be checking invoices, keeping tabs on the new client. But no, you had to say yes to your cousin instead.”
Jackson King had pulled out all the stops getting Garrett to go along with this little family adventure. Jackson’s wife, Casey, was apparently “worried” because Garrett was alone too much. Nice woman Casey, he told himself. But did no one ever consider that maybe a man was alone because he wanted to be?
But he still could have begged off if it had been just Casey and Jackson doing the asking. But Garrett’s cousin had cheated.
He had had his daughters ask “Uncle” Garrett to go with them and frankly, when faced with three of the cutest kids in the world, it would have been impossible to say no. And Jackson knew it, the clever bastard.
“Hey, cuz!” Jackson’s shout sounded out and Garrett turned to give him a hard look.
Jackson only laughed. “Casey, honey,” he said, turning to his stunning wife, “did you see that? I don’t think Garrett’s having any fun.”
“About that,” Garrett cut in, lifting his voice to be heard over the raucous noise rising from the crowd, “I was thinking I’d just head out now. Leave you guys to some family fun.”
“You are family, Garrett,” Casey pointed out.
Before he could speak, Garrett felt a tug at his pants leg. He looked down into Mia’s upturned face. “Uncle Garrett, we’re going on the fast mountain ride. You wanna come?”
At five, Mia King was already a heartbreaker. From her King blue eyes to the missing front tooth to the dimple in her cheek, she was absolutely adorable. And not being a dummy, she knew how to work it already, too.
“Uh…” Garrett glanced behind Mia to her younger sisters Molly and Mara. Molly was three and Mara was just beginning to toddle. The three of them were unstoppable, Garrett told himself wryly.
There was just no way he was getting out of this day early. One girl pouting was hard to resist. Three were too much for any man to stand against.
“How about I stand here and watch your stuff while you guys go on the ride?”
Jackson snorted a laugh that Garrett ignored. For God’s sake, he owned the most respected security company in the country and here he was haggling with a five-year-old.
Garrett and Jackson had been good friends for years. Most of the King cousins were close, but he and Jackson had worked closely together over the years. Garrett’s security company and Jackson’s company, King Jets, fed off each other. With Garrett’s high-priced clients renting Jackson’s luxury jets, both companies were thriving for the loosely defined partnership.
Jackson’s wife, Casey, on the other hand, was one of those happily married women who saw every determined bachelor as a personal challenge.
“You going on the Matterhorn with us?” Jackson asked, plucking Mara from his wife’s arms. The chubby toddler slapped at his cheeks gleefully and Garrett watched with some amusement as Jackson practically melted. The man was a sap when it came to his family. Funny, because in business, Jackson King was a cutthroat kind of guy that nobody wanted to cross.
“Nope,” Garrett told him and lifted the baby out of his cousin’s arms. With the crazed population explosion in the King family, Garrett was getting used to dealing with kids. Comfortably settling the tiny girl on his hip, he said, “I’ll wait here with Mara and the rest of your—” he paused to glance down at the stroller and the bags already piled high on it “—stuff.”
“You could ride with me,” Mia insisted, turning those big blue eyes on him.
“Oh, she’s good,” Jackson whispered on a laugh.
Garrett went down on one knee and looked her in the eye. “How about I stay here with your sister and you tell me all about the ride when you get off?”
She scowled a little, clearly unused to losing, then grinned. “Okay.”
Casey took both of the girls’ hands, smiled at Garrett and headed for the line.
“I didn’t ask you to come along so you could just stand around, you know,” Jackson said.
“Yeah. Why did you ask me along? Better yet, why’d I say yes?”
Jackson laughed, looked over his shoulder at his wife and then said, “One word. Casey. She thinks you’re lonely. And if you think I’m going to listen to her worry about you all by myself, you’re nuts.”
Mara slapped Garrett’s face. He swiveled his head to smile at the baby. “Your daddy’s scared of your mommy.”
“Damn straight,” Jackson admitted with a laugh. He headed off after the rest of his family and called back, “If she gets cranky, there’s a bottle in the diaper bag.”
“I think I can handle a baby,” he shouted back, but Jackson was already swallowed by the crowd.
“It’s just you and me, kid,” Garrett told the girl who laughed delightedly and squirmed as if she wanted to be turned loose to run. “Oh, no, you don’t. I put you down, you disappear and your mommy kills me.”
“Down.” Mara looked mutinous.
“No.”
She scowled again then tried a coy smile.
“Man,” Garrett said with a smile. “Are women born knowing how to do that?”
Bright, cheerful calliope music erupted from somewhere nearby and the smell of popcorn floated on the breeze. A dog wearing a top hat was waltzing with Cinderella to the cheers of the crowd. And Garrett was holding a baby and feeling as out of place as—hell, he couldn’t even think of anything as out of place as he felt at the moment.
This was not his world, he thought, jiggling Mara when she started fussing. Give Garrett King a dangerous situation, a shooter going after a high-profile target, a kidnapping, even a jewelry heist, and he was in his element.
This happy, shiny stuff? Not so much.
Owning and operating the biggest, most successful security company in the country was bound to color your outlook on the world. Their clients ranged from royalty to wealthy industrialists, computer billionaires and politicians. Because of their own immense wealth, the King brothers knew how to blend in when arranging security. Because of their expertise, their reputation kept growing. Their firm was the most sought-after of its kind on the planet. The King twins flew all over the world to meet the demands of their clients. And he and his twin, Griffin, were good with that. Not everyone could be relaxed and optimistic. There had to be people like he and Griff around to take care of the dirty jobs.
That was his comfort zone, he told himself as he watched Jackson and his family near the front of the line. Casey was holding Molly and Jackson had Mia up on his shoulders. They looked…perfect. And Garrett was glad for his cousin, really. In fact, he was happy for all of the Kings who had recently jumped off a cliff into the uncharted waters of marriage and family. But he wouldn’t be joining them.
Guys like him didn’t do happy endings.
“That’s okay, though,” he whispered, planting a kiss on Mara’s forehead. “I’ll settle for spending time with you guys. How’s that?”
She burbled something he took as agreement then fixed her gaze on a bright pink balloon. “Boon!”
Garrett was just going to buy it for her when he noticed the woman.
Alexis Morgan Wells was having a wonderful day. Disneyland was everything she had hoped it would be. She loved everything about it. The music, the laughter. The cartoon characters wandering around interacting with the crowd. She loved the gardens, the topiary statues; she even loved the smell of the place. It was like childhood and dreams and magic all at once.
The music from the last ride she’d been on was still dancing through her mind—she had a feeling it would be for hours—when she noticed the man coming up to her. Her good mood quickly drained away as the same man who had followed her on to It’s a Small World hurried to catch up. He’d had the seat behind her in the boat and had come close to ruining the whole experience for her as he insisted on trying to talk to her.
Just as he was now.
“Come on, babe. I’m not a crazy person or anything. I just want to buy you lunch. Is that so bad?”
She half turned and gave him a patient, if tight, smile. “I’ve already told you I’m not interested, so please go away.”
Instead of being rebuffed, his eyes lit up. “You’re British, aren’t you? The accent’s cool.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”
She was really going to have to work on that, she told herself sternly. If she wasn’t paying close attention, her clipped accent immediately branded her as “different.” Though it would take a much better ear than that of the man currently bothering her, to recognize that her accent wasn’t British, but Cadrian.
But if she worked at it, she could manage an American accent—since her mother had been born in California. Thinking about her mom brought a quick zip of guilt shooting through her, but Alex tamped it down. She’d deal with it later. She was absolutely sure her mother would understand why Alex had had to leave—she was just in no hurry to hear how much worry she’d caused by taking off.
After all, Alex was a bright, capable adult and if she wanted a vacation, why should she have to jump through hoops to take one? There, she was feeling better already. Until she picked up on the fact that her would-be admirer was still talking. Honestly, she was trying to stay under the radar and this man was drawing way too much attention to her.
