Crowning His Unlikely Princess (Mills & Boon Modern)

by Michelle Conder

  ‘Please, tell me that this is a bad dream,’ she groaned, a liquid heat unfurling low in her pelvis as she stared at the sleek perfection of his hard body.

  In the process of rubbing his hair dry with another towel, Logan came to a complete standstill and stared at her.

  ‘It’s not a dream, bad or otherwise. Is that for me?’

  Incapable of coherent thought, Cassidy had no idea what he was talking about.

  ‘The phone, Cassidy.’ Logan’s voice was dark and low. ‘Is it for me?’

  The phone? The phone?

  Appalled, she remembered that she had the King on the line and held it out to him as if it were a baton she needed to pass on to the next competitor in a relay. ‘Yes, yes, it’s for you.’ Her heart was racing like a runaway train as he prowled toward her. Plucking it out of her hand, he told her to wait for him before he disappeared back down the hallway.

  Feeling like the survivor of a car crash, Cassidy didn’t move for a good few minutes, not wanting to do anything that might bring him back.

  Then she took a deep breath, absently noticing a tray of fresh glasses and a silver jug beaded with moisture.

  Suddenly parched, she poured herself an icy drink and thought about rolling the glass across her sweaty forehead to cool herself down.

  Fortunately, drinking it had the desired effect and she felt her heart rate start to return to normal, only to sense Logan pad up behind her. Just her luck that his phone call would be so short.

  She didn’t turn to face him, pretty sure that if he was still wearing the towel she’d resign on the spot. Because how could she possibly go on working for him and not picture him naked every time she saw him?

  ‘That was my brother.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘I was in the shower when he tried my cell.’

  Cassidy took a gulp of water. ‘I kind of got that.’

  Logan shifted behind her. ‘Are you going to look at me or stand facing the wall for the rest of the night?’

  Hearing the irritation in his voice, she slowly turned and automatically scanned his body for clothing. Fortunately he’d changed while he’d been speaking to the King, and was now dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants as black as his mood.

  ‘I’m really sorry for walking in on you like that,’ she said softly. ‘Had I known—’

  ‘Forget it,’ he dismissed. ‘It’s becoming a habit I’m getting used to.’

  ‘Well, I’m not,’ she squeaked indignantly. ‘And I can assure you it will never happen again. I’m going to return your private key card as soon as we get back to New York because I’m never going into your personal space again unless you’re with me, or not there at all.’

  Logan raked a hand through his still wet hair. ‘That’s not something you’ll have to worry about in the future because I’m not returning to New York.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Knowing exactly why that would be, and seeing the weight of it in the tense line of his shoulders, she watched as he stalked to a minibar between a set of shelves and poured himself a healthy dose of something amber. Probably Scotch.

  ‘Want one?’

  He held up his glass and Cassidy shook her head. In the office she knew what was expected of her. She knew her role. Now, without the separation of Logan’s oak desk and surrounded by metres of glass, everything was different. She was different. And so was he.

  She also knew that if Leo had given up the throne, Logan wouldn’t be happy. He hadn’t wanted his life to change, but he was too honourable not to step into his brother’s place if that was truly required. After all, this was the man who had sat by his brother’s bedside while he’d been sick as a teenager.

  In an attempt to get them back on track, Cassidy tried to focus on work. ‘I take it from that comment about not returning to New York that your talk with your brother didn’t go so well.’

  Logan barked out a laugh. ‘That’s a polite way of putting it.’

  ‘What did he say?’

  ‘He’s enamoured of this woman. Elly Michaels. She’s an archaeologist and as my brother is a keen artefact-collector they’ve been bonding over five-hundred-year-old ceramics since they met six months ago. Apparently she makes him smile even when she’s not there.’

  Logan said the last with a healthy degree of derision but it made Cassidy go soft inside. ‘Oh, that is so sweet.’

  Logan’s brow rose in mockery. ‘Sweet? To be at the mercy of your emotions? I took you as far too sensible to take that view.’

