A Royal Mess and Her Knight To Remember

by Jill Shalvis

Alone in the kitchen, she sagged against the sink and drew a deep breath.

  And wondered at the fact that she wished they hadn’t missed at all.

  THE NEXT DAY after breakfast, Natalia stepped out into the sunshine. Everyone had been in a huge hurry to be out and gone. Though they’d all smiled—well, except Sally—at what Natalia thought had been an incredibly inventive casserole dish made from bread, eggs and sausage, they’d still vanished the moment she’d turned her back.

  They were busy, she understood. It didn’t matter. She was having a great time. It felt almost wrong, this lovely rush of joy she got piddling around in the kitchen, and she didn’t want it to end.

  Feeling good and nice and sure of herself, she moved off the porch, lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the bright sun. She would have denied it to her dying day, but she stood there, a kitchen full of work to do, secretly hoping for a peek of Tim.

  Just a peek, mind you, just one, of his tall, built, wildly sexy self. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since yesterday, when he’d touched her.

  Nearly kissed her.

  She hoped to catch him working, which meant she’d get a good look at all those muscles in action, stretching taut beneath his shirt. Maybe he’d be hot— hot enough to have removed said shirt, for an up-close-and-personal view.

  Something deep inside of her pitter-pattered at that, and she moved off the porch. When she did, the animals in the side stockade, the “pity pets” Sally had called them, all came to hopeful attention.

  Her heart stopped. Her palms went damp. It was ridiculous, this terror, and she knew it. She even knew where it came from. Every year in her hometown the royal family rode in the Christmas parade. When she’d been five, her father had deemed her old enough to sit on a pony by herself. How proud she’d been, forgetting to hold on to the reins so that she could wave to one and all.

  But then a pack of Labrador retrievers from the float behind her had broken loose, and startled her pony into rearing. In her velvet Christmas finery, Natalia had slid off the back and to the ground. She had still been sitting there when the pony had decided to let go of all it had eaten for a week.

  Covered in pony dung, which stuck nicely to her dress, the dogs had run in circles around her while the entire town…laughed.

  Yep, nearly twenty years and she still harbored this irrational fear of animals.

  She took another couple of steps and so did Tim’s animals—toward her. Actually, the little three-legged pig came running. Well…hopping, but he was good at it, moving as fast as three short legs would take him, his snout quivering with such velocity it nearly took him off the ground into flight. At the fence that separated them he pressed his snout against it and let out a series of frustrated snorts.

  Startled, Natalia stopped short, her heart pounding. But there was a fence between them. A good one. She was safe. Determined to get over herself, she took another step, even closer.

  The goat came, too, but it wasn’t until it bumped right into the pig that Natalia remembered the thing was blind. Which didn’t stop it from lifting its head over the fence and sniffling, searching…for food, she realized as she nearly fell backward to get out of the way.

  The ancient horse shuffled forward, too, stepping over the pig until all six eyes—four good and two not—waited expectantly.

  “But…I don’t have anything,” she told them, lifting a hand to her racing heart. “I’m sorry.”

  Still, they pressed against the wood, putting out whatever they could, which in this case was a very muddy snout, a set of teeth surrounded by a goat’s beard and a soft, searching muzzle.

  They cried, each looking so unexpectedly adorable she had to laugh. “I’m telling you, I’m not carrying food.” She lifted up her hands, which turned out to be a bad idea as it started a wave of enthusiasm on their part.

  They looked so hungry, her heart tugged. “Hold on,” she said, then raced back to the house and grabbed the first thing she found in the fridge.

  Back at the stockade, her three new friends were now making a huge ruckus. Oh, boy. They looked ready to rumble for the three carrots she’d brought, and not nearly as adorable as she remembered. “Don’t eat me,” she begged, and bravely handed one to the old horse, who in its excitement, dropped the carrot to the ground.

  It snorted at the food, but couldn’t seem to pick it up out of the dirt. Then, to the great consternation of the old horse, the pig started toward it.

