Laurie Paige - Royal Affair

“It’s more effective when it’s worn,” Chuck said dryly.

Max cocked one eyebrow. “I’m not going to sleep in it, and that’s final.”

They smiled at each other with the ease of companions who’d seen each other puking their guts out after their first—and last—overindulgence in beer, moaning over the fickleness of college girls who threw them over for the captain of the football team and cursing their professors for tests that were impossible to pass.

“Speaking of sleeping. Or not sleeping, as the case may be…” Chuck said, the words trailing off as he studied Max with his omniscient gaze.

Max tossed him a questioning glance as he bit into a muffin. It seemed odd, in light of the morning activities, to realize he was hungry. Life had a way of going on, he reasoned.

Chuck lifted a muffin. “You gotta get married,” he said, and took a bite.

Max nearly choked. “What the hell brought that on?”

His friend chewed and swallowed, then took a sip of coffee. “Last year, before he died, your father made me promise to see that you found a bride by the end of the mourning period. You must produce an heir.”

Max muttered a curse, then another. Neither helped calm the swirl of emotion in his breast.

Chuck observed him with an odd little smile playing about the corners of his mouth. “An heiress will do,” he continued. “Either English or European would be acceptable to your people. Or American.”

Max glared when a full smile broke over his friend’s face. There was knowledge in those blue eyes that said Chuck knew more than he was saying.

“Spit it out,” he invited, knowing there was more.

“Your tryst at the resort probably saved your life, or at least prevented a nasty injury. I like to tell myself that the guards, whom I trained, would have interceded before great bodily harm was done.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”

“So?”

“So?” Max echoed, not sure what the question was.

“Is it the American?”

Like the petals of a flower suddenly clamping shut, Max withdrew, not wanting to share that night with anyone, not even his best friend. He shook his head slightly, not in denial of the possibility, but of sharing it.

“She might be pregnant,” Chuck said and calmly put the rest of the muffin in his mouth.

Max sprang to his feet as if an electric current had suddenly run through his chair. He paced to the window. The vase of roses blew gentle kisses of sweet scent at him. He paused and touched one.

“What makes you think that?” he finally asked.

“I’m your security chief, Your Highness. I’m paid to know what goes on around you.”

Chuck always reverted to formalities when he gained insights into Max’s life that might transgress friendship. Max appreciated the gesture. That left it up to him to decide the level of the discussion.

“She was a virgin,” Max said softly.

“Yes, sir.”

“It was a night like none other,” he continued. “When I ran out of condoms, I took a chance with her. How did you know that?”

“There was, uh, evidence on the sheets. I took the liberty of confiscating them…in case there were future questions about the child’s conception, if there should happen to be a child.”

“In case I got whacked,” Max said sardonically, catching on to his advisor’s line of reasoning.

However, his demise wasn’t uppermost in his mind at the moment. He recalled pulling the petals from a dozen roses and sprinkling them over the bed and her. His friend would have seen those, too, and known what a sentimental fool Max had made of himself. He groaned internally.

Chuck studied him for a long minute, then smiled in understanding. “Are you in love with the American beauty?” he asked, one friend to another.

“Love? I’m not sure what that means at the present. I loved my uncle and trusted him with a child’s belief in those close to him. That nearly got me killed.”

“Does she know who you are, or did you go by Max Hughes?”

“Isn’t there anything you don’t know?” Max spoke in irritation. His alias, like that night, was his alone to enjoy, his little secret from the demanding public of his world. Secret? Ha!

“It’s my job—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Max interrupted impatiently. “Due to the circumstances, the treason and all, I’m cutting you some slack here, but you’re on dangerous ground.”

Chuck raised his eyebrows and showed no signs of quaking in his boots. “Crosby Systems is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. If you leave on the nine-twenty flight tonight, you can be there tomorrow morning.”

“Why would I do that?”

“To woo the American beauty. It wouldn’t be a bad match. She’s smart, well-educated and used to moving among the elite of her society.”

“In other words, she wouldn’t be an embarrassment as my queen,” Max cut in dryly.

“She’s also compassionate and does more than take part in charity auctions. She volunteers at a clinic called Children’s Connection. It’s an adoption agency, mostly funded by another family in the area, the Logans.” Chuck paused. “The Logans and the Crosby family are enemies, I think. Twenty-eight years ago, two of the sons were best friends, then six-year-old Robbie Logan was kidnapped while playing at Danny Crosby’s house. His mother was supposed to have been watching them.”

“The year before Ivy was born,” Max said, combining what she’d told him with Chuck’s information.

“Yes. The families are also rivals in the high-tech-systems business world.”

“You have been busy,” Max murmured.

“Once the conspirators were behind bars, I had time to check out…other things.”

“Like my wild, passionate night with the rose.” Max gave his friend a sardonic glance. “Have you booked my reservation on the nine-twenty flight?”

“Well, I did take the liberty of reserving a seat for you. And alerting Ned to pack a bag.”

Max exhaled heavily. “Are you coming, too?”

“If you like. Someone has to, but it can be another security agent, if you prefer.”

Max laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You’ll do. Who, besides Ned, knows me better?”

“Are we going as prince and bodyguard?”

“This isn’t an official visit, else I’d have to contact the White House, then the press would be all over us. Let’s go as Max Hughes and Chuck Curland. We’re consultants on the educational system Crosby is planning for the country.”

“Fine by me.”

Another worry came to Max. “I’ve never investigated a woman with an eye toward her being my queen. You have any suggestions?”

Chuck stared at him for a full fifteen seconds, then burst into guffaws.

“If you weren’t my friend and security advisor, I’d have you thrown in irons for that,” Max told him, becoming somewhat irritated at the joke he didn’t get.

Chuck laughed harder. Finally he clamped an arm around Max’s shoulders and said in a conspiratorial whisper, “Try flowers. That usually works when courting a woman.”

“This is not a courtship,” Max informed the American coolly. “This is business.”

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