The question was, should he?
Three
“Did you and Mickey have a good time?”
“Funny.” Garrett dropped into his favorite, bloodred leather chair and propped his feet up on the matching hassock. Clutching his cell phone in one hand and a cold bottle of beer in the other, he listened to his twin’s laughter.
“Sorry, man,” Griff finally said, “but made me laugh all day thinking about you hauling your ass around the happiest place on Earth. All day. Still can’t believe you let Jackson con you into going.”
“Wasn’t Jackson,” Garrett told him. “It was Casey.”
“Ah. Well then, that’s different.” Griffin sighed. “What is it about women? How do they get us to do things we would never ordinarily do?”
“Beats the hell outta me,” Garrett said. In his mind, he was seeing Alex again as he said goodbye. Her eyes shining, her delectable mouth curved…
“So was it hideous?”
“What?”
“I swear, when I went to Knott’s Berry Farm with them last summer, Mia about wore me into the ground. That kid is like the Tiny Terminator.”
“Good description,” Garrett agreed with a laugh. “And she was pumped today. Only time she sat down was when we were on a ride.”
Sympathy in his tone, Griffin said, “Man, that sounds miserable.”
“Would have been.”
“Yeah…?”
Garrett took a breath, considered what he was about to do, then went with his gut. He was willing to keep Alex’s secret, for the time being anyway, but not from Griffin. Not only were they twins, but they were partners in the security firm they had built together.
“So, talk. Explain what saved you from misery.”
“Right to the point, as always,” Garrett murmured. His gaze swept the room. His condo wasn’t big, but it suited him. He’d tried living in hotels for a while like his cousin Rafe had done for years until meeting his wife, Katie. But hotels got damned impersonal and on the rare occasions when Garrett wasn’t traveling all over the damn globe, he had wanted a place that was his. Something familiar to come home to.
He wasn’t around enough to justify a house, and he didn’t like the idea of leaving it empty for weeks at a stretch, either. But this condo had been just right. A home that he could walk away from knowing the home owner’s association was looking after the property.
It was decorated for comfort, and the minute he walked in, he always felt whatever problems he was thinking about slide away. Maybe it was the view of the ocean. Maybe it was the knowledge that this was his space, one that no one could take from him. Either way, over the past couple of years, it really had become home.
The study where he sat now was a man’s room, from the dark paneling to the leather furniture to the stone hearth on the far wall. There were miles of bookshelves stuffed with novels, the classics and several gifts presented to him by grateful clients.
And beyond the glass doors, there was a small balcony where he could stand and watch the water. Just like the view from Alex’s hotel room. Amazing how quickly his mind could turn and focus back on her.
“Hello? Garrett? You still there?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Then talk. No more stalling. What’s going on?”
“I met a woman today.”
“Well, shout hallelujah and alert the media!” Griffin hooted a laugh that had Garrett wrenching the phone away from his ear. “’Bout time you got lucky. I’ve been telling you for months you needed to loosen up some. What’s she like?”
“Believe me when I say she defies description.”
“Right. You met a goddess at Disneyland.”
“Not exactly.”
“What’s that mean?”
“She’s a princess.”
“Oh, no,” Griffin groaned dramatically. “You didn’t hook up with some snotty society type, did you? Because that’s just wrong.”
Frowning, Garrett said, “No, she’s a princess.”
“Now I’m confused. Are we talking a real princess? Crown? Throne?”
“Yep.”
“What the—”
“Remember that job we did for the King of Cadria a few years ago?”
Silence, while his brother thought about it, then, “Yeah. I remember. They were doing some big show of the crown jewels and we set up the security for the event. Good job.”
“Yeah. Remember the daughter?”
“Hah. Of course I remember her. Never met her face-to-face, but I saw her around the palace from a distance once or twice. Man she was—” Another long pause. “Are you kidding me?”
Garrett had gotten a few of those long-distance glances, too. He remembered not paying much attention to her, either. When he was on a job, his concentration was laserlike. Nothing but security concerns had registered for him and once that had been accomplished, he and his brother had left Cadria.
Since the small island nation was just off the coast of England, he and Griffin had flown to Ireland to visit their cousin Jefferson and his family. And never once had Garrett given the crown princess another thought.
Until today.
“Nope. Not kidding. Princess Alexis was at Disneyland today.”
“I didn’t see anything about it on the news.”
“You won’t, either.” Garrett took a swig of his beer and hoped the icy brew would cool him off. His body was still thrumming, his groin hot and hard, and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse for him, the longer he spent in her company. “She’s hiding out or some damn thing. Told us her name was Alex, that’s all.”
“What about her security?”
“Doesn’t have any that I could see.”
Griffin inhaled sharply. “That’s not good, bro.”
“No kidding?” Garrett shook his head as Griffin’s concern flashed his own worries into higher gear. Alex was all alone in a hotel room and Garrett was the only one who knew where she was. He couldn’t imagine her family allowing her to be unprotected, so that told him she had slipped away from her guards. Which left her vulnerable. Hell, anything could happen to her.
“What’re you gonna do about it?”
