the road to the ranch.
Owen laughed at that. “A gossip, and nothing like a girlfriend, though she’s very nice. Suze is married to a man who would punch any man who looked twice at his wife.”
Delfyne was silent. For almost five seconds. “Has he ever punched you?” she finally asked.
Owen immediately turned to look at her. “I don’t pursue other men’s wives, no matter how nice the women are. But that’s beside the point. I haven’t forgotten what we were talking about before Suze came along. You said that you wanted to be anonymous.”
“And you said you wouldn’t let anyone near me.”
He sighed. “Maybe I phrased that badly.” He remembered a time when his ex-wife, Faye, had accused him of keeping her trapped in a box. “What I meant was that I wouldn’t let anyone or anything hurt you, in case you were worried about that. People from the city sometimes worry about life in a place like this, which is a bit wild. I won’t let any harm come to you.”
“I never thought you would! Andreus knows you and he trusts you implicitly. That’s absolutely good enough for me. I am most certainly not challenging your ability to protect me.” Now she was indignant…and cute. Somehow he didn’t think he should mention that. The word cute and royalty probably didn’t go hand in hand. “But I meant something more than that. I just— If people know I’m here, there will be reporters, of course, the paparazzi and all that. But that’s not my main reason for wanting to stay in the shadows. Ordinary people will treat me differently if they know I’m a princess. I hate that. I really hate that.”
He could tell. Her voice was terribly sad.
“And I know that’s kind of selfish and spoiled,” she went on. “I have so much. I’ve always had so much. I live in a world that most people can’t even imagine, but—”
“But you want more,” he said. He’d heard that before. Heard his mother telling his father that as she dragged her suitcase out, packed it full of clothes and left him behind, telling Owen to be a good boy before the door closed and she disappeared from his life forever. He’d heard it from Faye as she’d begged him to sell the ranch, take all his money and go somewhere fun and fine. He’d almost decided to do it, too, until his son’s death and the total disintegration of his marriage. After that, it had been too late and now he would never leave the Second Chance.
“You’re wrong, Owen,” Delfyne was saying, and for a moment he thought she’d read his mind. “I don’t want more. I want less. Just for this summer, I want to be like everyone else. I want to see what other people see and to live like they do. If people know I’m a princess I can’t do that. All right?”
He frowned. Although he could see her point… “I may have kept your visit to myself but now that you’re here, this plan sounds like a recipe for disaster. I’ve never been good at pretense.”
“You don’t have to pretend. Just leave a few little things out. Like my title.”
He couldn’t keep from smiling. “Not exactly a little thing.”
“Just for this summer. After that—”
They would never see each other again. She would marry her prince, and he would go on with life here at the ranch that had sustained his family for generations. His life would be just the way he liked it. What happened at the end of her time here wouldn’t be a problem. But what was happening right now…
“If you’re worried about Andreus being upset—” she began.
Now he did laugh. “I promised to keep you free from harm, not to keep from upsetting your brother. He might not have told you this, but I pretty much drove him nuts most of the time we were room-mates. I’m stubborn, and so is he. Andreus isn’t the problem. I’m just trying to envision the pitfalls if I agree to keep your identity a secret.”
A light came into her eyes, and her lips lifted into a smile that made Owen’s breath catch. “Think of the pitfalls if you don’t keep me a secret. You said that your friend—Suze?—was a talker. If she talks and tells a few friends and they tell a few friends and then the newspapers find out, you’ll have half the population of Montana lining up outside your ranch.”
“You think?” he said, holding back a smile, wondering how far she would take this.
“At least,” she said, “Andreus told me that you like your privacy. I’m to behave and not annoy you.”
“Are you now?” Owen seriously needed to smile, but he fought the urge.
“I tend to be a bit impetuous at times, and that always annoys my family. Andreus asked me not to do that with you.”
“And you don’t think pretending you’re someone you’re not is impetuous?”
Delfyne bit her lip. “Do you?” She twisted her hands in her lap, and suddenly Owen was tired of teasing her. This situation hadn’t been created by her or by him. This had been Andreus’s idea, and much as he loved the man and owed him, it was a terrible one. Besides, she was right about all of his neighbors and the press coming to call if the truth came out. Heck, he had a ranch to run. He couldn’t spend his time dodging reporters. He did like his privacy.
No, he needed his privacy. If the press came calling, they would want to know about Delfyne but also about the man keeping her here. Then they would want a little history, and if they delved into his background, the tragedy of his past… He didn’t want anyone writing sob stories about how he’d lost his child and his wife and now a beautiful, unattainable princess had come to call.
Owen’s blood chilled at the thought.
“Who do you want to be?” he demanded suddenly.
She stared straight into his eyes. “Just Delfyne. That’s all. Just an ordinary woman.”
Oh yeah, people were going to believe that this woman was ordinary. She had a foreign lilt to her voice, skin like expensive silk and a body that would make even the tamest of men take notice. But he hadn’t been lying when he’d said that he wasn’t good at pretending. He’d leave that part to her.
“Here we are,” he said as he made the last turn and the house came into view.
“Oh my.”
Yes, that just about said it all, didn’t it? “Not exactly what a princess is used to.”
“It’s built of logs!”
“You noticed that, did you?”
“But…it’s also very big.”
That was being kind. The house meandered and had a huge wraparound porch. It filled up a lot of space.
“I have a habit of building when I need to think. Or not think.”
“You must need to think—or not think—a lot. Andreus never mentioned this.”
“Yes, well, I guess the subject of architecture doesn’t come up a lot in royal conversations.” But it was more than that, Owen knew. Andreus knew of the depth of the private pain that had triggered Owen’s building
