Crowning His Unlikely Princess

Terrific.

She pulled her blouse away from her skin and wondered if it would look odd if she walked out holding it like that.

Deciding that she’d have to brazen it out, she tilted her chin and exited the bathroom. She’d get her coat, wish her boss goodnight, and head off to face the next disaster. It couldn’t possibly be any worse than this one.

Peeking into the living room, she caught sight of her boss outlined against the New York skyline, his hands on his hips. The clouds had parted and late sunbeams shone down on the newly washed buildings, gilding them in gold and silver.

But it was the gorgeous view inside the room that held her attention more. Tall, broad-shouldered and lean-hipped, with long, muscular legs and dark blond hair that gently curled against his strong neck, he was the epitome of sleek male power in the prime of life. He might be a cold-hearted workaholic but he was pure perfection to look at.

Against her wishes her heart rate quickened once again and, unwilling to get caught staring at him a second time, she turned away to hunt for her jacket.

Logan turned to find Cassidy scanning the room and looking more like something the cat would drag in than his usual efficient EA. All day she’d been off and now she even looked it. Her usually perfect up-do a cloud of chestnut waves, her wet blouse the texture of tissue paper, and just as revealing, and her face clean of make-up. The only thing familiar about her was her glasses, ones she’d adjusted further up her nose with her little finger when she’d caught him staring at her. A nervous gesture he’d only ever seen now and then.

His office ran like clockwork thanks to her. But the woman standing in front of him looked like she should be about to do a strip tease before ending up in his bed.

Wondering when his libido had regressed to the point that a woman in a wet shirt could turn him on, he strode out of the room and returned with one of his sweatshirts. ‘Unless you’re planning to enter a wet T-shirt competition after you leave here, you’d better put this on.’

Her eyes didn’t quite meet his as she took it from him and slid it over her head, her thanks muffled by the fabric.

The sweatshirt was miles too big, falling midway down her thighs and draping over her hands, but it did the job of turning her from shapely to shapeless as required.

He didn’t know what had happened today but it had all started when he had arrived at his office to find that Cassidy wasn’t there. Always on time, and with his morning coffee ready for when he walked in, she had been noticeably absent. Not only had he been required to make his own coffee but he’d had to field two visits from junior staff asking for information he didn’t have. Then his COO’s assistant had stopped by to make an appointment for him to meet with her boss and had tried to linger.

When Cassidy had finally arrived, blaming the subway, she’d been harried. At first he hadn’t noticed because she’d appeared as well groomed as always in a black suit and white blouse, her auburn hair pinned back into a French twist. She’d worn it like that on her first day and had never deviated from the style. It had annoyed him at first because it was always the same, but then he’d come to appreciate her consistency. Not to mention her efficiency.

But she hadn’t been efficient today. Following up one unexpected mistake with another and another until he’d almost asked her what was wrong.

He hadn’t because the last thing he wanted to do was to encourage personal interactions in the office. He did not want to give her any ideas that might change the nature of their working relationship. Something that had happened with more than one EA in the past.

In his experience people were rarely as they seemed on the outside and yet he was sure that his EA was exactly as she seemed: an intelligent, quiet, sensible woman who had incredibly sultry lips. And vivid, velvet-green eyes. He’d noticed both right away, and nearly hadn’t hired her because of his reaction to them, but his HR manager had convinced him that she was perfect.

And she had been.

Perfect.

Until now.

She glanced at him and adjusted her glasses again. ‘I know you’re busy so if you tell me where my jacket is, I’ll get out of your hair.’

‘Not before you explain why I left the office with the wrong information, you won’t.’

She sighed heavily, her chest rising and falling with the effort. ‘I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.’

Logan raised a brow at her evasive response, another clue that his EA had left the building and had been replaced by a woman he didn’t know.

‘Relying on hope is a waste of time and since we don’t always get what we want I’ll ask again.’