Trying to ignore him, Alex quickened her steps, moving in and out of the ever-shifting crowd with the grace earned from years of dance lessons. She wore a long, tunic-style white blouse, blue jeans and blue platform heels, and, at the moment, she was wishing she’d worn sneakers. Then she could have sprinted for some distance.
The minute that thought entered her mind, she dismissed it, though. Running through a crowd like a lunatic would only draw the notice she was trying to avoid.
“C’mon, babe, it’s lunch. What could it hurt?”
“I don’t eat,” she told him, “I’m an oxygenarian.”
He blinked at her. “What?”
“Nothing,” she muttered, hurrying again. Stop talking to him, she told herself. Ignore him and he’ll go away.
She headed for the landmark right ahead of her. The snow-topped mountain in the middle of Anaheim, California. This particular mountain was probably one of the best known peaks in the world. Alex smiled just looking at it. She lifted her gaze and watched as toboggans filled with screaming, laughing people jolted around curves and splashed through lagoons, sending waves of water into the air. The line for the mountain was a long one and as her gaze moved over the people there, she saw him. He was watching her. A big man with black hair, a stern jaw and a plump baby on his hip.
In one quick instant, she felt a jolt of something like “recognition.” As if something inside her, knew him. Had been searching for him. Unfortunately, judging by the black-haired little girl he was holding, some other woman had found him first.
“Quit walking so fast, will ya?” the annoying guy behind her whined.
Alex fixed her gaze on the sharp-eyed man and felt his stare hit her as powerfully as a touch. Then his eyes shifted from her to the man behind her and back again. He seemed to understand the situation instantly.
“There you are, honey!” he called out, smiling directly at Alex. “What took you so long?”
Smiling broadly, she accepted the help he was offering and ran to him. He greeted her with a grin then dropped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to his side. Only then did he shift his gaze to the disappointed man.
“There a problem here?” Her Knight in Shining Denim demanded.
“No,” the guy muttered, shaking his head. “No problem. Later.”
And he was gone.
Alex watched him go with a sigh of relief. Not that he had ever scared her or anything, but she hadn’t wanted to waste her first day in Disneyland being irritated. The big man beside her still had his arm around her and Alex liked it. He was big and strong and it was hard not to appreciate a guy who had seen you needed help and offered it without a qualm.
“Boon!”
The little girl’s voice shattered the moment and with that reminder that her hero was probably someone else’s husband, Alex slipped out from under his arm. Glancing up at the little girl, she smiled. “You’re a beauty, aren’t you? Your daddy must be very proud.”
“Oh, he is,” the man beside her said, his voice so deep it seemed to sink right inside her. “And he’s got two more just like her.”
“Really.” She wasn’t sure why the news that he was the father of three was so disappointing, but there it was.
“Yeah. My cousin and his wife have the other two on the ride right now. I’m just watching this one for them.”
“Oh.” She smiled, pleasure rushing through her. “Then you’re not her father?”
He smiled, too, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Not a chance. I wouldn’t do that to some poor, unsuspecting kid.”
Alex looked into his eyes and enjoyed the sparkle she found there. He was relishing this little flirtation as much as she was. “Oh, I don’t know. A hero might make a very good father.”
“Hero? I’m hardly that.”
“You were for me a minute ago,” she said. “I couldn’t seem to convince that man to leave me alone, so I really appreciate your help.”
“You’re welcome. But you could have gone to a security guard and had the guy thrown out. Probably should have.”
No, going to a security guard would have involved making statements, filling out paperwork and then her identity would be revealed and the lovely day she’d planned would have been ruined.
She shook her head, pushed her long blond hair back from her face and turned to sweep her gaze across the manicured flower gardens, the happy kids and the brilliant blue sky overhead. “No, he wasn’t dangerous. Just irritating.”
He laughed and she liked the sound of it.
“Boon, Gar,” the little girl said in a voice filled with the kind of determination only a single-minded toddler could manage.
“Right. Balloon.” He lifted one hand to the balloon seller, and the guy stepped right up, gently tying the string of a bright pink balloon to the baby’s wrist. While Garrett paid the man, the baby waved her arm, squealing with delight as the balloon danced and jumped to her whim.
“So, I think introductions are in order,” he said. “This demanding female is Mara and I’m Garrett.”
“Alexis, but call me Alex,” she said, holding her right hand out to him.
He took her hand in his and the instant her skin brushed along his, Alex felt ripples of something really intriguing washing throughout her body. Then he let her go and the delightful heat dissipated.
“So, Alex, how’s your day going?”
She laughed a little. “Until that one little moment, it was going great. I love it here. It’s my first time, and I’ve heard so much about this place…”
“Ah,” he said nodding, “that explains it.”
She tensed. “Explains what?”
“If it’s your first time here, you’re having so much fun that all of these crowds don’t bother you.”
“Oh, no. I think it’s wonderful. Everyone seems so nice, well, except for—”
“That one little moment?” he asked, repeating her words to her.
“Yes, exactly.” Alex smiled again and reluctantly took a step back. As lovely as this was, talking to a handsome man who had no idea who she was, it would be better for her if she ended it now and went on her way. “Thank you again for the rescue, but I should really be going…”
He tipped his head to one side and looked at her. “Meeting someone?”
“No, but—”
“Then what’s your hurry?”
Her heartbeat sped up at the invitation in his eyes. He didn’t want her to leave. And how nice that was. He actually liked her.
The darling little girl was still playing with her balloon, paying no attention at all to the two adults with her.
Alex looked up into Garrett’s pale blue eyes and did some fast thinking. She had to keep a low profile, true. But that didn’t mean she had to be a hermit during her…vacation, did it? And what kind of holiday would it be if there were no “romance” included?
“What do you say,” he added, “hang with us today. Rescue me from a day filled with too many kids?”
“You need rescuing?”
She saw the teasing glint in his eyes and responded to it with a smile.
“Trust me. My cousin’s girls all have my number. If you’re not there to protect me, who knows what might happen?”
Tempting, she thought. So very tempting. She’d only been in America for three days and already she was feeling a little isolated. Being on her own was liberating, but, as it turned out, lonely. And it wasn’t as if she could call the few friends she had in the States—the moment she did, word would get back to her family and, just like that, her bid for freedom would end.
What could it hurt to spend the day with a man who made her toes curl and the family he clearly loved? She took a breath and made the leap. “All right, thank you. I would love to rescue you.”
“Excellent. My cousin and his family should be back any minute now. So while we wait, why don’t you tell me where you’re from. I can’t quite place your accent. It’s British, but…not.”
She jolted a little and fought to keep him from seeing it. “You’ve a good ear.”
“So I’ve been told. But that’s not really an answer, is it?”
No, it wasn’t, and how astute of him to notice. She’d been trained in how to answer questions without really answering them from the time she was a child. Her father would have been proud. Never answer a question directly, Alexis. Always be vague. Watch what you say, Alexis. You’ve a responsibility to your family. Your heritage. Your people…
“Hey. Alex.”
At the sound of his concerned voice, she shook her head, coming out of her thoughts with relief. That was the second time Garrett had rescued her today. She didn’t want to think about her duties. Her role in history. She didn’t want to be anything but Alex.
So instead of being evasive again, she said, “Why don’t you try to figure out where I’m from and I’ll let you know when you’ve got it right?”
One dark eyebrow lifted. “Oh, you’re challenging the wrong guy. But you’re on. Five bucks says I’ve got it by the end of the day.”
Oh, she hoped not. If he did, that would ruin everything. But she braved it out and asked, “Five dollars? Not much of a wager.”
He gave her a slow grin that sent new flashes of heat dancing through her system. “I’m open to negotiation.”
She actually felt her blood sizzle and hum.
