plans had been. From what he had observed of her, Julia Miller was a delightful, caring young woman. She hadn’t done anything to provoke the attack. Even now, with her face streaked with sand and sweat and her hair ruffled from its ponytail, she looked sweet. Innocent. Pretty.
He put those thoughts out of mind. He shouldn’t think about how the duchess looked, and he could grill her on possible theories later. Right now, he needed to focus on her well-being. That meant calming her fears and determining whether the injury on her leg warranted a trip to the hospital. And he needed to figure out how to get her off the beach. After chasing her all the way from the palace, fighting off her attacker and then carrying her back through the shifting sand, he was beat. He wasn’t sure he could carry her all the way to the hospital, or even to the palace. But he was reluctant to pull any men off the search for her assailant just to fetch them a car.
On top of all that, Linus couldn’t shake the question of why the duchess had deliberately run off without him in the first place. Sure, she’d probably underestimated the risk and just wanted a moment to herself. But she could have explained as much to him and he’d have worked something out so that she could have some space and still be safe.
Didn’t she trust him?
Or was she running from him?
The thought clamped around his lungs with cold fingers and he stopped panting. During their interactions over the past two days, he’d felt an odd frisson, of attraction or aversion, he couldn’t be sure which. But there was something there. He’d told himself not to worry about it, but if it was enough to send the duchess running from the palace without him, then he couldn’t ignore it any longer. It would have to be addressed.
Lowering himself onto the other end of the bench, he faced Julia.
In the light of the rising moon, he saw the glimmer of a streak of tears descending down each of her cheeks.
He swallowed. How was he supposed to raise the question that had suddenly become the foremost on his mind? If she really didn’t want him around, she certainly wouldn’t want to discuss it with him.
“Did I offend you?”
She startled and blinked up at him.
In his exhaustion, his voice had come out a good half octave lower than its usual bass. He probably sounded sinister. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “I’m sorry. You’re supposed to page me if you want to go out.”
“When I go out under guard it seems like such a fuss. I thought it would be easier this way.” The emotion behind her words strained her voice plaintively.
Linus almost felt guilty for pursuing her. But then, if he hadn’t arrived when he did, her attacker would have carried her off. Obviously she wasn’t going to share more of her feelings right now, and he needed to get her to a secure location. He switched topics. “How’s your leg? Do you need a hospital?”
“It’s just a surface injury. I can try walking.” She planted her feet on the ground and started to stand, then winced.
Linus scooted across the bench to her side, ready to help in whatever way he could, but unsure if she welcomed further contact with him. It would be easier if he didn’t find her so charming, if her predicament didn’t bring out every protective instinct inside him, even if he knew where he stood with her.
She rested one hand on his shoulder for just a moment before gulping a breath and letting go, trying again to stand on her own.
A whimper escaped her lips.
“You can lean on me,” he offered. They’d lingered too long. He had yet to hear a report of capture, and that wasn’t a good thing. They needed to get moving. If Julia’s attacker decided to circle around to strike again, he could have easily caught up to them by now, even going out of his way. For all they knew, the man might have accomplices.
“You’re exhausted.” She met his eyes. Tears still pooled among her lashes.
Linus refused to think about how pretty she looked. “Let me help you. If I need to, I will carry you all the way to the hospital.”
Her face puckered and she looked as if she was about to cry. “You don’t need to do that. I can walk.” She straightened and forced herself to take a step.
Her injured leg gave way beneath her.
Linus got under her arm in time to prop her up. The woman was too independent for her own good. For her safety, he had to get her off the beach quickly.
Even if it made her cry.
“Come on. Lean on me.”
“I hate to be a burden.”
“It’s that or I carry you.” To his relief, she relented to leaning heavily against him, half hopping as they made their way toward the boardwalk that led to the marina. From there, they could connect with the sidewalk along the main boulevard.
They made it a few more steps before the duchess sniffled.
“Are we hurting your leg? We can stop.”
“My leg is fine.” Her words came out in a strained whisper.
The shock of her attack was taking its toll on her. And her leg wasn’t fine—he could feel her shudder in pain with every step she took.
“Please let me carry you again,” he requested, unwilling to pluck her up against her will, especially after the way her attacker had manhandled her. He’d only provoke more tears that way. “I’ll get you back to your sister.”
“No!”
Her sudden insistence surprised him, and he stopped walking long enough to look her full in the face. “Your sister, Queen Monica—”
“Don’t tell Monica what happened.”
“She’ll have to know.”
“Please.” Julia’s grip tightened around his waist, and her free hand clutched his wrist. “She’s been through too much lately. She looked so tired today. I don’t want her to worry.”
“The royal guard was dispatched to look for your attacker. Your leg is injured.”
The duchess sucked in a trembling breath. Given his proximity propping her up, Linus felt it ripple through her. She clearly felt strongly about the issue. “Don’t let on to Monica that anything’s happened just yet. There has to be some way around it. I came to Lydia to support her, not to give her more to worry about. We can’t put any more stress on her. She already looks so haggard.”
Linus saw the queen on a regular basis, and while he wouldn’t have chosen the word haggard to describe either of the lovely Miller sisters, he had to acknowledge that Queen Monica hadn’t been her usual radiant self for the past few weeks. “What’s been upsetting her? Her kidnapping was over two months ago. Is it post-traumatic stress?”
“I don’t know.” Julia let out a long breath. She sounded relieved that Linus was taking her request seriously. “But I’ve never seen her look this way and it worries me. She’s had so many sudden changes—not just the kidnapping and fighting to get her son back—but becoming queen, moving halfway
