‘Fine. I’ll use the bed. But I’m not borrowing a shirt.’
Not waiting for his response, she grabbed her bag and suitcase and went in search of the bedroom.
Logan released a slow breath after Cassidy headed out of sight and scrubbed his hand over his face.
He was very glad that she hadn’t taken up the offer of his shirt. Just the thought of her in that and nothing else had been enough to send his blood pressure sky high again. But what would she be wearing instead? Her underwear? Nothing?
Cursing beneath his breath as his body responded with predictable urgency, he ripped the cap off the nearest water bottle and guzzled the liquid to cool himself down.
When Cassidy had stepped into his car dressed in a suit, and with her hair fastidiously tied back, despite his questioning of her, he’d breathed a sigh of relief that his normal EA had returned, but she kept doing things that threw him off centre.
Like her excitement over the plane taking off. She’d been right when she’d said she’d come across as unsophisticated. None of the other women he dated would have ever shown such a natural reaction, always carefully considering how they looked before opening their mouths, and to his disbelief he’d found himself enjoying Cassidy’s uncensored delight.
He’d enjoyed her smile even more. It had transformed her face from attractive to stunning and he’d been unable to look away. It was as if he’d never seen the woman smile before and with a frown he realised that he couldn’t remember a time when he had. Not like that, anyway. She came to work, she did her job, and then she went home. It was the way he liked it and the way he wanted it to remain.
Wondering if she was as innocent in other matters as she was in flying, Logan gave himself a mental dressing down. He recognised that he was probably only seeking a distraction from thinking about his current problems, but his EA was off limits. Besides, she already had a lover. The tall, well-built guy who had kissed her goodbye in her doorway. So not that innocent after all.
His jaw clenched at the thought of her with some unknown man, and he didn’t like the way that affected him either. Cassidy could be with ten men and it wouldn’t have anything to do with him.
Reminding himself that he might be his father’s son but he most definitely did not behave like him with his employees, he forced his mind to forget Cassidy’s sweet smile and instead think about the more important issue of what he was going to say to his brother after he arrived in Arrantino.
He also reminded himself that Cassidy’s childhood was none of his business and that he did not get personal with his EAs. Personal equalled complicated and complicated equalled trouble. All he needed to know about Cassidy was whether she was fit enough to do her job, not how she had coped with all the difficulties she had obviously faced.
He rolled his shoulders and felt the muscles in his back bunch and release. Maybe his sudden interest in her was not only to do with shock, but because he didn’t want to think about going home. Going home to face the restricted life of a sitting monarch.
Not if he could help it.
It was enough to sometimes feel that he was like his father, a man who had always been in control of his surroundings—Logan certainly didn’t want to return and take up the same job that he had held. But he also knew that he’d do anything for his brother after watching him battle so much to be well. It left him in quite a dilemma.
Unbidden, his gaze shifted to the rear of the plane. To Cassidy. He scrubbed a hand over his face, resigned to the fact that it was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER FOUR
ARRANTINO WAS BEAUTIFUL.
Cassidy couldn’t take her eyes off the landscape she could see from her vantage point in the plane as they were coming in to land. High mountains and deep green valleys and villages dotted outside the main city, which looked to have a wall running around the perimeter and a river winding through it. Not that she could see it all, but she could see that it was nestled on the coast and the sand looked like a ribbon of gold against the deep blue of the Mediterranean.
A blue the exact shade of Logan’s eyes.
Not that she should be thinking about his eyes. Or any other part of his anatomy, for that matter. Today was a new day and it was going to be the exact opposite of the day before.
To her surprise she’d managed to sleep most of the night in the hugely comfortable bed and she was showered and dressed for success, as the twins would say.
In the end she’d slept in her knickers and blouse and it had been okay. With any luck Logan would sort out this issue with his brother quickly and they’d be back home by tonight New York time before she even needed to launder anything.
She wondered what was behind Logan’s staunch determination that he would not be King. She could guess that some of it had to do with the fact that he didn’t want to change his life and maybe he didn’t want to move back to Arrantino, but his comment that he wasn’t king material had made her curious.
If anyone was king material, in her mind, it was her boss. He commanded attention and respect wherever he went, without even trying, and people lined up to get his advice. Admittedly that advice was usually business related but she didn’t believe for a second that his keen intelligence was limited to running a bank. Especially since he’d completely turned it around in the five years he’d been at the helm and lifted it from just another boutique investment bank into a global concern. His reach into the Australasian market was the last bastion he had to conquer and she knew he wouldn’t rest until he had, and he would because he worked harder than any person she’d ever met before.
His determination was a formidable force and she was only glad it was his brother who had to face it and not her.
The image of him stalking toward her in his apartment building as he’d told her that his needs took precedence over Peta’s sent a hot, shivery sensation down her spine, pooling low in her pelvis. Which did not bode well for the business-as-usual front she planned to adopt.
The last thing she had ever wanted was to find her boss sexually attractive and for those few moments, and a few afterwards when she’d caught the look in his eyes, that was how she had felt.