“No, no. That’s all right.” She backed up quickly. Maybe she wasn’t as prepared for that zing of romance as she had thought. Or maybe Garrett the Gorgeous was just too much for her to handle. Either way, she was nervous enough to try to cool things down between them just a little. “Five dollars will do. It’s a bargain.”
“Agreed,” he said, one corner of his mouth lifting tantalizingly. “But just so you know, you should never bet with me, Alex. I always win.”
“Confident, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
A thrill of something hot and delicious swept through her veins. Nerves or not, she really enjoyed what he was doing to her. What was it about him that affected her so?
“That was fun, Uncle Garrett!”
A tiny whirlwind rushed up to them and threw both arms around Garrett’s knees. The girl gave him a wide smile then shifted suspicious eyes to Alex. “Who are you?”
“This is Alex,” Garrett told her. “Alex, meet Mia.”
She smiled at the child and couldn’t help noticing that the little girl held on to Garrett’s legs just a little more tightly.
“Mia, don’t run from me in these crowds,” a deep male voice shouted.
Alex turned to watch an impossibly attractive couple approach, the man holding on to a smaller version of the still-wary Mia.
“Alex,” Garrett said briskly, “this is my cousin Jackson and his wife, Casey, and that pretty girl with them is Molly.”
“It’s lovely to meet you all.”
Jackson gave her a quick up and down, then winked at his wife. “Wow, leave Garrett alone for a few minutes and he finds the most beautiful woman in the whole place—”
His wife nudged him with an elbow.
“—not counting you of course, sweetie. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Nice recovery,” Casey told him with a laugh and a smile for Alex.
“Always were a smooth one, Jackson,” Garrett mused.
“It’s why she loves me,” his cousin answered, dropping a kiss on his wife’s head.
Alex smiled at all of them. It was lovely to see the open affection in this family, though she felt a sharp pang of envy slice at her, as well. To get some time for herself she’d had to run from her own family. She missed them, even her dictatorial father, and being around these people only brought up their loss more sharply.
“It’s nice to meet you, Alex,” Casey said, extending her right hand in welcome.
“Thank you. I must admit I’m a little overwhelmed by everything. This is my first trip to Disneyland and—”
“Your first time?” Mia interrupted. “But you’re old.”
“Mia!” Casey was horrified.
Garrett and Jackson laughed and Alex joined them. Bending down slightly, she met Mia’s gaze and said, “It’s horrible I know. But I live very far away from here, so this is the first chance I’ve ever had to visit.”
“Oh.” Nodding her head, Mia thought about it for a minute then looked at her mother. “I think we should take Alex to the ghost ride.”
“Mia, that’s your favorite ride,” her father said.
“But she would like it, wouldn’t you, Alex?” She turned her eyes up and gave her a pleading look.
“You know,” Alex said, “I was just wishing I knew how to find the ghost ride.”
“I’ll show you!” Mia took her hand and started walking, fully expecting her family to follow.
“Guess you’ll be spending the day with us for sure, now,” Garrett teased.
“Looks that way.” She grinned, delighted with this turn of events. She was in a place she’d heard about her whole life and she wasn’t alone. There were children to enjoy and people to talk to and it was very near to perfect.
Then she looked up at Garrett’s blue eyes and told herself maybe it was closer to perfect than she knew.
“And after the ghost ride, we can ride the jungle boats and then the pirate one.” Mia was talking a mile a minute.
“Molly, honey, don’t pick up the bug,” Jackson said patiently.
“Bug?” Casey repeated, horrified.
Still holding Mara, Garrett came up beside Alex and said softly, “I promise, after the ghost ride, I’ll ride herd on my family and you can do what you want to do.”
The funny thing was, he didn’t know it, but she was already doing what she had always wanted to do.
She wanted to be accepted. To spend a day with nothing more to worry about than enjoying herself. And mostly, she wanted to meet people and have them like her because she was Alex Wells.
Not because she was Her Royal Highness Princess Alexis Morgan Wells of Cadria.
Two
She was driving Garrett just a little crazy.
And not only because she was beautiful and funny and smart. But because he’d never seen a woman let go and really enjoy herself so much. Most of the women who came and went from his life were more interested in how their hair looked. Or in being sophisticated enough that a ride on spinning teacups would never have entered their heads.
But Alex was different. She had the girls eating out of her hand, and, without even trying, she was reaching Garrett in ways that he never would have expected. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
That wide smile was inviting, sexy—and familiar, somehow.
He knew he’d seen her before somewhere, but damned if he could remember where. And that bothered him, too. Because a woman like Alex wasn’t easily forgotten.
At lunch, she had bitten into a burger with a sigh of pleasure so rich that all he could think of was cool sheets and hot sex. She sat astride a carousel horse and he imagined her straddling him. She licked at an ice cream cone and he—
Garrett shook his head and mentally pulled back fast from that particular image. As it was, he was having a hard time walking. A few more thoughts like that one and he’d be paralyzed.
Alex loved everything about Disneyland. He saw it in her eyes because she didn’t hide a thing. Another way she was different from the women he knew. They were all about artful lies, strategic moves and studied flirtation.
Alex was just…herself.
“You’ll like this, Alex,” said Mia, who had appointed herself Alex’s personal tour guide. “The pirate ships shoot cannons and there’s a fire and singing, too. And it’s dark inside.”
“Okay, kiddo,” Jackson told his daughter, interrupting her flood of information, “how about we give Alex a little rest?” He grinned at her and Garrett as he steered his family into the front row of the boat.
Garrett took the hint gratefully and pulled Alexis into the last row. A bit of separation for the duration of the ride would give them a little time to themselves.
“She’s wonderful,” Alex murmured. “So bright. So talkative.”
“Oh, she is that,” Garrett said with a laugh. “Mia has an opinion on everything and doesn’t hesitate to share it. Her kindergarten teacher calls her ‘precocious.’ I call her a busybody.”
She laughed again and Garrett found himself smiling in response. There was no cautious titter. No careful chuckle. When Alex laughed, she threw her soul into it and everything about her lit up. Oh, he was getting in way too deep. This was ridiculous. Not only did he not even know her last name, but he hadn’t been able to pin down what country she was from, either.
Not for lack of trying, though.
The sense of familiarity he had for her was irritating as hell. There was something there. Something just out of reach, that would tell him how he knew her. Who she was. And yet, he couldn’t quite grab hold of it.
The ride jolted into motion and Alex leaned forward, eager to see everything. He liked that about her, too. Her curiosity. Her appreciation for whatever was happening. It wasn’t something enough people did, living in the moment. For most, it was all about “tomorrow.” What they would do when they had the time or the money or the energy.
He’d seen it all too often. People who had everything in the world and didn’t seem to notice because they were always looking forward to the next thing.
“Wonderful,” she whispered. Their boat rocked lazily on its tracks, water slapping at its hull. She looked behind them at the people awaiting the next boat then shifted her gaze to his.
Overhead, a night sky was filled with stars and animatronic fireflies blinked on and off. A sultry, hot breeze wafted past them. Even in the darkness, he saw delight shining in her eyes and the curve of her mouth was something he just didn’t want to resist any longer.
Leaning forward, he caught her by the back of the neck and pulled her toward him. Then he slanted his mouth over hers for a taste of the mouth that had been driving him nuts for hours.
She was worth the wait.
After a second’s surprise, she recovered and kissed him back. Her mouth moved against his with a soft, languid touch that stirred fires back into life and made him wish they were all alone in the dark—rather than surrounded by singing pirates and chattering tourists.
She sighed and leaned into him and that fired him up so fast, it took his breath away. But who needed breathing anyway? She lifted one hand to his cheek and when she pulled back, breaking the kiss, her fingertips stroked his jaw. She drew a breath and let it go again with a smile. Leaning into him, she whispered, “That was lovely.”
He took her hand in his and kissed the center of her palm. “It was way better than lovely.”
