Some Like it Secret (Going Royal Book 4) (6 page)

Terry’s sour mood seemed firmly in place, but he still helped Meredith into the copter and took the seat next to her. Terry buckled her in, not Kate. The other woman took the seat opposite them, her expression unreadable as she watched. The big door closed and the rotors started to spin outside. All at once, Meredith’s stomach plummeted and her heart picked up the pace.

She was going to throw up.

“Miss Blake?” Kate called, leaning toward her. “I forgot to ask—”

“You forgot to ask what?”

“Can you swim?” The dry question lanced the fresh bubble of fear and Meredith started giggling again. When the laughter precluded her answer, Kate pulled off her sunglasses. “No, seriously, can you swim?”

Meredith laughed harder. It was all so silly, yet so fun. She was on an adventure. When she caught Terry staring at her with narrowed eyes, another fit of giggles erupted. Before she knew it, they were airborne.

Excitement coiled with anticipation, so she gripped the armrests until her knuckles turned white. Terry put a hand comfortingly over hers, and her laughter faded. Waiting a beat, she found a quick smile of thanks for him and then pulled her hands into her lap and looked out the window at the water as the island vanished.

From the corner of her eye she caught Kate looking at her. Terry’s attention was elsewhere, but Kate shifted her gaze to him and then back to Meredith, a question in her expression. Yes, Meredith didn’t care for Terry’s behavior, but no—she could handle it.

She shook her head once and Kate nodded. If nothing else, this adventure introduced her to Kate—she was something else. Maybe they’d have time to get to know each other around the assignment.

“Fifteen minutes,” a voice announced over the intercom. “And we’ve been cleared to land.”

Oh
. They were almost there. Amazingly enough, the minutes passed quickly and then they landed with a bump, which made her stomach summersault, but at least it was over. Kate exited ahead of her and Terry went next. Meredith was grateful for the reprieve because her legs trembled violently and she felt shaky all over.

It was probably exhaustion coupled with hunger. A shower, some food, and a good night’s sleep and she would be ready to tackle the Return Times challenge. Some of her relish for the project returned. Unfortunately, she couldn’t avoid Terry’s hand as he helped her down. She mouthed thanks and pulled her hand free, ducking even though the blades were much higher than her head—they were still spinning.

Slowing, she lifted her head to take in their surroundings. It was a lush paradise with deep green grass and trees on one side of a thin ribbon of a road and beautiful white sand beaches and azure water on the other. A car waited for them and Kate was on her way to it.

Following, Meredith tried to quell the tremors rocking through her. Then the backdoor of the car opened and he stepped out. She felt stripped to her soul. Ice cooled her skin even as heat burned in her blood. The oxygen seemed to get knocked out of her lungs as the most handsome man she’d ever known stood, waiting for her.

The wind tousled his black hair and a lock of it fell down on his forehead. She knew his eyes would be the shade of onyx, so dark she wouldn’t know where the pupil ended and the iris began. He wore a white shirt, with no tie or jacket and white slacks. They highlighted the deep bronze of his skin, and he looked like a god come to life. Even the shadow of scruff darkening his jaw added to the raw sensuality of the man.

She couldn’t breathe.

Bastian…

That son of a bitch.

Sebastian tried to keep his lust under control, but the tight leash he’d forced over his reactions since Meredith’s fateful phone call slipped and need bucked all convention. A ray of sunlight framed her perfectly. Meredith never hid behind layers of couture, coifing and cosmetics like a plastic doll come to life. She’d always been more. Softness, heat, and utterly feminine—she’d kindled a wild possessiveness and desperate need to claim her from the first moment they’d met.

The familiar fire exploded to life and surged in his blood. Question filled her features and her mouth fell open for the length of a heartbeat before she snapped it shut. Fury replaced shock, but before he could respond to any of it, Kate stepped into his line of sight.

“You really should have waited at the house,” the former bodyguard murmured. “I don’t think she’s ready to see you, and we need to talk—”

“No,” Meredith’s voice rang out from the tarmac, and she turned to get back in the helicopter.

Cutting around Kate, Sebastian strode toward her. He was not letting her leave, not before they talked. “Meredith—”

He didn’t make it a half-dozen steps before O’Connor stepped into his path and body blocked him. “You need to back off.”

A moment later, Vidal drove O’Connor back, inserting himself between the prince and the guard. Violence thrummed in the air and Sebastian’s gaze hardened as he pinned a glare at the bodyguard tasked with Meredith’s safety. The same man who’d been having dinner with her, whose touch lingered on Meredith’s hand and arm longer than necessary.

“Stand down,” Vidal ordered in a cold, cutting tone, but the command had little effect on O’Connor.

“You tell him to keep his distance. She doesn’t want to see him and he doesn’t get to use his position to force the issue.” He shook off Vidal and shifted his weight. The two were squared off and Vidal didn’t retreat a step. The rest of Sebastian’s detail surged up around him. O’Connor’s hand shifted and, for a fraction of an instant, Sebastian thought he might actually go for his gun.