And it didn’t seem to matter that he was exactly the kind of man her dear father had warned her and Peta away from when they had hit their teenage years. Men who were too good looking for their own good, and expected everything to drop into their laps. Cassidy wasn’t sure if Logan expected it, or if it just happened because of who he was, but there was no doubt that it did happen. Her sister’s question about whether she was in love with him returned like a bomb. But she wasn’t in love with Logan, just her job.
A job she relied on too much to ever put it in jeopardy by developing feelings for her boss. Her world had fallen apart before, and now, with her sister throwing in the curveball of her impending marriage, it was more imperative than ever that Cassidy keep at least one aspect of her life the same. Because while most people could deal with change relatively easily, the whole concept of it made her want to run for the hills.
Feeling skittish about what lay ahead, she went online on her laptop and did another check on what was being reported, to find that not only was news of the King’s affair being bandied around but the breaking news was that he planned to abdicate as well.
Cassidy knew how much Logan would hate this new development. How much he would hate being critiqued and analysed by the world’s media. And no doubt it would make his conversation with his brother that much more difficult. But would it make the King more or less inclined to abdicate? And what would that mean for her if Logan did become King? Would she keep working for him? Would he want her to? Would she want to?
Not wanting to think about any of that, she shoved all thoughts of her family and the changes afoot in her life to the back of her mind and concentrated on the information in front of her. From what she could see, the palace had not yet commented on th
e growing crisis, but in her estimation they would need to do so soon. Already the London Stock Exchange had responded to the news of the King’s imminent abdication with a downward turn of Arrantinian stock, and no doubt New York would follow suit when it opened.
In addition, the paparazzi were trying even harder to find out the identity of the petite brunette seen in the King’s arms and Cassidy was only glad it wasn’t her.
She knew how it felt to have everyone talking about you behind your back and she never wanted to go through that again.
Wondering where her boss was now that they were so close to landing, she looked up to see him walking toward her.
Freshly showered and shaved, with his honey-blond hair scraped back from his forehead and wearing a crisp navy suit with a pale blue shirt that highlighted his olive skin, he looked like a man who could give a woman a night of endlessly hot sex.
And since when did she start her mornings thinking about sex, endless or otherwise?
She swallowed heavily, and sternly reminded herself that wide shoulders and a powerful physique were the least important attributes that made a man desirable. A caring nature and a good sense of humour were far more favourable.
Unfortunately those traits didn’t even rate as he sprawled in the seat opposite her like a model, his brilliant blue eyes scanning her face as he picked up the espresso the co-pilot had not long since delivered. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Why do you think something is wrong?’ she parried.
‘You’re staring.’
‘Oh, I...’ She sucked in a deep breath and forcibly shut down the disastrous attraction she was struggling to get on top of. There was the much more pressing issue of the conjecture surrounding Leo’s abdication to inform him of. ‘I think you need to brace yourself.’
Logan stretched out his long legs beneath the table, taking up most of the space. ‘Just give it to me straight.’
‘The media have picked up the story that Leo is thinking of abdicating, pretty much the whole world now knows.’
Logan didn’t move a muscle as he looked at her, his thickly lashed gaze narrowing dangerously. ‘Perhaps next time I say give it to me straight, don’t listen.’ He let out a frustrated breath and massaged his forehead. ‘Anything else?’
‘Arrantinian stock has fallen four percent in London this morning and there’s intense speculation as to whether you will become King or not.’
‘Let them speculate.’ The dangerous look in his eyes deepened and he suddenly pushed to his feet and paced around the cabin. ‘It’s what they do best. Lying in wait for one of us to slip up.’
Cassidy grimaced. ‘Todd Greene is also one of the journalists on the story.’ And she knew how her boss would take that news and he didn’t disappoint, cursing volubly under his breath.
Todd Greene had been searching for dirt on Logan for three years now. Ever since Logan had insisted that he be fired from a respected newspaper for writing a salacious story about an actress Logan had dated that had ended with her checking into rehab. Todd had struggled to find work after that and as a result he had promised that he’d get Logan back. So far he’d come up empty.
‘From his article I get the feeling he’s either in Arrantino or on his way,’ she added, frowning as she scanned an article questioning the King’s health.
‘What is it?’ Having noticed her hesitation, Logan’s interest sharpened to that of a sword tip.
‘I’m not sure. There’s something here about your brother’s illness returning.’
She glanced up in time to see a flash of pain cross her boss’s face. ‘It hasn’t,’ he said woodenly. ‘Leo is fine.’
Cassidy knew very little about his brother. She’d never had any inclination to delve into Logan’s royal history so she hadn’t. But she knew all about what it felt like to have people whisper about you behind your back and she wouldn’t wish it on anyone. ‘What did he have?’
Logan arched a brow at her question. ‘You mean you haven’t done an Internet search on my background already?’
‘No.’ She could sense his anger from across the enclosed space and some deep-seated part of her wanted to reach across the small distance and sooth him. ‘Should I have done?’
