A Royal Elopement

by Emma Lea

  “Wow,” Meredith breathed quietly beside me.

  I wasn’t the only one impressed by the grandeur.

  We were met at the door by the concierge and I let Cody deal with the man as I looked around. I tried not to look like a gawking tourist, but it was hard.

  “Maybe we should just play the penny slots,” Meredith whispered and I grinned.

  “You are meant to be the queen,” I whispered back. “Don’t let all this fluff intimidate you.”

  She gripped my arm and straightened beside me. We were playing a role and we both needed to remember that.

  We followed the concierge into the casino, getting swallowed up by the crowds. Cody and Danika stayed close to us, but I realised it was just as important for Meredith and I to keep our eyes open.

  Meredith

  Seriously. I shouldn’t be so impressed by the decor around me. Merveille was not a poor country. We were wealthy and our palace was beautiful and I was surrounded by history and elegance every day. Still…there was something about being in the Casino de Monte Carlo that was thrilling. Maybe it was the fact that it was famous or maybe it was just the energy of the casino patrons as they placed their bets at the tables. Or maybe it was Jamie. Being so close to him and being able to touch him in public. Maybe that was what was giving me the thrill.

  I think I had been as shocked as he was when I turned around and saw him standing in the living room of the suite. At first glance I thought he was Will. That was the point, I suppose. I hadn’t really thought it through - the whole impersonating the royal couple thing. It had just been another job, a mission that we had been assigned. Seeing him in that suit, his face looking so much like Will’s and his hair dark…it was a surreal experience. I can honestly say that I had never been attracted to Will in all the time I had known him. But seeing Jamie dressed as Will was playing havoc with my insides. There was still something so very Jamie about him. Not that anybody else would probably notice. But I did. My body did. It was like my soul recognised his underneath the disguise. It seemed a weird thing to admit, but there it was. And maybe, if the way he had looked at me earlier was any indication, he had felt it too.

  I didn’t know what it meant for us…this connection. It was more than just being attracted to a pretty face or a nice body, although Jamie certainly had both. It ran deeper than that. So deep that even when he was dressed as the prince, my heart still knew him. I didn’t want to examine it too closely because I knew if I did I would find it hard to walk away from him. And walk away I would need to do. A month from today when this tour was over and we returned to Merveille, I would have to walk out of his life and never look back. I should have been guarding my heart against it. I should have been pulling away from him in preparation of what was to come.

  But I couldn’t.

  I knew that I would not come out of this unscathed and yet there was nothing I could do to prevent myself from falling. I had already fallen if I was truthful with myself. I couldn’t let myself dwell on that. I couldn’t acknowledge the depth of my feelings. It would only hurt more when we eventually went our separate ways. Our relationship had always been doomed to fail, and there was no happy ending for us in all of this. We had both known it from the start and yet here we were, playing with fire nonetheless.

  Danika stepped up to Jamie and leaned in to whisper in his ear. I didn’t like the way she was so familiar with him. I didn’t like the way her hand rested on his chest and how close her lips were to his ear. It was inappropriate. It was unnecessary. And it just really ticked me off.

  I didn’t realise I was squeezing Jamie’s arm so hard until he rested his hand over mine and gave it a squeeze. I looked up at him and he raised an eyebrow at me in question. I couldn’t help the flush that bloomed in my cheeks and I looked away. He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

  “Danika says they have a roulette table ready for us,” he said.

  I nodded and forced a smile on my face as I looked up at him. “Okay.”

  He searched my eyes for a minute until he was satisfied and then smiled down at me. We followed Danika and Cody through the gambling rooms until we reached a set of glass doors that led out onto the terrace. I stepped out and took in the spectacular view of the sun setting over the water and sighed. Merveille was a landlocked nation, with only Lac Merveilleux as the closest body of water. It was not the same as the sea.

  “This way,” Jamie said quietly and I looked up at him. His eyes were soft as he looked back down at me and my heart clenched. How could I say goodbye to this man? How could I possibly walk away from him when the time came?

  I nodded and let him lead me over to a private table. The croupier nodded to us as we took our seats. The concierge placed a large stack of chips in front of each of us and I stared down at the hard plastic bricks in shock.

  “A gift from the prince of Monaco,” the concierge said with a bow.

  I smiled up at him and nodded in response. Holy moly! There was a small fortune sitting in front of me. These were not the small discs that I was expecting, but large rectangle pieces in different colours.

  It may seem strange to outsiders, but I very rarely handled money of any description. I didn’t have a credit card or even a simple debit card. The palace paid for everything. If I wanted to buy clothes, I just had to sign a slip at the boutique - sometimes I didn’t even have to do that. Even when we lived in America, all our needs were taken care of by the household staff. I couldn’t even remember the last time I held actual cash in my own hand. Now I had several hundred thousand dollars in gambling chips in front of me and I didn’t know where to start.

  “When you are ready, Your Highness,” the croupier said.

