Royal Holiday Baby. Leanne Banks

caressed him with her hands and mouth.

      He closed his eyes, his sense of pleasure and ease evaporating quickly. His little break from pain was over, and his time of torture and self-recrimination had returned.

      Twelve hours later, Tina sat in her brother’s parlor waiting for his to-do list. He usually delivered it via e-mail, but Tina suspected that since she’d ditched her cell phone for that one night at the masquerade party, he didn’t trust electronic communication. Or perhaps he just didn’t trust her.

      Her brother’s assistant had already bowed in greeting a few moments ago. Standing, he waved his hand to the door to Stefan’s office. “His Royal Highness will see you now,” he said.

      Tina could have pushed to eliminate the wait, but after rushed good-byes to her friend Keely, and her transatlantic flight to Chantaine, she was grateful for a moment to catch her breath. “Thank you, Pete,” she said and entered her brother’s office.

      Her brother stood, even though his royal position made it unnecessary, and rounded his large, antique desk. He opened his arms to give her a quick hug. “Welcome home,” he said. “Why is it that we seem to get hit with an onslaught of royal duties every time you leave the country?”

      She smiled. “It’s the same amount of duties as always. No one picks up the slack.”

      “I’ve noticed that,” he said with a frown. “Both Bridget and Phillipa have finished their education. They should take on more.”

      “Good luck with that,” she said. “They both have more excuses than there are grains of sand on Senesia Beach,” she said, referring to the most popular beach of their island kingdom. “I take it you tried giving them assignments.”

      “They ignore me,” he said, his expression incredulous. “Turn off their cell phones, lose e-mails. If they were staff, they would have been fired ten times over.”

      Tina laughed. “Tough to fire your sisters.”

      He shook his head and his mouth drew into a frown. “I’m considering other measures. You’ve told me again and again about your American friends who believe in earning their way. I can put a limit on their charge cards.”

      “Ouch,” Tina said. “There will be lots of screaming. You may try negotiating first.”

      “I’m thinking of putting you in charge of them. They need to be trained.”

      Tina shook her head. “No way. Even Mother didn’t train me. A longtime advisor taught me everything. You can bring her out of retirement for the job,” she said. If she doesn’t quit.

      Stefan wrinkled his brow. “Something has to be done. With Ericka’s upcoming wedding, you’ll be busier than ever. I’m focused on plans for the economy and facilitating our diplomatic relationships with countries that can boost our GDP.”

      “What do the advisers say?

      “They recommend that I take a wife. I have no time for courting with my schedule.”

      “You could always just accept one assigned by the advisers. That’s what you wanted me to do,” she said, unable to resist the dig. Both her father and brother had urged her to accept an arranged marriage to a man twice her age because he was an Italian count.

      “You could have done worse,” he said.

      “What about Princess Margherita from Italy?” she retorted.

      He cringed. “I couldn’t bear her laugh for a night let alone for the rest of my life.”

      “But think of your country, your duty,” she began, echoing the same words he’d used with her.

      “Enough,” he said sharply, lifting his hand.

      Tina could tell by the flicker of the tiny muscle in his jaw that she’d pushed a little too far for his comfort. Stefan struggled with his temper, especially when he felt as if things were out of his control.

      “The purpose of this meeting is not to discuss your marital prospects or mine,” he said. “The purpose is to discuss where you disappeared to for over eight hours last night. Rolfe said he couldn’t reach you by cell and that your hostess refused to name your whereabouts when asked.”

      Tina felt a twist of irritation. “Rolfe is a tattletale.”

      “He was doing his job,” Stefan said. “You know better than this. You must always remain available via your cell. You must always have protection.”

      “How many times have I been unavailable?” she demanded.

      “None to my memory, but that’s not the point.”

      “For that matter, how many times has Ericka been unavailable?”

      “Do you really want to be compared to someone who spent two stints in rehab? Thank God, she’s clean now. And who would have thought she would bring a French movie director into the family?” he marveled. “But we count on you to be mature and dependable. You understand your obligations and duties.”

      “Maybe too much,” she whispered to herself, glancing toward the window, feeling more trapped than she’d ever felt in her life. She rubbed her bare wrist, wondering where she’d left her favorite bracelet. She would search through her luggage again for it.

      “Valentina,” Stefan said in his ruler voice. “Where were you?”

      In the past, she would have felt intimidated or at the least, guilty for causing trouble. For some reason, this time she didn’t. This time she felt impatient with Stefan’s demands.

      “I was out,” she said, meeting his gaze dead-on.

      The muscle in his jaw began to tick again. “These next three months, the eyes of the world will be watching our country in anticipation of Fredericka’s wedding. I need you to act with utmost maturity and responsiveness. Ericka will be under enormous pressure now that she’s placed in the spotlight. Of all our family, Ericka will trust you.”

      Tina shook her head. “I can’t promise miracles. She needed rehab.”

      “But even you talked her into that,” Stefan said. “I need you to be supportive of her. Keep her together.”

      “I told you I can’t perform miracles.”

      “Just be your best self,” he said. “That’s more than almost everyone else on their best day.”

      She couldn’t hold back a semi-smile. “Flattery,” she said. “You must be desperate, your highness.”

       Chapter Three

      Zach paced the dentist’s office as he waited for his longtime housekeeper to get her broken tooth fixed. Hildie was no wimp. She’d been known to face down two intruders at once with only a frying pan as her weapon. She’d even confronted a brown bear that came a little too close to the house.

      Under usual circumstances, Hildie would drive herself to the doctor if she were sick. Hildie had helped deliver babies. She wasn’t squeamish at all. Dentists, however, were her waterloo. She’d procrastinated going to the dentist and now the poor woman winced every time she breathed.

      Zach had insisted she go in and Hildie agreed only if he would take her and wait for her. They never knew which sedation the dentist would use. It was all determined by Hildie’s anxiety level, which today, hovered at one hundred on a scale of one to ten.

      Bored, Zach sank onto one of the chairs and checked his BlackBerry. His brother wanted him to cover for him in Dallas while he took a scuba diving trip. No problem. Zach was always around. It wasn’t as if anything exciting was going on in his life, and he preferred it that way. Particularly in his personal life.

      He couldn’t deny, at least to himself, though, that ever since that night with Tina, he’d almost asked his friends how to get in touch with her. Every time he was tempted, however,