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Another time and place. Definitely.
“Give me a minute, please,” she asked her brother.
He grudgingly nodded and told Mr. Sutherland, “Enjoy your evening.” Then he walked away.
Louisa smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry if he seemed rude. He’s a little protective of me. My entire family is.”
His smile was understanding. “If I had a sister so lovely, I would be, too.”
“I suppose I should go back inside and mingle with the other guests.”
His look said he shared her disappointment. “I understand, Your Highness.”
She took off his jacket and handed it back to him. “I was wondering if you might like to be my guest for dinner at the castle.”
A smile spread across his beautiful mouth. “I would like that very much.”
“Are you free this coming Friday?”
“If not, I’ll clear my schedule.”
“We dine at seven sharp, but you can come a little early. Say, six-thirty?”
“I’ll be there.” He reached for her hand, brushing another gentle kiss across her bare skin. “Good night, Your Highness.”
He flashed her one last sizzling grin, then turned and walked back inside. She watched him go until he was swallowed up by the crowd, knowing that the next six days, until she saw him again, when she could gaze into the dark and hypnotizing depths of his eyes, would be the longest in her life.
Two
Garrett sipped champagne and strolled the perimeter of the ballroom, eyes on the object of his latest fascination. Everything was going exactly as planned.
“That was quite a performance,” someone said from behind him, and he turned to see Weston Banes, his best friend and business manager, smiling wryly.
He pasted on an innocent look. “Who said it was a performance?”
Wes shot him a knowing look. He had worked with Garrett since he bought his first parcel of land ten years ago. He knew better than anyone that Garrett would have never attended the ball without some ulterior motive.
“I’ve hit a brick wall,” Garrett told him.
Wes frowned. “I don’t follow you.”
“I now own every available parcel of commercial land that doesn’t belong to the royal family, so there’s only one thing left for me to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Take control of the royal family’s land, as well.”
A slow smile spread across Wes’s face. “And the only way to do that is to marry into the family.”
“Exactly.” He had two choices, Princess Anne, who he’d commonly heard referred to as The Shrew, or Princess Louisa, the sweet, innocent and gullible twin. It was pretty much a no-brainer. Although, considering the way she’d looked at him, as responsive as she was to his touch, he wondered if she wasn’t as sweet and innocent as her reputation claimed.
Wes shook his head. “This is ruthless, even for you. Anything to pad the portfolio, I guess.”
This wasn’t about money. He already had more than he could ever spend. This was about power and control. To marry the Princess, the monarchy would first have to assign him a title—most likely Duke—then he would be considered royalty. The son of a farmer and a seamstress becoming one of the most powerful men in the country. Who would have imagined? If he played his cards right, which he always did, someday he would control the entire island.
“We can discuss the details later,” Garrett told him. “I wouldn’t mind your input, seeing how this involves you, as well.”
“This is really something coming from the man who swore he would never get married or have children,” Wes said.
Garrett shrugged. “Sometimes a man has to make sacrifices.”
“So, how did it go?”
“Quite well.”
“If that’s true, then why are you here, and she’s way over there?”
His smile was a smug one. “Because I already got what I came for.”
“I’m afraid to ask what that was.”
Garrett chuckled. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about an invitation to dinner at the castle.”
His brows rose. “Seriously?”
“This Friday at six-thirty.”
“Damn.” He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re good.”
He shrugged. “It’s a gift. Women can’t resist my charm. Just ask your wife.”
Wes turned to see Tia, his wife of five years, standing with a throng of society women near the bar. “I should probably intervene before she drinks her weight in champagne and I have to carry her out of here.”
“You need to let her out more,” Garrett joked.
“I wish,” Wes said. Despite considerable means, Tia was the kind of nervous new mother who believed no one could care for their child as well as she and Wes, but he worked ridiculous hours and because of that she didn’t get out very often. In fact, this was the first public function they had attended since Will’s birth three months ago.