Switching his attention to Meredith, Sebastian’s heart stopped when she rushed forward and put a hand on O’Connor’s arm. “Terry.”

She was too damned close to him and the man adjusted his angle to put her behind him.
Too damn close.
“Meredith, come here.” Sebastian issued the directive and—although he was fairly certain O’Connor wouldn’t harm her—he refused to take any chances with her safety.

“You stay where you are.” O’Connor countered with his own order. Tension crackled in the air.

Bracketed by two more of Sebastian’s detail, Vidal invaded O’Connor’s space. “I told you, stand down.“

“Meredith, get away from him. Right now.” Sebastian wanted her out of the rapidly escalating showdown. She hesitated, glancing from O’Connor to him and then pulled her hand from the man. When O’Connor intercepted her step away, the violence exploded.

Vidal struck O’Connor’s arm while a second bodyguard hit him full in the chest. The third man scooped Meredith up and jerked her away from the fray. Sebastian retreated with her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her toward the car. It was over in seconds, with O’Connor pinned.

Gasping with horror, Meredith strained at Sebastian’s hold. “Terry, stop. It’s all right. Please, Bastian, make them stop.”

He’d rather dump the ass back on the helicopter and ship him off the island, but he couldn’t dismiss the worried look pinching Meredith’s features. “It’s all right,” he soothed, rubbing her arm. “Vidal.”

The head of his security detail rose and they brought O’Connor up with them. Vidal removed his weapon and unloaded it before retreating a step to look at Sebastian. “Your Highness, you and your guest should go to the house. We’ll settle this issue here.”

“Settle it?” A tremor fractured Meredith’s tone. “No, Terry goes with us. This is a misunderstanding. There is nothing to be settled.”

Her immediate defense chafed and Sebastian clenched his teeth.

“You know what would help, Meredith?” Kate was suddenly on Meredith’s other side, drawing her attention away from the scene. “You and Sebastian go chat. Let these men settle it as professionals. Everyone is a little one edge and they aren’t going to calm down until all protectees are in a secure location.”

Richard Prentiss’ fiancée wasn’t finished, she swept a cool glance over them. “In fact, I’ll take over, along with Michel here.” She indicated the bodyguard who’d stayed with Sebastian. “You four figure it out and, O’Connor, I’d like to remind you that I and the helicopter are still here. You can go back with me.”

If Sebastian wasn’t mistaken, Kate actually sounded like she relished the idea of O’Connor fighting her on the issue. Irritation turned to concern at Meredith’s trembling beneath his arm.

Ignoring the others and focusing on her, Sebastian lowered his voice. “Come with me. It will be all right, I promise. No one will hurt him.” No matter how he might wish it otherwise, this wasn’t about her bodyguard, but her. Meredith was the only one who mattered.

“I can’t believe you did this.” Emotion quivered in her voice and she strained to pull away from him again. This time he let her go. When she took two shaky steps toward the car, he followed—ready to catch her.

“I needed to see you.” He wouldn’t apologize for it, but he would say, “I’m sorry for the scene. I did not expect O’Connor to object so strenuously to our speaking.”

“What does that even mean?” She whirled to face him, halting halfway to the car. Kate and Michel still stood between them and the others.

“I missed you,” he told her simply. “We need this time together. We need to work out whatever issue convinced you to try and end us.”

Her cheeks went scarlet and she shot a glance past him to the others and then back. Lips clamping together, Meredith pivoted and strode toward the car with Sebastian keeping pace. He made it a step before she did, waved off Michel and opened the door for her. She slid inside and he followed.

Kate caught the door before he could close it. “We’re going to take care of this. I’ll follow in the second car.” Her gaze went past him to Meredith briefly and then back to him. With a warning look, she closed the door and patted the roof. The driver pulled away immediately.

“Why did you do this?” So low was her whisper, he strained to catch it.

“Because you wouldn’t talk to me.” Leaning back, he tapped his fingers against his thigh. What he wanted to do was wrap an arm around her, but her stiff posture, the way she angled to look out the opposite window and her still folded arms all screamed ‘keep away.’

“So you just decide to invade a meeting where I’m supposed to be—” She broke off and twisted, her wounded gaze striking him like a physical blow. “There’s no job, is there?”

Turning sideways, he put his arm on the seat behind her. “No, I’m sorry. When you refused the calls and not even O’Connor could get you on the phone, I needed to take some drastic measures.”

“Drastic? Really?” Her mouth opened as though she intended to say something else and then snapped shut again. When she gave him her back, her spine ramrod straight, he scowled.

The drive from the landing pad to the house was mercifully short. The moment the vehicle came to a halt, Meredith fumbled with the door and pushed it open, all but spilling out to walk away with jerky motions. Following her, Sebastian waved off the men coming to greet them.

“Go away,” he ordered and strode after Meredith. Clearly an audience was impeding her ability to speak. When she didn’t slow, he caught her arm. “Meredith, we’re alone you can—”

“You son of a bitch. Who do you think you are?” She whirled, and her palm slapped his face with a sharp crack. Angry fire snapped in her eyes and her face flushed with temper.
Well, at least she isn’t walking away.

