the intricately carved and jewel-encrusted royal throne of Volzemburg. “I certainly wouldn’t want to destroy any of your misguided preconceptions about princesses.”
“You’ve already done that by wanting to run away,” he told her. “How hard can this princess gig be?”
“Hard enough,” Vanessa replied in a tough voice coated with classy silk.
“Seems like it would be a cushy job to me,” Mark noted, perching on the edge of the marble tub. “I’ll bet a night in this place costs more than I make in a week, maybe even in a month.”
“You’re probably right. I don’t know about the cost. The royal accountants take care of that sort of thing,” she said with a wave of her hand.
“And what sort of thing are you looking for me to take care of?”
“Security,” she immediately replied. “Mine, to be more precise. I’ll pay you for your time, of course.”
“Don’t insult me,” he stated curtly.
She blinked at him. “I wasn’t trying to….”
“I’m doing this for Prudence.” And because he’d been ordered to. “I’m on leave and had some time.” He was supposed to be on leave, but it was cancelled when he’d gotten this assignment.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s no need to say anything. Now what’s your plan?”
Vanessa repeated it to him just as she had to Prudence, only with more precision and firmness so he wouldn’t think she hadn’t thought things through.
“Sounds pretty lame to me. You hire some actor to pretend to be a doctor, and afterward he goes on to sell his story to the National Tattler.” Noting the dark circles under her eyes and the paleness of her skin, he said, “I know a real doctor who’ll recommend that you stay in bed and rest. Suffering from exhaustion is the term most frequently used.”
“The Von Volzemburgs never suffer from exhaustion.” The silky steeliness had returned to her voice. “We fought off Alexander the Great to protect our country and have been ruling ever since.”
“That may be, but you don’t have to pour hot oil over the castle battlements to protect your country any longer.”
“No, now I just have to spend twenty hours a day going from reception to reception,” she said tartly.
Mark flashed her a mocking smile and showed no pity. “Like I said, a real tough life. Too much partying. Too little sleep. Dr. Rosenthal is your man. He’s seen it all before.”
“He’s never seen me before,” she stated with haughty regality. “What makes you think he’d be willing to call my father?”
“He’s a former Marine. Royalty doesn’t scare him.”
“Royalty doesn’t scare you either, does it,” she noted.
“You’ve got that right.”
“Does anything frighten you?”
“Like I said, I’m a U.S. Marine Corps officer. We don’t scare easily.”
“Do you scare at all?”
“Well, ma’am,” he drawled, “the idea of marriage and being committed to just one woman scares me.”
“Marriage scares me, too,” she surprised him by admitting.
“Since I’m not looking to marry you and you’re not looking to marry me, neither one of us has anything to worry about then.”
“Except getting caught,” she said.
“Marines don’t get caught. Now let’s get back to your plan.”
“Before we do that, I must insist that you come up with another diagnosis. My father will simply not accept that I’m suffering from exhaustion. That is not a suitable excuse to avoid returning home. No, the diagnosis must have something to do with my ears.”
His gaze automatically traveled across her high cheekbones to her ears. They were dainty and feminine, and she wore an earring in each lobe. No cubic zirconias for this princess. No, those rocks were diamonds. “Are you supposed to sleep with those things in your ears?”
She touched her earlobe self-consciously. “I was too tired to do more than remove my clothing last night.”
Which meant what? That she was naked beneath that silky purple robe?
Years of training allowed Mark to keep an impassive look on his face, but inside he was responding to her proximity like a male, not a Marine.
“Would your Dr. Rosenthal be willing to tell my father I can’t fly because I have a cold-flu thing?” she asked. “Remember it has to involve my ears so that I wouldn’t be able to fly for several days.”
“Right. I’m sure the good doctor will say whatever is required.”
“He won’t have ethical problems with that?”
Mark wasn’t about to go into Dr. Rosenthal’s reasons for going along with this plan. “He’s a friend. I already told you, he’ll do as we ask. Let’s move on. Where do you plan on sleeping at night?” he asked.
That was one question she hadn’t yet considered. “Here, I suppose,” she replied.
“Here in your suite?” He shook his head. “Not a good idea. You’d be going past your own security guard every night. Eventually you’d get caught.”
“Fine. Then I’ll sleep elsewhere. There are plenty of hotel rooms available in this city.”
“Not that I can afford.”
“I shall, of course, pay for all expenses,” she loftily informed him.
“With what?” he demanded, pinning her with his saberlike gaze. “You think you’re not going to draw attention to yourself by using your platinum princess credit card? Or did you plan on having your accountants come trailing after you to pay for things?”
“All right.” She shot him an irritated look. “So I haven’t exactly worked out all the details yet.”
“Then it’s a good thing that I have. But before we go any further, Princess, we need to get a few things clear. First off, I’m in charge of this op.”
“Op?” she repeated with a lift of one of her delicately shaped eyebrows.
“Operation.”
“Ah, a military rather than medical term, I’m assuming?” she noted mockingly.
“Affirmative. I’ve had more experience at this sort of thing than you have.”
“At pretending to be a regular person?”
“At
