me, sweetheart,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve been all over the world. I’m more than capable of handling one tiny American. If you want to find out how worth it I am, walk out the door.”
“I’m not dressed,” she informed him saucily. Even someone as fashion savvy as Bella couldn’t tie a bikini with one hand. And for some reason, now that he knew she was naked, it was an oddly effective turn-on.
“Perfect,” he purred. “I like a woman who can read my mind. What am I thinking right now?”
If it was anything close to what she was thinking, a public beach was not the best place for them to be together. “You’re thinking that you’d better hang up so I can, you know, leave the house.”
His laugh rolled through her and then cut off abruptly as the call ended. She hummed as she threw on her bikini and covered it with a short dress made of fishnet weave.
She hit the foyer in under three minutes and almost escaped without her security detail noticing her stealthy exit, when she heard the voice of doom call out behind her.
“Isabella.”
Groaning, she turned to face her father since the cover up was just as see-through from the front as the back. The faster she withdrew from his clutches, the better. “Yeah, Dad.”
“I understand you told Will Rowling you weren’t interested in him. I’m very disappointed.”
Of course he was. He’d have to smooth things over with Patrick Rowling and figure out another way to make everyone miserable.
“That’s me. The disappointing daughter,” she admitted lightly, hoping if she kept her cool, the extraction might go faster. She had a man waiting patiently for her on the beach.
“You cannot continue behaving this way. Marriage to Rowling will settle you and nothing else seems to work to that end. You must repair your relationship with him.”
His hand flew up to staunch the protest she’d been about to voice.
“No, Isabella. This is a serious matter, among other serious matters I must discuss with you. However, I’m expected to accompany Gabriel to a royal function. Be here when I get back,” her father commanded.
“Sure, Dad.” She fled before he could tell her when he’d be back because then she could claim ignorance when she wasn’t here.
Her stomach tightened as she walked down the narrow cliffside stairs to the beach. Why couldn’t she have timed that better? The encounter put a damper on the joy she’d had since the moment she’d heard James’s voice.
When her toes sank into the sand, she scoured the sun-worshippers for a glimpse of the whipcord physique she couldn’t erase from her mind. James was easy to spot in a turquoise shirt that shielded his British complexion from the rays. Sunglasses covered his beautiful eyes and as always, he wore the expensive watch he never seemed to leave home without. He lay stretched out on a towel off to the side of the crowd, lounging in his own little cleared area.
“Thought you’d never get here,” he commented when she flopped down next to him. He paused and whipped off his glasses to focus on her intently. “What’s wrong?”
How bad was it that he made her so mushy just by noticing that she was a little upset? “Nothing. My father.”
“Say no more.” James shook his head and sat up to clasp her hand in his, squeezing it once. “I’ve been avoiding mine since the pictures hit.”
“What pictures?”
“You don’t know?” When she shook her head, he rubbed his face with his free hand. “Someone snapped us with me on top of you when you tripped over my chair the other day. We were on the front page of the Playa Del Sol newspaper. And probably all the other ones, too. I’m sorry, I figured you’d seen them. Or had a confrontation with your father about them.”
Oh, that explained a lot, especially Rafael’s use of his boardroom voice. “I learned the hard way to never search my name on the internet, so no, I haven’t seen the pictures. And I think I just narrowly missed that confrontation. The one I had was bad enough, but fortunately, he was too busy to give me a proper talking to. I’m supposed to be home when he gets back so I can obediently listen to his lecture. Oops.”
James flashed a quick grin. “You’re my kind of woman.”
“We seem to have a flagrant disregard for authority in common, don’t we?”
“When it makes sense,” James corrected. “You’re not sixteen. You’re a grown woman who can make her own choices. If you want to be with me, you should get that opportunity, authority figures aside.”
As much as she liked his point, she was still a member of the royal family and the idea of smarmy pictures floating around upset her, especially when the actual event had been so innocuous.
“So we’re both rebels, but only when presented with pigheaded fathers?”
“Exactly.” His thumb smoothed over hers and he had yet to return his sunglasses to their perch over his eyes. The way he was looking at her, as if he understood her so perfectly, they didn’t even need words—it took a massive amount of willpower to not throw herself into his arms.
Why were they outside in plain sight again? Her babysitters could lumber down the stairs from the house at any moment, squelching what promised to be an adventurous day.
“This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for our first date,” she remarked with an exaggerated glance around. “Too many people and I’m pretty sure I remember something about getting naked. I readily admit to bucking authority when called for, but I am not a fan of sand in certain places. What shall we do about that?”
James’s blue eyes went sultry and he gripped her hand tighter. “A little bird told me you were high maintenance, so I was going to take you to dinner later at Casa Branca in Del Sol. But I see the huge gaping flaw in that plan since you would indeed have to be dressed for that.”
“It’s also pretty public. I’d love to escape prying eyes, security details and cameras for at least one night.” She frowned. Was nowhere sacred enough to spend time with a man she was just getting to know without fear of creating a whole brand-new scandal? “Can we go back to your place?”
They certainly couldn’t go to hers, not with the royal lecture pending.
“Ha.” James rolled his eyes, turning them a myriad of blues in the sunlight. “I can only imagine dear old Dad’s aneurism when I walk through the front door with you.”
No, neither of them were sixteen but it felt that way when they couldn’t even find a place to be alone without overbearing parents around. So it was time for an adult solution.
“New plan,” Bella chirped. “I’ve heard a rumor of an abandoned farmhouse that’s part of our family’s royal property. But I don’t know where it is. I need someone with a car and a good knowledge of the roads in Alma to help me find it. Know anyone like that who’s also free to drive around with me?”
“James’s Abandoned Farmhouse Locators, at your service.” He bowed over her hand with mock ceremony. “Let’s plan on making a night of it.
