To Kiss a King (Kings of California #11)(8)
Author: Maureen Child

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.