“Join us?” Wes asked, gesturing in his spouse’s direction.
Garrett gave one last glance to the Princess, who was deep in conversation with a group of heads of state, then nodded and followed Wes to the bar. He already had a game plan in place. What he would say to her and what he wouldn’t, when they would share their first kiss. The trick with a woman like her was to take it very slow.
He had little doubt that in no time, probably next Friday, he would have her eating out of the palm of his hand.
Louisa had been right.
It had been a murderously long week waiting for Friday to arrive, and when it finally did, the day seemed to stretch on for weeks. Finally, when she thought she couldn’t stand another second of waiting, at six-thirty on the dot, a shiny black convertible sports car pulled up in front of the castle and Garrett unfolded himself from inside.
She watched from the library, surprised that someone of his means didn’t have a driver, and wondering how such a big man fit into such a tiny vehicle. Maybe someday he would take her for a drive in it. With her bodyguards following close behind of course, because no member of the royal family was allowed to leave the castle unescorted. Especially not since the threats began late last summer.
Louisa peeked out from behind the curtain, watching as Garrett walked to the door. He looked so handsome and distinguished in a dark gray, pinstripe suit. And tall. She’d almost forgotten just how big he was.
Her brother Chris hadn’t been happy about the short notice when she’d informed him this morning that she had invited Garrett for dinner. She knew though that if she’d told him sooner, the family would have teased and harassed her mercilessly all week.
As it was, everyone had managed to get their digs in this afternoon. Chris of course questioned Garrett’s motives, as though no man would appreciate her for anything but her money and connections. Aaron voiced concern about the age difference—which, as Louisa had guessed, was just over ten years. Anne, who had been particularly cranky since the ball, warned her that a man like Garrett Sutherland was way out of her league and only interested in one thing. Louisa would love to know how Anne knew that when she didn’t even know Garrett. Even her parents, who had been relying on Chris’s judgment lately, were reserving their opinion. She wished, just this once, that everyone would mind their own business.
When Chris married an illegitimate princess, everyone just had to smile and go along with it for the good of the country, and when Aaron announced that he was going to marry an American scientist, an orphan who had not even a trace of royal blood, barely anyone voiced an objection. So what was the big deal about Louisa dating a rich and successful businessman?
She had checked up on him this week, purely out of curiosity of course, and though she hadn’t been able to find too much information, none of it had been negative.
She was sure, though, that since her announcement this morning, Chris had ordered Randall Jenkins, their head of security, to dig up all the information he could find on Garrett. Louisa wasn’t worried. She knew instinctively that he was a good person because she was an excellent judge of character.
The bell rang and she scurried over to the sofa to wait while Geoffrey, their butler, let Garrett in. She sat on the edge of the cushion and smoothed the wrinkles from the skirt of her pale pink sleeveless sundress, her heart pounding so hard it felt as though it might beat right through her chest.
Under normal circumstances she would have worn something a bit more conservative, like a business suit, for a dinner guest, but this was a first date and she wanted to look her best. Make a good first impression.
It seemed to take a millennium before the library door opened and Garrett strolled into the room. She rose to her feet to greet him.
Garrett wore his confidence like a badge of honor. So different from the cocky young royals she’d been introduced to in the past, who reeked of wealth and entitlement, as though their name alone afforded them everything their greedy and spoiled hearts desired.
Louisa and her siblings had been raised with wealth and privilege, but taught not to take anything for granted. Life, they had learned, especially since their father’s illness, was fragile, and family was what mattered above all else.
Maybe it was wishful thinking, but she had the distinct feeling Garrett shared those values.
When he saw her standing there, a gorgeous smile curled his lips. He bowed his head and said, “Your Highness, a pleasure to see you again.”
“I’m so glad you could make it,” she replied, even though she’d never had a single doubt that he would show. What had happened between them on the dance floor had been magical and she was certain that they were destined to be together. Besides, his assistant had phoned hers this morning to confirm.
