“No.” Franklin stood up, too. “The king’s brother will remain as temporary head of the country.” Pacing, he seemed to be carefully considering something as he said, “And frankly, the easier we can make this on the queen, the better. Her Majesty is inundated with problems and trying to keep things running despite Broderick’s interference.”
J.T. nodded and waited for the man to continue. It didn’t take long.
“The RET is doing what it can. But security here is up to us.”
The Royal Elite Team was probably champing at the bit to do something—anything. But when it came to palace security, the RII was in charge. And J.T. was just competitive enough to enjoy knowing that the members of the RET were clearly unhappy with the situation.
“I understand,” he said, though he wasn’t entirely sure he knew where Franklin was going with this.
The older man laughed shortly and stopped his frenetic pacing to stare at him from across the room. “I don’t think you do, or you wouldn’t be so agreeable.”
“What’s going on, Franklin?”
“I need you to distract your ex-wife.”
“That’s going above and beyond the call of duty.” Dumbfounded, J.T. swallowed back a rising tide of anger.
“You know her best. Know how to keep her off track. Keep her happy.”
If he’d known how to keep her happy, J.T. thought, they’d still be married. This was a bad idea. Real bad. And he didn’t mind saying so. “Won’t work. Jade’s not exactly my biggest fan.”
“Just buy us a couple of days.”
“And then what?”
“She’ll get her interview and you won’t have to deal with her again.”
Now that should be good news. But the fact was, J.T. had done nothing but think about her since seeing her outside the gates. She’d haunted his every thought, stalked his dreams and filled his mind until he couldn’t even draw a breath without imagining her scent.
Now that he’d seen her again after three long years, he wasn’t exactly in a hurry to be rid of her. And that surprised him as much as it would have her.
Vancour walked across the room slowly, keeping his gaze locked with J.T.’s. “I need your cooperation in this, Wainwright. Your king needs it.”
J.T. studied him. There was something in the other man’s eyes that hinted at the seriousness of the situation. Well, hell, they’d all been living in a pressure cooker for weeks. Ever since the king had collapsed unexpectedly.
Placate Jade.
From a purely male standpoint, that wasn’t such a tough assignment. There was so much history between them, though. So much hurt and pain and misery. Yet before the pain, there had also been…a connection between them that had been stronger and deeper than anything he’d ever experienced before or since.
But she also had an argumentative streak that would give the most patient man in the world the urge to throttle her. Just remembering how she’d stood up to him, shaken the iron gates and glared at him without an instant’s hesitation was almost enough to make J.T. smile. A man his size didn’t usually meet people who weren’t instantly intimidated. Jade never had been, though, and he’d always admired her for it.
She wouldn’t be an easy woman to manipulate. And if Franklin Vancour thought she could be bought off by a walk through the palace gardens, he was sadly mistaken.
Still…if all the palace required was a few more days’ respite, maybe J.T. could pull it off. Maybe he could keep her busy enough that she wouldn’t notice that she wasn’t any closer to the interior of the palace than she’d been yesterday. And, if he spent enough time in her company, perhaps the attraction he felt for her would die a natural death. Maybe this was what they both needed to completely end what they’d finished three years ago. Maybe they needed to spend time together again to realize that it was all really gone.
And maybe he was a masochist.
At any rate, it’d certainly be the most interesting assignment he’d been given since joining the RII.
He looked at Franklin. “A few days?”
The man nodded slowly. “At the most.”
“I’ll do my best,” J.T. told him.
“I knew I could count on you.”
A few minutes later, Jeremy was letting himself out of the security office and heading back to the guardhouse. Autumn sunshine spilled out of a cloudy sky and he told himself that he should enjoy it while it lasted. He had a feeling he was headed into stormy weather.
Three
The next morning, J.T. sat through the security briefing, but his mind was several miles away. Five, to be exact. He imagined Jade in a plush office, snapping orders at a battalion of minions. Once she’d finished making heads roll, she would no doubt sit back in a comfortable chair, sip a morning cup of tea and plan how next she would try to ruin his life.
And she’d do it all with a smile curving that fabulous mouth of hers.
Around him, the other members of the RII shifted and muttered to one another, but as far as J.T. was concerned, they had the easy jobs. All they had to do was concern themselves with defense of the palace. Routine tasks, with only the occasional chance to jump in front of some crazed assassin. He, on the other hand, would soon be dealing with the only woman who’d ever been able to get to him.
His fingers tightened around the pen in his right hand. Just to torture himself, J.T. had started his day by watching her early morning report on PEN-TV. Real investigative stuff, he mused now, making a point of relaxing his hand. Jade Erickson had looked directly into the camera and, with a beaming smile on her face, reported a story on the old smugglers caves. Then she’d even launched into the local belief that ghosts of long-dead pirates still haunted the dank caverns.
His amusement had died quickly enough, though, when he reminded himself that she’d walked out on him and what they might have had together for the opportunity to smile into a camera.
Of course, he didn’t want to think about just how good she’d looked, standing in the wind, with the roaring sea just behind her. How her auburn hair had flown about her face with abandon and how her sea-green eyes had seemed to stare directly into his.
All right, he thought, pushing her image out of his brain. He didn’t need to think about her now. He’d be seeing her all too soon as it was.
After a sleepless night, Jade was in no mood to be stonewalled at the palace gates today. She’d thought about it long and hard during the hours she’d spent sitting straight up in bed, gripping her self-defense weapon—a golf club. For weeks now, she’d been receiving those vaguely threatening letters. Only recently had they begun to get a bit creepier. But the video stalking was definitely upping the ante.
Yet she couldn’t allow this individual, whoever it was, to affect her work. If she crawled off into a hole and hid away, then the person trying
