Читать книгу Once Upon A Prince - Holly Jacobs - Страница 6

Fifteen minutes later, Shey punched Parker’s number into the phone as she glared at the man sitting in her recliner, staring out her living-room window.

Shey knew that Parker had caller ID, so she wasn’t surprised when her friend’s salutation was, “Thanks for picking up Tanner.”

“There’s a problem,” Shey told Parker without preamble.

The problem heard her and simply smiled.

“What now?” Parker asked. “Who else could my father send?”

If it were only as simple as dealing with Parker’s father. Shey and Cara had years of experience helping their friend circumvent her father’s dictates.

“Not your father, your prince,” Shey told her.

There was a small sigh of relief before Shey asked, “Okay, so what did Tanner do?”

“It’s what he didn’t do…he didn’t leave.”

“And I’m not going to,” Tanner said softly.

Shey put a hand over the receiver and said, “Listening to other people’s conversations is just rude. I’d have expected better from a prince.”

“I live to shake people’s expectations,” he said with an unprincely grin.

“What do you mean?” Parker asked over the phone.

“I mean, His Royal Painness and his goons—”

“His goons?” Parker asked.

Shey realized she hadn’t had a chance to mention Tanner’s three henchmen, so she explained, “He brought bodyguards, three of them. Anyway, they have rooms at the new hotel on the bayfront, but princy here won’t go. He says he’s staying with me.”

“Why on earth would he want to stay with you?”

“Because he said he figured you’d come rescue me and he’d get to talk to you.”

“Do you need me to rescue you?” Parker asked.

Shey had spent her life taking care of herself, not simply because it was her nature, but because it was necessity. After her father died, her mother worked at least two jobs to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Shey had to learn to be self-sufficient, because if she hadn’t learned to look out for herself, no one else would have.

That all changed when she won an academic scholarship to Mercyhurst College. That’s when she’d learned to count on others—when she found Parker and Cara.

No, she took that back. She hadn’t found them, they’d found her. She’d never quite figured out how or why, but over the years she discovered it didn’t matter. No matter how different they were, they fit. Three pieces that just clicked.

She had people to count on. Her friendship with Parker and Cara had seen to that.

Shey knew if she asked, Parker would come running to help even though the last person she wanted to deal with was her supposed fiancé. Knowing there was someone who would come when you called, no matter what, was a wonderful feeling. And every now and then it hit Shey and she felt a warm glow.

“No,” she said with a chuckle. “I just wanted to see how nice I have to be. He’s your fiancé, after all.”

“No,” Parker corrected, “he’s an old childhood friend, not a fiancé. And you don’t have to be nice at all.”

“Really?” Shey asked, smiling at Tanner who had the good sense to look a bit nervous. He rose and held out his hand for the phone.

“Really,” Parker answered.

“Great.” Shey ignored Tanner’s hand, still raised and waiting for the phone.

“Just don’t do anything that will land either of us in jail,” Parker added. “I could probably get diplomatic immunity, but you’d be sunk.”

“No problem. Hang on, princy wants to talk to you.”

“Parker, it’s imperative we speak,” Tanner insisted.

He was quiet as he listened to whatever Parker responded.

“Parker,” he said, “your father said—”

Parker must have cut him off because he stopped in midsentence.

“Someone else? Who?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “That man from tonight?”

Shey almost felt sorry for Tanner. Parker was a dangerous opponent.

She’d remembered what had happened to poor Hoffman—the last man Parker’s father had sent after her. Parker had fixed up Hoffman with Perry Square’s resident manicurist, Josie. Hoffman swore it was a vicious, horrible act of spite. He’d had to spend so much time evading Josie and her pals, that he hadn’t been able to properly tail the runaway princess. Eventually, he’d told Parker’s father he quit, but by then he’d become accustomed to Josie, that they became one of the Square’s newest, happiest couples.

Maybe she should warn Tanner what he was up against.

Shey glanced at the very disgruntled-looking prince, who refused to leave her home, and quickly decided that maybe she shouldn’t.

“You can’t be serious,” Tanner said.

He waited a moment longer, then hung up the phone.

“So?” Shey asked.

“She’s seeing someone else?” he asked.

Shey knew Parker wasn’t, but she was willing to play along for her friend’s sake. “It never occurred to you that someone as amazing as Parker would be dating?”

“No.”

He looked as if the whole concept of a woman preferring someone other than himself was not only distasteful, but was totally incomprehensible.

“Well, princy, you’re not as bright as you think you are. Men are always after Parker. Chasing her, wooing her. I think it shows an awful lot of conceit to think she’d be just sitting here waiting for you.”

The momentary look of confusion disappeared and a regal arrogance took its place. “Speaking of waiting, I’m waiting for you to show me to the guest room. I had a long flight, a long day. I need to get some rest.”