  “Oh, no. That’s not yours—” She went to her knees to reach through the fence, trying to help the horse.

  But the goat got a hold of the hem of her shirt and started to eat it.

  “No,” she cried, the terror gripping her by the throat, trying to pull back, but the goat wouldn’t give up.

  Then the pig got into the act, wiping its dirty snout down her trapped arm, looking for another carrot, and Natalia nearly had a heart attack, imagining herself without a limb or even worse. With all her might she wished for lithe, toned, strong Annie, who could handle these animals with her eyes closed.

  With one hard tug, Natalia freed herself…and fell to her butt in the dirt, ripping the shirt. But she was free! Frantically, she checked all her limbs. After careful inventory, she decided that the only thing damaged was her pride and the T-shirt. “It could be worse,” she told herself. “I could have been pooped on. Someone could have seen it all.”

  “Oh, it’s worse.”

  Sally. Great. Natalia sighed and craned her neck, finding Sally standing behind her, arms crossed, a spiteful smirk on her face. “Hey. I was just…”

  “Feeding the goat your shirt. I know. I watched.” With a shake of her head in disgust, she walked on.

  Natalia got to her feet and told herself it didn’t matter. Sally didn’t like her whether she was an idiot or not, and surprisingly, when she went back into the house and changed her clothes, she felt even lighter of heart than before she’d made a fool of herself.

  In fact, she felt so good, she hadn’t thought about New Mexico for at least a couple of hours.

  A slight amount of joy faded as she remembered now.

  This was all temporary. Very temporary, as in one day left temporary, so no use getting attached in any way.

  But she had a sinking feeling it was far too late.

  “It’s never too late.”

  Natalia jerked at the sound of Amelia’s voice and whipped around, but she was alone in the kitchen.

  “Amelia?” she whispered, feeling ridiculous, and yet Amelia’s beloved and very British voice had sounded so real.

  No one answered.

  With a little laugh at herself, Natalia turned back to the task at hand. Lunch. Good God, she was really losing it here.

  Never too late.

  What did that mean? That she could stay if she wanted, just a little bit longer? She fingered her cell phone in the pocket of her jeans. What if she called ahead to New Mexico and said she couldn’t make it for some reason? She wasn’t due back in Grunberg until next Monday.

  She pulled out the cell phone, and before she could change her mind, called information for the hotel in Taos where she was to meet up with her sisters on Saturday morning. It was chicken of her to do it this way—calling and leaving a message that no one would get until Saturday—but then she wouldn’t be missed until it was too late.

  She finally got through to a hotel representative. Perfect. “Just say I’ve come down with…” Natalia wracked her brain trying to come up with a viable, believable excuse that wouldn’t bring the entire royal family to Texas in arms. “Poison ivy,” she said brilliantly. That would keep people away, right?

  “Poison ivy,” the woman said. “Tell her Your Serene Highness has poison ivy. Ma’am, is this some sort of a joke?”

  “No.” Not a joke, just a little white fib. Sorry Annie. Sorry Lili. “Be sure to tell her I’m covered with this horrific rash, terribly contagious and smell to high heaven from all the oatmeal baths I’m taking.” Yep, that w
ould do it, and she hung up feeling far too excited for someone who’d just sentenced themselves to cooking for ranch hands for another week.

  Luckily for her, lunch was fairly simple. Hors d’oeuvres that she’d whipped up from the night before and oddly had some left over. No sense in wasting food.

  It was the iced tea she had a hard time with. Caught up in the hors d’oeuvres and an approaching thunderstorm that made the sky so pretty she couldn’t stop looking out the window, she let it brew too long.

  But cowboys liked things strong, didn’t they?

  She’d have to learn to multitask better. She had it down pat in other aspects of her life. She could, for instance, spread treats out on a tray while gazing out the kitchen window at Tim, working with his horses.

  He’d just come into her view. Already her heart was drumming as it had when his horse had frisked her, but it wasn’t simple fear making it nearly leap right out of her chest.

  It was him.

