studied him for a moment and then reached out and placed her hand on his arm. Heat shot through his skin and sank deep into his body. Great. Just great. He was lusting after a princess, one who was destined for a prince. What’s more, Delfyne was his best friend’s little sister, a woman he had sworn to protect, not seduce.
Owen took a deep breath. He forced himself not to look at the point where his skin connected with this beauty’s soft palm. She was smiling. No, she was practically dancing, her eyes lit up like twin candles.
“Enough,” she said. “Let’s not pretend anymore, all right?”
He waited.
She shook her head and, as if she had just realized that she was touching him, looked at her hand and slowly eased it from him. “My brother forced me on you. He and my parents sent me here so that I couldn’t be tempted into trouble or so that trouble couldn’t be tempted into finding me and hurting me. I’m not your guest, Owen. I’m your short-term obligation. I don’t expect you to pretend otherwise.”
He considered that. “You didn’t want to come to a ranch. This can’t be fun for you.”
“Well, it’s not at all what I’d planned when I planned it.”
“When was that?”
She looked to the side and for a second he thought she wasn’t going to answer. “I started making my plans when I was eight, when I realized that no matter how carefully I planned my birthday party and no matter how many commoners they reluctantly allowed me to invite, my guests would always be screened, some wouldn’t be allowed near me and those that were admitted would be coached on etiquette before they came into my presence. It would never really be a truly free experience completely of my own choosing…except for this one summer.”
“I see,” he said. And he did. He was another one of those people who was playing the game that kept her from her goals. “Well then, I really am sorry.”
She looked at him. “You could let me go my own way.”
Owen chuckled. He gestured toward her bodyguards.
“Well, of course I’d take them with me,” she said.
And probably ditch them as soon as she was able, Owen thought, remembering what Andreus had told him and trying not to think about the wistful sound in her voice when she’d told him how long she’d been planning her princess prison break.
“Sorry, Princess. I don’t lie to my friends, and Andreus is the best. You’re mine for a while.” Which was such a poor choice of words. “Guest-wise, that is,” he added.
“You’re not going to do that, are you?”
Okay, she had him there. “Do what?”
“Call me Princess as if it’s my name.”
“It’s what you are.”
She raised her chin. “Please.”
And there was such longing in her voice that he couldn’t keep from pursuing the subject. “Please what?”
She hesitated. “I know you’ve made promises to my family, and Andreus says that you’re a very honorable man—the best of men.”
Which only showed how deluded and blind Andreus could be, but Owen didn’t need to share that information with Delfyne. There was no need to explain his own flawed soul and even more flawed character to her. “I sense a however coming on,” he said.
The beauty took a deep and visible breath that lifted the pale blue silk of her blouse and made Owen wish that he could do as she asked and send her away.
“All right. You’re an honorable man. However, I would like to ask one favor of you that would not necessitate you breaking your word to my family,” she said in a quiet voice. He could see that, although she was brazening it out, she had no real sense that he was going to do whatever she intended to ask of him. Dread filled him. He had a history of failing women. His mother, his wife and Nancy, who had sought him out last year and only wanted him to give her a baby…and now? Damn Andreus.
“Ask,” he said, his voice terse. He believed in facing the difficult stuff.
“I… How many people know that I’m here for a visit?”
Owen blinked. “My employees know that I’m having a guest. That’s it.” He wasn’t exactly a sharing kind of man.
“Do they know who I am? What a question. Of course they do, but still…” She seemed distressed.
Frowning, Owen realized what this must be about. Of course. She was royalty, sent to what must seem like Siberia. And yet she would be used to special treatment, the kind she wouldn’t think she could get here.
“I’m afraid they don’t know you’re a princess. At least not yet. I only told them this morning that I would be having a guest. I haven’t shared any of the particulars.” Because he’d hoped, right up until the last possible moment, that Andreus would realize that this was a bad idea and call the whole thing off.
“But don’t worry,” he told Delfyne. “I tend to be a bit closemouthed and that can be a problem at times, but the Second Chance has guests frequently. Usually, they’re businesspeople who like the novelty of staying at a ranch, but even with someone more exalted, my employees are up to the task. You’ll be treated well.”
“That’s not my concern. I just… If they don’t already know, that’s a good thing. I don’t want to be a princess.”
Owen blinked. He wanted to groan. Surely she wasn’t asking him to help her break free of her birthright? “Excuse me?”
A sad look eased into those lovely eyes. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Of course I’m proud of who and what I am and glad I’m a member of the royal family. My heritage is important to me. It’s just that while I’m here I’d like to remain anonymous,” she clarified. “If people know I’m here, there will be newspapers and…”
“And someone might try to harm you or kidnap you,” Owen said, looking at the bodyguards, who were standing around trying to fade quietly into a landscape where they stood out like red ink on white paper. He remembered the man who had gone everywhere with Andreus when they had been in college. “I meant what I said when I told Andreus that I’d look after you,” Owen said. “No one is going to harm you, and I’m not talking about letting your keepers take care of things. I’m talking about me. I wouldn’t let anyone get near you.”
She shook her head. “But I want people near me. That’s the point.”
Her consternation was clear. However, Owen suddenly noticed Suze Allen driving by and giving him and Delfyne a good looking-over. Suze was a generous creature whom Owen had known for most of his life, but she was like a sieve. Any news that came her way instantly flowed through and out, and a stranger who looked like Delfyne conversing with Owen was definitely going to be news.
“We’d better go,” he said suddenly. “Get in the car.”
Delfyne looked toward Suze’s white pickup, which was circling
