Page 38 of American Royalty

“Then this should be perfect.”

“The house has a full-time staff, but they won’t disturb you. The housekeeper will prepare your meals. If there’s anything specific you want, let her know.”

“The staff lives here?” Dani asked, looking around.

While it was a gorgeous estate, it was also a bit...

Isolated.

Even more so than she’d imagined. What would it be like to be out here by herself at night? No sounds of the city, no streetlights. And the lake she’d thought was charming only moments ago suddenly gave off Jason Voorhees vibes.

“Some. The housekeeper, butler, and a few of the cleaning staff live in accommodations on the upper floor,” Louisa said, pointing to the dormer windows at the top of the house. “My husband and I live closer to the city, but others, like the groundskeepers, footmen, and assistants, live in smaller homes on the property or in the nearby villages.”

“Whew,” Dani said, laughing with the sudden release of tension. “And what about the people who own the property? Are they here? Will they mind my presence?”

Louisa fiddled with the simple pearl stud in her earlobe. “Don’t worry. We’re happy you’re here.”

A member of the household staff exited the house and took the bags Amos pulled from the trunk.

“I kind of expected you to bring more,” Louisa said with a little smile.

“For the next two weeks I’m Dani, and this is all I’ll need. The wardrobe for Duchess will come when my team arrives.”

“Excellent. You have my cell if anything arises. But since I expect to be furiously working on the celebration, please try to use it only if necessary.” She glanced at her watch and sighed. “I was hoping he would be here.”

“He?”

“Yes, His Royal Highness Prince Jameson, Duke of Wessex. This is his—”

She broke off as a black late-model luxury sedan sped up the driveway and pulled to a stop on the other side of the fountain. The door swung open and a man emerged.

Dani stared at the newcomer, her pulse booming in her ears like a thunderstorm that had formed with no warning. A shiver of pure yearning trembled through her body.

Wow.

His long, determined strides quickly brought him to them, and Dani caught her bottom lip between her teeth.

He was tall and she had a... thing for tall men. Not freakishly tall, like that NBA player she’d dated for a few months. No, normal-guy tall. Duchess’s five-inch-high platform heels meant she rarely looked up to anyone. But in dark gray Adidas track pants, a white cropped T-shirt, and sneakers, Dani had to tilt her head back to take in the fine, solidly built specimen standing before her.

Six-three. Maybe six-four.

Heat trickled to her core.

The wind stirred the strands of his dark, wavy hair. Shades covered his eyes, but that only drew her focus to his long straight nose, his lean cheeks and chiseled jaw touched with a teasing hint of shadow, and his firm, well-shaped, really kissable lips.

Rust-colored pants covered those long legs, and his broad shoulders were cruelly concealed from view by a white button-down shirt and a navy-blue cardigan. Properly buttoned, of course. The cuffs of his shirt were rolled back over the sleeves of his cardigan and pushed up to reveal corded wrists, the left adorned with a classic Rolex. His other accessories were just as impeccable—brown, gleaming leather shoes, matching belt—their quality apparent even in their subtleness.

He looked like a sex god trying to masquerade as a mortal professor.

And that scholarly refinement, that studious veneer, made her itch to corrupt him. Tousle him up a little. Run her fingers through his hair, bite his stubbled chin, rip open that shirt—a reverse Superman—and graze her nails, promptly followed by her tongue, down his wide chest and flat belly.

Louisa dropped into a brief curtsy. “Your Royal Highness. I was just showing your guest around. May I please introduce you to Duchess?”

Dani knew none of her inner thirst showed on her face. She’d been in the entertainment game for almost a decade. Self-preservation demanded she learn how to conceal her emotions. But it took a hell of an effort.

Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t test the waters.

She grabbed the end of her sleek ponytail and pulled it over her shoulder. Sliding her hands into the pockets of her pants, she swayed from side to side. “When I was told the prince had invited me, you definitely weren’t what I had in mind.”