To Kiss a King (Kings of California #11)(7)
Author: Maureen Child

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.