She glanced at her hands before raising her little chin as she looked at him. ‘I gave you the draft of the prospectus that was the one before the final copy.’ She opened her hands in front of her in a conciliatory gesture. ‘I’m not sure how it happened. I did text you to let you know I would be stopping by but clearly you didn’t get it.’

‘Clearly.’ He tried not to be annoyed at her incompetence but he was. ‘But I could have collected them from the office in the morning.’

‘You have an early flight to Boston and I didn’t want to put you out.’ She gripped her fingers together. ‘It’s been a horrible day and I’m really sorry for mucking up.’ Her hands lifted in a helpless gesture. ‘I’m not myself right now.’

She could join the club. If his unwanted physical reaction to her was any indication, he wasn’t himself either. Which was why he needed to retrieve her jacket and send her on her way. About to do exactly that, he frowned when his phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket, his frown deepened when he saw his brother’s name flash up on the screen.

Given that it was the middle of the night in Arrantino, it couldn’t be good news and he pressed the answer button.

‘What?’

His blunt greeting was met with a touch of humour. ‘Have I caught you at a bad time, brother? You’re not with a woman, are you?’

‘Yes.’ Before he could think better of it his eyes raked over Cassidy again. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and the innocent gesture sent a raw bolt of primal lust roaring through his blood. Closing it down with ironclad self-control, he turned away from her and corrected his answer. ‘No.’

‘Good. Have you got a minute? I have...something to tell you.’

Hearing the hesitation in his brother’s voice sent an icy shiver of dread down his spine, driving all thoughts of his EA’s legs from his mind. ‘What is it? Have you been to the doctor? Has—?’

Logan stopped, unable to voice the fear that his brother’s teenage leukaemia had returned. Leo had fought the illness bravely but Logan doubted he would ever fully recover from seeing his brother so weakened by the disease. Neither would he forget how powerless he had felt in the face of something he couldn’t control.

‘No. It’s nothing like that,’ his brother assured him. ‘Well, not entirely. It’s just that...’ The pause on the end of the phone took ten years off Logan’s life. ‘I’ve decided to abdicate. Which makes you the next King of Arrantino.’

CHAPTER TWO

LOGAN’S EYES NARROWED on the darkening sky that stretched for miles outside his window, not sure he’d heard his brother correctly. ‘Abdicate?’ He ploughed his hand through his sweaty blond hair. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘An...issue has arisen.’ His brother sounded pained. ‘It wasn’t supposed to be like this, to be splashed across the news, but... You know how this works. We live in a goldfish bowl. I wanted it to come out differently but that opportunity has passed.’

‘You’re not making a bit of sense,’ Logan growled. ‘Cut to the chase and tell me what’s going on.’

‘The long and short of it is that Anastasia and I have formally broken up and I’m stepping down.’

‘Divorcing your wife is not a reason to abdicate,’ Logan said. Especially when divorcing that scheming little predator was the best thing Leo could ever do for himself and his country. The woman had played both of them like a finely tuned instrument five years ago, latching onto the brother who would make her Queen in the end. She had caused a rift between the two of them when Logan had tried to warn Leo against marriage. But her beauty had blinded Leo, and Logan suspected that his brother had also been heavily influenced by his duty as King. Their mother had been in Leo’s ear about the need to produce an heir for months before Anastasia had turned up on the scene and the notion had taken root. Unlike Logan, Leo had always tried to do the right thing, rarely questioning his royal duties. Until now, it seemed.

‘No, it’s not,’ Leo agreed. ‘But having an affair that has made headline news around the world is.’

‘Damn.’ Logan swore under his breath. He had never had any hard evidence of Anastasia’s affairs, but perhaps she had gone too far this time and finally shown his brother her true colours. ‘What has Anastasia done now?’ he asked, not even trying to mask the disgust in his voice.

‘It’s not Anastasia. It’s me. And strictly speaking I haven’t had an affair because I haven’t consummated the relationship yet, but I was photographed kissing another woman and the press are playing it that way, so what does it matter? Mother has hit the roof. The world’s press are trying to draw comparisons between myself and Father and are desperate to know who my new love interest is... It’s bedlam over here.’