  She was sensible now, but she hadn’t always been. Neediness had made her stupid and she’d never forget the disappointment on her father’s face when his good girl had gone bad. When he’d discovered she’d sent that photo. And she had vowed to never succumb to the feeling again.

  But she couldn’t deny that, when her guard was down, like now, she felt something akin to that with her boss. Having refused to view him as anything other than her boss for so long, she didn’t know why she was finding it so hard to switch back to that now, but she was.

  Cassidy grimaced. ‘I usually am, but...to find someone special like that is very rare.’

  ‘You don’t have to convince me of that. I’d go so far as to say non-existent.’

  And she supposed she could guess as to why that was if his father had cheated on his mother so often.

  ‘But tell me,’ he continued softly, almost challengingly, ‘does Peter share your romantic outlook on life?’

  ‘I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call my outlook romantic,’ she said carefully, knowing that maybe, possibly, if she gave free rein to her deepest desires, it might come close. ‘But Peta is definitely that way inclined.’

  Her sister had always loved the idea of being in love and even the twins’ father bailing on her hadn’t been able to squash that side of her nature completely. Hence Dan...

  ‘Lucky you,’ Logan drawled in a tone that, had he been any other man, she would have said was jealous. ‘To find a man who matches you so well.’

  ‘Man?’ A frown formed between her eyes. Then realisation dawned. ‘I think we might have our wires crossed somehow. Peta is my sister.’

  ‘Your sister?’ Logan looked at her as if she had sprouted an extra head. ‘Then who the hell was the guy who kissed you in your doorway when I picked you up?’

  ‘That was Dan. My sister’s fiancé.’ She shook her head. ‘Seriously, we’ve talked about Peta’s reaction to my coming here... How could you think that she was a...a what? A lover? A boyfriend? I haven’t dated in years.’

  ‘Easily.’ The arrogant gleam was back in his eyes. ‘You’re a beautiful woman. Why wouldn’t I believe you were seeing someone?’

  He thought she was beautiful?

  ‘Because we work so closely together,’ she said, flustered by the unexpected compliment. ‘And I know every woman you date because I have to inevitably buy them goodbye gifts.’

  ‘Clearly I don’t know half as much about you. Why haven’t you dated for so long?’

  ‘Because I haven’t been asked.’ She felt her face burn under his intense scrutiny. ‘But even if I had, I’m not interested in dating anyone.’

  Not at all enjoying having the focus on a part of her life that was such a dismal failure, she mentally searched for a distraction. ‘You know what I do when I’m upset?’ she said with Mary Poppins–like enthusiasm. ‘I do something physical.’

  A cynical smile twisted his lips. ‘What are you suggesting, Miss Ryan?’

  Whenever he addressed her like that she thought of sex and it took a lot to remind herself that he wasn’t thinking the same thing. Only this time he was. But that was because he was moody and looking for an argument. And she was directly in the firing line.

  ‘Not that kind of outlet,’ she managed. ‘I meant exercise. For me that’s taekwondo, but for you I know it’s
running.’

  His eyes gleamed speculatively as he considered her. ‘How good are you?’

  Cassidy frowned. ‘That wasn’t an invitation to spar with you.’

  ‘I didn’t take it as one.’ Dark lashes lowered to conceal the compelling blue of his eyes. ‘That’s why I’m issuing one of my own.’

  ‘But you don’t even practise taekwondo,’ she said on a rushed breath, her mind frantically searching for some way she could get out of this diplomatically.

  Unfortunately Logan had his juggernaut expression in place. ‘I know karate. It should make for an interesting session.’

  Cassidy shook her head. ‘There’s no way I can spar with you.’

  ‘Afraid I’ll hurt you?’ he asked softly.

  No, she was afraid she’d have to touch him, and she had enough brain cells still working to understand a bad idea when she came across one. ‘It wouldn’t be appropriate.’

