Reunited with Her Secret Prince

by Susanne Hampton

  ‘There’s always one who overdoes the alcohol and oversteps the mark,’ the slightly taller of the well-built trio said. ‘We can take it from here. I assume you’ll be speaking with the captain or Sir Walter. This guy’s probably family so it might be difficult to drop him off at the next port. If they keep him on board we’ll just have him followed when he’s out of his cabin.’

  ‘I don’t care who he is, he’s getting off this vessel, no ifs, no buts about that. He’s gone.’

  Thwarted in his attempt to seduce Libby, and no doubt feeling humiliated by the ease with which Daniel had grappled him to the floor, the man had ceased struggling. He lay in a crumpled heap with Daniel clearly in control. But it was not lost on Libby that without Daniel it could have ended very differently.

  It could have ended very badly.

  * * *

  As the door closed, leaving them alone, Daniel turned to Libby and looked at her for the longest moment before he spoke. His blue eyes were piercing her soul with the intensity of his gaze. It was as unnerving as it was comforting.

  ‘Are you all right, Libby?’ he finally asked in a voice that was strong and masculine but coloured with layers of warmth and tenderness.

  His concern seemed genuine and his expression was serious but Libby could not answer for a moment. She was once again seeing Daniel and the man she had been so very close to, not the man she had wanted to forget. His eyes were drawing her in just as they had in the past. They were like two brilliant blue crystals but they were far from cold. And, against her will, their warmth was thawing her heart.

  ‘I’m...fine,’ she managed to say, with so many mixed emotions colouring every thought. His eyes looked so much like her precious son’s that it caught her breath.

  ‘I’m not so sure,’ he replied and crossed the room, gently pulling her into his arms.

  Libby wanted to fight him, she wanted to pull away but she couldn’t. She fell into his embrace. Into the warmth of his chest and the strength of his arms around her. It was everything she needed at that moment. The past was gone and the future didn’t matter. Libby just wanted to remain in the comfort of Daniel’s arms for as long as she could.

  * * *

  There was a knock on the open door and they both turned to see Walter standing there with the chief stewardess beside him. Daniel dropped his arms and Libby stepped back, immediately creating space between them.

  ‘I heard what happened, Libby,’ Walter began. ‘I’m so sorry, my dear. Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m... I’m fine, thank you.’ Her voice quavered from the reality of what had almost happened with Maxwell...and the embrace she had shared with Daniel.

  ‘It appears you’re fine because of our doctor.’

  ‘Yes.’ Libby nodded and looked fleetingly at Daniel. He was staring back at her, his concern for her evident in his expression. Her heart was torn with so many emotions. He had come to her rescue despite the way she had spoken to him the day before. Despite the way she had pushed him away.

  ‘You’re a strong woman, Libby,’ Walter continued. ‘I know that first hand but what you just faced is not something to brush off lightly. Maxwell is leaving the yacht tomorrow morning. The captain has called the coastguard and they’re picking him up first thing and what they do with him, frankly, I don’t care. For what he just did, I’d drop him in the middle of the ocean, to be honest, if I could get away with it. I’ve never liked him but he married his way into the family years ago and we’ve never been able to shake him. Well, we have now. And for good.’

  ‘Thank you, Walter.’

  ‘Don’t thank me, Libby, thank Daniel. He was your knight in shining armour, rushing to your rescue, and it’s a good thing he did,’ Walter interjected. ‘Now, you need to have a good rest in your cabin or on deck. You do not have to fuss over me for the rest of the day. I’ve told the steward to lock Maxwell in his cabin and if he tries to leave they can find a broom closet. I don’t care where they damn well put him. They could strap him to a jet-ski for all I care.

  ‘We’ll let him sleep off the booze in preparation for his exit from the yacht, and the family, tomorrow. I’ll be glad to see the back of him. He’s been a leach for years but now he’s crossed the line. I’m just so very sorry he stayed long enough to do this to you.’

  ‘It wasn’t your fault; no one could have known.’

  ‘While that may be true, my dear, I’m going to try to make it up to you by having your belongings brought up to one of the empty suites on this deck.’

  ‘There’s no need, really.’

  ‘Yes, there absolutely is a need,’ Walter argued. ‘That excuse for a man tried to assault you and would have succeeded if it wasn’t for Daniel. The suite is adjacent to Daniel’s and I think it might be reassuring for you to have him close by.’

  With that, Walter and the chief stewardess left the cabin.

  * * *

  The suite next to Daniel’s cabin? Libby wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. For anyone.

  ‘I’m truly sorry that happened...’ Daniel began.

  ‘You have nothing to apologise for,’ Libby cut in, never having expected to say those words to him. ‘I... I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t arrived.’

  ‘Don’t think about it, Libby. It’s over and he’s gone. For good, so you can relax for the rest of the journey knowing you don’t have to look over your shoulder.’

  Libby drew in a deep breath in an effort to still her nerves—about the attack and about being in the arms of her saviour. Both were playing on her mind.

  ‘But how did you get here so quickly?’ she asked with a curious expression on her face.

