Page 37

“Come on,” she breathed.
I had no choice but to follow. Alex darted across the grass with me in tow and down towards the lake. I was snared by the pulse of chemistry from her touch.
Then my brain caught up to where she was leading me. At the lake’s edge, she stepped onto the pontoon. The wooden walkway out onto the water was a dead end, only there as a place to moor the boats, so I stalled, not wanting my boots to echo. She shookme off and danced to the end. Then she knelt to the chain that constrained the final boat.
I darted a look back at the darkened path then pursued her. “What are you doing?”
“Hush. This needs to be quick.”
“What does?”
“They always leave the last boat tethered but unlocked. I’ve no idea why, maybe it’s a safety thing if someone needs one? But if I just…”
Alex tugged on the chain. It gave, and she let it slither down in the water. She’d untied a boat. I didn’t get a chance to tell her to stop as she was already climbing in.
“What the hell?” I bit out.
“Grab an oar. I forgot,” she whispered back, pointing at a container full of them.
Cursing under my breath, I snatched a pair and lowered myself to sit on the dock, using my feet to guide the boat beneath myself. I’d spent countless hours messing around on the loch at home, the water icy no matter the weather.
But never with a girl. Never on a warm and romantic night, even if the stars were hidden behind clouds.
Definitely never with a princess.
I handed a gleeful Alex the oars then lowered myself to the boat’s curved interior, rocking it with my weight. The waves lapped overly loudly in our stealthy attempt at theft.
When I was settled, I shoved off the dock so we slid away into the water. Then I gestured to Alex. “Row me then, princess.”
It wasn’t so dark that I couldn’t see her grin. She dipped the oars into the water. “I thought you’d try to stop me.”
I rested back, not quite relaxed—I never could be in a city—but easier with our situation. At least here, no one could sneak up on us. If we were spotted by the park keeper, we could book itacross the lake and run. “I don’t want to control ye. Only stop ye getting kidnapped or hurt.”
“You think that’s a genuine risk, don’t you?” She pulled again, taking us out into deeper water.
I lifted my chin. “Kind of amazed ye have to ask. You’d be an asset to a kidnapper. Ye could cause all kinds of mayhem both in the royal family and politically if ye were taken.”
She giggled again, and the sound did something strange to my head.
“Perhaps. My father worries a lot and doesn’t want me to take on a public role.”
“Do ye enjoy the work?”
She made a face. “Let’s not go crazy now.”
“Then why do it?”
There were other royal cousins in her family, other aunts and uncles who didn’t do anything public-facing. From the little I knew about Alex, no matter how good she was at shaking hands and waving to the crowds, I was certain she didn’t enjoy a minute of it.
She stared away for so long I didn’t think she’d answer. I was right. Alex changed the subject.
“You said you moved in with your brother when you were fifteen. What happened there?”
“My father is a mobster, and I didn’t want to join the family business of violence, drug running, and anything else he had in mind for me.”
Her mouth hung open. “That’s why you’re a bodyguard then? To counter what you didn’t like growing up?”
“That and the role was there and waiting for me. Leo, our client, is a friend, and the team needed a pilot.”