“Would you care for a drink, sir?” Geoffrey offered.
“Scotch, please,” Garrett said, and his manners made Louisa smile. There was nothing she despised more than a man who treated the hired help with disrespect. Especially Geoffrey, who had been with them since before Louisa was born and almost single-handedly kept the household running like clockwork.
“White wine, Your Highness?” Geoffrey asked her.
She nodded. “That would be lovely, thank you.”
She gestured to the sofa and told Garrett, “Please, make yourself comfortable.”
He settled onto the cushion, looking remarkably relaxed, as though he dined with royalty on a daily basis, when she knew for a fact that the charity ball had been the first time he had visited the castle under social circumstances. She sat at the opposite end, all but crawling out of her skin with excitement. When their drinks were poured, Geoffrey excused himself and they were finally alone. No family breathing down her neck, no bodyguards watching their every move.
“I was looking forward to my parents meeting you, but unfortunately they won’t be joining us this evening.”
“Your father isn’t well?” he asked, looking concerned.
“He’s going in for a procedure soon and has to stay in tip-top shape. The fewer people he’s exposed to, the less likely he is to contract illnesses. His immune system is already compromised by the heart pump.”
“Another time,” he said. Was that his way of suggesting that he wanted to see her again? Not that she ever doubted he would. This was destiny.
It was still nice to hear the words out loud, to know what he was thinking.
“I’ll warn you that tonight might feel more like the Spanish Inquisition than a dinner,” she told him.
Garrett smiled. “I expected as much. I have nothing to hide.”
“I Googled you,” she admitted.
Her honesty seemed to surprise him. “Did you?”
“Earlier this week, although I didn’t find much.”
“There isn’t much to find. I am a simple man, Your Highness. What some may even consider … boring.”
She seriously doubted that. Everything about him intrigued her. He was so dark and serious, yet his smile was warm and inviting. She liked the way his eyes crinkled slightly in the corners when he smiled, and the hint of a dimple that dented his left cheek.
She opened her mouth to tell him that she would never consider a man like him boring, but before she could get the words out, her family appeared in the doorway. The entire lot of them.
Fantastic bloody timing. God forbid they let her have a little time alone with the man she planned to marry.
As everyone piled into the room, Garrett rose and Louisa stood to make the introductions.
“Garrett, I believe you already know my brothers, Prince Christian and Prince Aaron.”
“A pleasure to see you again.” Garrett bowed his head, then accepted a firm and brusque shake from each of them. Very businesslike, but with an undertone of possessiveness, a silent notification that he was being carefully assessed.
“This is my sister-in-law, Princess Melissa,” Louisa said.
“Just Melissa,” she added in the southern drawl she had adopted while living in the States. She shook his hand firmly and with purpose. For a southern belle, she didn’t have a delicate or demure bone in her body. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Sutherland. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Please call me Garrett,” he said. “I understand you’re expecting. Congratulations.”
“Kind of tough to miss at this point,” she joked, laying a hand on her very swollen middle.
“I understand it will be soon.”
“They prefer I make it to thirty-six weeks, so the babies’ lungs have enough time to mature. Preterm labor is a possibility with multiples, but I can hardly imagine another month of this. I feel like an elephant.”
“I’ve always believed there’s nothing more beautiful than an expectant mother,” Garrett said with genuine sincerity.
Melissa grinned widely and Louisa knew that he’d instantly won her over.
Aaron stepped forward and said, “This is my wife, Princess Olivia.”
Liv smiled shyly, still unaccustomed to her role as a royal. A botanical geneticist, she was reserved and studious and would much rather be in her basement lab studying plant DNA than interacting with people. But she shook Garrett’s hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”
Anne, not waiting to be introduced, stepped forward and announced, “I’m Anne.” She stuck out her hand, shaking Garrett’s so firmly that Louisa worried she might challenge him to an arm wrestle.
What was her problem?
If Anne had been expecting a negative reaction from her confrontational introduction, she got the opposite.