He gave a harsh bark of laughter. ‘No, but it’s not a secret. Leo had leukaemia as a teenager.’
‘Oh, that’s terrible.’
‘Yes, it was.’ Logan dragged a hand through his hair. ‘But it was a long time ago. I rarely think about it now, but at the time...’ His eyes took on a shadowed hue. ‘It was pretty ugly. I took a leave of absence from school for a few months to be with him and basically ran amok, dodging the palace tutors and entertaining Leo as much as I could during his weaker moments.’ He shook his head as if to clear the memory. ‘You do not want to challenge me to a game of Monopoly,’ he said. ‘I’m an expert.’
Always having assumed that her boss was as cold-hearted as he was rumoured to be, she was moved to discover once again that, at least where his brother was concerned, he was anything but. ‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ she said, her tone softening as she added, ‘That was really nice of you...to stay with your brother, considering how you must have been feeling at the time.’
‘It wasn’t nice.’ As if rejecting her sympathy, his voice turned hard. ‘It was necessary. My parents were unavailable to give him the care that he required. Someone had to step up and I was glad to do it.’
‘I understand completely.’
And she did. She’d stepped up many times since Peta had become pregnant and she wouldn’t change a thing either.
Something passed between them as he looked at her. Some level of understanding that went deeper than anything they’d ever shared before.
‘Do you think you should take a seat for landing?’ she offered, unsure how to deal with the unexpected connection between them, as well as being aware that they were perilously close to landing.
Logan glanced out of the window and surprised her by resuming his seat again. When the plane lightly touched down on the tarmac Cassidy felt a whole new bundle of nerves jump around inside her stomach.
In a short time she would be meeting Logan’s family and she’d never felt her small-town roots as keenly as she did right now.
‘So when I greet your brother I curtsy and call him Your Majesty—is that right?’
‘Yes.’ He stood up and straightened his shirt cuffs. ‘Though you needn’t worry about mucking up your greeting. I think my brother has bigger issues to face.’
‘I know. But I don’t want to get it wrong.’ The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself. ‘And I curtsy to your mother as well.’
‘Yes. And since she was Queen she is still referred to as Your Majesty.’
‘Okay,’ Cassidy said, a look of concentration on her face.
Logan gave her a faint smile. ‘It’s not like you to be nervous. You weren’t when you met me.’
‘Of course I was nervous.’ She shot him a quick look. ‘It was a job interview and I really wanted the job.’
‘You hid it well.’
‘Another of my superpowers.’
He gave her a bemused smile. ‘How many do you have?’
‘Not many. I think that’s the last one.’
He shook his head as if there was something about her he couldn’t fathom, and placed his hand in the small of her back to indicate that she should precede him toward the doorway.
Flustered as much by the small gesture as the warmth of his hand, she barely registered when two imposing men in sharp black suits stepped into the plane. For a moment she thought they were being hijacked and then they nodded at Logan.
‘Your Highness.’ They greeted him in unison and Cassidy’s eyes widened. Should she be calling him that now? ‘The car is here.’
‘Thank you.’ Logan gestured for her to precede him and as
soon as the bright sunlight blinded her she came to a dead stop. She hadn’t realised he had followed so closely behind her until she felt his breath fan the nape of her neck when he spoke.
‘What is it?’
‘Just...the sun.’
Feeling gauche again, she sucked in a deep breath, her eyes following the cavalcade of black SUVs lined up on the tarmac like hyphens on a page. Aware that she hadn’t moved and that Logan was waiting, she collected herself and descended the stairs as if she did this sort of thing every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Cool, Cassidy, she reminded herself. Remember to be cool and to not look like Dorothy straight out of Kansas at everything you see.
Highly attuned to her boss’s every movement as the cars headed off in formation, Cassidy saw Logan’s jaw harden as he read an email on his phone.
‘More problems?’ she asked quietly.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Leo won’t be at the palace to meet us. He’s taken his new woman into hiding to protect her from the media fallout. He’s promised to call me later.’ By the disdain in his voice Logan wasn’t happy with that idea. ‘A press release is already being prepared to confirm his abdication. The palace is in lockdown to contain the fallout from the media speculation.’
‘That makes sense.’ Cassidy pulled up the stock market app on her tablet. ‘Arrantino banking stock has fallen by eleven percent in New York and while that’s not catastrophic the reports suggest that the spillover will affect trading in many of the local businesses. On top of that—’ she paused, knowing that he wouldn’t like this next bit ‘—the Peterstone Organisation has pulled out of the Westgate deal.’
Logan swore roughly. ‘Whoever leaked my brother’s plans to the press is going to wish that they hadn’t when I’m finished with them. But forget Peterstone. I suspect that they’re overcapitalised as it is and the leadership crisis has given them the excuse they were looking for to pull out without losing face. Instead contact the Kellard Insurance trustees. They showed some interest in investing in the tunnel at one point and I know they’re still looking for an equity stake to put their pension fund into. It might bridge the gap in time to make the tender deadline.’
Crowning His Unlikely Princess (Mills & Boon Modern) Page 5