To Kiss a King. Maureen Child

all right.” She backed up quickly. Maybe she wasn’t as prepared for that zing of romance as she had thought. Or maybe Garrett the Gorgeous was just too much for her to handle. Either way, she was nervous enough to try to cool things down between them just a little. “Five dollars will do. It’s a bargain.”

      “Agreed,” he said, one corner of his mouth lifting tantalizingly. “But just so you know, you should never bet with me, Alex. I always win.”

      “Confident, aren’t you?”

      “You have no idea.”

      A thrill of something hot and delicious swept through her veins. Nerves or not, she really enjoyed what he was doing to her. What was it about him that affected her so?

      “That was fun, Uncle Garrett!”

      A tiny whirlwind rushed up to them and threw both arms around Garrett’s knees. The girl gave him a wide smile then shifted suspicious eyes to Alex. “Who are you?”

      “This is Alex,” Garrett told her. “Alex, meet Mia.”

      She smiled at the child and couldn’t help noticing that the little girl held on to Garrett’s legs just a little more tightly.

      “Mia, don’t run from me in these crowds,” a deep male voice shouted.

      Alex turned to watch an impossibly attractive couple approach, the man holding on to a smaller version of the still-wary Mia.

      “Alex,” Garrett said briskly, “this is my cousin Jackson and his wife, Casey, and that pretty girl with them is Molly.”

      “It’s lovely to meet you all.”

      Jackson gave her a quick up and down, then winked at his wife. “Wow, leave Garrett alone for a few minutes and he finds the most beautiful woman in the whole place—”

      His wife nudged him with an elbow.

      “—not counting you of course, sweetie. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

      “Nice recovery,” Casey told him with a laugh and a smile for Alex.

      “Always were a smooth one, Jackson,” Garrett mused.

      “It’s why she loves me,” his cousin answered, dropping a kiss on his wife’s head.

      Alex smiled at all of them. It was lovely to see the open affection in this family, though she felt a sharp pang of envy slice at her, as well. To get some time for herself she’d had to run from her own family. She missed them, even her dictatorial father, and being around these people only brought up their loss more sharply.

      “It’s nice to meet you, Alex,” Casey said, extending her right hand in welcome.

      “Thank you. I must admit I’m a little overwhelmed by everything. This is my first trip to Disneyland and—”

      “Your first time?” Mia interrupted. “But you’re old.”

      “Mia!” Casey was horrified.

      Garrett and Jackson laughed and Alex joined them. Bending down slightly, she met Mia’s gaze and said, “It’s horrible I know. But I live very far away from here, so this is the first chance I’ve ever had to visit.”

      “Oh.” Nodding her head, Mia thought about it for a minute then looked at her mother. “I think we should take Alex to the ghost ride.”

      “Mia, that’s your favorite ride,” her father said.

      “But she would like it, wouldn’t you, Alex?” She turned her eyes up and gave her a pleading look.

      “You know,” Alex said, “I was just wishing I knew how to find the ghost ride.”

      “I’ll show you!” Mia took her hand and started walking, fully expecting her family to follow.

      “Guess you’ll be spending the day with us for sure, now,” Garrett teased.

      “Looks that way.” She grinned, delighted with this turn of events. She was in a place she’d heard about her whole life and she wasn’t alone. There were children to enjoy and people to talk to and it was very near to perfect.

      Then she looked up at Garrett’s blue eyes and told herself maybe it was closer to perfect than she knew.

      “And after the ghost ride, we can ride the jungle boats and then the pirate one.” Mia was talking a mile a minute.

      “Molly, honey, don’t pick up the bug,” Jackson said patiently.

      “Bug?” Casey repeated, horrified.

      Still holding Mara, Garrett came up beside Alex and said softly, “I promise, after the ghost ride, I’ll ride herd on my family and you can do what you want to do.”

      The funny thing was, he didn’t know it, but she was already doing what she had always wanted to do.

      She wanted to be accepted. To spend a day with nothing more to worry about than enjoying herself. And mostly, she wanted to meet people and have them like her because she was Alex Wells.

      Not because she was Her Royal Highness Princess Alexis Morgan Wells of Cadria.

      Two

      She was driving Garrett just a little crazy.

      And not only because she was beautiful and funny and smart. But because he’d never seen a woman let go and really enjoy herself so much. Most of the women who came and went from his life were more interested in how their hair looked. Or in being sophisticated enough that a ride on spinning teacups would never have entered their heads.

      But Alex was different. She had the girls eating out of her hand, and, without even trying, she was reaching Garrett in ways that he never would have expected. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

      That wide smile was inviting, sexy—and familiar, somehow.

      He knew he’d seen her before somewhere, but damned if he could remember where. And that bothered him, too. Because a woman like Alex wasn’t easily forgotten.

      At lunch, she had bitten into a burger with a sigh of pleasure so rich that all he could think of was cool sheets and hot sex. She sat astride a carousel horse and he imagined her straddling him. She licked at an ice cream cone and he—

      Garrett shook his head and mentally pulled back fast from that particular image. As it was, he was having a hard time walking. A few more thoughts like that one and he’d be paralyzed.

      Alex loved everything about Disneyland. He saw it in her eyes because she didn’t hide a thing. Another way she was different from the women he knew. They were all about artful lies, strategic moves and studied flirtation.

      Alex was just…herself.

      “You’ll like this, Alex,” said Mia, who had appointed herself Alex’s personal tour guide. “The pirate ships shoot cannons and there’s a fire and singing, too. And it’s dark inside.”

      “Okay, kiddo,” Jackson told his daughter, interrupting her flood of information, “how about we give Alex a little rest?” He grinned at her and Garrett as he steered his family into the front row of the boat.

      Garrett took the hint gratefully and pulled Alexis into the last row. A bit of separation for the duration of the ride would give them a little time to themselves.

      “She’s wonderful,” Alex murmured. “So bright. So talkative.”

      “Oh, she is that,” Garrett said with a laugh. “Mia has an opinion on everything and doesn’t hesitate to share it. Her kindergarten teacher calls her ‘precocious.’ I call her a busybody.”

      She laughed again and Garrett found himself smiling in response. There was no cautious titter. No careful chuckle. When Alex laughed, she threw her soul into it and everything about her lit up. Oh, he was getting in way too deep.