The moment her hand connected with his face, regret and the horror set in. Meredith jerked back a step and covered her mouth. “Oh my God, I’m sorry.”

“No.” Sebastian wore a rueful expression and shook his head. The white mark on his face from where she’d struck him turned a livid shade of red. “I deserved it.”

She was shaking from the inside out. Yelling at people. Hitting them. This wasn’t her. The pattern of irrational, nonsensical behavior defied convention. “I can’t believe I hit you.”

“I always said you were the passionate one.” The corner of his mouth curved upward with the familiar teasing words and her rebellious heart squeezed. Even the evidence of her slap couldn’t diminish his charm.

“Oh God, Bastian. This is not how I pictured any of this.” She raked her hand through her hair and stared at him. The riot of her emotions tossed her down the rapids to bang off rocks of frustration, longing, anger, and need.

All at once his face gentled and he closed the distance between them. “Nor me. I’m am so glad you’re here, so if you need to yell at me or hit me again to get it out of your system, then do it. But promise you’ll talk to me afterward.” Artless charm, and playfulness underscored the sober conviction in his expression. “Tell me what I did wrong, so I can fix it.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” As painful as it was to admit it out loud, it was true. He’d never been anything but himself. “I—I just can’t do it anymore.” She’d rehearsed the words she’d used in their phone call for three days before she’d gathered up the courage to make it. Confrontation was not her forte. She could handle teaching a class or addressing a thousand person filled auditorium—as long as it was on numbers, formulas, or equations—but Bastian turned her inside out.

He studied her and eased forward another step. The fingers he touched to her chin were inexorably gentle. He nudged her gaze up until she met his. Shame and regret twined through her. “Talk to me, darling. Something triggered your call. Everything was fine and then…”

“Don’t you see?” She took hold of his hand on her chin and he closed his fingers around her, tugging her closer. Surrounded by the meticulously tended grounds and balmy breeze, she felt about a thousand miles away from their problems and yet—the whole situation was such a perfect metaphor for all of it. “Everything wasn’t—isn’t fine.”

His frown suggested he didn’t like hearing the information, but he nodded once. “All right. What happened?”

There was the rub. “Nothing.” After squeezing his hand once, she made herself let go of him and retreat. His nearness made it impossible to think clearly, not when all she wanted to do was to peel open his shirt and inspect every inch of his gorgeous body. Need settled like a hot coal in her belly and she bit the inside of her lip.

Pain served as a stinging reminder to not fall into his arms. God knew, sex had never been their issue. She tried to concentrate on their surroundings—an island in the middle of the Mediterranean. Her circuit brought her around to face the house and she stared up at the magnificent mansion. Constructed of almost rose-colored stone with soaring windows and at least three, if not four, levels—it was beautiful.

“I find ‘nothing’ difficult believe,” he said carefully into the hollow silence. “One does not simply end five years of…anything for nothing.” The hesitation raked bloody scores through her soul.

Their relationship lacked definition. He was a prince. She was a professor. It was almost a sitcom, yet she found nothing funny about it. “It’s been months since we’ve been in the same place for longer than a day.”

His brows drew together with his frown, but she didn’t see anger—only intense thoughtfulness. “Yes, we were supposed to have a week on the yacht and I should have made the delay up to you sooner. I was not expecting Armand to send Kate and Richard there for Kate’s recuperation…”

“Wait, Kate is the attorney’s fiancée? The one who was shot?” All of a sudden, Meredith felt like a horrible person. She’d not known who she was, and Kate had been so kind to her while duping her into this visit.

“Yes, but as you can see she is fine. She needed a few weeks to recuperate. Armand was far more comfortable sending them to the yacht to be secure while she did so.” He reached out for her again, but she avoided his touch. With a sigh, he slid his hands into his pockets.

Meredith paced away again, fighting to keep tears at bay. “I’m glad she’s all right. I understood why they needed a place to go…”

“I promise, I will make our lost week up. I know we got off to a poor start here, but we have the island to ourselves for the next couple of weeks. It will just be you and me—”

A throat clearing interrupted him, and Meredith glanced back to see impatience darken Sebastian’s countenance. Eduard Vidal, Sebastian’s head of security, stood a few feet away. “Please forgive the intrusion, Your Highness.”

“Can’t it wait?” Sebastian didn’t take his gaze away from her and she wrapped her arms around herself. They were standing out in the open and they were hardly alone. Security moved to the fringes, save for Eduard, but she could see them arrayed out in a loose circle with several yards between them. Chances were they couldn’t hear anything.

“My apologies, Your Highness. It cannot.”

Aggravation slid over Sebastian’s face and vanished so quickly, she thought she might have imagined it. “Please excuse me, Meredith. I will be right back.” He pivoted and the pair walked several feet away. Beyond them, she saw cars in the circular drive—Kate walked down the front steps and spoke to Terry as he exited one of the vehicles.