Melissa James – Too Ordinary for the Duke? (страница 3)

The grin vanished. The girl … Mari … really was worried—and yet she took the time to be concerned about his position as well. She was a nice young woman, far too sweet and innocent for an infamous playboy prince only after some fun. “Not much longer, miss. In perhaps ten minutes we’ll arrive safely.”

Relief rose in her face like the morning sun, until all of her seemed to glow. “Oh, thank you. I must seem like a drama queen, but I really need to get away.”

In the space of ten minutes Sander had begun to feel as if he was living on a roller coaster. This girl really lived on her emotions. “Was the wedding so bad, miss?”

She rolled her eyes. “You have no idea.”

He strongly suspected the title “drama queen” wasn’t entirely incorrect. Mari Mitsialos, with her mercurial and vivid emotions rushing across her face like movie panels, was a refreshing change from the languid debutantes and elegantly bored nobles’ daughters paraded in royal company every year. Every thought and feeling showed on her face, like sunshine bursting through clouds. She was just … cute.

It was obvious she wasn’t born to privilege. In high-society circles one never snapped at underlings; one merely conveyed the impression that disobedience to the slightest whim wasn’t an option. But Mari had a cute little wobble in her voice that gave her away. Please, I need you to do what I want, because I’m so scared you won’t, and I’ll have no idea what to do then … With a little training, she could be—

“It’s all right, miss, no one’s following us,” Sander said in a soothing tone as he saw her twist around to stare through the rear window for at least the twelfth time.

“Ooooh … that’s good. Thank you.” The girl leaned back against the plush, butter-soft leather, and smiled into the rear vision mirror at him. “Honestly, you have no idea what it was like in there.”

The smile lit her face—in fact, it lit the entire car with inner sunshine. Despite her apparent addiction to italicising a word in almost every sentence, Mari Mitsialos was pretty, with long dark curls and sleepy eyes similar to her cousin the Princess Giulia—but when she smiled she was … well, dazzling.

That smile was lethal. Not that she had dimples or perfect teeth—he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. But whatever it was Mari had, she had it in spades. The It factor.

He’d known that from the day of Charlie and Jazmine’s wedding. Seeing her dancing at the reception, he’d known Mari was unusual. From a shadowed corner he’d watched her laugh and smile and charm every man between fifteen and ninety-five into adoration without even trying. She was … well, lovable.

All of which meant he’d kept a serious distance. Mari was a nice girl, not one for a few nights’ fun or discreet liaisons in designated places. And she was the King’s cousin.

He had to remember to keep his face stolid, like a servant, as he answered. “I’d have thought a royal wedding with this new royal family would be a lovely affair, miss. You’ve been to both weddings, if I remember rightly?”

He put a tiny hint of question into the observation, leaving the way free for her to talk if she wanted to. It was obvious she was bursting to say something, to relieve the pressure somehow. Unfortunately her immediate family seemed oblivious to Mikhail’s true intent, and pushed her into his arms at every opportunity. Poor girl … He’d noticed—

Don’t think about it, Sander. He had to keep the King and Queen of Hellenia on side. He needed to come out of this madcap experience with some kind of credibility, and that meant a strictly hands-off policy.

“Yes, I was at both weddings. I’m first cousin to both Charlie, um, King Kyriacos, and Lia, I mean Princess Giulia,” she replied, with a quiet touch of pride that made Sander squelch another smile. Well, why shouldn’t she be proud? From obscurity to the cousin of royalty was a leap in status most people could only dream of.

“The King, the Prince and Princess have brought a breath of fresh air to the nation,” he offered, to see what she’d say next.

“Yes—and it was needed, from what I can see.” Though she spoke without rancour, he felt a touch of defensiveness. She probably thought he was one of the old King’s supporters, wanting to keep the almost medieval status quo.

“Their knowledge of the common people seems to have reinvigorated the country. They’ve done a lot already in putting Lord Orakis at odds with the people,” he said.

