CHAPTER ONE
Princess Charlotte of Durham didn’t want to be a special guest at her ex-boyfriend’s South African hotel. But being a princess usually meant not getting her way.
She stared out the window of her rented sedan at the magnificent marula trees rushing past, awe racing through her despite her attempts to hold it back. Sparse branches topped with a canopy of green leaves reached toward fluffy white clouds set against the bluest sky she’d ever seen. The narrow road they drove on looked newly resurfaced, and the dark of the blacktop contrasted sharply with the gold grasses on either side. Heat shimmered in the air, and for the first time in her life Charlotte understood what people meant when they talked about desert mirages. The road looked wet, like it had rained recently, but she’d been in the car for more than an hour and there hadn’t been a drop of moisture.
Adam had spoken for hours about South Africa, describing everything from the animals to the food while they cuddled together in a hammock on his private rooftop garden. His passion for the country, and the resort he ran there, had come through in every sentence. Had that really only been six weeks ago?
Well, his words hadn’t done this country justice. Not surprising, since Adam was a total liar.
Emma reached across the seat and squeezed Charlotte’s hand. The cousins were only a few months apart in age and had grown up more like sisters after Emma’s parents died in a car crash and she moved to the palace with her brother. Right now, Emma’s expressive blue eyes were dark with concern. “Are you okay?”
Charlotte forced a smile and nodded. “Of course. Just admiring the landscape. I can’t believe we’ve let the boys handle the overseas engagements for so long.”
“I know.” Emma rested her hands primly in her lap. She’d worn a fitted white blazer and skirt today. It made her tanned skin glow and really set off her dark silky hair. “But the family dynamic is changing. Now that Alex and Stefan are occupied with their fiancées, maybe Aunt Nicolette will let us do more solo engagements.”
“I hope so.” Charlotte’s mother was fiercely protective and had preferred to keep the girls close to home. In fact, this was the first time Emma and Charlotte had been allowed out of the country without one of their brothers accompanying them. It was a refreshing change.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Emma pursed her lips, frowning. “I know this is a lot.”
In the front seat of the car, Joseph—one of Charlotte’s two bodyguards—shifted, murmuring something to the driver in a low voice that she couldn’t discern. Joseph was a hulking man, with a stern expression and deep love for firearms. And while he and Karla, Charlotte’s female bodyguard who rode in the sedan in front of theirs, were great at keeping confidences, Charlotte still liked to maintain as much privacy as possible.
She leaned closer to Emma, lowering her voice. “Stop acting like I’ll fall apart when I see him. I’m not here because of that.” She’d only spent ten days with Adam—a whirlwind romance—while he dealt with an issue at one of the Durham hotel properties. No one but Charlotte’s security detail and Emma had known about the relationship, which had been fine by Charlotte. After seeing the media circus her brothers Alex and Stefan had gone through, she’d been content to hide the truth.
It had been obvious from the start that Adam wasn’t looking for something serious. Charlotte wasn’t either, at least at first. But despite her better judgment, she’d fallen hard. And after that last magical evening together, she’d thought maybe he’d fallen for her, too.
“Okay, okay.” Emma held up a placating hand. “This isn’t about Adam.”
“It isn’t,” Charlotte insisted. “I never would have come if Education Beyond Borders hadn’t asked me to keynote at the conference.”
She hadn’t wanted to say yes to the invitation, considering that this year the three-day education conference was being held at Adam’s hotel. That meant Charlotte would probably run into him at least once or twice, which would be beyond uncomfortable. But she’d never been able to refuse an opportunity to speak about the vital importance of education. Since Emma loved traveling, she’d offered to accompany Charlotte for moral support.
Was it too much to hope that Adam wouldn’t be at the hotel at all during the conference? Although they’d parted with no promises of the future, she’d thought he’d at least call. Had been so certain he felt the same way she did.
But he hadn’t called. First one day had passed, then two, then three. On day five, she’d seen a picture of him with Brionna Cartwright on an online gossip site. Apparently, the two heirs to hotel fortunes were dating. Charlotte really had been nothing more than a fling.
The pain had gone much deeper than hurt pride.
Her fingers curled around the romance novel she held in her lap, seeking the comfort only a book could bring. If she ran into Adam, she’d treat him like any other employee she encountered on the trip—polite but aloof. She wouldn’t think about how his lips could command hers with a simple touch, how soft his hair felt beneath her fingers, the way his mere presence could make her shiver—
Joseph shifted in the front seat, distracting Charlotte. Emma stared at her with a knowing expression.
Charlotte squirmed uncomfortably, pretending to take interest in a rodent scurrying across the road. They had to be mere minutes away from the resort by now.
“You don’t have to speak to him,” Emma said finally. “Don’t even look at him. Pretend he’s not there.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “So if he shows up and tries to talk to me, I’m supposed to just ignore him and walk away? Mother will love that. Very royal behavior.”
Emma lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “You’re a princess of Durham. You can behave however you’d like, and Adam Montgomery will just have to deal with it.”
Charlotte’s mouth quirked up in a smile. “It’s precisely because I’m a princess that I can’t act like that. But thanks for the sentiment all the same. What would I do without you?”
“Be totally overrun by your brothers, probably,” Emma said with a laugh.
“Probably.” Charlotte sighed, smoothing a hand over the cover of her book. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and he won’t be here. For all I know, he’s off at some other exotic hotel with Little Miss Perfect. They only own about a billion resorts across the globe between the two of them.”
Little Miss Perfect—that was the nickname they’d given Brionna. There was something about her that just seemed off. Maybe it was the plastic smile she always gave the cameras, or the way she had a canned answer for any question asked by a reporter. But it was hard not to feel jealous of the gorgeous brunette. Did Brionna know that only a few days before she and Adam had gotten together, he’d been kissing Charlotte?
Probably not. Adam would have kept that information to himself, no doubt.
“Right,” Emma deadpanned. “Because hotel managers always vacation on a foreign continent while an important conference is being held at their hotel.”
329 Pages
6-7 Hours
63k Words
