by Grady, D. R.
“Are you telling me I’m stinky?” Her voice held plenty of teasing notes. She hoped he figured that out. She wrinkled her nose for effect.
“Not at all,” he said, but the lines around his mouth relaxed, like he appreciated her light heartedness.
“That’s good. I will feel better after cleaning up.”
***
Aleksi tugged off his tie and tossed it on a hook in his closet. He glared at the tie rack, thinking back to that awful conversation between his mother and Tia. He should have known his mother wouldn’t cooperate. She’d gone from being a mother to a complex, nasty woman during the past year.
He frowned as he thought of her most unfriendly welcome to Tia. What must Tia think of his family? And he couldn’t even provide her with a decent shower. No, they had slid back into medieval times and had to bathe. Granted the tubs they all used dated back nearly six hundred years and were works of art. Still, it didn’t compare with the thoroughly modern shower with excellent water pressure from modern times.
He’d been impressed with the easy way Tia accepted their circumstances. Not a spoiled princess by any means. He would certainly like to make her one. Random thoughts of kissing her enticing lips distracted him and he kept sneaking glances at her during their meeting with his mother. Glances his parent had correctly intercepted.
A knock sounded on his bedroom door, and pretty sure who had arrived to bother him, Aleksi opened the panel. His mother sailed through; acting like a bee had flown up her skirt.
“What are you thinking?” she hissed.
He blinked at her, because he certainly didn’t plan to tell her about the kisses he’d like to exchange with Tia. Or his daydreams about pressing her delectable self against him. Or the way he fantasized about running his hands through her hair. Such topics didn’t seem appropriate to discuss with one’s mother.
So he stared at her in confusion instead. “What?”
“Bringing that woman here,” she started.
“That woman, as you describe her, acted with manners. That is more than I can say for you. Mother, if you can’t behave yourself, I’m sending you away until we fix this well problem.” He used the tone that indicated he meant business, one she recognized because she recoiled.
“Send me away? Surely you can’t be serious?” She tried to convince him she was hurt with the sorrowful looks she sent. Aleksi wasn’t deceived.
“Mother, you were an embarrassment,” he said firmly. He wasn’t going to mince words. She was a princess – that meant she had to be gracious, even if it killed her. Instead she’d been the epitome of unfriendliness. What was that American term he’d heard? Snarky, yes, that fit his mother’s behavior perfectly.
She gasped and clapped a hand to her breast, like she couldn’t believe he spoke to her in such a manner. He didn’t give her time to refute what he said. “You’re a princess. You represent the royal family. But you acted like a spoiled brat to Tia.”
His mother must have grasped that he was angry with her because not even she could fake the paleness to her cheeks or the slight trembling in her hands as she groped for a chair behind her.
“I had no idea,” she said faintly.
Not even her paleness would save her from this conversation. He leveled her with a firm look. “I cannot believe you would treat a guest, one who came to help us, as you did. Father would have been utterly appalled. I am appalled.”
“Well she is American,” his mother said, some of her old spirit reviving.
“Americans are a great lot of people. They have their problems just like any nationality, but I don’t understand what you have against them. The years I spent in America were some of my best.”
“They have deplorable manners.”
He stared at her, his jaw open. “What?”
“I said—”
“I heard what you said.” Aleksi cut her off, not believing what came out of the woman’s mouth. “But it wasn’t Tia, the American, who showed poor manners just ten minutes ago. It was you, who is supposed to be of noble birth.”
Another gasp, another hurt look. But he didn’t give in to her passive aggressive behavior. She’d become the queen of such behavior lately, and he wasn’t about to allow her to run Tia off.
Not that he received the impression Tia was easy to intimidate. He’d seen her eyeing his mother like she was sizing her up and figured his parent was likely to come up on the losing end should anything occur. Apparently they built them tough in America. And Tia had three older brothers. Something told him not to discount that fact.
“I would do nothing to hinder our image as a noble family.” His mother sent him a patronizing look.
“You already did. I expect you to be kind to our guest.”
“Kind?” She sounded like she was choking.
“You’re a princess. Act like one,” he said, keeping his voice severe.
“I was.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Not like a spoiled rotten brat princess as you did. But like a woman of noble birth, which you did not.”
What was that American statement? And pigs would fly.
Chapter 5
The sun filtering through sheer curtains and peeking around heavy drapes she didn’t recognize woke Tia. Startled she sat up in bed and glanced around the room. This definitely wasn’t her condo bedroom.
The furniture was too heavy and looked old-world. The room was huge and filled with what appeared to be national treasures, not the hand-me-down furniture from her Morrison relatives.
Memory returned as her brain engaged and Tia realized she’d have to eat breakfast with Mommy Dearest, or the Wicked Witch of the West. She hadn’t decided on the title for Aleksi’s mother yet.
She’d have to eat breakfast with him, too. That meant she needed to converse in a semi-intelligent manner. Frowning, she hoped she had managed that feat last night. Because due to the utter weariness of travel she couldn’t remember much after the dessert course had been served. Except that she’d been relaxed, despite the demon mother’s presence, and the fact that her mild crush on Aleksi hadn’t quite disappeared, like she previously believed.
