Page 21 of Royal Guard

I swallowed, throwing glances up at him as we neared the restaurant door. The tension between us was back, every tiny brush of his shirt sleeve against my arm making my skin throb and prickle. He’d pulled back from the kiss but both of us were still one touch, one word away from just grabbing the other.

I took a deep breath...and we went to dinner.

I had no idea what a rib shack was but, as soon as we got inside, I loved it. It was loud and dark, lit only by dangling bulbs and the occasional neon beer sign. The tables and chairs were bare wood, the floor was bare boards and everyone was gnawing meat from shining bones, dripping with dark sauce. The most amazing smell filled the room: succulent pork and beef and the heady tang of that dark sauce. My mouth started watering immediately.

“Your Highness,” whispered Emerik in my ear. “I’m not sure that this establishment—”

“Don’t call meYour Highness,”I told him. “And it’ll do perfectly well.”

Caroline whooped and pointed. “They have a jukebox!”We pooled our loose change and she queued up a full hour’s worth of American pop. She loved everything about this country. While I’d been getting changed, she’d hit the tiny store next to the rib shack and loaded up with US candy bars and magazines.

We ordered groaning platefuls of steaming ribs, sticky with sauce, bowls of French fries and mac ‘n cheese, coleslaw and grilled corn, all washed down with icy, crisp beer. None of us had eaten since dinner on the plane, the previous night. We demolished everything.

It was the first time we’d been able to relax and all of us needed it. I saw Garrett’s broad back lose a little of its tension and even Emerik relented and unbuttoned the top button of his collar. Caroline, who seemed to see this whole thing as an adventure, laughed and chatted and spun a story to a neighboring table about us being tourists from Italy. It made me wish that I could be as free and fun-loving as her. The whole experience was a reminder of everything I’d missed out on in life: food and beer with friends, being able to just wander about casually and enjoy life, without having everything pre-planned and security checked and assessed by Aleksander and his PR people.

I was on the run. But in some ways, it was the freest I’d ever been.

Garrett looked amazing. The new shirt he’d put on was blue and black plaid and it set off his tan skin and those amazing eyes. He’d rolled up the sleeves and my eyes kept being drawn to his thickly muscled forearmsas they rested on the table. Every time I looked at them, I imagined myself being lifted right off my feet—it would be so easy for him. Lifted and pressed up against a wall, or tossed on his bed, my jeans peeled down my legs—

I forced myself to look away but it was no good. If I looked at his collar, I imagined myself sliding my hands down under his shirt, tracing the hard slabs of his chest. If I looked at his wide shoulders, that brought home the raw size and power of him, how he’d loom over me, blocking out the light as he lowered himself between my thighs. And if I looked up into those clear blue eyes….

If I looked into his eyes, I was lost.

What had nearly happened in his doorway had changed everything. All my fantasies had gone super-high-definition, so real they left my heart racing and my breathing tight. Worse, I knew it could have happened. Could still happen, if I just—

No!Garrett belonged in this world of pickup trucks and ribs and beer and friends. I had to keep reminding myself that I was only visiting. “Do you have any ideas for getting us home?” I asked.

Garrett shook his head. “Nope,” he rumbled. “But now you’re safe, I’m thinking on it.” He dropped his eyes as soon as he’d said it, as if the idea of him thinking was ridiculous. My chest contracted in sympathy and then hot anger flared up inside: people had been underestimating this man for so long, seeing him as a big, dumb brute, that they’d even gottenhimbelieving he was stupid.

Caroline grabbed my wrist. “Dance!”

I was still sayingwhatwhen she hauled me out of my seat and pulled me stumbling into the open spaceby the bar. “Dance!” she said again.

And she started dancing to the music from the jukebox. I stared. It wasn’t like any dancing I was used to but then I’d only ever danced at formal balls.

“What?” asked Caroline. “This is how they do it here.”

I watched at her circling hips and thrusting ass. “Are you sure?” But I joined her. The opportunity was too good to miss. I never got to dance at home. Certainly not likethis.

“So. Garrett.” Caroline’s eyes were gleaming expectantly.

I flushed down to my roots. “What about Garrett?” I loved the sound of his name.

“Don’t ‘what about Garrett’me, you’ve been looking at him like you wanted to hoist up your skirts and climb on top of him.”

I went even redder. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“What happened out in the desert?”

“Nothing!”

“Has anything else happened?”

I thought of that moment in his doorway. “No,” I lied.

“He’s from Texas,” said Caroline dreamily. “That’s like America, only more so.”

“What about you?” I asked, desperately trying to change the subject.