  ‘I was just outside the cabin.’

  ‘From when he arrived?’

  ‘A minute or two afterwards,’ Daniel told her, nodding his head and running his fingers through his hair. ‘I know how you feel about me, Libby, and your determination not to spend time with me, and I don’t blame you. I do understand. But I’d previously seen the jerk being incredibly disrespectful to the female crew members. He looked like potential trouble.

  ‘I know the type too well. Too much sun and too much alcohol. I was going to raise the matter with Walter and the captain tonight but when I heard he was heading to see you with a medical condition I followed him and waited nearby. It’s not that I don’t trust in your ability to manage a situation as a nurse, Libby. Believe me, I’ve witnessed how you handle the most volatile situations in the ER but this was different. You were alone in a cabin and I feared it could go very wrong.’

  Libby said nothing. Her anxiety was abating by the moment and, against her better judgement, her desire to once again be in Daniel’s strong arms was growing by the second.

  ‘When you raised your voice, I knew that, despite your rules, I had no choice but to step in.’

  Libby looked at him sheepishly and in a way she had not expected to ever again. He was not the man who had broken her heart, he was her handsome protector.

  ‘I’m glad you did,’ she said softly.

  Daniel looked at her in silence for the longest time and she felt her heart melting. All the feelings she had buried were starting to resurface and she wasn’t sure how to fight them. Or if she even wanted to try. The urge to feel his strong arms around her again was overwhelming. And unexpected. Libby suddenly saw Daniel for the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago. She was looking at the man who had captured her heart. And the way he was looking at her at that moment made her wonder if perhaps he had not forgotten what they had shared either. There were questions that needed answering...but did she want to know the answers now? They had a week to unpack the past. It was a silly way to think but her heart was leading her thoughts.

  She was so confused at that moment. Adrenalin was still surging through her body, along with something else. A warm feeling. A feeling of safety. A feeling
of something she couldn’t define.

  But she liked it and realised she’d missed that feeling.

  And she’d missed him.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  DANIEL STOOD LOOKING at Libby. He wanted her with every fibre of his being. He wanted to pull her back into his arms and carry her to his bed. He wanted to make love to her more than anything he had ever wanted. But he couldn’t. It wasn’t right for so many reasons. She was vulnerable. And he knew whatever they would share would only be for a few days. It couldn’t be for ever. And Libby deserved better than that.

  Libby deserved a forever man. And he could never be that. He had to step back. He had to walk away again but this time in the light of day and before he lost the ability to do it a second time.

  ‘As long as you’re okay, I should go,’ Daniel said abruptly, pulling them both back to reality.

  As he stepped away he fought the need to taste the sweetness of her mouth. It was a battle he had to win against his own desire for the woman so close to him he could smell the soft scent of her skin. He would recognise that scent anywhere. It was Libby’s scent. It had been in his memory for the longest time.

  But they could never be that close again.

  No matter how much he wanted to be with Libby, Daniel knew he couldn’t. That would be taking advantage of the situation. Taking advantage of her need to feel comforted after what she had just faced. Daniel knew that walking away all those years ago had been cruel but he believed his reasons had made it justified. Doing it again would be unforgivable.

  He had to accept that being together wasn’t in the stars for them. Fate had very different ideas for his future and he knew he cared for Libby too much to put her through what lay ahead for him. He wished with all his heart that the life ahead for him was a simple one that could include the most beautiful, kind, wonderful redhead he had ever met, but it couldn’t.

  His life would play out very differently from the one she deserved.

  As he made his way to the door, he turned back to her. ‘I’m sorry for what happened today, Libby. And, trust me, he will be gone in the morning. You’ll never see his face again.’

  * * *

  Libby was taken aback. Daniel had just pushed her away. It was just as she had asked but that had been before she had fallen into his arms again. Before she had realised that she loved that feeling.

  And wanted more.

  Her heart sank a little. Her knight in shining armour was just passing through. Yet again. She felt so stupid for getting her hopes up and letting her heart be tempted, if only for a moment, toward the path that had broken it so completely all those years ago.

  Biting the inside of her cheek, Libby watched Daniel leave the cabin and close the door behind him. And close the door on any chance for them, she told herself.

  She would never be that stupid again. Clearly, she meant nothing to him or he would not have behaved so dismissively. He would not have walked away, leaving her standing there like a stranger he had rescued. Like any other colleague, not a woman who had fallen in love with him. Who had slept with him, no matter how long ago it might have been.

  Libby couldn’t help but wonder why the universe had brought Daniel back into her life for only a few days. Perhaps it was to let her know he was not the right man for her. To remind her of what he had done and could do again.

  To remind her that she was a strong woman, a mother and a nurse, and that was all she needed to be. She didn’t need Daniel Dimosa and now she had five days to prove that to herself.

  And to work out exactly what sort of man he really was. And if there would be a place in her son’s life for him.

  * * *

  Daniel had no choice but to put distance between them. He was close to losing the ability to see reason and surrendering to his desire to pull Libby to him and tell her everything. Tell her that he hadn’t wanted to leave her all those years ago. Tell her why he’d had to go but how much he wished he’d never left. But he couldn’t do any of that so keeping her at bay was his only defence.