A kid squealed, a pirate’s gun erupted too close to the boat and Alex jolted in surprise. Then she laughed with delight and eased back against him, pillowing her head on his shoulder. He pulled her in more closely to him and, instead of watching the ride, indulged himself by watching her reactions to their surroundings instead.
Her eyes never stopped shifting. Her smile never faltered. She took it all in, as if she were soaking up experiences like a sponge. And in that moment, Garrett was pitifully glad Jackson had talked him into going to Disneyland.
“I’m having such a nice day,” she whispered in a voice pitched low enough that Garrett almost missed it.
“Nice? That’s it?”
She tipped her head back and smiled up at him. “Very nice.”
“Oh, well then, that’s better.” He snorted and shook his head. Nothing a man liked better than hearing the woman he was fantasizing about telling him she was having a “nice” time.
“Oh, look! The dog has the jail cell keys!” She was off again, losing herself in the moment and Garrett was charmed. The pirates were singing, water lapped at the sides of their boat and up ahead of them he could hear Mia singing along. He smiled to himself and realized that astonishing as it was, he, too, was having a very nice day.
After the ride, they walked into twilight. Sunset stained the sky with the last shreds of color before night crept in. The girls were worn-out. Molly was dragging, Mara was asleep on Casey’s shoulder and Mia was so far beyond tired, her smile was fixed more in a grimace. But before they could go home, they had to make their traditional last stop.
“You’ll like the castle, Alex,” Mia said through a yawn. “Me and Molly are gonna be princesses someday and we’re gonna have a castle like this one and we’ll have puppies, too…”
“Again with the dog,” Jackson said with a sigh at what was apparently a very familiar topic.
Alex chuckled and slipped her hand into Garrett’s. His fingers closed over hers as he cut a glance her way. In the soft light, her eyes shone with the same excitement he’d seen earlier. She wasn’t tired out by all the kids and the crowds. She was thriving on this.
Her mouth curved slightly and another ping of recognition hit him. Frowning to himself, Garrett tried to pin down where he’d seen her before. He knew he’d never actually met her before today. He wouldn’t have forgotten that. But she was so damned familiar…
The castle shone with a pink tinge and as they approached, lights carefully hidden behind rocks and in the shrubbery blinked on to make it seem even more of a fairy-tale palace.
Garrett shook his head and smiled as Mia cooed in delight. Swans were floating gracefully in the lake. A cool wind rustled the trees and lifted the scent of the neatly trimmed rosebushes into the air.
“Can I have a princess hat?” Mia asked.
“Sure you can, sweetie,” Jackson said, scooping his oldest into his arms for a fast hug.
Garrett watched the byplay and, for the first time, felt a twinge of regret. Not that it would last long, but for the moment, he could admit that the thought of having kids like Mia and her sisters wasn’t an entirely hideous idea. For other people, of course. Not for him.
“Alex, look!” Mia grabbed Alex’s hand and half dragged her up to the stone balustrade overlooking the lake. The two of them stood together, watching the swans, the pink castle in the background and Garrett stopped dead. And stared.
In one blinding instant, he knew why she looked so familiar.
Several years ago, he’d done some work for her father.
Her father, the King of Cadria.
Which meant that Alex the delicious, Alex the sexiest woman he’d ever known, was actually the Crown Princess Alexis.
And he’d kissed her.
Damn.
He scrubbed one hand across the back of his neck, took a deep breath and held it. This changed things. Radically.
“Do you want to live in a castle, Alex?” Mia asked.
Garrett listened for her answer.
Alex ran one hand over Mia’s long black hair and said, “I think a castle might get lonely. They’re awfully big, you know. And drafty, as well.”
Garrett watched her face as she described what he knew was her home. Funny, he’d never imagined that a princess might not like her life. After all, in the grand scheme, being royalty had to be better than a lot of other alternatives.
“But I could have lots of puppies,” Mia said thoughtfully.
“Yes, but you’d never see them because princesses can’t play with puppies. They have more important things to do. They have to say all the right things, do all the right things. There’s not a lot of time for playing.”
Mia frowned at that.
So did Garrett. Was that how she really felt about her life? Was that why she was here, trying to be incognito? To escape her world? And what would she do if she knew he had figured out her real identity? Would she bolt?
Alex smiled and said, “I think you might not like a real castle as much as you do this one.”
Nodding, the little girl murmured, “Maybe I’ll just be a pretend princess.”
“Excellent idea,” Alex told her with another smile. Then she turned her head to look at Garrett and their gazes collided.
He felt the slam of attraction hit him like a fist to the chest. He was in deep trouble here. A princess, for God’s sake? He’d kissed a princess? He took a good long look at her, from her platform heels to the blue jeans and the pair of sunglasses perched on top of her head.
She had worked very hard to disguise herself, he thought, and wondered why. As a princess, she could have had a guided tour through the park, swept through all of the lines and been treated like—well, royalty. Instead, she had spent her day wandering through Disneyland just like any other tourist.
Alone.
That word shouted through his mind and instantly, his professional side sat up and took notice. Letting go, for the moment, of the fact that she’d lied about who she was—where was her security detail? Where were her bodyguards? The entourage? Didn’t she know how dangerous it was for someone like her to be unprotected? The world was a dangerous place and helping out the wackos by giving them a clear shot at you didn’t seem like a good plan to him.
So just what was she up to?
As if reading his troubled thoughts from the emotions in his eyes, Alex’s smile faded slightly. Garrett noticed and immediately put his game face on. She was keeping her identity a secret for a reason. Until he found out what that was, he’d play along.
And until he knew everything that was happening, he’d make damn sure she was safe.
In the huge parking lot, they all said goodbye and Jackson and Casey herded their girls off toward their car. The parking lot lights above them flickered weirdly as tourists streamed past like zombies in search of the best way home.
Garrett turned to look at Alex again. “Where’s your car?”
“Oh, I don’t have one,” she said quickly. “I never learned to drive, so I took a cab here from the hotel.”
A cab, he thought grimly. On her own. She was asking for disaster. It was a freaking miracle she’d made it here without somebody recognizing her and tipping off the press. “Where are you staying?”
“In Huntington Beach.”
Not too far, he thought, but far enough that he didn’t want her repeating the “grab a cab” thing. His gaze scanning the crowded lot and the people passing by them, he said, “I’ll give you a ride back to your hotel.”
“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?
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.
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.”
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Maureen Child
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www.millsandboon.co.uk/ebookxmas (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk/ebookxmas)
“I’ve been thinking about that kiss.”
Oh, he’d been thinking about it, too. About what he would have done if they’d been alone in the dark.
Garrett looked at her and knew instantly thinking about it had been a mistake. Desire glittered in her eyes. He recognized it, because the same thing was happening to him. He couldn’t seem to fight it. More, he didn’t want to.
He hadn’t asked for this. Didn’t need it. But the truth was, he wanted Alexis.
The worst part? He couldn’t have her.
He was working for her father. She was a princess. He was responsible for her safety. In the real world, a holiday romance was right up his alley. No strings. No complications. But this woman was nothing but complications.
Good reasons for avoiding this situation, he told himself. For keeping an eye on her from a distance.
And not one of those reasons meant a damn thing in the face of the need clawing his insides.
Dear Reader,
I love old movies. From romantic comedies to thrillers to ghost stories. The old movies—and I’m talking really old movies from the forties and fifties—all had a kind of magic you don’t see very often today.
And one of my absolute favorites has always been Roman Holiday, the story of a princess who runs away from her royal duties for a day of freedom.
In To Kiss a King, I was able to change that idea up a little and give it the romantic happily ever after it deserved. My royal princess, Alexis, escapes palace life to experience real life. And she starts out with her dream trip to Disneyland. Which, of course, since it’s my book, is where she meets Garrett King.