  He took off his hat, and swiped at his forehead with his arm. Then he shoved the sleeves of his shirt up to reveal forearms corded with strength.

  Such a large man, and yet he appeared so utterly gentle with the young horse he was currently whispering sweet nothings to.

  In response, the horse playfully bumped his chest, causing Tim to toss back his head and laugh.

  The low, husky sound of it carried across the yard and through the window to her ears.

  “Ridiculous,” she muttered, but she kept her nose plastered to the window all the same. Maybe he’d get hot and rip off his shirt. She didn’t want to miss that.

  Get hot, she mentally transmitted. Really hot. Instead, he bent down, scooping up the front right hoof of the horse in his big hand to inspect the bottom.

  She got busy inspecting, too. His terrific bottom.

  “Oh, jeez.” From behind her came Sally’s groan. “What the hell are you doing now?”

  6

  NATALIA WENT FOR cool and calm when she turned to Sally, who had apparently come into the kitchen and walked right up behind her while she’d been staring at Tim. “I’m—” What had she been doing? Blindly, she stared at the knife in her hand. “Um…”

  Sally’s brow disappeared into her hair.

  “Making lunch.”

  “You mean you’re starving the men again.”

  “No, I’m—” Natalia blinked. “What?”

  “Oh, nothing, for God’s sake.” Sally leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. “You might want to wipe your chin.”

  “Why?”

  “You were watching my brother’s ass and drooling.”

  Natalia managed a laugh that didn’t fool either of them. “Don’t be ridiculous. That would be…” A definite spectator sport. “Insulting.”

  “You were.”

  Natalia busied herself fixing the large tray in front of her. “Is everyone ready to eat?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  She sounded so sarcastic Natalia turned, but Sally just sent her an innocent look. She grabbed a stuffed mushroom off the tray, turned it this way and that, carefully inspecting it, then finally took a tentative bite. “Hmm,” she said in lieu of a thank you.

  Okay, that was it. Natalia crossed her arms. “Is that ‘hmm’ good or ‘hmm’ bad?”

  “No comment.”

  “You can do better than that.”

  “No, really. I can’t.”

  “You know, I’m trying here.” She watched Sally wolf six more down in half as many bites.

  “Yeah.” Sally swallowed and brushed her hands over her thighs. “Which brings me to another point. Why?”

  “Why am I trying?”

  “Why don’t you just go on welfare, or hit a shelter, or better yet, get a job you’re equipped for, like cooking for a bunch of people who like weird food.”

  “First of all, I do not need welfare.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Carefully, Natalia set down her knife. No need to tempt herself. “And second of all, I’m not even a citizen. I’m a princess, which I know your brother already told you. I suppose, as it does sound outlandish way out here in the middle of nowhere, I can forgive you not believing it. But as far as why I’m here and what I’m doing…” No. She couldn’t share it, because the need to be a woman first for once, and a princess a distant second was strong. How could a woman like Sally, who did what she wanted, when she wanted, without a care to her duties, understand? “I’m afraid it’s none of your business.”

  “Fine. But if you’re here to snag my brother, think again. He’s not into body piercings or spiked hair.”

  No, but he’d been into the leather. “Snag your brother? What does that even mean?”

  Sally uttered a one-word adjective that perfectly conveyed what she meant. It was a word people didn’t often utter in front of a princess.

  “And,” Sally continued, “if you harm one little hair on his head, I’ll rip out your fingernails, one by one. So stop staring at his ass.”

  Natalia actually gaped. Was this woman for real? Knowing it was rude to respond to her host in such a manner didn’t stop her. She hadn’t been raised with sisters for nothing. Thanks to Annie being so tough and forward, she knew how to fight back. “You’re kidding me, right?”

  Sally didn’t so much as blink.

  “Wow.” Natalia shook her head. “It’s clear the American reputation of being crass and rude is completely undeserving. Because really, you’re all so sweet and caring.”

  “Just remember what I said,” Sally said.

  “Tim is a big boy.”

