The Cowboy and the Princess. Myrna Mackenzie
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She looked to the side and for a second he thought she wasn’t going to answer. “I started making my plans when I was eight, when I realized that no matter how carefully I planned my birthday party and no matter how many commoners they reluctantly allowed me to invite, my guests would always be screened, some wouldn’t be allowed near me and those that were admitted would be coached on etiquette before they came into my presence. It would never really be a truly free experience completely of my own choosing…except for this one summer.”
“I see,” he said. And he did. He was another one of those people who was playing the game that kept her from her goals. “Well then, I really am sorry.”
She looked at him. “You could let me go my own way.”
Owen chuckled. He gestured toward her bodyguards.
“Well, of course I’d take them with me,” she said.
And probably ditch them as soon as she was able, Owen thought, remembering what Andreus had told him and trying not to think about the wistful sound in her voice when she’d told him how long she’d been planning her princess prison break.
“Sorry, Princess. I don’t lie to my friends, and Andreus is the best. You’re mine for a while.” Which was such a poor choice of words. “Guest-wise, that is,” he added.
“You’re not going to do that, are you?”
Okay, she had him there. “Do what?”
“Call me Princess as if it’s my name.”
“It’s what you are.”
She raised her chin. “Please.”
And there was such longing in her voice that he couldn’t keep from pursuing the subject. “Please what?”
She hesitated. “I know you’ve made promises to my family, and Andreus says that you’re a very honorable man—the best of men.”
Which only showed how deluded and blind Andreus could be, but Owen didn’t need to share that information with Delfyne. There was no need to explain his own flawed soul and even more flawed character to her. “I sense a however coming on,” he said.
The beauty took a deep and visible breath that lifted the pale blue silk of her blouse and made Owen wish that he could do as she asked and send her away.
“All right. You’re an honorable man. However, I would like to ask one favor of you that would not necessitate you breaking your word to my family,” she said in a quiet voice. He could see that, although she was brazening it out, she had no real sense that he was going to do whatever she intended to ask of him. Dread filled him. He had a history of failing women. His mother, his wife and Nancy, who had sought him out last year and only wanted him to give her a baby…and now? Damn Andreus.
“Ask,” he said, his voice terse. He believed in facing the difficult stuff.
“I… How many people know that I’m here for a visit?”
Owen blinked. “My employees know that I’m having a guest. That’s it.” He wasn’t exactly a sharing kind of man.
“Do they know who I am? What a question. Of course they do, but still…” She seemed distressed.
Frowning, Owen realized what this must be about. Of course. She was royalty, sent to what must seem like Siberia. And yet she would be used to special treatment, the kind she wouldn’t think she could get here.
“I’m afraid they don’t know you’re a princess. At least not yet. I only told them this morning that I would be having a guest. I haven’t shared any of the particulars.” Because he’d hoped, right up until the last possible moment, that Andreus would realize that this was a bad idea and call the whole thing off.
“But don’t worry,” he told Delfyne. “I tend to be a bit closemouthed and that can be a problem at times, but the Second Chance has guests frequently. Usually, they’re businesspeople who like the novelty of staying at a ranch, but even with someone more exalted, my employees are up to the task. You’ll be treated well.”
“That’s not my concern. I just… If they don’t already know, that’s a good thing. I don’t want to be a princess.”
Owen blinked. He wanted to groan. Surely she wasn’t asking him to help her break free of her birthright? “Excuse me?”
A sad look eased into those lovely eyes. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Of course I’m proud of who and what I am and glad I’m a member of the royal family. My heritage is important to me. It’s just that while I’m here I’d like to remain anonymous,” she clarified. “If people know I’m here, there will be newspapers and…”
“And someone might try to harm you or kidnap you,” Owen said, looking at the bodyguards, who were standing around trying to fade quietly into a landscape where they stood out like red ink on white paper. He remembered the man who had gone everywhere with Andreus when they had been in college. “I meant what I said when I told Andreus that I’d look after you,” Owen said. “No one is going to harm you, and I’m not talking about letting your keepers take care of things. I’m talking about me. I wouldn’t let anyone get near you.”
She shook her head. “But I want people near me. That’s the point.”
Her consternation was clear. However, Owen suddenly noticed Suze Allen driving by and giving him and Delfyne a good looking-over. Suze was a generous creature whom Owen had known for most of his life, but she was like a sieve. Any news that came her way instantly flowed through and out, and a stranger who looked like Delfyne conversing with Owen was definitely going to be news.
“We’d better go,” he said suddenly. “Get in the car.”
Delfyne looked toward Suze’s white pickup, which was circling to come back their way, and to Owen’s relief she didn’t argue. She let Owen hand her into the Land Rover, and her entourage piled into a black car that arrived from out of nowhere.
“A girlfriend?” she asked when they were on the road to the ranch.
Owen laughed at that. “A gossip, and nothing like a girlfriend, though she’s very nice. Suze is married to a man who would punch any man who looked twice at his wife.”
Delfyne was silent. For almost five seconds. “Has he ever punched you?” she finally asked.
Owen immediately turned to look at her. “I don’t pursue other men’s wives, no matter how nice the women are. But that’s beside the point. I haven’t forgotten what we were talking about before Suze came along. You said that you wanted to be anonymous.”
“And you said you wouldn’t let anyone near me.”
He sighed. “Maybe I phrased that badly.” He remembered a time when his ex-wife, Faye, had accused him of keeping her trapped in a box. “What I meant was that I wouldn’t let anyone or anything hurt you, in case you were worried about that. People from the city sometimes worry about life in a place like this, which is a bit wild. I won’t let any harm come to you.”
“I never thought you would! Andreus knows you and he trusts you implicitly. That’s absolutely good enough for me. I am most certainly not challenging your ability to protect me.” Now she was indignant…and cute. Somehow he didn’t think he should mention that. The word cute and royalty probably didn’t go hand in hand. “But I meant something more than that. I just— If people know I’m here, there will be reporters, of course, the paparazzi and all that. But that’s not my main reason for wanting to stay in the shadows. Ordinary people will treat me differently if they know I’m a princess. I hate that. I really hate that.”
He could tell. Her voice was terribly sad.
“And I know that’s kind of selfish and spoiled,” she went on. “I have so much. I’ve always