  That arrogant gleam returned. ‘Why not? We’re not working right now. And even so... I don’t care about what’s appropriate. I care about doing something I want. And what I want is to find out what my EA is made of.’

  If she had to answer that, she’d say jelly. ‘This is not a good idea.’

  ‘Duly noted.’ Logan’s grin turned wolfish. ‘Now go and suit up.’

  Her sister?

  Logan was stunned. How had he got that so spectacularly wrong? And why did finding out that she didn’t have a lover make him feel so much better than before? It wasn’t as if he cared if Cassidy had someone special back home and, really, it changed nothing between them.

  Even if he had the freedom to explore the sexual spark between them, he wouldn’t. Not only did she work for him but she was the kind of woman who would inevitably want more from him. The kind he tried to stay away from.

  Still, he was aware that on some level he was playing with fire by inviting her to spar with him. Especially when he saw her walking toward him in her white cotton dobok and matching black pants, her long hair pulled into a plait that trailed down the centre of her back like a silky horse’s tail. She looked younger like this, her lovely face and clear eyes so guileless he could see just how nervous she felt.

  And she probably had good reason to feel that way. He wasn’t exactly himself right now.

  Finding out that Leo would not reconsider his abdication, making him the next King of Arrantino, had shaken him. He still wasn’t convinced that his brother giving up the throne for a woman was the wisest course of action, but he’d kept his own council this time. Leo had accused him of being over-protective in the past, but having sat by his brother’s bedside while he’d gone through months of chemotherapy had been painful to watch. Then having his marriage fail... Was it really being over-protective to want to prevent someone you loved from experiencing pain?

  Because what if this Elly woman turned out to be just another version of Anastasia?

  Grabbing two bottles of water from the refrigerator, he joined Cassidy. She looked stiff and uncertain as she glanced up at him, her green eyes brighter without her glasses.

  ‘You’re not wearing your glasses?’ he asked, not recalling a time he had seen her without them before.

  ‘No. I generally need my glasses for work because I suffer from eye strain, but I don’t need them all the time.’

  Something else he hadn’t known about her.

  He led her downstairs to the gym and pushed open the door, wondering how many more secrets she had that he had yet to uncover.

  Uncover?

  He frowned. He didn’t want to uncover Cassidy’s secrets.

  Her plait swished as she walked ahead of him beckoning him to wrap his fist around the thick length and tug on it until her mouth was under his. There was definitely one secret his body was keen to uncover but he forced his mind not to go there. She was out of bounds.

  The gym wasn’t empty. Two palace employees who looked to be in the middle of a workout were there, but Logan wasn’t in the mood for company and levelled a look at them both.

  Mumbling a formal greeting, both men collected their gear and left through the second door.

  Cassidy turned to face him, her slender brow arched as she toed off the soft slippers provided for palace guests. ‘You made them leave.’

  ‘Yes.’ He placed the two water bottles on the bench against the wall, completely unapologetic.

  ‘You didn’t have to do that,’ she said. ‘We’re only going to be using the mat.’

  Logan lifted a brow. ‘Oh, did you want an audience when I soundly beat you, Miss Ryan?’

  A soft blush touched her cheeks as she shook her head. ‘I may look small, Mr de Silva, but I’ve beaten men larger than you before.’

  Her beguiling gaze raked from his broad shoulders down over his powerful thighs and he actually felt a shiver move across his skin.

  As if she had no idea of the effect she had on him, she gazed at him steadily from across the mat. Which was probably for the best.

  Obviously feeling the swirl of his shifting emotions, she tilted her little chin up at him. ‘So what happens now?’

  Making the decision to switch his brain from sex to sparring, he toed off his runners and moved to stand in the middle of the mat. When he had offered to spar with her it had been out of a genuine need to let off some steam and, okay, a small amount of curiosity to see her in action. Knowing that she held a senior black belt had only elevated that interest. ‘Now we spar,’ he said.

  Aware of every move she made, he noticed the moment she hesitated. ‘Actually, I meant about you becoming King. What’s the process?’