Still processing the fact that his brother was seeing another woman, Logan braced a hand against the window, his muscles rigid. He had no doubt that his mother had hit the roof.

They had all lived in the shadow of their late father’s damaging affairs and she had been hurt the most. Both he and his brother had hated his father for it so the fact that Leo had let this happen was shocking enough. The fact that he wanted to abdicate unthinkable.

‘Just keep a cool head,’ he advised, already working out how he was going to handle the crisis. ‘And don’t do anything rash. Like abdicate!’

‘Too late,’ Leo stated without any humour in his voice. ‘And actually it’s not a rash decision. I made it a month ago. I’ve just been sitting with it to make sure it’s the right one to make.’

‘A month ago? Why the hell didn’t you call me earlier?’

‘Because if it wasn’t right I didn’t want to bother you. And I knew you’d try to talk me out of it.’

‘Damn right I’d have tried to talk you out of it. I wasn’t born to be King, you were. And I don’t want the job!’

‘I had a feeling you’d say that but if you really don’t want to do it then we can pass the throne to Ped—’

‘Do not even go there,’ Logan warned, his throat burning with fury. ‘Pedro wouldn’t know the first thing about running a country and we both know it.’ Their cousin was a surfing maniac who preferred the beach to the boardroom and little else. Except maybe women.

‘Yes. But I can no longer fulfil the role. The woman I’m in love with is a single mother who hates the spotlight and—’

‘In love?’ Logan pushed away from the window, suddenly conscious that Cassidy was still standing in the middle of his living room, nibbling on her lower lip. Dragging his gaze away from those even white teeth, he refocused. ‘Are you serious?’

Leo laughed self-consciously. ‘I know you think love is little more than sentimental tripe, but it’s not. This woman is wonderful. Amazing. I had no idea I could feel this way and all I want to do is protect her and her daughter.’

All Logan wanted to do was stop his brother from doing something stupid. Like abdicate. Because there was no way he wanted to be King. He’d never overly enjoyed the pomp and ceremony and the constant attention that went with royal life, and he really hated the comparisons that were made between him and their late father. As the son who looked most like the old man he’d always borne the brunt of that kind of attention and he’d hated being likened to a man he didn’t respect. A man who had chosen to put everything in life—his job, his passions, and his baser instincts—ahead of the welfare of his family and country.

Their father had been a master at manipulation and both he and Leo had gone from loving him to fearing him to turning away from him and, finally, to loathing him. Especially when his affairs had become public knowledge, hurting their mother and embarrassing them all.

And now Leo had fallen into the same trap. Being caught with a woman who wasn’t his wife. No matter how innocent it had been, it was still a big deal.

‘Just...’ He heaved out a sigh. ‘Just don’t do anything yet. Don’t make any solid decisions while you’re emotional. And definitely do not put out any statements.’ His mind was already turning, working through ideas of how they could stem the fallout from the scandal his brother had inadvertently created. ‘I’ll be in Arrantino by nightfall. Morning your time.’

‘If I’m not here to greet you, I’ll make sure Margaux is completely up to speed on what’s happening.’

‘I don’t want to speak to your private secretary,’ Logan growled. ‘I want to speak to you.’

‘I’ll try.’ Logan could already hear that his brother was distracted.

Ringing off, Logan took a moment to stare into space. King? There was no way he wanted to become King. It was a poisoned chalice he’d always been glad he’d never had to take on.

Cassidy cleared her throat, her gaze taking in her boss’s flexed shoulder muscles as he steadied his breathing.

She’d never seen him so disturbed before, and she felt an unexpected shaft of compassion for him. She had felt like she’d had her life turned on its head this morning, and now it seemed like his was about to do the same thing.

He turned toward her, his expression steely. ‘How much of that did you get?’

Feeling awful that she’d overheard any of it, she shrugged diffidently. ‘Your brother intends to abdicate and you don’t want to be King.’ You also think love is a waste of time, and you don’t seem to be a fan of your brother’s soon-to-be ex-wife.

