butlers, personal assistants and even people who picked out your daily wardrobe was a bit ridiculous. Just because his family happened to be titled, because they had a certain last name and were wealthy, they had every single material thing at their disposal.
But money could only do so much. Colin still worried about the pressure and responsibility that came with being a member of the royal family. He knew he was projecting his fears onto his daughter, but he was her main source of stability now and he’d rather be overprotective than to pass along something that would overwhelm her.
Raking a hand through his hair, Colin opened his door and stepped out into the hallway. The twelve thousand square foot home was large, not as large as the palace by any means, but big enough that he’d had video monitors installed in most rooms so he could watch the feeds from his bedroom. He’d also had sound monitors wired throughout the house so he could hear Iris no matter where he was. There were alarms on the doors and windows, so he definitely would’ve heard had Darcy tried to take Iris from the house. He might be paranoid, but he would never take a chance with the safety of his child.
Colin was headed for the steps when his back started twitching.
Damn it. He gripped the railing as he stood on the landing and breathed deeply, waiting for the crippling pain to pass. Total agony he could tolerate, but being in a wheelchair and rendered helpless he could not.
Immediately following the accident, the doctors had indicated he might not ever be able to walk again, but the moment he’d heard those words he’d made it his mission to prove them wrong. Granted, he was walking, but the spasms in his back and piercing pain in his hip and down through his leg would blast him at the most inopportune times. Another reason he needed a nanny. Back home he had a driver, but he needed someone for that task here, too. Damn it, he hated being dependent on others for help, but he couldn’t risk his daughter’s safety if his pain hit while he was behind the wheel.
Colin needed to start making use of that home gym he’d had put in before arriving. He couldn’t put off the physical therapy any longer, because he refused to be at the mercy of this injury.
Once the pain ceased, Colin headed down the steps carefully, in case the sensations returned.
Just as he reached the last step, squeals carried through the foyer. Colin followed the sound and stopped short when he spotted the carnage that used to be his spotless living room. He’d seen Darcy and Iris on the screen in his bedroom just before Stefan had called, but he sure as hell hadn’t see this disaster.
“What the—”
Darcy sat on the floor surrounded by toys. Her hair, which had been pulled back earlier, was now down and in complete disarray, as if her hands—or the hands of a lover—had been running through it. Dry cereal was strewn across his coffee table and had trickled down to the rug beneath. From the looks of things some of the pieces had been trampled on and ground into the carpeting. A sippy cup sat on its side, but, fortunately, no liquid appeared to puddle beneath due to the spill-proof lid. There was one blessing in this chaos.
While Darcy was smiling, her eyes on his, Iris was playing with the hair on a doll. Doll? That wasn’t one of her dolls. Colin had only shipped her favorite things and this wasn’t part of Iris’s collection.
“Did we wake you?” Darcy asked, smiling as if this scene were absolutely normal. “We were trying to be quiet.”
He’d turned the sound down in his bedroom, hoping sleep would come.
“You didn’t wake me.” He took a cautious step into the room, almost afraid to look for any more destruction. “Is this typically how you watch children? You let them destroy a house?”
Shoving her hair back, Darcy pulled a band from her wrist and secured the dark mass into a low, messy style. As she came to her feet, she wiped her hands on her pants.
“This is far from destroyed, Colin.”
The second his name slid through her lips, his eyes locked onto that unpainted mouth. He’d been told numerous times how intimidating his stare could be, yet she hadn’t blinked or even shied away from him. Granted, he didn’t want to intimidate her, but he was pretty impressed by how strong she seemed to be. One more aspect of American women he found intriguing. So independent, so strong-willed. As if he needed another reason to be drawn to Darcy.
“Iris and I are playing, and when we’re done we’ll pick it up.” Her arms crossed over her chest, sending the swell of her breasts up to the opening of her V-neck. “There were no toys in here at all so we quietly snuck to her room and I grabbed a few things. Then I wasn’t sure what her eating schedule was and she was hungry. Took me a second to figure out what nack-nack was, but I figured it meant snacks when she tugged me toward the kitchen.”
As she defended herself, Colin couldn’t help but slide his gaze to the way the V of her shirt twisted toward one side, showcasing the swell of her breasts, all but mocking him. Then there was the way her rounded hips filled out her jeans in such a way that would make any man beg.
Prince Mikos Colin Alexander had never begged for anything in his life and he sure as hell wasn’t about to start now because of some punch of lust to his gut that he couldn’t get under control.
Darcy was quite a captivating woman. He still couldn’t get over the fact she wore no jewelry or makeup whatsoever. The woman oozed simplicity and for some reason he found that to be utterly sexy and ridiculously arousing. She wasn’t out to impress him in any way other than relating to the care of his daughter.
Iris squealed when she spotted him. With her little arms out wide, she ran across the hardwood, over the rug, crushing even more cereal pieces beneath her bare feet before she collided with his legs. Colin cringed when she reached for him. He wanted to scoop her up, but with his back just coming off a muscle seizure, he opted to take a seat in the closest armchair and pull her into his lap instead.
Iris’s little hands smacked up and down his arm and he placed a kiss on top of her head, where her wayward curls always tickled his nose. The smile she offered him had him returning her five-toothed grin. How could he look at her and not smile instantly? She was his every reason for being, the motivation behind all decisions he made.
“How long will the living room be a war zone?” he asked, turning his attention back to Darcy.
She glanced around then back to him with a laugh. “You do realize you’re raising a toddler, right? They will make messes, they will make memories and they will learn to clean up later. I assure you this area will be spotless once she lays down for a nap.”
Iris wiggled right off his lap and headed toward the coffee table covered in a buffet of snacks. Weren’t kids supposed to eat in high chairs? Had his assistants at the palace let Iris be so carefree when he hadn’t been around?
“She’s been playing in her room,” Colin informed Darcy when she continued to stare at him. “That’s why the toys are kept there.”
A wide smile spread across Darcy’s face, making her look even younger. “You really are a stickler for rules, huh? Children need room to grow, to flourish. Yes, they need schedules, but they also need to learn to be flexible.”
Even though she stood above him, Colin met and held her stare. There was no way this nanny was going to come in here and wreck everything just for the sake of making memories or whatever the hell else she’d babbled about.
Colin wasn’t stupid. He knew he owed his not-so-sunny