“There is no guest room,” Shey said. Even if there had been she wouldn’t have told the prince. Let him tough it out. Maybe he’d give up and leave.

“Where do your guests normally sleep?” he asked.

“I don’t have guests.”

“Family?”

Shey felt a small stab of regret for what she didn’t have, then reminded herself that she was lucky in what she did have.

“Parker and Cara are my only family,” she said, “and they have their own places, so no sleepovers.”

“But surely this little place has more than one bedroom.”

She sighed and said, “Surely the place does have another bedroom, but I converted it into an office since I don’t have guests.”

“Does your office have a couch?” he asked hopefully.

“No,” Shey said with a smile. “It has a desk, it has bookshelves, it even has some file cabinets, but no couch.”

“Then I guess I’ll be sleeping down here.” He frowned at the leather sofa.

Shey would bet a big wad of cash that princy had never slept on a couch in his entire life.

Heck he’d probably never even slept on a twin bed. It was all king-size mattresses for the prince, she was sure.

“No,” she said patiently. “You’ll be going back to your hotel and sleeping there in your nice, spacious penthouse suite.”

She wasn’t sure if the new hotel had a penthouse suite, but if it did, that’s where the prince would be staying.

“Come on,” she urged. “You’ve had your fun, but this plan isn’t going to work. Parker’s going to stay as far away from me as possible, at least until I shake you. So call one of your henchmen to come pick you up, or if you prefer, I can call you a taxi.”

“If Parker is your family, as you claim, then she won’t be able to stay away for very long. She’ll eventually come to your rescue. And when she does, she’ll find me waiting to talk to her.”

“You’re not spending the night,” Shey said with mounting frustration. She felt a totally out-of-character urge to stomp her foot. She caught herself pre-stomp and settled for crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m going to undress now,” the prince said with a smile. “Of course, you’re welcome to stay, if you like.”

“Threatening to undress in front a stranger.” She shook her head and tsked. “And you an engaged man, and all.”

He pulled off his jacket and reached for the buttons on his shirt.

“You wouldn’t,” she said.

“Try me.”

She felt a tug of curiosity and realized that if the man unbuttoning his shirt hadn’t been a prince—a prince who thought he was engaged to her best friend—she’d be very tempted to try him.

Instead of staying for the show, she turned and said, “Fine. I’m leaving.”

“Oh, do you have a pillow and blanket I can use?”

Do you have a pillow and blanket, he asked in the condescending princy tone. As if someone who didn’t have a mansion or a guest room wouldn’t be able to come up with even a pillow and blanket for a guest.

An uninvited guest, but a guest nonetheless.

How on earth had she found herself in this situation?

Truth was, she didn’t have a spare blanket or pillow. She didn’t need them. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said she never had guests. But she wouldn’t admit that to princy.

Shey stomped up the stairs to her room and took the bedspread and one of the three pillows off her own bed, then carried them back downstairs.

He had completely unbuttoned his shirt, but still had it on. Shey was grateful for that.

Yes, the feeling that washed through her was thankfulness, though surprisingly it felt a bit more like disappointment. Who’d have thought those two distinctly different emotions could feel so similar?

“Here,” she said, holding out the bedding.

Tanner bowed at the waist and said, “Thank you,” then took them.

She couldn’t go without one more try to make him see reason. “Being my shadow is a waste of time.”

“Ah, but it’s my time to waste.”

* * *

Tanner lay on the leather couch wrapped in the blanket Shey had brought. His head rested on the pillow.

Both smelled like her. Warm and spicy.

No sweet cloying scent for Shey.

He smiled.

Shey Carlson was an exceptional woman.

Captivating, even.

He chuckled as he thought about her attempts to get rid of him.

She was tough. She protected her friends with a ferocity that he couldn’t help but admire.

Tanner was used to softer women.

Shey was all warrior.

He rolled again, trying to find a comfortable position, but the movement simply intensified Shey’s scent. It was playing on his senses—surrounding him.

Tanner gave up trying to sleep and resigned himself to a sleepless night.

Here he was in a strange city—a strange country—sleeping on a stranger’s couch. And his fiancée was less than enthused by his visit. He’d hoped when he saw her that he’d feel the magic, he’d feel some spark that would reassure him that they could make a go of marriage.

Instead he’d felt…nothing. Nothing but the remnants of a childhood friendship.

No lightning strike of passion.

No small blaze of interest.

Not even the tiniest ember.

After his disastrous relationship with Stephana, he’d seen the wisdom in his father’s arrangements. Tanner felt that he wouldn’t ever truly know if a woman loved him and not his money and titles, so why not marry a woman who had enough of each not to be after his?

