Wedded for His Royal Duty by Susan Meier

Author:Susan Meier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-07-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

ALEX REVVED THE engine and headed for a garage door that automatically opened when they got close. A warm sun beat down on them, but as soon as he turned them onto the road that wove through the trees, the air cooled.

Eva clung to him, obviously a first-time rider. But the farther they got into the woods, the more her grip loosened.

He missed it. As happy as he was that she’d relaxed, he missed having her arms wrapped tightly around him for support. He knew something was wrong. He’d expected her to be thrilled her dad was safe, and had a plan in process. Instead, she seemed confused, disoriented. So he vowed that no matter what it took today, he would distract her.

They drove and drove. Up a mountain, through another patch of trees. The feeling of the wind swirling around him always calmed him, and he could feel her relaxing behind him.

Finally, the house came into view. A nine-bedroom, two-story stone monstrosity with brown shutters and a wide wooden porch that ran across the entire front and curved around the right side, the house had been designed as a retreat, a place for the Sancho family to be a family. Not royalty. Not rulers. Just people.

He heard her small gasp through the system of mics in their helmets.

“It’s gorgeous.”

“It’s old,” he said flatly. “And in general need of repairs.”

He drove the bike down the winding road that took them to the aging country house. He punched the alarm code into the box by the gate. It swung open, and they rode through, then the gate automatically closed behind them.

Standing on the front porch, he used another code for the house alarm.

As he reached for the knob to open the door, she glanced around nervously. “You’re not worried about security?”

“We’re fine here. I’ll bet nobody even realizes we’re gone. I told my guards we’d ring when we were ready to head for town. If I don’t ring, they’ll just think we decided not to go out.”

He opened the door revealing a dusty foyer. Furniture was covered with cloths. Cobwebs danced like streamers from the chandelier to all four corners.

He batted them away so Eva wouldn’t have to walk through them. “Just FYI, the press knows this is the house we would be living in if we got married.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s already crowded in the palace. It’s a gift to be given a real home.”

She stepped around a chair that had been placed haphazardly in the foyer, as if someone had been moving it to storage and forgotten it.

“How long has it been since anyone’s been here?”

He didn’t even have to think about it. “Since my mom’s death.”

She faced him. Her eyes filled with apology, the first real emotion he’d seen from her since her call with her dad. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Some things are just facts.”

Her eyes softened. “Facts to me. Sorrow for you.”

He sniffed a laugh. “At one time. But I’m accustomed to it, remember? I’m the guy with the walls.

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