Weight of the Crown

The moment the words left her lips Alyssa went hot all over. It was exactly the wrong thing to say to a dangerously tempting man like this.

‘That’s what I like to hear.’ He laughed.

‘Just remember, I’m not here for your benefit!’

Lysander was so taken aback by her sharp retort, Alyssa had time to organise her thoughts before carrying on.

‘My interest is in children, and making sure they’re properly looked after. From what I understand, Ra’id has suffered all his life from a high turnover among his carers, so I intend sticking with this job for as long as I’m needed. That’s needed, and not wanted, Lysander,’ she said with chilling emphasis, letting him know that she assumed infidelity ran through his veins. ‘I’m not going to let anything affect the way I care for Ra’id. That’s why I want to get one thing clear from the start. There have to be ground rules for us as well as him.’

He slipped her a sidelong glance. Alyssa’s heartbeat accelerated, but she tried to ignore her pounding pulse.

‘I mean it.’

‘That’s a shame, but I suppose I should have guessed.’ He sighed, then took a long drink of coffee. ‘I’ve seen for myself how seriously you take your work. Does this mean you think sex isn’t a laughing matter, either?’

Alyssa swallowed, knowing she had to dodge his question. Every time she looked at Lysander she noticed some new detail about him. The slight natural curl in his dark hair, or the muscles that were hardly concealed by the fine fabric of his crisp white shirt.

‘It really doesn’t matter what I think about anything, except my job,’ she said, with a determination to ignore his smile. ‘I’m employed to care for Ra’id. You’ve got your work cut out caring for his country, Lysander. We both want the same thing.’ She felt embarrassed about exactly how true that was, and knew she was colouring up again. It was a good job the background lighting was so soft. It hid her embarrassment as well as her feelings. ‘And that’s the best thing for Ra’id. It means you and I have to work together as a team, and I mean work.’ She emphasised the last word carefully.

‘And I have no doubt at all that we will,’ he drawled, making Alyssa wonder what he thought of as work. ‘That’s why I’m going to study your methods as closely as I can. The job of Regent of Rosara couldn’t be more different from the life I’ve lived until now. With Ra’id years away from becoming King, and despite my brother’s best attempts at marrying me off, I’m still his only living relative. That means our country’s succession is in a precarious state. I have to make sure nothing happens to Ra’id, while running Rosara at the same time, and I intend to succeed at both jobs.’

Alyssa saw he was deadly serious, and knew she had underestimated him. ‘That’s a real challenge.’

‘I know, but I specialise in those.’

She had been thinking so hard about how a playboy was going to juggle two jobs like that, she didn’t realise he had been leaning steadily closer and closer to her. When he laid a hand on her arm, she jumped.

‘That’s why I need your help, Alyssa.’

She pulled her arm away smartly. ‘If there’s anything I can do to help Ra’id, I will. But that’s all, Lysander.’

‘Of course. You’ve made your point, so I’ll make mine. I prefer partnerships of pleasure.’ Despite her obvious anger, he didn’t sound at all apologetic.

‘I suppose by that you mean little and often,’ Alyssa snapped.

The smile returned to his beautiful mouth. ‘I’ve never had any complaints.’

‘Until you met me, and I’m out of bounds,’ she told him meaningfully. ‘As long as you remember that, Lysander, you can keep your record with women—which I’m sure must be one hundred per cent perfect.’

‘Oh, don’t worry. One little setback in a lifetime wouldn’t bother me. A single rejection among thousands of triumphs would only amount to a fraction of a percentage point,’ he said with a careless smile.

‘Ah, but if you don’t try, you’ll make sure you never fail—’

Alyssa had never known a man with such easy, natural charm. Those flashing eyes and that devilish smile made him almost impossible to resist, but then she remembered something. His one and only weakness would always be her greatest strength.

‘And if you ever force me to give you a black eye, Lysander, it would make other girls think twice about tangling with you, until your bruises have faded.’

He stopped smiling. His eyes narrowed. He pursed his lips, thinking.

‘I’m a fast healer, but … point taken.’

Alyssa wasn’t going to take any chances. ‘I’m serious, Lysander.’

He took another long, slow sip of coffee but his eyes didn’t once leave her face. ‘I’m sure you are.’

‘I’m here to work, so I don’t have time for distractions. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do my very best for your little prince. I once let a child down …’ She paused, not wanting to complete the story. ‘From that moment on, my job became the most important thing in my life. Do you understand?’

