To Kiss a King (Kings of California #11)(32)
Author: Maureen Child

“I never use that word,” he assured her, and reached out for her again.

Smiling, she let herself be held. Probably another monumental mistake, but she needed the comfort of his arms. The strength of him, wrapped around her. If she had one more thing to regret in the morning, then so be it.

“Why’d your father have to be a king?”

She laughed a little and linked her arms at the small of his back. “Your father was a King, too.”

He gave her a squeeze. “Funny.”

Tipping her head back, she looked up at him and whispered, “You may be willing to pretend that everything that happened tonight was a mistake, but I for one, enjoyed myself immensely.”

“So did I, Alex. That’s the problem.”

“Doesn’t have to be.”

He shook his head. “I’m here to do a job and that doesn’t include bedding you.”

That barb hit home with a staggering force she didn’t even want to admit to herself. So much for tender makeup scenes in the moonlight. “Yes,” she said softly. “I wonder if you’ll get a raise in pay for this? Maybe if I tell my father how very good you were?”

“Cut it out, Alex.”

She felt like a fool. She’d spilled her heart out to him, laid it at his feet and he chose that moment to remind her that he was being paid by her father. How could she possibly love a man who only saw her as a job? How could she have forgotten, even for a minute, that he had lied to her from their first day together? That her father was paying him to watch over her?

Well, fine. If he wanted to turn his back on what they had together, then she wouldn’t stop him. She might be fool enough to love him, but she wasn’t so big a fool that she didn’t know when to pull back from the edge of a very steep cliff. Releasing him, she steeled herself for the soul-deep cold that slipped inside her the instant she left the circle of his arms.

“You’re the one who brought this up again,” she reminded him.

“I just want you to understand is all. I didn’t want to say yes to your dad, but he’s a hard man to refuse.”

“That much I know from personal experience.”

He took a breath. “When I realized who you were, I was worried. I called your father and told him I was uncomfortable with you out on your own with no protection. And so was he. I talked to your mother, too.”

She closed her eyes briefly and he felt the tension in her body tighten. “So they double-teamed you.”

“Yeah,” he said with a sharp nod. “Guess you could say that.”

“They’re very good at it,” she mused, a half smile blooming and disappearing from her mouth in a fraction of a second. “It’s how they deal with my brothers and me, as well.”

“Then you can see why—”

“I can see why you said yes to my father,” she cut him off neatly and speared him with a glance that had gone icy. “What I don’t see is why you lied to me.”

“I lied because I had to. Your father told me you’re adept at escaping your guards.”

“And because you lied, I never even tried to escape you,” she whispered.

“I couldn’t risk you escaping me, Alex. I had to keep you safe. As for fighting what was happening between us…” He paused and shook his head again as if he couldn’t believe they were in this situation. “In my job, when I get distracted, people tend to die. I won’t let that happen to you, Alex.”

“Garrett, if you don’t live, you might as well be dead already. Don’t you see that?”

“What I see is that I let you get to me,” he said, gaze moving over her face. “Didn’t mean to. Didn’t want you to. But you did anyway.”

A part of her thrilled to hear it. But the more rational voice in her mind warned against it. The look in his eyes was far from warm and fuzzy. The set of his jaw and the tension in every line of his body screamed that he was a man who’d made his decision. Alex had come in second to his sense of honor. What he said next only defined it.

“As much as I want you, I can’t let this happen again, Alex. Not while I’m responsible for your safety.”

There it was. Duty first. She should respect that sentiment, seeing as she had been raised to believe the same. But somehow, that didn’t make her feel any better.

A chill swept over her that had nothing at all to do with the cold wind still flying toward them. Garrett couldn’t have made himself clearer.

“No worries, Garrett,” she told him, keeping her voice light in spite of the knot of pain clogging her throat. “You’re absolutely safe from me now as I’m just not interested anymore.”

“Liar.”

She laughed shortly. “Amazing that you even feel comfortable using that word against someone else.”

“Amazing that you can be so pissed at me for doing something you’re pretty good at yourself.”

She ignored that and turned for the bedroom, suddenly more than ready for this conversation to be over. “Before you go, want to check the bathroom for hidden assassins?”

“Funny.”

Stepping into the bedroom, she walked to the dressing table, picked up her hairbrush and started drawing the bristles through her tangled hair. Staring into the mirror, she caught his reflected gaze. “You’re making far too much of this situation. You’re assuming I want this ‘relationship’ to continue. But I don’t.”

“Lying again.”

She tossed the brush down. “Stop telling me when I’m lying. It’s rude.”

“Then stop lying.”

“Same to you.”

“I’m not lying now,” he said. “I still want you.”

“Me, too.”

“Damn it, Alex.”

“Shut up and kiss me, Garrett.”

He did and Alex’s brain went on hiatus again. Soon, she would be able to sit back and regret this at her leisure. But at the moment, all she could think was how right it felt. How good it was to be in his arms again. To have his mouth fused to hers.

He lifted her and carried her to the bed and when he set her down onto the mattress, she looked up into icy-blue eyes that sparked and shone with the kind of need that shook her to the bone.

For now, that was enough.

Three days later, Garrett was on the edge with no way out.

Now that she knew who he was, Alex seemed to delight in making him nuts. She insisted on walking down crowded sidewalks, going shopping through packed malls and even driving to San Diego to visit SeaWorld. It was as if she had determined to make him earn every dime of his paycheck from her father.