The Prince's Royal Dilemma. Brenda Harlen

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ want to go now,” Damon said, somehow making the statement sound like a royal command.

      She had to smile. It was unlikely that Julian and Catherine’s youngest son would ever have the responsibility of ruling his country, but she didn’t doubt that he would be able to do so. The arrogance and charm he already exhibited were as much a part of his Santiago heritage as his blue blood and dark curls.

      “Unfortunately, Prince Damon, it’s the prince regent who makes the rules now and I really can’t keep him waiting.”

      Damon’s eyes filled. “I liked it better when Daddy made the rules, when Daddy and Mommy were here.”

      She dropped to her knees on the ground beside the little boy and took him in her arms. “I know you did, honey. And I know you miss them both so much.”

      “I miss them, too,” Lexi said, and threw her arms around Lara’s neck.

      She had to blink away the tears that filled her own eyes as she hugged the young prince and princess. “You need to remember that though your daddy and mommy are gone, they will live forever in your hearts.”

      “I don’t want them to live in my heart,” Lexi said stubbornly.

      “Me, neither,” Damon agreed. “I want them to live in the palace.”

      It was easier for her to ignore a royal summons than the children’s grief, and more than half an hour had passed by the time she got them settled in the nursery with some books and puzzles and knocked on the door of the prince regent’s office.

      He was annoyed. That much was obvious to Lara by the cool, clipped “Enter” that answered her knock before she even stepped foot inside the room. Her impression was confirmed by the grim set of his mouth and the hard stare of his dark brown eyes.

      She immediately dropped into a curtsy—a ridiculous and archaic formality, she thought, made even more ridiculous by the fact that she was still wearing the old shorts and faded T-shirt she’d put on to play with the children. Julian and Catherine had both insisted that she abandon such formalities when they were behind closed doors, but Rowan had given no indication that he would tolerate bending the rules. More likely, he’d see it as a breach of protocol and reprimand her for it.

      “You wished to see me, Your Highness?”

      “A while ago.” His gaze raked over her. “Obviously, you weren’t using the time to make yourself more presentable.”

      She forced herself to remain silent and ignore the flutters deep in her belly. From their very first meeting, she’d been nervous around Prince Rowan—much more so than she was around any of his brothers. Part of it, she knew, was self-consciousness because of his evident disapproval. Another part, though she’d never admit it to anyone else, was that she’d fallen head over heels in lust with the solemn, scowling prince the first time she’d laid eyes on him.

      It wasn’t logical and it certainly wasn’t smart, but there was just something about the man that stirred her blood. She didn’t know why she responded that way to Rowan and not any of his brothers, but she did. Despite her imaginative fantasies, she knew he would never see her as anything other than the children’s nanny and a poor choice of one, at that.

      And she feared that the background that hadn’t caused Julian or Catherine to raise an eyebrow wouldn’t be so readily accepted by the prince regent—if he were made aware of it.

      “You have a leaf in your hair.” His curt statement drew her attention back to the present.

      “Oh.” She felt her cheeks flush as she reached up, found the offending piece of foliage and quickly crumpled it in her fist. “I came directly from the garden.”

      “But not immediately.”

      “No,” she acknowledged. “Princess Alexandria and Prince Damon were distressed, and I didn’t want to leave them in such a state.”

      “When you are summoned to my office, your wants are irrelevant.”

      She might have a crush on the prince, but she wasn’t oblivious to the fact that he could be a royal ass at times. It seemed that this was one of those times. As the flutters in her belly became knots of apprehension, she forced herself to take a deep breath and mentally count to ten before she responded. “I beg your pardon, Your Highness, but I was under the impression that it was my job to care for the children, and that is what I was doing.”

      “And what were you doing when this picture was taken?” he demanded, tossing a newspaper down on the top of his desk.

      Lara’s gaze dropped, her annoyance giving way to shocked embarrassment, then fury. “I was on private property,” she told him. “I don’t know how this could have been taken.”

      “There’s no such thing as privacy beyond the gates of this estate,” he reminded her. “You should have learned that long before now.”

      It would be smart, she knew, to keep her eyes down, fold her hands together and apologize for her obvious error in judgment. But she hadn’t done anything wrong, and her pride refused to let her beg for his forgiveness.

      “Instead, you’re again on the front page, looking like you belong in a centerfold.”

      Though her face was hot with a combination of embarrassment and anger, she managed to respond evenly. “I’m flattered you think so.”

      His dark eyes narrowed on her. “If you think I’m amused by this, you’re sorely mistaken.”

      “On the contrary, I wouldn’t think you’re amused by anything, Your Highness.”

      “Certainly not, less than three weeks after the deaths of the Prince and Princess of Tesoro del Mar, a picture of their nanny—” he slapped his hand down on the paper “—cavorting on the beach.”

      “Cavorting?” she challenged.

      “Is there another explanation for this?”

      A very innocent one, in fact, but he obviously wasn’t prepared to listen to anything she had to say. “Ask your brother,” she said instead. “He was there.”

      She saw a quick flicker of surprise in his eyes before they narrowed again. “Marcus?”

      “Yes.”

      His jaw tightened. “It seems that at least two of my brothers have exhibited questionable judgment where you’re concerned, and though I didn’t agree with Julian’s decision to hire a nanny so young and obviously inexperienced, it was his decision to make. But the children are my responsibility now, and I have to do what’s best for them.”

      Now she did drop her gaze, so he wouldn’t see the tears that filled her eyes. It was her own fault, she knew, for baiting him. But his self-righteousness grated on her and overrode her common sense. It was only thoughts of the children that enabled her to ignore both her anger and her pride. For them she would grovel, she would plead—she would do whatever was necessary.

      “Whatever you think that picture means, it has nothing to do with my ability to care for the children.”

      “On the contrary,” he said mockingly, “it has everything to do СКАЧАТЬ