not impressed with him. “I wanted this to be a surprise. Now go away.”
“But I—”
Which was all he got out before the top of the blender blew off, spraying the contents across the room. And covering Natalia in rich, thick chocolate.
Looked as if he was getting dessert a little early.
Dear Reader,
How many of you have dreamed about wearing a tiara? Admit it, we all wanted to be princesses, to marry a prince and never have to clean again.
In A Royal Mess and Her Knight To Remember, my princesses find out what it’s like to live in the real world. Not quite the piece of cake they had imagined. In the real world people don’t rush to fulfill their needs. Men don’t fall at their feet.
And in the real world, love can blindside. Which is exactly what happens to Natalia and Annie, with two of the most rough-and-tumble, most rugged, most gorgeous men they’ve ever seen.
I had so much fun torturing my princesses with real men. I hope you enjoy their stories.
Happy reading!
Jill Shalvis
P.S.—I love to hear from readers! You can reach me at P.O. Box 3945, Truckee, CA 96160-3945.
Books by Jill Shalvis
HARLEQUIN DUETS
28—NEW AND…IMPROVED?
42—KISS ME, KATIE!
HUG ME, HOLLY!
57—BLIND DATE DISASTERS
EAT YOUR HEART OUT
HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION
742—WHO’S THE BOSS?
771—THE BACHELOR’S BED
804—OUT OF THE BLUE
822—CHANCE ENCOUNTER
845—AFTERSHOCK
861—A PRINCE OF A GUY
878—HER PERFECT STRANGER
885—FOR THE LOVE OF NICK
SILHOUETTE INTIMATE MOMENTS
887—HIDING OUT AT THE CIRCLE C
905—LONG-LOST MOM
941—THE RANCHER’S SURRENDER
1019—THE DETECTIVE’S UNDOING
To the real princesses in my life: Kelsey, Megan and Courtney
1
TIMOTHY BANNING needed a vacation from his New York vacation. That wasn’t going to happen, and he could brood all he wanted once he got back to his Texas ranch, but for now he had to at least get there.
The airport was mobbed. A typical Sunday afternoon. He braced himself for an overbooked, underfed flight. At least he’d gotten a boarding pass, which was more than he could say for the angry crowd currently huddled by the check-in counter.
Grateful to be anyone other than the lone, harassed airline employee trying to soothe too many tempers at once, he got in line to board the plane.
He was exhausted, more mentally than anything else, but visiting his so-called retired grandma did that to him. She was unstoppable—shows, shopping, talking. Nothing a good nap wouldn’t cure.
Oh, and note to self: next time Grandma says hang gliding over Central Park, she’s not kidding. Tim stretched his sore neck and winced. She’d nearly killed him this time.
And still, she’d refused to consider coming back with him to Texas. Refused to even talk about his taking care of her in her golden years.
In front of him was a little girl—maybe five years old—in her mother’s arms. She had serious bed head and wore a sundress that said I am Adorable. Wide-eyed, she stared at Tim, loudly sucking and slurping on a bright blue lollipop.
As adorable as she might be, he nonetheless hoped to God she didn’t sit near him on the plane.
With an audible smacking sound, she pulled the lollipop out of her mouth and smiled, her teeth and tongue a distinctive shade of blue. Drool dripped down her mother’s neck. “Tish, careful.” Her mother shifted the girl’s weight to her other arm. “Keep that in your mouth, now.”
Yeah, Tish, keep that in your mouth.
Tish finally stuffed the lollipop back into her mouth and eyeballed Tim’s hat. “You a cowboy?”
Tipping back the Stetson with a finger, he nodded. “Yep.”
“You gots a horse?”
“Yep.”
“Does she like sugar?”
“About as much as I’d guess you do.”
Tish grinned and sucked on her lollipop some more.
The line to get onto the plane hadn’t moved. In fact, the crowd pressed in slightly, shifting him closer to Tish and her sticky, blue lollipop.
Chaos continued to reign around him; loud passengers, the crackling of the intercoms, the weary voices of the airline employees and the smell of plane.
Quite different from his usual setting of gently rolling hills and the call of cattle.
“Excuse me.” A supremely irritated female voice rung out behind him. “I want on this flight.”
Tim glanced over his shoulder and did a double take. The leather-wearing, silver-studded, spiked-hair juvenile delinquent did not match the cultured, demanding voice. Tim spared a moment to feel sorry for the poor attendant facing this newest customer, then gripping his boarding ticket with gratitude, shuffled forward in line with the rest of the lucky ones around him.
“Ma’am,” the ticket clerk said. “This flight is overbooked.”
“What?”
“We’ve oversold the flight,” the ticket clerk said calmly. “Now we can—”
“I don’t care if you oversold the entire state of New York!” She sure didn’t sound like a teenager. “I’m holding a ticket that entitles me to a first-class seat. Now find my boarding pass.”
Tim shook his head at the queen-to-peasant tone. His line was moving now, even if only at the pace of a snail. Only three people left ahead of him, and in a moment he’d be on the plane, snoozing.
Then, finally there was just Tish and her lollipop extraordinaire. Soon he’d be prone, eyes closed, lost