Garrett’s a security expert, and when he discovers that Alex is a runaway princess, he’s torn between protecting her and seducing her.
And that, I think, makes for a whirlwind romance filled with secrets, lies, seduction and—I sincerely hope—a wonderful love story.
I hope you enjoy To Kiss a King and I’d love to hear from you! Find me on Facebook or Twitter and e-mail me at maureenchildbooks@gmail.com.
Happy reading!
Maureen
About the Author
MAUREEN CHILD is a California native who loves to travel. Every chance they get, she and her husband are taking off on another research trip. The author of more than sixty books, Maureen loves a happy ending and still swears that she has the best job in the world. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children and a golden retriever with delusions of grandeur. Visit Maureen’s website, www.maureenchild.com.
To Kiss a King
Maureen Child
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To Susan Mallery, a great writer and an even better friend. For all of the shared dreams, all of the good laughs and all those yet to come.
Thanks, Susan.
One
Garrett King was in Hell.
Dozens of screaming, laughing children raced past him and he winced as their voices hit decibels only dogs should have been able to hear. Happiest Place on Earth? He didn’t think so.
How he had let himself be talked into this, he had no idea.
“Getting soft,” he muttered darkly and leaned one hand on the hot metal balustrade in front of him only to wrench his hand back instantly. He glanced at his palm, sighed and reached for a napkin out of his cousin’s bag to wipe the sticky cotton candy off his skin.
“You could be at the office,” he told himself sternly, wadding up the napkin and tossing it into a trash can. “You could be checking invoices, keeping tabs on the new client. But no, you had to say yes to your cousin instead.”
Jackson King had pulled out all the stops getting Garrett to go along with this little family adventure. Jackson’s wife, Casey, was apparently “worried” because Garrett was alone too much. Nice woman Casey, he told himself. But did no one ever consider that maybe a man was alone because he wanted to be?
But he still could have begged off if it had been just Casey and Jackson doing the asking. But Garrett’s cousin had cheated.
He had had his daughters ask “Uncle” Garrett to go with them and frankly, when faced with three of the cutest kids in the world, it would have been impossible to say no. And Jackson knew it, the clever bastard.
“Hey, cuz!” Jackson’s shout sounded out and Garrett turned to give him a hard look.
Jackson only laughed. “Casey, honey,” he said, turning to his stunning wife, “did you see that? I don’t think Garrett’s having any fun.”
“About that,” Garrett cut in, lifting his voice to be heard over the raucous noise rising from the crowd, “I was thinking I’d just head out now. Leave you guys to some family fun.”
“You are family, Garrett,” Casey pointed out.
Before he could speak, Garrett felt a tug at his pants leg. He looked down into Mia’s upturned face. “Uncle Garrett, we’re going on the fast mountain ride. You wanna come?”
At five, Mia King was already a heartbreaker. From her King blue eyes to the missing front tooth to the dimple in her cheek, she was absolutely adorable. And not being a dummy, she knew how to work it already, too.
“Uh…” Garrett glanced behind Mia to her younger sisters Molly and Mara. Molly was three and Mara was just beginning to toddle. The three of them were unstoppable, Garrett told himself wryly.
There was just no way he was getting out of this day early. One girl pouting was hard to resist. Three were too much for any man to stand against.
“How about I stand here and watch your stuff while you guys go on the ride?”
Jackson snorted a laugh that Garrett ignored. For God’s sake, he owned the most respected security company in the country and here he was haggling with a five-year-old.
Garrett and Jackson had been good friends for years. Most of the King cousins were close, but he and Jackson had worked closely together over the years. Garrett’s security company and Jackson’s company, King Jets, fed off each other. With Garrett’s high-priced clients renting Jackson’s luxury jets, both companies were thriving for the loosely defined partnership.
Jackson’s wife, Casey, on the other hand, was one of those happily married women who saw every determined bachelor as a personal challenge.
“You going on the Matterhorn with us?” Jackson asked, plucking Mara from his wife’s arms. The chubby toddler slapped at his cheeks gleefully and Garrett watched with some amusement as Jackson practically melted. The man was a sap when it came to his family. Funny, because in business, Jackson King was a cutthroat kind of guy that nobody wanted to cross.
“Nope,” Garrett told him and lifted the baby out of his cousin’s arms. With the crazed population explosion in the King family, Garrett was getting used to dealing with kids. Comfortably settling the tiny girl on his hip, he said, “I’ll wait here with Mara and the rest of your—” he paused to glance down at the stroller and the bags already piled high on it “—stuff.”
“You could ride with me,” Mia insisted, turning those big blue eyes on him.
“Oh, she’s good,” Jackson whispered on a laugh.
Garrett went down on one knee and looked her in the eye. “How about I stay here with your sister and you tell me all about the ride when you get off?”
She scowled a little, clearly unused to losing, then grinned. “Okay.”
Casey took both of the girls’ hands, smiled at Garrett and headed for the line.
“I didn’t ask you to come along so you could just stand around, you know,” Jackson said.
“Yeah. Why did you ask me along? Better yet, why’d I say yes?”
Jackson laughed, looked over his shoulder at his wife and then said, “One word. Casey. She thinks you’re lonely. And if you think I’m going to listen to her worry about you all by myself, you’re nuts.”
Mara slapped Garrett’s face. He swiveled his head to smile at the baby. “Your daddy’s scared of your mommy.”
“Damn straight,” Jackson admitted with a laugh. He headed off after the rest of his family and called back, “If she gets cranky, there’s a bottle in the diaper bag.”
“I think I can handle a baby,” he shouted back, but Jackson was already swallowed by the crowd.
“It’s just you and me, kid,” Garrett told the girl who laughed delightedly and squirmed as if she wanted to be turned loose to run. “Oh, no, you don’t. I put you down, you disappear and your mommy kills me.”
“Down.” Mara looked mutinous.
“No.”
She scowled again then tried a coy smile.
“Man,” Garrett said with a smile. “Are women born knowing how to do that?”
Bright, cheerful calliope music erupted from somewhere nearby and the smell of popcorn floated on the breeze. A dog wearing a top hat was waltzing with Cinderella to the cheers of the crowd. And Garrett was holding a baby and feeling as out of place as—hell, he couldn’t even think of anything as out of place as he felt at the moment.
This was not his world, he thought, jiggling Mara when she started fussing. Give Garrett King a dangerous situation, a shooter going after a high-profile target, a kidnapping, even a jewelry heist, and he was in his element.
This happy, shiny stuff? Not so much.
Owning and operating the biggest, most successful security company in the country was bound to color your outlook on the world. Their clients ranged from royalty to wealthy industrialists, computer billionaires and politicians. Because of their own immense wealth, the King brothers knew how to blend in when arranging security. Because of their expertise, their reputation kept growing. Their firm was the most sought-after of its kind on the planet. The King twins flew all over the world to meet the demands of their clients. And he and his twin, Griffin, were good with that. Not everyone could be relaxed and optimistic. There had to be people like he and Griff around to take care of the dirty jobs.
That was his comfort zone, he told himself as he watched Jackson and his family near the front of the line. Casey was holding Molly and Jackson had Mia up on his shoulders. They looked…perfect. And Garrett was glad for his cousin, really. In fact, he was happy for all of the Kings who had recently jumped off a cliff into the uncharted waters of marriage and family. But he wouldn’t be joining them.
Guys like him didn’t do happy endings.
“That’s okay, though,” he whispered, planting a kiss on Mara’s forehead. “I’ll settle for spending time with you guys. How’s that?”
She burbled something he took as agreement then fixed her gaze on a bright pink balloon. “Boon!”
Garrett was just going to buy it for her when he noticed the woman.
Alexis Morgan Wells was having a wonderful day. Disneyland was everything she had hoped it would be. She loved everything about it. The music, the laughter. The cartoon characters wandering around interacting with the crowd. She loved the gardens, the topiary statues; she even loved the smell of the place. It was like childhood and dreams and magic all at once.