‘That’s pretty much it. Throw in a divorce, a woman on the side, and a hungry pack of journalists and you’ve potentially got a national crisis.’

‘Wow. And I thought my morning had been bad. What are you going to do?’

‘Talk him out of it.’

Cassidy sighed. ‘You always seem to know what your next move is. One of the things I admire most about you is your ability to make a decision on the spot. I wish that was one of my superpowers.’

‘Superpower?’

‘Things I excel at.’

‘Your superpower is running my office. Which I’m going to need you to get on top of right away because we need to fly to Arrantino. Tonight. Hopefully we’re only looking at a twenty-four-hour turnaround but you’ll need to rearrange the rest of my week in case it’s not.’

‘Okay, right.’ She frowned. ‘I’ll send an email to postpone tomorrow’s meeting in Boston. Then first thing tomorrow I’ll see what can be delegated and what has to be rearranged. Do you want me to call Ben to reschedule the flight?’

‘I already sent him a text requesting that we fly out as soon as he can log a new flight plan.’

‘Okay, then I’ll...’ Cassidy paused. That was the second time she’d heard him refer to both of them. ‘We?’

‘Yes.’ Logan checked an incoming text on his phone. ‘l need you to come with me.’

Cassidy blinked as her brain slowly processed his words. ‘But I can’t go with you.’

Logan’s head snapped up. He looked at her as if she’d never said no to him before, perhaps because she hadn’t. ‘Why not?’

She thought about the conversation she still needed to have with her sister, and her obligation to take care of the twins two evenings a week while her sister studied at night school. ‘I have obligations. Commitments.’ She smoothed her hand over her sodden hair. And if this trip did by chance go longer than twenty-four hours her sister wouldn’t be happy. Not with her final exams about to start.

‘Yes, you do have commitments. To me. And right now I need you.’

‘You need me to run your office, which I can do better from New York.’

‘I decide where you’re best fit to serve me, Cassidy, not you.’

Up until now Cassidy would have said that she didn’t have a temper, but she was so exhausted from all the issues she’d had to contend with today that she could feel it rising. And not once in the time she had worked for him had he ever spoken to her in such an imperious tone. It made her think of a spoiled, rich prince getting everything he wanted. Which no doubt he had done.

Having grown up in the opposite of the lap of luxury, she couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to have every one of your needs met whenever you desired it. Unfortunately her boss didn’t share that experience. Which was no doubt why he showed so little emotion whenever one of his ex-girlfriends rang up begging for a second chance. Which he never gave. Once you were off Logan de Silva’s list of intimate contacts, you were off. From what she had seen, he was a man who cared very little about anything other than winning his next billion-dollar deal, and she sometimes envied him that because she cared too much about everything.

‘Well, I’m sorry but I can’t just drop everything to be at your beck and call. When I first started working for you I explained that I would need advance notice if you ever needed me to travel with you.’ Which so far he hadn’t. ‘And leaving to go halfway around the world in five minutes hardly counts as even short notice.’

‘And might I remind you,’ he said with lethal softness, ‘that when you signed on as my EA I explained that I pay above and beyond the average wage because I specifically require you to be at my beck and call, and you were more than happy with that at the time.’

The dark look in his eyes made her feel hot and bothered. She was still uncomfortably aware that he was standing in front of her half-naked, her eyes constantly drawn to the pelt of dark hair that curled over the top of his singlet. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from imagining how he would look naked.

She was also uncomfortably aware that what he said was true. But all she could think about was how she was going to tell Peta that she wouldn’t be around this week when her sister had to take her final exams. It must be another one of Murphy’s laws that when something horrible happened, it happened at the worst possible time.

Silence stretched between them with such savage intensity it completely took the wind out of her sails. She’d never been good with confrontation, which was why she was so good in her role as peacemaker in her family. It was her other superpower, along with her ability to compartmentalise situations and move on.