  “Yes, but he’s also a softie, with a heart just waiting to be stomped all over.” Sally took another mushroom and headed toward the door. “I’ll be watching you. Waiting for an excuse to kick your pretty little butt.” The door slammed.

  “I guess this means we won’t be polishing each other’s fingernails tonight at the slumber party, right?” Natalia called out after her, then kicked the refrigerator.

  TIM FORCED himself to take another bite of dinner, but only because Natalia was watching, her forehead puckered in a line of worry. He swallowed, hard, and managed a smile. “What is it?”

  “An old family recipe.” She clasped her fingers together. “Do you like it?”

  “Uh…” Everyone looked at him. “Well…I’ve never tasted anything quite like it.”

  Sally snorted.

  Natalia bit her lip.

  Sally pushed her plate away. “Nick would have made chili.”

  “Sally—”

  “And looked damn good while doing it.”

  “Nick?” Natalia asked.

  “The guy I would have hired for the job,” Sally said.

  Natalia looked down at her plate. “Chili. I hadn’t thought of that. Or that I’d taken a job from someone who needed it.”

  “Nick has another job already,” Tim said.

  “Oh, okay then.”

  Seth leaned forward eagerly. “You know, chili is really easy, Natalia. I bet you could do it.”

  Pete nodded hopefully.

  “Well, it’s not really a gourmet thing, chili.” Natalia tilted her head and considered. “But…”

  Tim poked at whatever was on his plate. “Is that what this is? Gourmet?”

  “Of course.” Natalia set down her fork. “What did you think it was?”

  He looked into her eyes. What did he think? That she looked very anxious, and not very tough, as she clearly wanted to be. That she was incredibly appealing looking at him like that.

  That he couldn’t tell her everything she touched was inedible. “I…”

  She pushed her plate away, looked aghast. “You didn’t know.” When he winced, she shook her head.

  “Oh my God. You didn’t know. You thought I couldn’t cook.”

  “Well—”

  “No.” She stood up, looking mortified. “You thought…you just chalked it up to my craziness. Right? Oh, let poor Natalia alone. She thinks she’s a princess, she thinks she can
cook, she thinks…” She shook her head again, covered her mouth. “Excuse me.”

  She rose and stalked from the room in her denim and combat boots.

  At the table, the men all turned accusing gazes on him. “Now you did it,” Pete whispered. “You hurt her feelings.”

  “Yeah. Go fix it.” Red pointed to the door. “Go tell her it’s only you. Tell her we love everything she made.”

  Sally rolled her eyes. “Oh, jeez. You guys are as pathetic as she is.”

  “Hey, now, she never did anything to you,” Pete said. “Except maybe try hard.”

  Tim sighed, tossed aside his napkin and stood. “I’ll talk to her.”

  “Yeah, you’d better,” Pete said. “Go make it right.”

  Everyone but Sally nodded, and Tim might have laughed if it wasn’t so damn touching. Every one of them was willing to eat the inedible, just to save Natalia’s feelings.

  “Bunch of softies,” Sally muttered.

  Tim had to agree. And with the exception of a certain of part of his anatomy that was rarely “soft” around Natalia, he was the biggest softie of all.

  HE FOUND HER on the back deck, watching the moon. She leaned back against one of the wood posts, her hands behind her on the wood, her face hidden by shadows. But not her body, which was illuminated by the glow of the moon, appearing all long and curved and gorgeous.

  It made no sense. In the jeans and T-shirt, covered now with an old opened flannel shirt of his, she should have looked ordinary. Plain.

  But she took his breath. “You okay?”

  “Sure. For a crazy lady.”

  “Natalia—”

  She didn’t look at him. “I know what you guys think of me.”

  He moved into her line of vision, standing in front of her so that she had no choice but to take her gaze from the moon and look at him. “They care about you,” he said. “And so do I.”

  “Like you’d care about a blind goat.”

  “I don’t think you’re a blind goat, Natalia.”

  She let out a rough breath and turned away, but not before he caught the glimmer of a sheen of tears in her eyes.

  “I don’t,” he said softly. “I just—”