The music from the last ride she’d been on was still dancing through her mind—she had a feeling it would be for hours—when she noticed the man coming up to her. Her good mood quickly drained away as the same man who had followed her on to It’s a Small World hurried to catch up. He’d had the seat behind her in the boat and had come close to ruining the whole experience for her as he insisted on trying to talk to her.
Just as he was now.
“Come on, babe. I’m not a crazy person or anything. I just want to buy you lunch. Is that so bad?”
She half turned and gave him a patient, if tight, smile. “I’ve already told you I’m not interested, so please go away.”
Instead of being rebuffed, his eyes lit up. “You’re British, aren’t you? The accent’s cool.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”
She was really going to have to work on that, she told herself sternly. If she wasn’t paying close attention, her clipped accent immediately branded her as “different.” Though it would take a much better ear than that of the man currently bothering her, to recognize that her accent wasn’t British, but Cadrian.
But if she worked at it, she could manage an American accent—since her mother had been born in California. Thinking about her mom brought a quick zip of guilt shooting through her, but Alex tamped it down. She’d deal with it later. She was absolutely sure her mother would understand why Alex had had to leave—she was just in no hurry to hear how much worry she’d caused by taking off.
After all, Alex was a bright, capable adult and if she wanted a vacation, why should she have to jump through hoops to take one? There, she was feeling better already. Until she picked up on the fact that her would-be admirer was still talking. Honestly, she was trying to stay under the radar and this man was drawing way too much attention to her.
Trying to ignore him, Alex quickened her steps, moving in and out of the ever-shifting crowd with the grace earned from years of dance lessons. She wore a long, tunic-style white blouse, blue jeans and blue platform heels, and, at the moment, she was wishing she’d worn sneakers. Then she could have sprinted for some distance.
The minute that thought entered her mind, she dismissed it, though. Running through a crowd like a lunatic would only draw the notice she was trying to avoid.
“C’mon, babe, it’s lunch. What could it hurt?”
“I don’t eat,” she told him, “I’m an oxygenarian.”
He blinked at her. “What?”
“Nothing,” she muttered, hurrying again. Stop talking to him, she told herself. Ignore him and he’ll go away.
She headed for the landmark right ahead of her. The snow-topped mountain in the middle of Anaheim, California. This particular mountain was probably one of the best known peaks in the world. Alex smiled just looking at it. She lifted her gaze and watched as toboggans filled with screaming, laughing people jolted around curves and splashed through lagoons, sending waves of water into the air. The line for the mountain was a long one and as her gaze moved over the people there, she saw him. He was watching her. A big man with black hair, a stern jaw and a plump baby on his hip.
In one quick instant, she felt a jolt of something like “recognition.” As if something inside her, knew him. Had been searching for him. Unfortunately, judging by the black-haired little girl he was holding, some other woman had found him first.
“Quit walking so fast, will ya?” the annoying guy behind her whined.
Alex fixed her gaze on the sharp-eyed man and felt his stare hit her as powerfully as a touch. Then his eyes shifted from her to the man behind her and back again. He seemed to understand the situation instantly.
“There you are, honey!” he called out, smiling directly at Alex. “What took you so long?”
Smiling broadly, she accepted the help he was offering and ran to him. He greeted her with a grin then dropped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to his side. Only then did he shift his gaze to the disappointed man.
“There a problem here?” Her Knight in Shining Denim demanded.
“No,” the guy muttered, shaking his head. “No problem. Later.”
And he was gone.
Alex watched him go with a sigh of relief. Not that he had ever scared her or anything, but she hadn’t wanted to waste her first day in Disneyland being irritated. The big man beside her still had his arm around her and Alex liked it. He was big and strong and it was hard not to appreciate a guy who had seen you needed help and offered it without a qualm.
“Boon!”
The little girl’s voice shattered the moment and with that reminder that her hero was probably someone else’s husband, Alex slipped out from under his arm. Glancing up at the little girl, she smiled. “You’re a beauty, aren’t you? Your daddy must be very proud.”
“Oh, he is,” the man beside her said, his voice so deep it seemed to sink right inside her. “And he’s got two more just like her.”
“Really.” She wasn’t sure why the news that he was the father of three was so disappointing, but there it was.
“Yeah. My cousin and his wife have the other two on the ride right now. I’m just watching this one for them.”
“Oh.” She smiled, pleasure rushing through her. “Then you’re not her father?”
He smiled, too, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Not a chance. I wouldn’t do that to some poor, unsuspecting kid.”
Alex looked into his eyes and enjoyed the sparkle she found there. He was relishing this little flirtation as much as she was. “Oh, I don’t know. A hero might make a very good father.”
“Hero? I’m hardly that.”
“You were for me a minute ago,” she said. “I couldn’t seem to convince that man to leave me alone, so I really appreciate your help.”
“You’re welcome. But you could have gone to a security guard and had the guy thrown out. Probably should have.”
No, going to a security guard would have involved making statements, filling out paperwork and then her identity would be revealed and the lovely day she’d planned would have been ruined.
She shook her head, pushed her long blond hair back from her face and turned to sweep her gaze across the manicured flower gardens, the happy kids and the brilliant blue sky overhead. “No, he wasn’t dangerous. Just irritating.”
He laughed and she liked the sound of it.
“Boon, Gar,” the little girl said in a voice filled with the kind of determination only a single-minded toddler could manage.
“Right. Balloon.” He lifted one hand to the balloon seller, and the guy stepped right up, gently tying the string of a bright pink balloon to the baby’s wrist. While Garrett paid the man, the baby waved her arm, squealing with delight as the balloon danced and jumped to her whim.
“So, I think introductions are in order,” he said. “This demanding female is Mara and I’m Garrett.”
“Alexis, but call me Alex,” she said, holding her right hand out to him.
He took her hand in his and the instant her skin brushed along his, Alex felt ripples of something really intriguing washing throughout her body. Then he let her go and the delightful heat dissipated.
“So, Alex, how’s your day going?”
She laughed a little. “Until that one little moment, it was going great. I love it here. It’s my first time, and I’ve heard so much about this place…”
“Ah,” he said nodding, “that explains it.”
She tensed. “Explains what?”
“If it’s your first time here, you’re having so much fun that all of these crowds don’t bother you.”
“Oh, no. I think it’s wonderful. Everyone seems so nice, well, except for—”
“That one little moment?” he asked, repeating her words to her.
“Yes, exactly.” Alex smiled again and reluctantly took a step back. As lovely as this was, talking to a handsome man who had no idea who she was, it would be better for her if she ended it now and went on her way. “Thank you again for the rescue, but I should really be going…”
He tipped his head to one side and looked at her. “Meeting someone?”
“No, but—”
“Then what’s your hurry?”
Her heartbeat sped up at the invitation in his eyes. He didn’t want her to leave. And how nice that was. He actually liked her.
The darling little girl was still playing with her balloon, paying no attention at all to the two adults with her.
Alex looked up into Garrett’s pale blue eyes and did some fast thinking. She had to keep a low profile, true. But that didn’t mean she had to be a hermit during her…vacation, did it? And what kind of holiday would it be if there were no “romance” included?
“What do you say,” he added, “hang with us today. Rescue me from a day filled with too many kids?”
“You need rescuing?”
She saw the teasing glint in his eyes and responded to it with a smile.
“Trust me. My cousin’s girls all have my number. If you’re not there to protect me, who knows what might happen?”
Tempting, she thought. So very tempting. She’d only been in America for three days and already she was feeling a little isolated. Being on her own was liberating, but, as it turned out, lonely. And it wasn’t as if she could call the few friends she had in the States—the moment she did, word would get back to her family and, just like that, her bid for freedom would end.