Darn the man.
Why did he have to be sexy?
Why did he have to care so much about his people? Why did he have to stare all through the meal at her like he wanted to sample her?
Tia’s eyes snapped wider. Where had that ridiculous thought come from? She was a nerd in nerd’s clothes. Easily identified. No man, especially a hot prince, would fall for her.
No way.
Not going to happen.
But said nerd could definitely fall for the hot prince, a snide little voice chimed in. Tia scowled as she threw off the covers and silk sheets. Silk sheets. She was pretty sure her sheets at home were one hundred and fifty count. Maybe two hundred if she was lucky. But here in Rurikstan, she slept on pure silk sheets.
Nerd in silk sheets.
Maybe they’d make a movie about her. Rolling her eyes at her foolishness, Tia padded into the bathroom. The toilets worked like they were supposed to, but she again heaved a lusty sigh at the gorgeous shower stall in her bathroom. Big enough to fit her and several guests, the tile that lined the walls looked expensive, although she couldn’t identify what it was. The shower was a hedonists dream with twenty levers and ten heads, all at various levels from the floor up.
The top nozzle even cleared her head by nearly a foot. Unheard of in her condo shower. But then she wasn’t in her place, so she touched the main lever sadly, caressed it and then turned away to take care of nature’s call.
If she was going to breakfast with a prince and his virulent (ooh – an excellent descriptive word for Princess Gracia) mother, she better look presentable. Plus, she was supposed to meet her lab staff today. Probably a good idea to look the part.
Which did not include being Aleksi’s girlfriend, or princess-to-be. Nerd princesses were imaginary. Like a fairy tale on too much chocolate. Mmm, chocolate.
Tia’s stoma
ch growled, so she set about dressing and fighting with her hair. A nerd’s work never ended.
***
Aleksi’s heart tripped a beat before throbbing almost painfully in his chest when Tia stepped into the breakfast room. She looked like she was ready for the lab, but something about her sent him into teenaged boy overdrive.
Why did the woman have to be so beautiful? Why did she have to walk the way she did? And how could a gesture so simple as tucking her hair behind her ear be so enticing?
“Good morning,” she said breezily. She strolled into the room and sent an impartial hello round the room, which included him and his mother.
Apparently Tia didn’t hold bad manners against people. Or maybe she didn’t hold grudges. There was no doubt his mother had been out of line. Hopefully she wouldn’t do anything that needed to be added to that list.
“Good morning,” he replied and glanced at his mother.
He nudged her under the table.
“Good morning,” she echoed, but sent him a scowl.
Tia picked up a plate and helped herself to the buffet set against the far wall. He watched as she made her selections, wishing she’d select him.
When she sat down and shook out her napkin she finally looked at him. “When will we go to the lab?”
He blinked. What had he been expecting? Will you marry me? Aleksi reined himself in and tried to refocus on what she’d asked. Ah, yes, the lab.
“We can visit there directly after breakfast if you wish?”
“Yes, I do. The sooner I acquaint myself with the lab and the people who work there, the sooner we can fix this water problem.”
“Do you have any ideas yet what it could be?” He thought his voice sounded hopeful.
She shook her head. “I’ll have to look over the records, discover the various symptoms, and probably run some tests.”
“Doesn’t sound like she knows quite what she’s doing,” his mother inserted silkily. “Perhaps it would be better to hire someone who is older.”
Tia looked up at his mother who had one perfect eyebrow arched in disdain. “You’re welcome to figure out the problem.” Tia’s voice remained polite.
Again, Tia showed better manners than his parent.
“Tia is the most qualified microbiologist we could want,” he said and glared at his mother. “Perhaps you’d like to summer elsewhere. Like on our island,” he added. Renewing his threat from yesterday’s conversation.
His mother hated leaving the palace in the summer time because their summer home on an island they owned didn’t have reliable air conditioning. The servants, native folks from the island, weren’t concerned about such things as showing up for work regularly, cleaning, and making meals three times a day. His mother loathed it. His father hadn’t been able to sell the island during his growing up years, which made Aleksi happy, because he liked the ambience.
Right now, he couldn’t think of a better place for her. She made a sound of disgust and abruptly stood. “Well,” she said, in a hurt and contrived voice. Aleksi wasn’t moved. He was tired of her actions. “I’m finished here,” she said with one of her patented sniffs and stalked out of the room, her back poker straight.
“How many people work in the lab?” Tia’s question cut in, which was probably fortunate. Since he also considered sending his mother to Siberia. One way.
“There were five, although I believe two of them transferred back to the hospital laboratory. They have great need there as well.”
Tia frowned, a cute little pleat between her eyebrows. He wanted to kiss the lines away. “So the personnel are from the hospital?”
“As far as I know, yes. Is that a problem?”
“I’m not certain. I’ll have to assess their skills.” All she required was that they know some microbiology. She could teach any other needed skills.
He nodded. “Anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask someone.”
