The empty silence that lasted far too long told him that the princess saw right through his attempt to “handle” her. That she knew her own mind, and wouldn’t allow anyone to try and influence her.
Finally, in a low voice, she asked, “Will you get in trouble if I don’t stay?”
Undoubtedly.
Definitely.
“I’ll protect you wherever you go.” Elias reached into his coat pocket. “Speaking of that, here’s your panic button. Keep it with you at all times.” He gave her a fob smaller than an automatic car key. “If you get into trouble, if you get scared, just press it.”
After looking at it for several seconds, she toed her bag out from beneath the seat and zipped it into a pocket. “Mallory will need one, too.”
“They’re only for members of the royal family.”
She gave a slight head tilt, with an imperiousness that mirrored what he’d seen in Christian and Genevieve hundreds of times. “I repeat, Mallory will need one, too.”
Message received. “I’ll make sure there’s another waiting in the car for her when we land.”
“Thank you.” Kelsey curled her legs beneath her, listing toward him with a sigh. Or a yawn. Probably both, given the late hour. “That’ll be the one and only thing I know about what happens next.”
“Well, I can tell you your brother will meet you on the tarmac.”
“That sounds…bizarre. Almost impossible to fathom. My brother, the heir to the throne?” She made air quotes with her fingers, and he could hear the capitalization in her awestruck tone.
“Yes. But don’t get hung up on that. He’s mostly a regular guy.” Elias tried to come up with something that would put her at ease about his best friend. “Unless you order the same thing he does in a restaurant. Prince Christian likes to have the option to swap plates. Annoying as hell, but not world-ending as bad habits go.”
“Uh-oh.” She grimaced dramatically in mock horror. And it was…hell, it was adorable again. Elias had to get some sleep pronto. It wouldn’t count as sleeping on the job. No, he’d justify it as a way to shore up his armor against this woman who incessantly slid past his defenses.
“What’s wrong?”
“That just might be a deal breaker for me. I’ve been known to stab Mallory with a fork if she tries to so much as steal a fry off my plate.”
He raised his hands, palms facing outward. “I’m out. You two will have to work through that on your own.”
“Does he speak English as well as you do?”
“Better. According to him, anyway.” To say the prince was competitive was like saying that water was wet.
“Does everyone in my, ah, family?” This time she only bobbled for a moment before using the word. Elias called that progress.
“Yes. Don’t worry. About eighty percent of the country speaks English fluently. Tourism is our major profit center. We neighbor so many countries, English is the one unifying language. You shouldn’t have any trouble communicating.”
“That’s a relief.” She closed her eyes. “Tell me something else, please. Something to make this all less terrifying.”
That was a tall order. Did Kelsey want to know if there was a McDonalds? Reassurance that she’d like the music on the radio? She hadn’t asked about her sister Genevieve, and he was unwilling to open that Pandora’s Box.
Elias fell back on a tourist spiel. “Moncriano has mountains and coastline and lakes and farmland. It’s idyllic. Postcard perfect.”
“Not so much. Perfect for me is a dizzying array of skyscrapers in a tight jumble on a tiny island.” Her words were coming slower now, a little bit slurred with exhaustion. She leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. “Adventure and excitement and possibilities around every corner.”
“We do have cities, you know. There are tall buildings and taxis. Even some street vendors, although our sausages are far superior to those waterlogged hot dogs in Manhattan.”
“Mmm. What about adventure?”
“Let’s start with possibilities. Those I can promise you.”
A heavy weight pushed onto his shoulder. Kelsey’s head pillowed right under his jaw. Her silky hair snagged in his late-night stubble. Then her whole body leaned into his side.
It was heaven and torture all at the same time.
Damn straight it’d be an adventure with her. Not to mention an exercise in self-control. But not yet. For now? He’d follow her lead and get that much-needed rest.
It would be the first time Elias had ever slept with a princess.
And it would have to be the last.
Chapter Three
Kelsey flipped over at the waist and mussed her hair from underneath.
Despite the array of beauty products stashed in the jet’s bathroom as big as the one in their apartment, her hair was flat. Static-filled. Plane air wasn’t doing her any favors. So she was about to meet her brother—an honest-to-God prince—in the crappy outfit she’d worn to unpack their kitchen and with sleep-squished hair.
Mallory’s equally crappy gray Skechers came into view. “Are you going to stay upside down like that? Because I’m not sure what statement you’re making with your ass in the air.”
Very funny. Clearly, a reprieve from her sister sassing her was not on the list of promised princess perks. “It says I’m not feeling confident. I feel like I’m doing the walk of shame home right before eight a.m. classes.” She stood and didn’t bother to look in the mirror. Whatever fluff she’d achieved would undoubtedly dissipate before she stepped onto the tarmac.
“Oh yeah. That mistake of a night you spent with Brad Kim. I warned you never to fall asleep at a boy’s dorm.”
“You should’ve warned me never to drink tequila shooters before hooking up. What do you think put me to sleep?”
“From the description you gave me? Brad’s kisses were way more to blame for conking out. No zip. No zing. No tingle.”
“No fun,” Kelsey said. She remembered the tingle that had raced up her arm when Elias touched her inked-up fingers. That slight touch that had packed more of a punch than an hour of Brad’s slobbery kisses.
She could’ve sworn she’d fallen asleep on Elias. Warm. Comfortable. Safe. But when she woke up, there was just a lavender blanket tucked around her.
Had she dreamed being that close to him? The man was certainly dream-worthy. And once he’d stopped interrogating her, he’d been…nice. Their conversation had been easy.