What could it hurt to spend the day with a man who made her toes curl and the family he clearly loved? She took a breath and made the leap. “All right, thank you. I would love to rescue you.”
“Excellent. My cousin and his family should be back any minute now. So while we wait, why don’t you tell me where you’re from. I can’t quite place your accent. It’s British, but…not.”
She jolted a little and fought to keep him from seeing it. “You’ve a good ear.”
“So I’ve been told. But that’s not really an answer, is it?”
No, it wasn’t, and how astute of him to notice. She’d been trained in how to answer questions without really answering them from the time she was a child. Her father would have been proud. Never answer a question directly, Alexis. Always be vague. Watch what you say, Alexis. You’ve a responsibility to your family. Your heritage. Your people…
“Hey. Alex.”
At the sound of his concerned voice, she shook her head, coming out of her thoughts with relief. That was the second time Garrett had rescued her today. She didn’t want to think about her duties. Her role in history. She didn’t want to be anything but Alex.
So instead of being evasive again, she said, “Why don’t you try to figure out where I’m from and I’ll let you know when you’ve got it right?”
One dark eyebrow lifted. “Oh, you’re challenging the wrong guy. But you’re on. Five bucks says I’ve got it by the end of the day.”
Oh, she hoped not. If he did, that would ruin everything. But she braved it out and asked, “Five dollars? Not much of a wager.”
He gave her a slow grin that sent new flashes of heat dancing through her system. “I’m open to negotiation.”
She actually felt her blood sizzle and hum.
“No, no. That’s all right.” She backed up quickly. Maybe she wasn’t as prepared for that zing of romance as she had thought. Or maybe Garrett the Gorgeous was just too much for her to handle. Either way, she was nervous enough to try to cool things down between them just a little. “Five dollars will do. It’s a bargain.”
“Agreed,” he said, one corner of his mouth lifting tantalizingly. “But just so you know, you should never bet with me, Alex. I always win.”
“Confident, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
A thrill of something hot and delicious swept through her veins. Nerves or not, she really enjoyed what he was doing to her. What was it about him that affected her so?
“That was fun, Uncle Garrett!”
A tiny whirlwind rushed up to them and threw both arms around Garrett’s knees. The girl gave him a wide smile then shifted suspicious eyes to Alex. “Who are you?”
“This is Alex,” Garrett told her. “Alex, meet Mia.”
She smiled at the child and couldn’t help noticing that the little girl held on to Garrett’s legs just a little more tightly.
“Mia, don’t run from me in these crowds,” a deep male voice shouted.
Alex turned to watch an impossibly attractive couple approach, the man holding on to a smaller version of the still-wary Mia.
“Alex,” Garrett said briskly, “this is my cousin Jackson and his wife, Casey, and that pretty girl with them is Molly.”
“It’s lovely to meet you all.”
Jackson gave her a quick up and down, then winked at his wife. “Wow, leave Garrett alone for a few minutes and he finds the most beautiful woman in the whole place—”
His wife nudged him with an elbow.
“—not counting you of course, sweetie. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Nice recovery,” Casey told him with a laugh and a smile for Alex.
“Always were a smooth one, Jackson,” Garrett mused.
“It’s why she loves me,” his cousin answered, dropping a kiss on his wife’s head.
Alex smiled at all of them. It was lovely to see the open affection in this family, though she felt a sharp pang of envy slice at her, as well. To get some time for herself she’d had to run from her own family. She missed them, even her dictatorial father, and being around these people only brought up their loss more sharply.
“It’s nice to meet you, Alex,” Casey said, extending her right hand in welcome.
“Thank you. I must admit I’m a little overwhelmed by everything. This is my first trip to Disneyland and—”
“Your first time?” Mia interrupted. “But you’re old.”
“Mia!” Casey was horrified.
Garrett and Jackson laughed and Alex joined them. Bending down slightly, she met Mia’s gaze and said, “It’s horrible I know. But I live very far away from here, so this is the first chance I’ve ever had to visit.”
“Oh.” Nodding her head, Mia thought about it for a minute then looked at her mother. “I think we should take Alex to the ghost ride.”
“Mia, that’s your favorite ride,” her father said.
“But she would like it, wouldn’t you, Alex?” She turned her eyes up and gave her a pleading look.
“You know,” Alex said, “I was just wishing I knew how to find the ghost ride.”
“I’ll show you!” Mia took her hand and started walking, fully expecting her family to follow.
“Guess you’ll be spending the day with us for sure, now,” Garrett teased.
“Looks that way.” She grinned, delighted with this turn of events. She was in a place she’d heard about her whole life and she wasn’t alone. There were children to enjoy and people to talk to and it was very near to perfect.
Then she looked up at Garrett’s blue eyes and told herself maybe it was closer to perfect than she knew.
“And after the ghost ride, we can ride the jungle boats and then the pirate one.” Mia was talking a mile a minute.
“Molly, honey, don’t pick up the bug,” Jackson said patiently.
“Bug?” Casey repeated, horrified.
Still holding Mara, Garrett came up beside Alex and said softly, “I promise, after the ghost ride, I’ll ride herd on my family and you can do what you want to do.”
The funny thing was, he didn’t know it, but she was already doing what she had always wanted to do.
She wanted to be accepted. To spend a day with nothing more to worry about than enjoying herself. And mostly, she wanted to meet people and have them like her because she was Alex Wells.
Not because she was Her Royal Highness Princess Alexis Morgan Wells of Cadria.
Two
She was driving Garrett just a little crazy.
And not only because she was beautiful and funny and smart. But because he’d never seen a woman let go and really enjoy herself so much. Most of the women who came and went from his life were more interested in how their hair looked. Or in being sophisticated enough that a ride on spinning teacups would never have entered their heads.
But Alex was different. She had the girls eating out of her hand, and, without even trying, she was reaching Garrett in ways that he never would have expected. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
That wide smile was inviting, sexy—and familiar, somehow.
He knew he’d seen her before somewhere, but damned if he could remember where. And that bothered him, too. Because a woman like Alex wasn’t easily forgotten.
At lunch, she had bitten into a burger with a sigh of pleasure so rich that all he could think of was cool sheets and hot sex. She sat astride a carousel horse and he imagined her straddling him. She licked at an ice cream cone and he—
Garrett shook his head and mentally pulled back fast from that particular image. As it was, he was having a hard time walking. A few more thoughts like that one and he’d be paralyzed.
Alex loved everything about Disneyland. He saw it in her eyes because she didn’t hide a thing. Another way she was different from the women he knew. They were all about artful lies, strategic moves and studied flirtation.
Alex was just…herself.
“You’ll like this, Alex,” said Mia, who had appointed herself Alex’s personal tour guide. “The pirate ships shoot cannons and there’s a fire and singing, too. And it’s dark inside.”
“Okay, kiddo,” Jackson told his daughter, interrupting her flood of information, “how about we give Alex a little rest?” He grinned at her and Garrett as he steered his family into the front row of the boat.
Garrett took the hint gratefully and pulled Alexis into the last row. A bit of separation for the duration of the ride would give them a little time to themselves.
“She’s wonderful,” Alex murmured. “So bright. So talkative.”
“Oh, she is that,” Garrett said with a laugh. “Mia has an opinion on everything and doesn’t hesitate to share it. Her kindergarten teacher calls her ‘precocious.’ I call her a busybody.”
She laughed again and Garrett found himself smiling in response. There was no cautious titter. No careful chuckle. When Alex laughed, she threw her soul into it and everything about her lit up. Oh, he was getting in way too deep. This was ridiculous. Not only did he not even know her last name, but he hadn’t been able to pin down what country she was from, either.
Not for lack of trying, though.
The sense of familiarity he had for her was irritating as hell. There was something there. Something just out of reach, that would tell him how he knew her. Who she was. And yet, he couldn’t quite grab hold of it.