“I’ll do that.” She sent him a bright smile that caused his breath to stall in his windpipe. Sputtering and gasping for air would be very unprincely, so Aleksi worked to keep his reactions to himself. Nothing like making a fool of oneself in front of the most beautiful woman on earth. Thank goodness his mother had already left.
“How long do you believe it will take you?”
“To find the solution?” She bit into a breakfast roll, then chewed. Even chewing looked gorgeous on her.
“Yes.” He hoped his voice didn’t sound tight.
“It will likely take a week before we can collect conclusive test results. There are some quick results, but they’re simply not as reliable as the older tried and true methods.”
His heart fell. “A week?” Aleksi wasn’t certain his people had another week.
“At least a week to identify the problem. Mainly because that’s when the plates will really show us what we might be dealing with. The problem might not be that easy to detect, though,” she said, biting her lip.
“So this could take a month?” While he hated the thought of his people suffering that long, still his heart jumped at the thought of keeping Tia here for an entire month. He could accomplish a lot in that timeframe. Yet his heart deflated because his people would suffer an additional thirty days and that wasn’t acceptable.
“It could. We’ll have to see. I don’t know anything yet, but I plan to spend the day reading the lab reports and notebooks and some of the patient charts, if they’re available?”
“I believe we can make anything available you need,” he said. Including me. But he didn’t say that aloud. Right now, he needed to work on containing himself. Plan A required first that she be given all necessary equipment and help to discover the problems involved with their wells. The second part of Plan A involved her marrying him, then wrapped around him, so he could fulfill his obligation to provide the principality with an heir.
Easy.
Not so easy, as he wanted to complete the second part of the plan first. Never had a woman come close to becoming more important than his people. That was not acceptable. Never had a woman become more important than anything else in his life. He wanted to sit and stare at her all day.
That was entirely out of the realm of possibilities, because he had piles of work on his desk. They were scheduled to host several dignitaries soon, and their poor water quality had put a spanner in using the plumbing.
Aleksi moved the meeting with the palace plumbers to the top of his list of things that required his attention. Making certain their guests could use their showers was now a top priority.
His eyes slanted to Tia. She had looked so cute last evening, toting her shower things and pajamas to the ornate water closet down the hall. Her feet had been bare, and even later with her head wrapped in a towel, she’d been kissable.
He had been informed early this morning that most of the palace staff adored her already. Aleksi figured her smile and laughing eyes had probably cast a spell over the entire staff. Emerson, his palace controller, had mentioned how Tia helped haul water. Apparently this had impressed the servants, because normally the household guests expected others to do for them. Not Tia. She had gladly helped haul water, even joking with the staff, Emerson had informed him.
Emerson heard things no one else in the palace knew. Aleksi had trusted the man for years. How he knew all that happened, no one could understand, but if you wanted to hear the deepest, darkest workings of the palace, Emerson was the proverbial fount of knowledge.
If only he could tell Aleksi when to make his move on his princess-to-be, Tia.
“I’m ready when you are,” Tia announced. She set her napkin beside her plate and stared at him with eagerness on her face.
He nearly swallowed his tongue. Before he realized she meant she was ready to visit the lab, not make heirs with him.
Too bad.
Tia shoved her chair back and followed Aleksi from the breakfast room. This was it, the day of reckoning, so to speak. She fervently hoped as they traversed the expansive
hallways that the people in the lab would be more welcoming than Virulent Gracia. Maybe even glad to see her.
She nearly snorted at that thought. Yeah, right.
At least more pleased with her presence than Aleksi’s mother had been. Apparently still was. Only Aleksi’s warning, and she was certain it was a warning, had stopped the venom.
“Are you nervous?” His eyes shone bright in the morning sunlight.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“There’s no need to be. The individuals you’ll be working with have been trying to combat this for a month. They’ll be thankful for fresh ideas.”
“I hope so,” she said weakly, hoping all of her fresh ideas remained in the lab. Not a good idea to get fresh with a prince.
Especially when said prince didn’t have the time of day for you back in school, she reminded herself. Like he would look at her, anyway. She was allergic to makeup and tended to wear comfortable clothing that wrinkled.
Not princess material. And she honestly hated the color pink. Pink was all wrong for her. Chances were also good she didn’t wave right, and didn’t know which fork to use when. She was happy at family functions if her mom provided a clean fork for dessert.
Her family background did not make for princess material either. Tia cringed at the thought of her brothers visiting this country.
Aleksi’s mother would beg to visit their island.
Tia would probably beg to join the viper woman. The Apes here in Rurikstan would not be a pretty sight. Riots, chaos, and anarchy would ensue. The poor people here had suffered enough.
“Here is our laboratory,” Aleksi said and shoved open a door three fourths of the way down the hall.
Tia swallowed as she preceded him through the door. She stopped just inside the door to peer around at the equipment. The space wasn’t one she’d ever entered before, but she knew the room. Or perhaps her familiarity with the instruments and apparatus lining the benches brought about the relaxing of her spine. Tia smiled and when Aleksi placed a hand at the small of her back, she didn’t cringe or brake when he led her toward a smiling older gentleman.