Lysander leaned back, resting one arm along the back of the couch. His eyes were dark and inscrutable. ‘Ah … yes, I remember somebody bringing that to my attention when they were checking your references. It was truly a tragedy that that little boy died because nobody took any notice when you told them how sick he was. That was unforgivable.’

Alyssa’s heart began to beat very quickly, and not only because of the way he was studying her. Talking to Jerry about the tragedy of little Georgie had been hard enough. Discussing it with a stranger would be impossible.

‘Yes, it was. Which is why I’d rather you changed the subject,’ she said abruptly, her breathing shallow.

Lysander’s expression altered. The intensity of his gaze made her blush.

I was never this forceful until—she thought, and felt the sharp pain of sadness in her throat. Oh, no. Why must that come back to haunt me, right now? The events of a few months ago had snowballed until they threatened to suck all the life out of her. This job was her chance of a fresh start. She couldn’t afford to weaken.

Lysander was so self-confident. Alyssa wished she had his sort of nerve, but she was at least determined not to let him see her eyes fill with tears. She looked away quickly, but for the first time since she had lost Georgie she found that her tears were easily blinked away. Painfully, she wondered if this was the start of her recovery.

‘Of course. It’s no wonder you mistrust people after that.’ Lysander’s voice was as slow and calculated as his smile. ‘Is there anything I can do to persuade you we aren’t all bad?’

He had picked up on her suspicions about him, so there was no point in denying them. It wasn’t good for her new employer to feel he was under surveillance, but that wasn’t Alyssa’s only worry. If a gorgeous man like this could see how troubled she was, her life really had gone too far in the wrong direction. She had to do something, fast, but what? Maybe she could do with talking about what had happened rather than bottling everything up … but this handsome, piratical prince looked more trouble than he was worth. Wanting to talk was one thing. Trusting him was something else. Finishing her coffee, she put her cup and saucer back on the tray and stood up.

‘Well, thank you for the drink, but unless you have some aspect of Ra’id’s care you’d like to discuss I think you’d better go, Lysander. I’ve got a lot to do.’ She took a last look around the sitting room, then started off towards the door she assumed must lead to her own suite. ‘The chap who parked my car earlier said he’d bring my luggage up but I got so involved with Ra’id, I haven’t even had a chance to find where I’m sleeping.’

‘The nanny’s rooms are through there.’ He pointed to the door. ‘But that way is kept locked all the time, to stop Ra’id disturbing her during the night. You’ll have to go out into the corridor and use the main door, at the top of the stairs.’

Alyssa flashed a dangerous look at him. ‘And how would you know that, if you’ve never had anything to do with Ra’id before?’

Lysander smiled at her knowingly. ‘Let’s call it a lucky guess, shall we?’

‘Well, the minute I find the key I’m going to unlock that door, and leave it open. That’s how it’s going to stay. I can assure you I’ll never have any reason to stop Ra’id coming into my rooms to see me.’

‘Really?’ He gave her a mocking look of disbelief.

‘Really.’

Her reply led him to give a casual shrug. ‘Then it must be time for me to take you to your lonely suite.’

Alyssa raised her eyebrows.

‘To the door and no further,’ he assured her, offering his arm.

She hesitated. All day she had fought against falling under his spell. She had managed it so far. Surely she could reward herself with this one, brief point of contact? The fear that Lysander would misunderstand and assume it was the start of something warred with the excitement of being escorted by such a gorgeous, polite man. She already knew he was too much temptation, but had to find out if he was enough of a gentleman.

‘Thanks, but I want you to know I’m giving you the benefit of some very big doubts, Lysander,’ she told him, slipping her hand into the crook of his arm.

It was just as well she answered before the sensation of his warm, vital body rose through the thin fabric of his jacket. The feel of it shook Alyssa to the core. She wanted to go on standing there in the middle of the room, enjoying the casual intimacy with this dark stranger. Lysander had other ideas. At the very moment she was most vulnerable, he ignored his advantage and started off towards the door.

‘Would it help to put your mind at rest about me if we talked about work?’ he asked her.

‘That depends,’ Alyssa said warily. ‘Whose work did you want to discuss? Yours or mine?’

‘Yours, of course. Now I’ve discovered little Ra’id isn’t the creature from hell that everyone warned me about, I think I will want to take a more active role in his upbringing.’