  Sombrely he walked back to his cabin and shut the door. He needed to shut his heart on Libby. He went into the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. Staring into the mirror as he patted his skin dry with a hand towel, he knew he was in trouble. Libby McDonald was still in his heart and now she was within reach. And tonight she would be even closer. Her cabin would be right next to his. She would be lying in her bed with only a thin wall between them. A wall he would gladly break down, if only he could.

  Stepping away from the mirror, he crossed to the open doors of his balcony. Looking out across the still blue water, all he could see was Libby’s beautiful face.

  He was struggling to understand why the world had brought them together, only to tear them apart.

  * * *

  That night, as he lay awake in his bed, Daniel thought back to the day he had first laid eyes on Libby at the Northern Bay General Hospital in San Francisco. With a short-term contract as head of ER, Daniel had instantly been taken by the beauty of the redheaded nurse who had efficiently organised everyone and everything in sight. As she’d rushed from one bay to the next, directing paramedics and nurses alike, he’d also seen the sweetness of her face and, as he’d drawn closer, the kindness in her eyes. The way she had engaged with the anxious patients and their loved ones was nothing quite like he had witnessed before.

  The days had become weeks and as he’d spent more time working closely with Libby in ER, the more and more he’d come to appreciate her extraordinary ability as a nurse. She’d managed the younger nurses as if she had been doing it for decades yet he’d felt sure she was only in her late twenties. And the desire to impart knowledge and give guidance along the way to the young nurses and the medical students had had her staying back some days long after her shift had ended. She’d swept them up on a journey with her in the love she had for nursing.

  Libby was born to have a career in medicine, he’d soon realised. She was a natural and, against his better judgement, and everything he had told himself and the rules he had lived by, he’d soon felt himself falling for her. When they’d worked the same shift in ER she had pre-empted his needs and together they’d managed the most difficult cases, some with wonderful outcomes, others ending in tragedy, but they had done it in a way he had never experienced before. And she’d brought comfort to every situation.

  Daniel rolled over in bed and stared at the ceiling as his mind travelled back to the night they had crossed the line. The night he had reached out for her not as a colleague but as a lover.

  It had been the most wonderful evening, a hospital fundraiser with an Easter theme. There had been oversized glitter-covered eggs in floral arrangements on every one of the one hundred and fifty tables, and six-foot stuffed rabbits placed at the entrance dressed in waistcoats and top hats. Daniel had worn a tuxedo as it had been a black-tie affair. The women had worn glamorous floor-length gowns, adorned with jewels, some real and some costume, and the men were a sea of black suits.

  But Daniel had seen none of it once Libby had arrived. His breath had been taken away as she’d walked into the room wearing the most stunning white sequined gown. As she’d turned to greet another guest, his eyes had roamed the bare curve of her back. Her red hair had been swept to one side and as she’d caught him staring at her, she’d smiled the most beautiful smile back at him. Immediately, he’d realised she was not only the most gorgeous woman in the world, and without doubt the most amazing nurse, she was dangerously close to being the love of his life.

  He’d noticed they were seated on opposite sides of the same table so he had politely, and with the other guests’ approval, rearranged the seating to be next to her. They’d chatted all night about everything and anything. And then Daniel had asked her to dance.

  It had been a dance like no other. As he’d taken Libby in his arms, her body had moulded to his, the softness of her
perfume filling his senses. Her hair had brushed against his face and when she’d laughed and rested her head ever so lightly on his shoulder, he’d never wanted the night to end.

  It had been after midnight when the band finished and their last dance had come to an end. Daniel had offered to drive Libby home and she’d accepted, with a smile that had lit up the room and his heart. When he’d walked her to the door, he leaned in to kiss her goodnight on the cheek but his lips had moved to find hers in the porchlight. Passion had overtaken them both and she’d invited him inside.

  It had been the most wonderful night. He would never forget it but he would always regret it too. He should not have crossed the line.

  * * *

  With only a sheet covering his body, Daniel turned and stared out to sea. The curtains were open as they always were and the moonlight was dancing on the gently rolling black waves, painting them silver. Daniel had seen it many times before but tonight was different. Tonight he knew that Libby could be looking at the same darkened horizon from the window in the suite next to his.

  * * *

  The next morning, he woke with a resolve to keep his promise to himself and his family, no matter how difficult it might be. He was returning to Chezlovinka in four days. He could not complicate it further, neither would he ever hurt Libby again. There was a divide between them that he could never again cross. This time he could not afford to get swept up in his feelings.

  Libby had finished breakfast when he arrived on deck, looking for her. He had taken a call from the chief stewardess when he’d stepped from the shower about a crew member who was unwell.

  ‘Good morning, Libby.’

  She turned and smiled a half-smile in his direction. ‘Good morning, Daniel.’

  He wanted to ask if she had slept well but decided to stay away from any personal conversation and keep it about work only. ‘I hope you can put yesterday behind you. The coastguard picked up Maxwell early this morning.’