Knowing by his expression that he wouldn’t take no for an answer, she grimaced. ‘You’re right, I did agree with your requirements when I took the job, but...’ She faced him as one might face an angry lion in a small enclosure without a whip or a chair. ‘I’ll have to make a call first. Peta needs me more than ever this week.’

Logan came toward her, all power and languid grace, and for a moment she didn’t think he was going to stop. Her eyes widened as she was assailed with the unexpected vision of him wrapping one of those large hands around the back of her neck and drawing her up on her toes to kiss her. Heat travelled swiftly up through her body, making her tingle in all the wrong places.

Breathless, she waited for what would no doubt be the kiss of her life to happen, but of course it didn’t. He stopped an inch from touching her. ‘As I said, so do I.’ The look he gave her could have cut glass. All signs of the vulnerability she had glimpsed when he’d been speaking to his brother had completely disappeared. ‘And my needs take precedence over Peter’s. I’ll have Gordon drop you home so you can shower and change and then I’ll collect you in an hour. Be ready.’

His gaze flicked slowly down over her body and back up and Cassidy became very conscious that she must look like the Wicked Witch of the West with her hair drying in clumps and wearing one of his sweatshirts that was miles too big for her.

Then he was gone, leaving her to stew in silence.

She wondered if he was ever like this with his dates. But if he was they wouldn’t be crying on the end of the phone when he broke up with them, they’d be rejoicing.

Like this he was domineering and exacting. There was only one way and that was his. Usually she didn’t mind it. Usually she went with it.

Usually when she didn’t feel like her life was falling apart at the seams. It made her want to tell him just where he could take his demanding attitude and what he could do with it when he got there. Which would shock the heck out of him because, while he encouraged her to give him her opinion on matters of business, he would never encourage her to outwardly defy him.

And she was sure if that ever happened he’d be the juggernaut he always was, speeding over whatever roadblocks were in his way like a souped-up supercar. Cassidy, by comparison, was more like a moped, dodging life’s pitfalls as best she could with only one cylinder.

Logan stepped into the shower and doused his head under a stream of hot water. He didn’t know what had shocked him more, the fact that Cassidy had said no to him or that she had a lover called Peter.

A shaft of something akin to jealousy speared through him and he knew why that was. She was the best EA he’d ever had. There was no way he wanted her falling in love, getting married, going off to have babies and leaving him.

Was she already in love with the guy? Is that why she was so keen to leave on time two nights a week and baulked at working weekends?

He thought about the way her bright green eyes had widened as he’d invaded her personal space. For a moment he’d been overcome with the urge to keep going and power her back against the wall until he had her flattened against him, and the intensity of that urge had been the only thing that had stopped him.

Had she felt the inconvenient chemistry between them?

Had she wanted him to claim her?

Logan swore softly and stuck his head back under the stream of water, turning it to an icy blast.

He had not found himself at the mercy of his baser instincts since he’d learned that giving in to passion and losing control was what had nearly brought his father unstuck. It was certainly what had eventually broken them as a family. Even calling themselves a family was a stretch. They’d been an institution that had performed for the public like trained seals, both parents putting duty ahead of everything else.

And he wouldn’t ruin things with the best EA he’d ever had by confusing desire with a heightened state of adrenaline. Which was all that had been.

First the shock of finding her in his apartment like a half-drowned kitten and then being confronted with all that gloriously wild hair he’d itched to bury his fingers in. Who knew she’d been hiding that from the world?

Did she hide it from Peter as well, or just him?

Why do you care?

Irritated to find his mind once again charging down a path he had no intention of allowing it to go, he put the brakes on all thoughts of Cassidy’s unruly appearance. It had happened, but it was over.

The sooner he saw her again in her usual sedate office attire the sooner he could forget he’d ever seen her any other way.

Professional. Sensible. Unflappable.

So no more imagining himself peeling open her lacy bra. No more wondering if her hair would be silky soft beneath his fingertips. And definitely no more arousing himself by wondering how her body would fit against his as he pressed himself into her.