Alyssa considered his words carefully. Ra’id was so full of himself, he wouldn’t be helped by a fickle uncle who would be distracted by every woman who lured him away. On the other hand, whatever his motives, she didn’t want to put Lysander off getting closer to Ra’id. In her bitter experience, it was better to have an adult getting in her way than taking no interest, and ignoring her professional advice.

‘You’ve already told me that Ra’id didn’t have a very close relationship with his parents. What he needs is some stability and routine in his life, not to mention some love and affection from a parent figure. If you could offer him that, it would be great. I’d love to have your help,’ she continued cautiously, ‘although I wouldn’t want you to overcommit yourself. Why don’t you try to make tea time with Ra’id a daily appointment to begin with, and see how you manage with that? Making some time available regularly in your schedule is much better than overwhelming him with attention to begin with, and then leaving him high and dry when something comes up to divert your attention.’

‘I agree. I can’t abide people who promise everything and then don’t deliver.’

Alyssa looked at him quickly. ‘That sounded heartfelt!’

‘I’ve got good reason,’ he told her, but didn’t say anything else until they reached a door at the point where the nursery wing joined the main house.

‘Here it is—the main entrance to your suite. To the door and no further, as promised.’

‘Thank you—and I didn’t promise anything at all, so that means you won’t be disappointed when I say goodbye and let you go,’ Alyssa said firmly, taking her hand from his arm. Going inside her suite, she turned around quickly to block the doorway in case he tried to follow her.

‘I was thinking about someone else who didn’t keep their word—to me.’ His voice was slow and thoughtful. ‘I find this hard to say but the fact is I need you, Alyssa.’

Alarmed, she took another step backwards into her rooms and tried to close the door on him. Lysander was too quick for her, and grabbed the edge of the door. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you, Alyssa. For once, I wasn’t flirting. I meant that I need you professionally, because I don’t know the first thing about children.’

He sounded so genuinely pained, she laughed. ‘You were one yourself once, don’t forget!’

‘I know and I remember all too well what I had to go through. I admit, I’d rather leave all the caring to experts like you, and just be there for the fun stuff,’ he said with real feeling.

Alyssa was moved. Without realising what she was doing, she reached out and patted him on the arm.

‘That’s better than nothing, and right now might be exactly what Ra’id needs his uncle for. It’ll be great.’

‘With you in charge, I’m sure it will be perfect.’ His voice was a low murmur, full of possibilities. Alyssa tensed, but his hand slid from the door straight into his pocket.

For two heartbeats she thought about simply closing the door on him, but she couldn’t do it. Lysander didn’t move a muscle. His stillness was as arousing as the look in his darkly mysterious eyes. She knew exactly what was going to happen, but could not stop herself waiting for it.

Slowly, silently, Lysander reached out to her. She was unresisting, so he drew her into his arms for a kiss that made her forget everything—until she remembered that she was in the grip of a serial womaniser. With a heart-rending effort she forced herself out of his grasp.

‘Lysander! You promised you were going to take me to my door and no further!’

He pointed towards the floor. Without knowing what she was doing, Alyssa had stepped over the threshold. She was now out in the hall again.

Lysander was already coolly backing away from her. ‘I was as good as my word. That is exactly what I did. No more—but no less, either.’

With that, he blew her a kiss, turned and sauntered off.

Alyssa was rooted to the spot. She watched him go, her fingertips resting on her lips as she tried to recapture the pressure of his mouth against hers. When he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped and glanced back. His smile told her everything she didn’t want to know. It took her right back to those few delicious seconds she had spent in his arms. She responded with a sudden rush of sensual warmth. Her body would have done anything to experience his strength surrounding her again.

But her heart was too afraid …

CHAPTER THREE

EARLY next morning, Lysander appeared in the nursery doorway. His unexpected arrival threw Alyssa into a panic, but she was careful not to show it. She was briefing her members of staff when she saw him, and didn’t want to betray her feelings in front of them. Luckily, this wasn’t a social call. He stayed brisk and businesslike as he informed them he was arranging for the royal household to fly back to Rosara in a few days’ time.

‘Once we get there, instead of Ra’id taking tea in my suite I thought we could take him out for a picnic every afternoon, Alyssa,’ he told her.

She nodded, glad he was keeping things light and impersonal. ‘If the weather’s good, it’ll be a great idea.’

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