  I looked up and him and nodded. He spun the wheel and dropped the ball, calling for bets. I picked up a chip, not looking at the number printed on it for fear of losing my nerve, and placed it on the red diamond. Jamie followed suit, choosing to play red as well. We were the only two players at the table and it felt weird. Jamie’s hand snaked under the table and rested on my thigh. He squeezed gently in encouragement as we watched the ball spin around the wheel. The ball dropped into a black pocket and then skipped a couple of times before coming to rest in a red one. I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t think I was cut out to be a gambler.

  Jamie

  I didn’t know how much we won or lost. The entire night seemed to blend into one colourful montage. What I did know was that I was having the time of my life. There was something so incredibly freeing about wearing someone else’s face. But it wasn’t just stepping into Will’s skin that made the night fun. It was the beautiful woman who sat beside me.

  We had never been on a real date. There had only ever been stolen moments between us, but sitting beside her now and being able to freely touch her in front of all these people was a revelation. I couldn’t get enough of her and I found any excuse I could to hold her hand, touch her arm or lean in and whisper in her ear. We were supposed to be behaving like the queen and her prince, and I had taken that to heart. I had seen how affectionate Alyssa and Will were. They loved each other and didn’t mind letting the world know it. They were obviously more reserved when acting in an official capacity, but when they were just out together, there was obvious affection between them.

  I took advantage of that.

  Meredith had relaxed into the role as well. She looked up at me with a winning smile and a sparkle in her eyes that even the dark contacts she wore couldn’t hide. Hesitant at first, she had taken to gambling after winning a few rounds of roulette. We had moved on to black jack and were now playing trente et quarante. Meredith was on a winning streak while I was sitting back indulgently and watching her play. To be honest, it was more fun to watch her than to play myself.

  We had gathered a crowd. Lookie-loos who had been drawn over by Meredith’s delighted laughter each time she won. I shifted closer to her, needing to let those around the table know that she was mine. It was possessive and caveman-ish, but I really didn�
�t care. Meredith was a beautiful woman and when she was smiling and having fun like she was right now, she glowed. It was only natural that people would be drawn to her.

  “I think we should go,” Danika said, leaning in close.

  I knew she was just doing her job, but I would have felt a whole lot more comfortable if it had been Cody whispering in my ear. Danika had taken her directive to watch me closely to heart. She hadn’t been more than an arm’s length from me all night. It felt a little claustrophobic and heavy handed. I had tried to subtly hint at Cody that they should swap places but he had either not picked up on my cues or he was ignoring me.

  I nodded to acknowledge Danika without looking at her.

  “Let’s call it a night, agapoúla mou,” I whispered in Meredith’s ear.

  She leaned her head toward me, resting it on my shoulder. “After this game,” she whispered back.

  She looked up at me and I would have promised her the world had she asked for it.

  Somewhere along the way, her disguise had become invisible to me. To others she was as she had been made up to appear - the young queen of Merveille. But to me, she was Meredith. After the initial shock of seeing her in the suite, the fake hair, the contacts and the carefully contoured makeup had melted into the background and the Meredith I had come to know and love shone through.

  I swallowed thickly. Love?

  Had I really fallen in love with her?

  I looked down at her, watching as she placed her final bet, and my heart sung. It was pathetic really. I was sure I heard some sappy Disney tune playing in my head. I breathed through it. No. I refused to believe I was in love. Sure, I loved her. We were friends, buds, mates, colleagues. I would die for her, literally. But ‘in love?’ That was another thing entirely.

  The crowd gasped and then cried out as Meredith lifted her hands in a winning fist pump like a prize fighter. I couldn’t help the affectionate grin that split my face. Cody and Danika worked at dispersing the crowd as the croupier slid Meredith’s winnings across the table. There was a casino attendant at her side in moments to take the chips.

  “I’ll have the winnings transferred to your hotel,” he said.

  “Oh, no,” Meredith replied, looking up at me with wide eyes. “I wouldn’t feel right about taking them.”

  “Your Highness?” the man asked, puzzled.

  Meredith looked around and then pleaded with me with her eyes.

  “Is there a charity of some sort we could donate the winnings to?” I asked and the man smiled.

  “Of course,” he said with a bow. “I will take care of it.”

  I thanked the man and then helped Meredith down from the stool. She tucked her hand through my elbow and rested her head on my shoulder. I liked the feel of her pressed up against me. I liked even more that we didn’t need to hide it from anyone.

  “Did you have fun?” she asked and stifled a yawn.

  “I did,” I replied.

  We walked slowly through the casino, following Danika and Cody. The crowds had thinned out and I felt like we were in our own little bubble.

  “So did I,” she said. “Once I forgot that I was playing with real money.”

  I chuckled. “I think that’s part of the psychology behind using chips instead of actual cash,” I said. “It’s easier to forget the value.”

  “I nearly died when that man placed all those chips I front of me.”

  “I know. I saw the look on your face.”

  The evening air was cool as we stepped out of the casino. It was fully dark now and the hotel was lit from below with large floodlights. It looked amazing. I could almost pretend that Meredith and I were out on a date, well except for the two body guards who led the way.

  We were quiet as we entered the hotel and then the suite. Danika and Cody checked the rooms before taking up their positions outside the door. I walked Meredith to the door of her bedroom and pulled her in for a hug. Her maids were waiting inside and no doubt Collins waited for me in my own bedroom, but I wanted to end the night like I had fantasised about ending a date were we ever to go on one.

