“Elias”—she touched the sleeve of his suit coat—“oh, do I call you Elias? Or do you have a title I should use?”
Yet another surprise. She didn’t want to disrespect him. Despite how he’d treated her so far. Despite turning her world upside down, without her permission. Despite the fact she outranked him by miles. This woman was special. Thoughtful.
And dangerous with how easily she slid under his skin.
He patted her hand. It was a gesture he’d definitely never attempt with Princess Genevieve. Elias lived and breathed protocol, spending his days a hairbreadth away from the entire royal family. But Kelsey seemed to need comfort, familiarity. A…connection.
Elias would give her whatever she needed.
“Your Highness, you are third in line to the throne. You can call everyone except the current king anything you want.”
“I don’t want to be rude, though. Are you a Lord or a Duke or whatever noble titles exist in Moncriano?”
“I’m not titled, aside from what was earned during my military service. I was a captain in the Royal Navy.”
“Of a whole ship?” Kelsey arrowed a searching, skeptical look at him. “Aren’t you too young for that?”
“Most assuredly.” God, Christian would laugh until he ran out of breath when he heard that one. “Captain is a rank equivalent to the same in your army. A Commander’s in charge of a ship.”
“That’s more plausible.”
“Don’t make me out to be a youngster.” Having memorized her file on the plane ride to New York, Elias knew he was older than her twenty-five years. Then again, he’d known that his whole life. Everyone in his country knew the age of the missing princess. “My thirtieth birthday’s right around the corner. There’s talk of plans already being made, plans that will no doubt give me the worst headache of my life.”
“You’ll love every minute of it.” A teasing grin lifted the corners of her mouth. “If you end up remembering any of those minutes.”
She’d both smiled and baited him. The distraction—albeit at his expense—had been successful. It was a relief to him as the official person in charge of the princess’s welfare. But it was an enormous relief to him as a man who appreciated this lighthearted side that he’d thus far only seen aimed at her sister.
Hell. He liked it when Kelsey smiled. It was that simple.
Except that simple fact? It made everything Elias did extremely fucking complicated.
“Would you like me to call you Captain?”
“It isn’t necessary.” It was easier to fade back into his official role than to think about how much it touched him that she’d offered to show him that respect. “I serve you now, Your Highness.”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Stop that.” Kelsey thrust her hands in the air, as if physically pushing aside his words. “Stop tossing that title down my throat.”
Elias bit back a laugh.
They’d all been searching—at least in their minds—for a child. They’d never contemplated what it would be like to find a grown woman, with her own viewpoint. One absolutely shaped by the free-wheeling, free-thinking democracy in which she’d been raised.
A big part of Elias wanted to make a bowl of popcorn, kick his feet up, and get ready to watch what happened next. He also had no doubt, after just a few hours, that the princess had the spine to stand up to anyone who crossed her. But she’d have a lot of battles to fight in the coming days. She’d have to pick and choose the ones that mattered most, and let the rest go.
Elias would need to help her. Everyone else she was about to meet expected something of Kelsey. The royal family expected her to be the daughter they’d pined for. The government would expect her to be the balm to all the country’s troubles. The people would expect her to be the perfect princess. He couldn’t think of a single person who would be looking out for Kelsey’s best interests.
Only him, her bodyguard.
Chances were that she’d fight him every step of the way.
He shifted sideways, turning to face her more. Mostly to pull away from where Kelsey’s thigh had rested against his. Her warm, soft thigh. “I’m afraid this is one of those things you can’t struggle against. Your title is linked to your name from this point forward. You need to get used to hearing it.”
Her lips pursed. Her nose crinkled. Her eyes scrunched shut. It was…adorable. Damn it, why did he keep thinking that? And why did it matter? Elias didn’t respond to adorable. Sexy—obviously sexy—women were the ones he aimed for in bars. When you weren’t planning on spending more than a night together, going the obvious route just made sense, made everything simple.
So why did her adorable pout as she grudgingly nodded acceptance of his words strike him as appealing? As an almost-invitation to bend mere inches and lock onto those pink lips with his own?
It’d been twenty-nine hours since he’d slept. That had to be the reason for his complete lack of sense. The moment the computer pinged him with her fingerprint match, Elias had jumped into overdrive and hadn’t stopped for a second.
Kelsey half stood, looked left and right, and then sank back into her seat. “We’re a minimum of four rows apart from everyone else on this plane. You won’t get in trouble. But you will get thanked if you just call me Kelsey. That title’s not who I am. Not yet. Maybe not ever.”
He’d been right all along—the princess was already figuring out how to escape. Elias gripped her arm. It was the second breach of protocol in less than ten minutes. If he didn’t get himself under control, he’d be demoted to guarding the stable cats within a week. “You agreed to return to Moncriano, to resume your rightful place in the royal family.”
“I agreed to visit. Nothing more.”
“Your Highness—”
She cut him off with a finger against his lips. “Since you believe I’m your princess, aren’t you required to do what I say?”
Wily and adorable. And if he didn’t move away from her touch, Elias would suck that finger into his mouth in less than a second.
He whipped his head to the side. “Kelsey, your family needs time to get to know you. To get used to the idea that you’re really back with them and won’t disappear again.”
“I wouldn’t be that cruel. But there are a lot of unknowns right now. I’d be lying if I said that in the space of less than four hours, I’ve embraced the idea of becoming a princess. I assume I won’t get tossed in the dungeon if I end up deciding to return home.”
At least she was being honest with him. “How about you start thinking you’ve got two homes now?”