chilled. Quite the opposite. Even wearing wet clothes, all it took was an eyeful of the taut muscles that defined Nate’s shoulders, and she had to fight the urge to fan herself.
He turned around to find her studying him. God only knew what her expression revealed. He was one of the few people around whom she had ever been herself, which was ironic, she realized now, since he hadn’t known her actual identity.
She folded her hands at her waist, cleared her throat and said the first thing she could think of. “It’s windy outside.”
“The storm.”
“Yes. The storm.”
They eyed one another for a moment longer. “You can close the windows in a minute. Just give the place a chance to air out. It’s a little stuffy in here. This room doesn’t get much use.”
A little stuffy? She could hardly breathe. But that had nothing do with stagnant air. It had everything to do with the way he was looking at her. She saw speculation in his gaze and, she thought, guarded interest. It dawned on Holly then that she must look a fright. Her soggy clothes were molded to her body, her makeup was nonexistent, and her hair … She reached up to run a hand through it only to have her fingers tangle in the snarls.
She pulled her hand free and managed to say, “It’s fine.”
He didn’t appear convinced. In fact, he was shaking his head. “You know, the more I think of it, you belong in the master suite. You’d definitely be more comfortable in there.”
He reached for her bags. She put out a hand to stop him. “Don’t be silly. This is fine,” she said again.
“It’s not up to the standards you’re used to,” he said quietly.
“I’m not picky, Nathaniel.” She went with his full name, hoping to get a rise out of him.
His gaze connected with hers. “You’re a princess.”
Holly folded her arms over her chest and the ache she felt building there. “You say it like it’s some sort of disease.”
“I’ll apologize for that. But the fact remains, you’re used to better than … this.” He glanced around as if seeing the room for the first time. Clearly, he found it lacking. His gaze returned to her. “You’re used to better than anything I have to offer, for that matter.”
“Nate.”
Before she could protest further, he was at the door, his hand on the knob. This time, his gaze didn’t quite meet hers. “I’ll leave you to freshen up. We can discuss your accommodations later.”
The door closed. Holly stared at the scratched wood for a long time afterward. What had just happened? In the span of the past half hour, he’d gone from being smug and a little indignant to being uncomfortable and, unless she missed her guess, embarrassed. That wasn’t the Nathaniel Matthews she remembered. He’d been fearless, formidable and a touch arrogant at times.
He’d been determined to take on the world. He’d seen no limit to the possibilities life had to offer him. She’d admired his conviction that he could be anything, do anything, go anywhere and answer to no one but himself. For a while, Holly had even begun to think like he did. Then she’d returned to Morenci, after what turned out to be her last summer on the island, and her mother had set her straight.
“You’re no longer a child, Hollyn. You’ll turn sixteen soon. It’s time for you to fully embrace your royal responsibilities. You’re a princess. You need to start acting like one at all times.”
Her girlhood dreams had been dashed.
What, she wondered now, had made Nate change his plans? Or was it simply a case of growing up? After all, he’d been a boy when she’d known him.
Well, one thing was clear. The man who’d just closed the door was a stranger, even if so many things about him seemed familiar.
Nate changed into dry clothes and headed downstairs. In the kitchen, he pulled a fresh bottle of beer from the fridge, uncapped it and took a liberal swig.
God! What must she think of him? He probably came off as backward and irascible. He hadn’t exactly rolled out the welcome mat upon learning she was Hank’s passenger.
Welcome mat. He grunted now and took another gulp of beer. She was used to red carpets, state dinners and probably parades held in her honor. He’d even botched his attempt to carry her to shore. Still, she’d laughed. And in that moment he’d glimpsed the girl she’d been. The girl who at first had been his fishing buddy and who, later, when he was teenager, had kept him awake and confused on hot summer nights.
Now she was a woman. A beautiful woman. Staying under his roof. And, even though his parents were a couple thousand miles away enjoying their retirement and unable to act as chaperones, Holly was as off-limits as she’d been when his hormones had been raging as a teen. Hank sauntered into the kitchen then. They did have a chaperone after all. Nate couldn’t make up his mind whether to be grateful or not.
“Where’s Holly?” The other man’s beer was empty. He helped himself to a fresh one from the fridge, shooting the cap in the direction of the trash can in the corner.
“Upstairs, probably getting out of her wet clothes.” It was the wrong thing to say, Nate decided, when his imagination kicked into overdrive.
“I didn’t realize you two knew one another. She didn’t mention it on the flight over.”
“We don’t. Well, not really.” Nate shrugged. Since Hank was waiting for more of an explanation, he added, “We spent several summers together when we were kids. It’s been years since I last saw her.”
That wasn’t quite true since all he’d had to do in the interim was pick up a magazine or turn on the television and more times than not there was a feature on Morenci’s future monarch. But then his Holly and Hollyn Saldani had always seemed like separate people to him. Until today. Today he was having a hard time keeping them straight.
“She looks familiar,” Hank was saying.
Nate chose not to reveal Holly’s secret. It was only because the pilot had the loosest lips in three counties, he told himself, and she’d already made it clear she’d come here to get away from the public eye. Besides, the last thing Nate wanted was for his peaceful little island to be overrun with journalists and paparazzi and royal gawkers. That would be bad for business.
Liar, a voice whispered. He ignored it. On a shrug, he replied, “I know. She has one of those faces.”
Hank seemed satisfied with the answer, but he was still curious. “Where’s she from? I know she’s not American. She has an accent of some sort even though she speaks really good English.”
Again, rather than lie outright, Nate chose to be vague. “Abroad somewhere. But some of her family vacationed in these parts.”
He frowned after saying so. Had it really been her grandmother that she’d come to the island with? Or had the older woman been some sort of governess? He still had so many questions about the woman who had been his first love … and a total stranger.
The laid-back pilot appeared to accept the explanations Nate offered. Of course, Hank was
