Michelle Celmer - Virgin Princess, Tycoon’s Temptation / The Secret Child & The Cowboy CEO - Virgin Princess, Tycoon’s Temptation

Oh boy, here came the conditions. She sat back and braced herself.

“No more stunts like you pulled this morning.”

She shook her head. “Never. I promise. I swear, it won’t happen again.”

“In addition, you will not leave the premises without a minimum of two bodyguards, and I need at least two days’ advance notice before you visit any sort of public place or attend a function. No exceptions, or I will not hesitate to place you on indefinite house arrest.”

Inconvenient, but definitely doable. “No problem.”

“And please, let’s try not to give the press anything to salivate over. With Father’s health, the last thing the family needs is more gossip and rumors.”

She refrained from rolling her eyes. Now he was being silly. “Honestly, Chris, have I ever been one to create a scandal?”

“It’s not necessarily you I’m concerned about.”

“You don’t have to worry about Garrett, either. He’s a complete gentleman. So much so that when it came to kissing, I had to make the first move.”

Chris cringed. “I really didn’t need to know that. I’m counting on you to be … diplomatic.”

Diplomatic? He made it sound as though she and Garrett were forming a business partnership. Besides, she knew for a fact that Chris hadn’t been very “diplomatic” when he was first seeing Melissa. They couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other.

What he was really saying was that he expected her to live up to her reputation as the innocent and pure princess. Eventually her family was going to have to accept that she was a woman, not a child.

If only he knew what went on in her head, how curious she was about sex and eager to experiment. Most modern women didn’t make it to twenty-seven with their virginity intact. He would probably drop in a dead faint if he knew about all of the reading she had done online about sex. When it came to intimacy, boy, was she ready. It was all she’d been able to think about since she had danced with Garrett on Saturday night.

“You don’t have to worry about me or Garrett,” she assured him and left it at that, and Chris looked relieved to have the subject closed.

“I want you to know that I like Garrett,” he added.

“But …?”

“No buts. I think you and he would be a good match.”

She eyed him skeptically. “Even though he isn’t royal?”

“Liv isn’t a royal,” he reminded her.

True. Liv was an orphan from the States who didn’t even know who her parents were, but there was always that double standard. A prince could get away with marrying a commoner. A princess on the other hand was held to a higher standard. She imagined that Garrett’s money was probably his only saving grace. She would never be allowed to date a man of modest means.

“Given his background,” Chris continued, “Garrett would be the perfect choice to take over Aaron’s position now that he’s going back to school. If you marry him, that is.”

Oh, she would. The fact that he was already making plans to include Garrett in the family business was more than she could have hoped for. “I think that’s a wonderful idea!”

“However,” he added sternly, “I don’t want you to think this means you should rush into anything.”

How could she rush fate? Either it was or it wasn’t meant to be. Time was irrelevant. Besides, Chris was one to talk. He’d asked Melissa to marry him after only two weeks. Of course, at the time, he’d expected nothing more than an arranged, loveless marriage. Boy, did he get more than he’d bargained for. But destiny was like that. And there was no doubt that he and Melissa were meant for one another.

Just like Louisa and Garrett.

She pictured them a year from now, married and blissfully happy, hopefully with their first baby on the way. Or maybe even born already. She would very much like to conceive on her honeymoon. What could be a more special way to celebrate the union of their souls than to create a new life? Some women dreamed of a career, and others liked to travel. Some spent their lives donating their time to charitable causes. All Louisa had ever wanted was to be a wife and mother. Archaic as some believed it to be, it was her ultimate dream. A man to cherish her, children to depend on her. Who could ask for more?

“By the way,” Chris said. “Melissa and I are planning to go sailing Sunday.”

“Is she allowed to do that so close to her due date?”

“As long as she takes it easy and stays off her feet. We figure we should get in as much time on the water before the babies come. You’re welcome to join us. Garrett, too, if you’d like to invite him.”

Her parents were leaving for England on Sunday morning for testing on her father’s heart pump, and Anne was going with them. If Chris and Melissa were going to be gone, too, that would mean that she and Garrett could have some time alone, without her entire family watching over their shoulders. She wondered if there was any way she could get rid of Aaron and Liv, as well.

“Maybe next time,” she told Chris. “I already have plans.”

At least, she would have plans, just as soon as she called Garrett and invited him over.

Garrett had just walked in the door of his town house when his cell phone rang. He looked at the display and saw that it was Louisa’s personal line. When they had exchanged numbers earlier, he hadn’t expected a call quite this soon. In fact, he’d just assumed he would be the one calling her.

It shouldn’t have surprised him that she wouldn’t let him make the next move. This so-called shy and innocent Princess seemed to have everyone snowed, because as far as he could tell, she didn’t have a shy bone in her body. As for innocence, she certainly didn’t act like an inexperienced virgin.

When he answered, she asked, “I’m not bothering you, am I?”

“Of course not.” He dropped his keys and wallet on the kitchen counter then shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over the back of a chair. “I just walked in the door.”

“I wanted to tell you again what a wonderful time I had this evening.”

“I did, too.” Things were progressing even more quickly than he’d hoped.

“I was wondering what you’re doing Sunday afternoon. I thought you might like to come over.”

He chuckled. “I suppose it’s too much to expect that I might get to ask you on a date.”

“Am I being too forward?” she asked, sounding worried.

“No, not at all. I like a woman who knows what she wants.”

“I just wanted to catch you before you made other plans.”

“If I’d made other plans, I would cancel them. And in answer to your question, I would very much like to come over. If it’s all right with your family, that is.”

“Of course it is. They love you.”

That must have meant he’d passed the initiation. Not that he ever doubted he would. It was just nice to know that he’d scaled the first major obstacle.

“I thought maybe we could have a picnic,” Louisa suggested. “Out on the bluff, overlooking the ocean.”

“Just the two of us?”

“My parents and Anne will be leaving for England, and Chris and Melissa are going sailing. Liv will probably be tied up in the lab and lately Aaron has been down there assisting her. And as long as I stay on the grounds I don’t need security at my heels, so we’ll be alone.”

He didn’t miss the suggestive lilt in her tone, and wondered what she expected they might be doing, other than picnicking that is.

“Muffin will be there, too, of course,” she added.

“Muffin?”

“My dog. You would have met him today, but he was with the groomer and then his behaviorist. He’s a Shih Tzu.”