“He can never return after the arson investigation. That was down to Toby—the new Prince. Toby’s one of the original good guys. He saved Lia’s life, years ago—and he risked his life in that burning building to prove Orakis’s guilt. He did that to save Lia. He would do anything to make Lia happy—anything.”

Ah, there it was again, the tiny, wistful note. Sander knew then why Mikhail’s chase had been fruitless from the start. The extreme romance of the two royal weddings in the Hellenican royal family had infected many a woman around the world, but to be the cousin of the new royalty in love … well, why shouldn’t she hold out for real love and a wedding?

“They seem very happy in the pictures I’ve seen, miss.”

“They’ve always loved each other. The whole family have been waiting for them to get together for years.” The yearning grew in her voice, misted her milk-chocolate eyes, and her smile was … well, luminous—

Beep!

At the indignant honking behind, Sander pulled himself together and looked at the road ahead with fixed determination. He’d known the deal when he took on the position of the Prince’s Private Secretary. The King planned on abdicating as soon as Mikhail proved himself worthy. It was Sander’s job to get him to that destination on an express train. Taking Mari on a yacht was saving Mikhail from the worst faux pas he could make. It was not for personal pleasure, no matter how much he derived from merely looking at her.

He was on an excellent wicket with this job, and Charlie and Jazmine had offered him the ripe plum of being Hellenican Representative to the UN if he handled it right. No way was he about to risk his career, no matter how pretty or tempting Mari Mitsialos happened to be.

“Sorry about that, miss,” he said woodenly, and, after answering her reassurances with dogged politeness and no curiosity, he kept his gaze ahead with absolute determination.

* * *

Boy, they really have gorgeous chauffeurs here …

Despite his sudden Pinocchio face, Mari couldn’t help staring in the rear vision mirror at him. His eyes were almost as green as those she’d seen in the stained-glass windows at the church today, and they danced. His dimples seemed grooved from the deepest part of his skin, warming a mouth full and carved from Michelangelo’s imagination. Warm honey-brown skin, strong features, a voice of smooth, dark temptation, and an accent that was half-Mediterranean and half-Oxford—oh, what wasn’t to like? A Greek god sat in front of her, seemingly risen from the sea on Neptune’s trident. Oooh, to see him rise from the water, droplets of Mediterranean-Aegean running down his body …

“KING’S COUSIN RUNS OFF WITH CHAUFFEUR!”

After all Charlie and Lia had done for her family, both before and after their elevation to royalty, could she make a mockery of the new Marandis Royal Family by feeding the paparazzi machine for months on end? No, family came first. Charlie and Lia needed them all to behave with strict propriety. Running away with gorgeous chauffeurs was absolutely in the realms of fantasy.

And he could be married for all you know, with five kids. And even if he was single, and you did know his name, he hasn’t once even smiled at you.

She turned her gaze out of the window, to where the aquamarine Aegean sparkled all along the coast road. Why was it that the men she found irresistible never looked at her, and all the nice guys she found so boring hung around in droves?

Yet when she’d been confronted with the kind of man she’d always dreamed of attracting, she’d discovered the difference between dream and reality—and she’d realised what a big, old-fashioned, one hundred percent hypocrite she was! What she wanted was a good man to fall to his knees with a big fat diamond, his family lined up behind him in adoring approval of her.

But hey, it hurt nobody to dream, right? And if that daydream face had shifted subtly, so it now had deep-grooved dimples, eyes that sparkled like the ocean in sunlight and a smile that made her heart flutter, what did it matter?

“What do they all matter? Line up, fantasy number four hundred and thirty-seven,” she muttered in disgust—and then realised she’d said it aloud. She peered at the driver’s face again, and blushed when those dancing-in-the-waves eyes met hers, his deliciously masculine mouth quivering to hold in a smile. “Sorry,” she said, with a rueful sigh. What was the point in being embarrassed? “I know—talking to myself is a bad habit.”

“It’s said all the world’s geniuses talk to themselves,” the driver said gravely enough, his eyes still twinkling.

“Thanks, but you don’t believe I’m in their number any more than I do.” She shrugged and laughed, her hands lifting in mock-surrender. “But I haven’t hurt anyone yet.”