In the end, Stephana had decided all the money in the world wasn’t worth the hassles of noblesse oblige, the obligations of nobility. She claimed she hadn’t signed on to be an unpaid workhorse. She wanted to party, to spend Tanner’s money. When she saw that wasn’t what she was signing up for, she left.

He didn’t miss her. And he was honest enough with himself to know that not missing Stephana meant he’d never really loved her. Whatever he’d had with her, it had been a fraud on both their parts.

He and Parker would at least have honesty between them.

But no spark.

He snuggled farther into the pillow and Shey’s scent surrounded him and he felt a surge of something.

More than an ember.

More than a small blaze.

It was definitely in the lightning category. A lightning strike of interest.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t the least bit interested in him. And she was the best friend of the woman he should be thinking about.

Tanner dozed, and as he slept, he dreamed. Not of Parker, but of Shey. He dreamt of riding the Harley with her, holding her tight as feelings so intense that they threatened to burn him alive assailed him.

* * *

Shey was up before her alarm rang. It wasn’t difficult, since she’d hardly slept. Knowing there was a prince in her living room had played havoc on her dreams, and those dreams had left her reluctant to go back to sleep. So she’d tossed and turned, dozing and dreaming, then fighting to stay awake and not dream, all night.

She hurried to get ready for work. If she was lucky, she would be long gone before Tanner woke up. She just needed a little distance from the decidedly handsome man to regain her equilibrium.

Tanner was off-limits. Not because he thought he was Parker’s fiancé. Parker declared that relationship null and void, so there were no worries there.

No, he was off-limits because even though there was some sort of chemical reaction when he’d wrapped his arms around her, that wasn’t enough. He was a prince. A man used to the finer things. A man of social position and power. The finest thing in Shey’s life was her business and her Harley…and of course, her friends. Though she liked her life just fine, she wasn’t in the prince’s league, no matter what sort of spark she felt.

She was grinning as she tiptoed across the kitchen. She was going to bypass the living room and sneak out the back.

She quietly turned the deadbolt.

She was home free.

She shut the door softly behind her.

“Good morning, Shey.” The prince was leaning against her bike.

Darn.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked, glaring at him.

He looked way too good for a man who was wearing yesterday’s suit and hadn’t even shaved.

As a matter of fact, the stubble on his face took the sheen off his clean-guy image and made him even more attractive in Shey’s estimation.

Not that she was attracted.

Not at all.

“I’m out here waiting for you,” he said with a smile. “So, what’s on the schedule today? Any chance we’re going to see Parker?”

She noticed he’d given up trying to call her friend Marie Anna. Maybe she was making a bit of progress in convincing Tanner that Parker wasn’t who he thought she was, that she wasn’t the woman for him.

“No, we’re not going to see Parker. I’m going to work and you’re going to call your goons and do whatever it is a prince does to fill his days.”

“Wrong. If you’re going back to Monarch’s, I guess I’m going to Monarch’s, as well.”

“Why don’t you just admit defeat and go home?”

“I swore I’d bring a fiancée back with me, and I plan on doing just that.”

“A wise man knows when the battle’s lost.”

“And a great commander would tell you that this particular battle hasn’t even begun.”

“Oh, shut up and climb on the ‘vehicle.’” She sneered the last word in an attempt to mock him.

The prince was far too dense to recognize a good mocking. He just laughed and said, “Having ridden it yesterday I agree, a Harley isn’t just a vehicle. It’s a way of life.”

Now he was mocking her.

Shey glared at him and stalked to the bike. She put her helmet on with a bit more force than necessary.

“If you’re coming, get on.”

“Any chance we can swing by the hotel first so I can grab a shower and change? You were sneaking out early, so I assume we have time.”

“Well, if I’m stuck with you today I might as well make sure you smell good. Fine.”

“You’re a truly gracious host.”

“I’m not a host. I’m your keeper.”

“I have always been a man who resented being kept, being trailed by guards, having my every movement shadowed. But this once, I’m finding I don’t mind it at all.”

“You’re perverse.”

“Maybe, or maybe it’s just…”

Whatever he was going to say was lost in the roar of the Harley. Shey kick-started it and threw it into gear.

* * *

Tanner surveyed the small dining area in Monarch’s. Everything was neat and clean.

He felt a warm rush of pride.

Or maybe that warm feeling was merely the wet area of his shirt where he’d sloshed water on it when he’d rinsed the last load of dishes.

Either way, the day hadn’t gone the way he’d thought it would.

He’d thought he was in control when he’d outwitted Shey and was waiting for her by her motorbike. He’d even felt rather triumphant when she’d taken him to his hotel so he could shower and change while she waited in the lobby.

But she’d thrown the first kink in his plans when she’d tossed a towel at him and taunted, “I don’t suppose a prince such as yourself has ever had to clear his own table, but I’m thinking you’re bright enough to figure it out.”

She shot him a grin that said she doubted he was, in fact, bright enough.

