To Kiss a King (Kings of California #11)(10)
Author: Maureen Child

She would call them in a day or two and let them know she was safe. But until then, she was simply going to be. For the first time in her life, she was just like any other woman. There was no one to dress her, advise her, hand her the day’s agenda. Her time was her own and she had no one to answer to.

Freedom was a heady sensation.

Still, she couldn’t believe she had actually gotten away with it. Ditching her personal guards—who she really hoped didn’t get into too much trouble with her father—disguising herself, buying an airplane ticket and slipping out of Cadria unnoticed. Her father was no doubt furious, but truth to tell, all of this was really his fault. If he hadn’t started making noises about Alex “settling down,” finding an “appropriate” husband and taking up her royal duties, then maybe she wouldn’t have run.

Not that her father was an ogre, she assured herself. He was really a nice man, but, in spite of the fact that he had married an American woman who had a mind of her own and a spine of steel, he couldn’t see that his daughter needed to find her own way.

Which meant that today, she was going to make the most of what she might have found with Garrett—she frowned. God, she didn’t even know his last name.

She laughed and shook her head. Names didn’t matter. All that mattered was that the stories her mother had told her were true.

“Mom, you were right,” she said, cradling her cup between her palms, allowing the heat to seep into her. “Disneyland is a special place filled with magic. And I think I found some for myself.”

He had already been cleared for the penthouse elevator, so when Garrett arrived early in the morning, he went right up. The hum of the machinery was a white noise that almost drowned out the quiet strains of the Muzak pumping down on him from overhead speakers.

His eyes felt gritty from lack of sleep, but his body was wired. He was alert. Tense. And, he silently admitted, eager to see Alex again.

Stupid, he knew, but there it was. He had no business allowing desire to blind him. She was a princess, for God’s sake and he was now, officially, her bodyguard.

Garrett caught his own reflection in the mirrored wall opposite him and scowled. He should have seen it coming, what had happened when he finally got through to the King of Cadria. The fact that he had been surprised only underlined exactly how off course his brain was.

In the seconds it took for the elevator to make its climb, he relived that conversation.

“She’s in California?”

The king’s thundering shout probably could have been heard even without the telephone.

Well, Garrett told himself, that answered his first question. He had been right. The king had had no idea where Alex was.

“Is she safe?”

“Yes,” Garrett said quickly as his measure of the king went up a notch or two. Sure he was pissed, but he was also more concerned about his daughter’s safety than anything else. “She’s safe, but she’s on her own. I’m not comfortable with that.”

“Nor am I, Mr. King.”

“Garrett, please.”

“Garrett, then.” He muttered to someone in the room with him, “Yes, yes, I will ask, give me a moment, Teresa,” he paused, then said, “Pardon me. My wife is very concerned for Alexis, as are we all.”

“I understand.” In fact Garrett was willing to bet that “very concerned” was a major understatement.

“So, Garrett. My wife wished to know how you found Alexis.”

“Interestingly enough, I was with my family at Disneyland,” he said, still amused by it all. Imagine stumbling across a runaway princess in the heart of an amusement park. “We met outside one of the rides.”

No point telling the king that Garrett had come to Alex’s rescue, not knowing who she was. No point in mentioning the kiss he had stolen in the darkness of a pirate ride, either.

“I knew it!” The king shouted then spoke to his wife in the room with him. “Teresa, this is your fault, filling our daughter’s head with romantic nonsense until she—”

Listening in on a royal argument just underscored what Garrett had learned long ago. People were people. Didn’t matter if they wore a king’s crown or a baseball cap. They laughed, they fought, they cried—all of them. And it sounded to Garrett that the King of Cadria, like any other man, didn’t have a clue how to deal with women.

The king’s voice broke off and a moment later a soft, feminine voice spoke up. The queen, Garrett guessed, and smiled as he realized that she clearly didn’t let her husband’s blustering bother her.

“Hello, Garrett?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Is Alexis well?”

“Yes, ma’am, as I told your husband, she was fine when I took her back to her hotel last night.”

“Oh, that’s such good news, thank you. You say you met her at Disneyland?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

More to herself than to him, the queen murmured, “She always dreamed of visiting the park. I should have guessed she would go there, but—”

A princess dreaming about Disneyland. Well, other young girls dreamed of being a princess, so he supposed it made sense. Garrett heard the worry in the queen’s voice and he wondered if Alex was even the slightest bit concerned about what her family was going through.

“Thank you again for looking out for my daughter,” the queen said, “and now, my husband wants to speak to you again.”

Garrett smiled to himself imagining the phone shuffle going on in a palace a few thousand miles away. When the king came back on the line, his tone was quieter.

“Yes, my dear, you’re right. Of course. Garrett?”

“I’m here, sir.”

“I would like to hire you to protect our daughter.”

Instantly, Garrett did a quick mental step backward. This wasn’t what he’d had in mind. He didn’t want to guard her body. He just wanted her. Not the best basis for a protection detail.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea—”

“We will pay whatever you ask, but frankly my wife feels that Alexis needs this time to herself so I can’t very well drag her back home, much as I would prefer it. At the same time, I’m unwilling to risk her safety.”

Good point, Garrett couldn’t help but admit. Whether she thought so or not, there was potential danger all around Alexis. Which is why he had placed this call in the first place. He thought she should be protected—just not by him. “I agree that the princess needs a bodyguard, but…”