  I tipped Meredith’s face up to mine and lowered my lips to hers. She sighed against me as she opened her lips and welcomed my kiss. I kept it gentle and light, even though I wanted to deepen it until we both forgot our own names. Before I could get lost in her, I lifted my head and kissed her temple.

  “Good night agapoúla mou.”

  “Good night Jamie,” she whispered.

  Chapter 7

  Meredith

  We spent a further two days in Monaco before we boarded the yacht that would take us to Le Beau. Alyssa and Will made a few public appearances and met with Prince Albert II. Jamie and I didn’t go with them. Our positions as their body doubles superseded our positions as their security team. Not that anybody would see us and think we were them - my red hair would make sure of that - but Benjamin thought it would be prudent to limit the amount of time we were seen together with them.

  I didn’t mind so much. It meant I got to laze around the suite or by the pool. I even went to the beach a couple of times. I loved the water. I hadn’t realised how much until I had spent the morning laying on a sun lounge in the sun with the soft shushing of the waves as they hit the shore. I could get used to a life like this.

  It also meant that Jamie and I got to spend time together. Not that we were alone. Either Cody or Danika was always with us. I didn’t mind so much, except that I did, I just couldn’t let it show. I especially didn’t like it when Danika was with us. I tended to hide in my room, which was counter-productive. What I should have been doing was making sure I didn’t leave her and Jamie alone. I didn’t like the way she looked at him. I didn’t like the way she manoeuvred herself to always be close to him. Instead of staking my claim and telling her to back off, I ran away.

  I was so confused. My feelings for Jamie grew day by day but I knew our time together was limited. As much as I wanted to imagine a world where we would be free to pursue a relationship together, real life just didn’t happen like that. For Jamie and me to even consider being together as a couple, he would have to leave the guard. I would never ask that of him. He, like me, had trained for years to be in the guard and he loved it as much as I did. I was already mourning my imminent departure from it and there was no way I could ask him to leave just so we could be together. That wouldn’t be fair.

  A shadow fell across me and I looked up to see the man himself smiling down at me.

  “I thought you might like a drink,” he said.

  I grinned up at him, banishing the depressing thoughts that had been swirling in my head.

  “You thought right,” I said.

  He sat on the sun lounge beside me and handed me a cold glass full of some fruity drink - including brightly coloured umbrella. We sat in silence for a moment, looking out over the bow of the yacht to the endless water that surrounded us.

  “We’ll be on Le Beau tomorrow,” Jamie said.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  This was the first full day on the yacht. We had boarded yesterday afternoon in Monaco and we would dock on Le Beau tomorrow afternoon. To keep up the ruse of us as body doubles, we were on a separate - identical - yacht to the queen. We had our own entourage and whenever we were topside we were supposed to be in disguise. No need for all the makeup, but I did have to wear the wig and big dark glasses. I’d even added a big floppy hat for more than just sun protection.

  “Let me rub some sunscreen on you,” Jamie said. “We wouldn’t want you getting burnt.”

  I sat forward and turned my back to him. I had been given a spray tan before we left Merveille. My skin was fairer than Alyssa’s and I did have the tendency to burn. Having a fake tan wouldn’t stop that, although it might hide the lobster red colour I would turn if I allowed myself to get too much sun.

  The sunscreen was cold and I shivered. It had nothing to do with Jamie’s hands on me. None whatsoever. He had to pull the sun bed he was sitting on closer and I
could feel the heat of his body behind me. He pulled the long dark hair over my shoulder and placed a soft, sneaky kiss on the place where my shoulder and my neck met before smoothing sunscreen over the very same spot. It was risky, being this close, but we were supposed to be pretending to be the queen and her consort. It may seem like we were in the middle of the ocean where no one could see us, but neither of us were that naïve. The press were crafty and with technology these days I didn’t think it was possible for us to ever be safe from prying eyes. Where there was a will, there was a way.

  As if my thoughts conjured them, we heard the telltale sound of a low flying helicopter. We had no way of knowing if it was press or simply a joy-flight from nearby Spain, but it was better to think the worst. I turned to face Jamie and my eyes dropped to his lips. Why not take advantage of our anonymity? I leaned forward and brushed my lips over his. He growled low in his throat and his hands went into my hair to pull me closer. We hadn’t had much cause - or opportunity - to kiss since we had been on the yacht, so I made the most of it. I drank him in, savouring the feel of his lips on mine. The spicy scent of him filled my nose and I lost myself to the moment, trying to imprint it on my memory so that I would have something to keep me company when we were apart.

  He lifted his head and looked down at me. I couldn’t see his eyes because they were covered by his dark glasses, but I imagined they had turned stormy grey.

  “Well played agapoúla mou,” he murmured before brushing a soft, quick kiss across my lips.

  He stood and walked back inside and I huffed out a breath as I turned back on the sun lounge and lay back down. I closed my eyes, holding on to the moment as long as I could. Part of me wished that this would never end. It was honestly the first time I had ever imagined a life outside of the guard. If Jamie was with me, I think I could even be happy.