That taunting smile should have made him angry.

Instead, it made him wonder what it would be like to kiss her.

A highly inappropriate thought.

So, he’d ignored the fact that when she smiled she stirred up embers of feelings best forgotten and taken her challenge to heart. That’s why it was dinnertime and he’d not only mastered the fine art of bussing tables, but had also learned to run the monstrous dishwasher, and work the cash register.

He still had a tendency to splash himself when he used the nozzle to rinse the dishes, which is why his shirt was damp, but otherwise, he’d had a productive day.

Productive at least from the busboy end of things.

In terms of the prince finding his fiancée, he hadn’t been nearly as successful.

“Hey, if the ruling-a-country thing doesn’t work out, you might just have a career in the food industry,” Shey said as she joined him. “You surprise me, princy. I thought you’d sit around and mope all day, but you really pitched in and helped. Thanks.”

“A prince doesn’t mope. And believe it or not, I’ve put in a hard day’s labor in the past.”

“Right. Signing royal decrees and proclamations can give a guy writer’s cramp.”

“Do you work at being abrasive, or does it just come naturally?”

“What can I say?” she said with a shrug and a smile. “It’s a gift.”

He couldn’t help but smile in return. He could trade barbs with Shey all day. He rather enjoyed her prickly nature. Most of the women he’d dated in the past had bent over backwards to be agreeable, hoping to snag a rich prince.

He was pretty sure that Shey didn’t have an agreeable bone in her body. If he said black, she’d say white just to have a good argument.

He glanced at his watch. He’d been here all day. “When does Parker arrive?”

“Oh, didn’t I mention,” Shey said slowly, “that today was her day off? Tammy’s here to close up shop.”

She grinned, obviously she’d had this planned all along.

A moment before, sparring with Shey had delighted Tanner, now it had him gritting his teeth as he said, “No, you didn’t.”

“So sorry. But today is Parker’s day off. Guess you wasted time helping out here, didn’t you?”

She looked completely pleased with herself.

“You let me slave away all day on purpose, knowing she wasn’t coming in?”

“What part of ‘I’m Parker’s friend and would do anything for her’ did you miss? That doing anything includes putting up with you all day.”

He glared at the redhead. Somewhere along the line he’d lost sight of his ultimate goal and lost a whole day.

Now what?

Shooting an evil glance at Shey, he pulled out his mobile and called Emil to ask him to bring a car to the coffeehouse.

“You’re giving in?” Shey said. “Wish I could say I’d miss you, but I don’t tell lies.”

“Never?” he asked.

“Never.”

“I don’t either. So if I said that despite the fact you’re a highly annoying woman, I’ve been thinking about kissing you all day and that I find you to be a very attractive woman, what would you say?”

Tanner heard the words spill out of his mouth. He couldn’t seem to stop them. He waited, expecting some sort of outburst from Shey, sure she’d take offense.

Instead, she laughed and said, “I’d say you wouldn’t be the first to think I’m annoying, and you’re also not the first to think about kissing me, or to think I was attractive. I’m sure you won’t be the last to think any of them. But I’d add, I’m not interested in kissing you, although you’re more than welcome to continue thinking I’m annoying and attractive.”

“And what if I said that I don’t believe the not-wanting-to-kiss-me part of your little speech? That I felt your eyes on me all day.”

“I’d say, quite truthfully, that you were right. My eyes were on you. You know the old adage about not trusting a fox in the henhouse? Well…” She let the sentence hang.

“I’m familiar enough with American slang to know that you thinking I’m a fox could easily lead you to fantasize about kissing me.”

She didn’t even bother to respond. She just snorted and laughed again.

Tanner was thankful he’d never had problems with low self-esteem or else that snort might have put a dent in his psyche.

“I don’t know why I bother,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re easily the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met. And if you knew the last woman I dated you’d realize that’s saying something. So, as much as this has been interesting,” he said with just the proper sneer added to the word interesting, “I’ll have to say goodbye.”

She wasn’t laughing or snorting now. She suddenly looked all serious. “You’re still going after Parker, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” he said with a shrug.

“Then I’m going with you,” she said, throwing down her dish towel like some cotton gauntlet. “Tammy, I’m leaving now.”

“No, you’re not,” Tanner said.

“No problem,” the young student said. “It was nice meeting you, sir.”

Shey gave a quick wave to the girl and smiled at Tanner. “Yes, I am going with you. You owe me.”

“How did you reach that misguided conclusion?”

“I not only met you at the airport, but I let you stay at my house. I even gave you the pillow and blanket off my own bed.”

Ah. That explained why her scent was so strong.

“So now I’m cashing in. I’m coming along.”

“Fine.”

He tried to sound disappointed, but for some reason, he wasn’t.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“It’s a surprise.”