Aside from how difficult it had been not to just stare into his bright blue eyes. Eyes bluer than Lake Michigan on a summer day. Bluer than the bird in the Twitter logo. Bluer than Matisse’s famous Blue Nudes series.
Not that she’d been thinking about Elias nude. Not when her entire life had twisted itself into a corkscrew of confusion. That would be wrong. Not serious and princess-like at all. It would be a shallow, frivolous distraction.
Except now Kelsey couldn’t stop thinking about what he looked like out of that suit…
The man himself caught her eye as he walked down the aisle. Elias didn’t look at all rumpled. He looked slick, a little dangerous with his muscles barely disguised by the cut of his suit, and all business. The softer, open side of him she’d seen last night was gone. One hand on a seatback, he gave a short nod. “Your Highness, are you ready?”
No. No way. No how. Nervously re-fluffing her hair, Kelsey said, “Do I look ready?”
He opened his mouth, closed it. “I’m positive there is no correct answer to that question.”
“Smart man.” Mallory squeezed his arm. “Look—you only get out of your yoga pants on holidays, girls’ nights, dates, and interviews. Today is none of those things. So be comfortable as you.”
“The cheerleading’s appreciated.” Kelsey could always count on her. She just wanted a little shared reality check at the massive embarrassment of the situation. “But, come on. You’re the fashionista in the family. I’ll bet you’re breaking out in flop sweat at the thought of either of us meeting anyone besides the pizza delivery guy in our unpacking clothes.”
Perching on the long coffee table that fronted a banquette of seats on one side, Mallory said, “You got me. I’d give a hundred dollars for pumps and a pencil skirt right now.”
Elias looked at the wide-open door of the plane. Then back at Kelsey. Definitely noticed the way she wasn’t making any forward motion toward the door. “Your Highness, the prince is aware of the speed with which I whisked you away. He won’t judge you on your appearance, I guarantee.”
“Easy for you to say. You look all buttoned up and appropriate.”
After a beat of staring at her, Elias pulled his tie out of its knot with a soft swish. He stuffed it in his pocket. Unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, which revealed a boundary line of dark chest hair. Last, he spiked his fingers through his hair, leaving it standing on end. “Feel better now?”
Omigod.
He’d mussed himself up just to make her less uncomfortable? That was a swoon-worthy romantic gesture, right there. Kelsey couldn’t even risk a glance at Mallory. The chances were too high that her sister’s jaw was already on the ground. “I do, but I don’t want to get you in trouble with your boss.”
“I work for you now, Your Highness. Remember?” With an actual twinkle in those blue eyes, he asked, “Am I in trouble?”
Holy crap.
No, but Kelsey was. Deep trouble.
It seemed to go without saying she shouldn’t fall for her bodyguard. There was probably a rule about that, and yet she was responding to him as though he was…flirting? Her pulse raced, her nipples tightened, and all sorts of things tingled.
“Definitely not. Thank you, Elias.” Sure, the gesture was a little ridiculous, but it helped. A lot. “Mallory, are you coming?”
“I’ll be within gawking distance. I figure this moment of meeting your brother should be private.”
“Right. Of course.” That was classic Mallory. Saying and doing the right thing at the right time. “How did you end up with all of the tact between the two of us?”
Tightening her ponytail, Mallory said, “Putting up with you required that I turbo boost those skills from an early age.”
Kelsey took a deep breath and reminded herself she excelled at graphic design. That her clients called her intuitive. That her boss called her easy to work with. That she’d been voted most likely to make friends in a dystopian society in her high school yearbook. Prince Christian should be the one nervous about meeting her.
Except…he probably was because of that whole sticky layer of he and his family actively searching for her. For more than two decades he’d wanted his sister back.
Kelsey didn’t want anything. Aside from not humiliating herself. So she bent down to cinch tight the laces on her sneakers. It was time to dip a toe into her new future by connecting with the past. “Let’s do this.”
Elias led the way out of the plane and down the stairs. Kelsey kept her eyes glued to each step, refusing to give the universe any shot at mocking her by sending her tumbling into a heap at her brother’s feet. But when she hit the purple carpet runner on the ground, she looked up.
“Private” wasn’t exactly the best descriptor of how she’d meet her brother. There were three black SUVs, two police cars, four bodyguard-types, and one man under a small canopy by himself at the base of the stairs with his hands tucked behind his back, feet braced wide.
Christian was…well, gorgeous. Tall and broad-shouldered in a bright blue suit. Thick, blond hair topped off high cheekbones and a wide mouth. This man looked like a stand-in for at least four Disney princes.
Most noticeably, the unusual shade of his violet eyes was an exact match for her own.
Kelsey wasn’t sure what to feel about that, except to catalogue it as more proof that Elias had, indeed, not made the whole thing up.
He gave an identical sharp nod to the ones Elias kept popping off. “Your Highness.”
Having been schooled in the proper etiquette by her bodyguard prior to landing, she replied, “Your Highness,” and paired it with a curtsey that had to look just plain silly in her yoga pants.
An amused chuckle rolled out, as smooth as the Casamigos sipping tequila Mallory had splurged on to celebrate when Kelsey landed her job with Omni Creative. “That feels all wrong. Shall we start again?”
Oh, thank goodness. “Definitely.”
They both leaned in. Kelsey assumed it was for a hug. Christian, however, only leaned in from his shoulders to kiss her on both cheeks, European style. To do so, he grasped both of her elbows. So when she tried to go for a normal hug, she didn’t make it all the way and sort of rebounded off his chest with her boobs.
Terrific.
Christian let go with another chuckle. “There’s no way to make this less awkward, is there?”
Kelsey fought back the instinct to cross her arms over her chest. “Only in that it can’t get any worse.”
“That’s the spirit. Nowhere to go but up.” He brought his hands together and held them up to his face for several long, silent moments. But the staring he did was so loud and pointed Kelsey almost took a step back. “Apparently, I’ve a crap way of showing it, but I’ve been looking forward to this day for…well, for a long time.”