The ride jolted into motion and Alex leaned forward, eager to see everything. He liked that about her, too. Her curiosity. Her appreciation for whatever was happening. It wasn’t something enough people did, living in the moment. For most, it was all about “tomorrow.” What they would do when they had the time or the money or the energy.
He’d seen it all too often. People who had everything in the world and didn’t seem to notice because they were always looking forward to the next thing.
“Wonderful,” she whispered. Their boat rocked lazily on its tracks, water slapping at its hull. She looked behind them at the people awaiting the next boat then shifted her gaze to his.
Overhead, a night sky was filled with stars and animatronic fireflies blinked on and off. A sultry, hot breeze wafted past them. Even in the darkness, he saw delight shining in her eyes and the curve of her mouth was something he just didn’t want to resist any longer.
Leaning forward, he caught her by the back of the neck and pulled her toward him. Then he slanted his mouth over hers for a taste of the mouth that had been driving him nuts for hours.
She was worth the wait.
After a second’s surprise, she recovered and kissed him back. Her mouth moved against his with a soft, languid touch that stirred fires back into life and made him wish they were all alone in the dark—rather than surrounded by singing pirates and chattering tourists.
She sighed and leaned into him and that fired him up so fast, it took his breath away. But who needed breathing anyway? She lifted one hand to his cheek and when she pulled back, breaking the kiss, her fingertips stroked his jaw. She drew a breath and let it go again with a smile. Leaning into him, she whispered, “That was lovely.”
He took her hand in his and kissed the center of her palm. “It was way better than lovely.”
A kid squealed, a pirate’s gun erupted too close to the boat and Alex jolted in surprise. Then she laughed with delight and eased back against him, pillowing her head on his shoulder. He pulled her in more closely to him and, instead of watching the ride, indulged himself by watching her reactions to their surroundings instead.
Her eyes never stopped shifting. Her smile never faltered. She took it all in, as if she were soaking up experiences like a sponge. And in that moment, Garrett was pitifully glad Jackson had talked him into going to Disneyland.
“I’m having such a nice day,” she whispered in a voice pitched low enough that Garrett almost missed it.
“Nice? That’s it?”
She tipped her head back and smiled up at him. “Very nice.”
“Oh, well then, that’s better.” He snorted and shook his head. Nothing a man liked better than hearing the woman he was fantasizing about telling him she was having a “nice” time.
“Oh, look! The dog has the jail cell keys!” She was off again, losing herself in the moment and Garrett was charmed. The pirates were singing, water lapped at the sides of their boat and up ahead of them he could hear Mia singing along. He smiled to himself and realized that astonishing as it was, he, too, was having a very nice day.
After the ride, they walked into twilight. Sunset stained the sky with the last shreds of color before night crept in. The girls were worn-out. Molly was dragging, Mara was asleep on Casey’s shoulder and Mia was so far beyond tired, her smile was fixed more in a grimace. But before they could go home, they had to make their traditional last stop.
“You’ll like the castle, Alex,” Mia said through a yawn. “Me and Molly are gonna be princesses someday and we’re gonna have a castle like this one and we’ll have puppies, too…”
“Again with the dog,” Jackson said with a sigh at what was apparently a very familiar topic.
Alex chuckled and slipped her hand into Garrett’s. His fingers closed over hers as he cut a glance her way. In the soft light, her eyes shone with the same excitement he’d seen earlier. She wasn’t tired out by all the kids and the crowds. She was thriving on this.
Her mouth curved slightly and another ping of recognition hit him. Frowning to himself, Garrett tried to pin down where he’d seen her before. He knew he’d never actually met her before today. He wouldn’t have forgotten that. But she was so damned familiar…
The castle shone with a pink tinge and as they approached, lights carefully hidden behind rocks and in the shrubbery blinked on to make it seem even more of a fairy-tale palace.
Garrett shook his head and smiled as Mia cooed in delight. Swans were floating gracefully in the lake. A cool wind rustled the trees and lifted the scent of the neatly trimmed rosebushes into the air.
“Can I have a princess hat?” Mia asked.
“Sure you can, sweetie,” Jackson said, scooping his oldest into his arms for a fast hug.
Garrett watched the byplay and, for the first time, felt a twinge of regret. Not that it would last long, but for the moment, he could admit that the thought of having kids like Mia and her sisters wasn’t an entirely hideous idea. For other people, of course. Not for him.
“Alex, look!” Mia grabbed Alex’s hand and half dragged her up to the stone balustrade overlooking the lake. The two of them stood together, watching the swans, the pink castle in the background and Garrett stopped dead. And stared.
In one blinding instant, he knew why she looked so familiar.
Several years ago, he’d done some work for her father.
Her father, the King of Cadria.
Which meant that Alex the delicious, Alex the sexiest woman he’d ever known, was actually the Crown Princess Alexis.
And he’d kissed her.
Damn.
He scrubbed one hand across the back of his neck, took a deep breath and held it. This changed things. Radically.
“Do you want to live in a castle, Alex?” Mia asked.
Garrett listened for her answer.
Alex ran one hand over Mia’s long black hair and said, “I think a castle might get lonely. They’re awfully big, you know. And drafty, as well.”
Garrett watched her face as she described what he knew was her home. Funny, he’d never imagined that a princess might not like her life. After all, in the grand scheme, being royalty had to be better than a lot of other alternatives.
“But I could have lots of puppies,” Mia said thoughtfully.
“Yes, but you’d never see them because princesses can’t play with puppies. They have more important things to do. They have to say all the right things, do all the right things. There’s not a lot of time for playing.”
Mia frowned at that.
So did Garrett. Was that how she really felt about her life? Was that why she was here, trying to be incognito? To escape her world? And what would she do if she knew he had figured out her real identity? Would she bolt?
Alex smiled and said, “I think you might not like a real castle as much as you do this one.”
Nodding, the little girl murmured, “Maybe I’ll just be a pretend princess.”
“Excellent idea,” Alex told her with another smile. Then she turned her head to look at Garrett and their gazes collided.
He felt the slam of attraction hit him like a fist to the chest. He was in deep trouble here. A princess, for God’s sake? He’d kissed a princess? He took a good long look at her, from her platform heels to the blue jeans and the pair of sunglasses perched on top of her head.
She had worked very hard to disguise herself, he thought, and wondered why. As a princess, she could have had a guided tour through the park, swept through all of the lines and been treated like—well, royalty. Instead, she had spent her day wandering through Disneyland just like any other tourist.
Alone.
That word shouted through his mind and instantly, his professional side sat up and took notice. Letting go, for the moment, of the fact that she’d lied about who she was—where was her security detail? Where were her bodyguards? The entourage? Didn’t she know how dangerous it was for someone like her to be unprotected? The world was a dangerous place and helping out the wackos by giving them a clear shot at you didn’t seem like a good plan to him.
So just what was she up to?
As if reading his troubled thoughts from the emotions in his eyes, Alex’s smile faded slightly. Garrett noticed and immediately put his game face on. She was keeping her identity a secret for a reason. Until he found out what that was, he’d play along.
And until he knew everything that was happening, he’d make damn sure she was safe.
In the huge parking lot, they all said goodbye and Jackson and Casey herded their girls off toward their car. The parking lot lights above them flickered weirdly as tourists streamed past like zombies in search of the best way home.
Garrett turned to look at Alex again. “Where’s your car?”
“Oh, I don’t have one,” she said quickly. “I never learned to drive, so I took a cab here from the hotel.”
A cab, he thought grimly. On her own. She was asking for disaster. It was a freaking miracle she’d made it here without somebody recognizing her and tipping off the press. “Where are you staying?”
“In Huntington Beach.”
Not too far, he thought, but far enough that he didn’t want her repeating the “grab a cab” thing. His gaze scanning the crowded lot and the people passing by them, he said, “I’ll give you a ride back to your hotel.”
“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?
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.
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.”
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