To Kiss a King (Kings of California #11)(12)
Author: Maureen Child

He shrugged as if the women in his life meant nothing and she really hoped that was the case.

“Let’s just say the ones I’ve known consider splitting an M&M a hearty dessert.”

She laughed at the image. “I know some women like that, too,” she said, snatching up her red leather bag off the closest chair. “I’ve never understood it. Me, I love to eat.”

“Good to know,” he said, one corner of his mouth lifting.

And there went the swirl of something hot and delicious in the pit of her stomach. How was she supposed to keep a lid on her imagination if every look and smile he gave her set off incendiary devices inside her?

This holiday was becoming more interesting every minute. When he took her hand and drew her from the penthouse, Alex savored the heat of his skin against hers and told herself to stop overthinking everything and just enjoy every moment she was with him.

They had breakfast down the coast in Laguna Beach, at a small café on Pacific Coast Highway. On one side of the patio dining area, the busy street was clogged with cars and the sidewalks bustled with pedestrian traffic. On the other side, the Pacific Ocean stretched out to the horizon.

Seagulls wheeled and dipped in the air currents, surfers rode waves in to shore and pleasure boats bobbed lazily on the water. And Alex was only vaguely aware of any of it. How could she be distracted by her surroundings when she could hardly take her eyes off Garrett? His thick, black hair lifted in a capricious breeze and she nearly sighed when he reached up to push his hair off his forehead. The man was completely edible, she thought, and wondered vaguely what he might look like in a suit. Probably just as gorgeous, she decided silently, but she preferred him like this. There were too many suits in her world.

This man was nothing like the other men in her life. Which was only one of the reasons he so intrigued her.

But Garrett seemed…different this morning. Less relaxed, somehow, although that was probably perfectly natural. People were bound to be more casual and laid-back at an amusement park than they were in everyday situations. The interesting part was she liked him even more now.

There was something about his air of casual danger that appealed to her. Not that she was afraid of him in any way, but the sense of tightly reined authority bristling off him said clearly that he was in charge and no one with him had to worry about a thing.

She laughed to herself. Funny, but the very thing she found so intriguing about him was what drove her the craziest about her father.

“Want to share the joke?” he asked, that deep voice of his rumbling along every single one of her nerve endings.

“No,” she said abruptly. “Not really.”

“Okay, but when a woman is chuckling to herself, a man always assumes she’s laughing at him.”

“Oh, I doubt that.” Alex reached for her coffee cup and took a sip. When she set it down again, she added, “I can’t imagine too many women laugh at you.”

Amusement sparkled in his eyes. “Never more than once.”

Now she did laugh and he gave her a reluctant smile.

“Not intimidated by me at all, are you?” he asked.

“Should I be?”

“Most people are.”

“I’m not most people.”

“Yeah,” he said wryly, “I’m getting that.” He leaned back in his chair and asked, “So what next, Alex? Anything else on your ‘must see’ list besides Disneyland?”

She grinned. It was wonderful. Being here. Alone. With him. No palace guards in attendance. No assistants or ministers or parents or brothers hovering nearby. She felt freer than she ever had and she didn’t want to waste a moment of it. Already, her excitement had a bittersweet tinge to it because Alex knew this time away from home couldn’t last.

All too soon, she would have to go back to Cadria. Duty was far too ingrained in her to allow for a permanent vacation. Another week was probably all she could manage before she would have to return and be Princess Alexis again. At the thought, she almost heard the palace doors close behind her. Almost sensed the weight of her crown pressing against her forehead. Poor little rich girl, she thought wryly and briefly remembered Garrett’s tiny cousin wistfully dreaming of being a princess.

If only the little girl could realize that what she already had was worth so much more. A ripple of regret washed through Alex as she turned her gaze on the busy street.

She wondered how many of the people laughing, talking, planning a lazy day at the beach were like her—on holiday and already dreading the return to their real world.

“Alex?”

She turned her head to look at him and found his gaze locked on her. “Sorry. Must have been daydreaming.”

“Didn’t look like much of a daydream. What’s got you frowning?”

He was far too perceptive, she thought and warned herself to guard her emotions more closely. “Just thinking that I don’t want my holiday to end.”

“Everything ends,” he said quietly. “The trick is not to worry about the ending so much that you don’t enjoy what you’ve got while you’ve got it.”

Nodding, she said, “You’re absolutely right.”

“I usually am,” he teased. “Ask anybody.”

“You’re insufferable, aren’t you?”

“Among many other things,” he told her, and she felt a tug of something inside her when his mouth curved just the slightest bit.

Then he turned his back on the busy street and looked out at the water. She followed his gaze, and nearly sighed at the perfection of the view. Tiny, quick-footed birds dashed in and out of the incoming tide. Lovers walked along the shore and children built castles in the sand.

Castles.

She sighed a little at the reminder of her daydream, of the world waiting for her return.

“So no big plans for today then?” he asked.

“No,” she said with a suddenly determined sigh, “just to see as much as I can. To enjoy the day.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me. How about we explore the town a little then take a drive along the coast?”

Relief sparkled inside her. She had been sure he’d have to leave. Go to work. Do whatever he normally did when not spending time with a runaway princess. “Really? That sounds wonderful. If you’re sure you don’t have to be somewhere…”

“I’m all yours,” he said, spreading his arms as if offering himself to her.

And ooh, the lovely sizzle that thought caused. “You don’t have to be at work?”