  ‘A notice will go out tomorrow.’ She stepped back from him and stretched from side to side, bending to touch her toes to warm up.

  Logan told himself not to watch. ‘The coronation will be on Friday.’

  ‘Four days from now?’ She straightened and rolled her slender shoulders. ‘Why so soon?’

  ‘To avoid any more fallout for Arrantino and to ensure that the focus is on the future. Not the past.’

  ‘That makes sense.’

  Having finished her stretches, she came to stand directly in front of him, her subtle scent reaching out to ensnare him. When he didn’t immediately move, her eyes flickered to his warily. ‘You know we can still change our mind about this.’

  ‘Too late.’ He overrode his sensual response and bowed to her. ‘I’m already having fun.’

  And he was. Seeing another side to Cassidy was far more interesting than contemplating how incredibly his life was about to change.

  ‘I’m still not used to seeing everyone bow and curtsy to you as they have been today,’ she murmured. ‘Does that mean I’m supposed to as well?’

  ‘Only when you first see me in the day.’

  ‘Oh, sorry. I forgot this morning.’

  ‘Next time it will be ten lashes at dawn,’ he promised, bending his knees to take up the traditional karate stance. ‘Shall we?’

  Her green eyes gleamed as she observed him and he knew that she was relishing the opportunity to spar with him as much as he was with her. A dark thrill raced through his body at the prospect that he might have met his match.

  Cassidy took up a similar pose, tracking his expressions and movements with the confidence of a seasoned practitioner.

  Logan breathed in through his nostrils, once more picking up the scent of flowers and musk.

  Which was when she struck, moving her arms in a quick series of blocking moves before sweeping his legs out from under him.

  She laughed as he lay sprawling at her feet, the sound light and musical. Not at all put out by her getting the jump on him, he leapt lithely to his feet.

  ‘Like that, is it?’ he drawled softly.

  She laughed again, dancing away from him lightly.

  ‘First rule of combat. Never underestimate y
our opponent,’ she advised, clearly delighted in her small victory.

  Feeling alive and invigorated, Logan pulled a few light moves on her, impressed with her technique and her agility. Not that he seriously thought he was at risk of being defeated when she was so light he could lift her up with one hand tied behind his back.

  ‘How is it you know taekwondo?’ he asked, as he blocked another lethal combination of moves.

  ‘My father insisted that my sister and I take self-defence lessons when we were younger, and I became hooked.’ She threw in a high kick that he dodged. ‘They offered lessons at our local YMCA and I used it as a break from reading.’

  ‘Bookworm, were you?’

  He used the question to distract her, and it worked because she wasn’t ready as he forced her back on the mat and rolled her over his arm and sent her to the floor.

  Pink with exertion, she jumped gracefully to her feet, scowling at him. ‘You deliberately distracted me. And, yes, I’m boring if that’s what you were getting at.’

  ‘Boring?’ With that mouth, and those eyes? ‘You’re turning out to be the least boring woman I know.’

  His comment was followed by a serious of twists and kicks that had him roll off to the side rather than find himself face planting on the mat. She arched a brow, a smug grin curving her lips. ‘You won’t get me with fake compliments.’

  Fake?

  ‘I don’t do fake.’

  She gave him an uncertain glance and he used the momentum of her being on the back foot to use a series of kicking moves that were a combination of two different forms of martial arts, taking her by surprise as she tumbled again.

  ‘That was illegal,’ she complained, facing him.

  ‘No, it wasn’t. I practise Krav Maga as well.’

  Cassidy rolled her eyes. ‘Naturally you would know the most aggressive forms of martial arts.’

  ‘Of course.’ Logan shrugged. ‘Basic Prince Training.’

  ‘Really? I would have thought that basic prince training would involve how to be demanding and get what you want.’

  Logan grinned at the playful dig. ‘That’s Basic Prince Training Part Two.’

  Laughing, she threw in an illegal move of her own, but Logan was primed for it, flipping her onto her back and straddling her waist with his strong thighs.