by Sandra Hyatt
“Thank you, Danni. You won’t regret it.”
She shook her head. “I already do.”
Five
“There’s a café up ahead.” Adam’s voice broke through Danni’s concentration, snapping her awareness to him.
“Yes,” she said warily. They’d been on the road for a little more than an hour and those were almost the first words he had spoken to her since informing her that they’d meet his date there later this evening. And the statement gave her an ominous sinking feeling sapping the pleasure she’d found in the drive. So far, he’d used the time sitting in the back making and taking calls and working on his laptop. It was an arrangement that suited her just fine and she’d hoped he was setting the tone for the whole weekend.
“Let’s stop.”
A glance in the mirror showed her that his laptop was now shut. Working, he was remote and safe. It was when he leaned back in his seat and focused his attention on her that things, in her head at least, became decidedly unsafe.
“Let’s not stop.” If she was here as more of a friend than a driver she was allowed to voice an opinion. “It’s not planned. I haven’t called ahead.”
“They’ll cope, I’m sure. I don’t know what you’re going to have but I only wanted a coffee. And maybe a muffin.”
“I meant for security. Which you knew. They like to know in advance where we intend stopping.” Now, he’d decided to tease? She didn’t think much of his timing but the glint in his eyes and the lift to his lips made her stomach give a funny little lurch.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. “If we didn’t know we were stopping, no one else could have. This whole weekend is going to be as low-key and as off-the-radar as possible.”
“In that case, we shouldn’t stop where people will see you and recognize you.” The café loomed ahead. One more minute and they’d pass it.
“Stop the car, Danni.”
Repressing a sigh, she pulled off the road and into the parking lot. There was only so far she could push the friend-versus-driver split.
“You wanted me to be more spontaneous.”
So now this was her fault? “I don’t think I said that, Your Highness.” She used the “Your Highness” deliberately. She was desperate to get the formality back into their relationship because something fundamental had shifted that night in the library with him. When he’d kissed her hand, the press of his lips igniting a low forbidden heat. Actually, it had shifted in the seconds before when she’d touched his nose, when her eyes had met his as she did so. She’d been slammed by a desperate desire to kiss him. Properly. To slide into his arms, press herself against him and kiss the bejeebers out of him. Really, she’d been no better than Anna and hadn’t even had the excuse of alcohol. If that was spontaneity, it was a bad, bad thing. “Call me Your Highness again and I’ll sack you on the spot.”
He was joking. About the sacking part anyway. She was sure of it. Just not the “Your Highness” part. He hated that from her. “Fine. I didn’t say I wanted you to be more spontaneous. Adam.”
The twitch of his lips stretched into a smile. She hadn’t realized it before but that smile of his could be irritating, especially when the smugness of someone who’d gotten his way—again—gleamed in his eyes. Even so it made her own lips curve in response.
“No. But you implied it,” he said. “So I’m going to be spontaneous. And we’re going to stop for unplanned coffee.”
“Paul won’t like it.” Paul was the head of palace security. They’d had a half-hour meeting together before she’d picked up Adam this morning.
Everything was shifting. Even the fact that he’d insisted she not wear her uniform disturbed her. She wasn’t used to driving Adam wearing jeans and a sweater. It felt…disconcerting, like she didn’t quite know who she was or what role she filled. It blurred the boundaries in her mind. It allowed her to think of Adam and kissing in the same thought. Perhaps she should have packed the uniform just to be safe.
“Paul will cope. Now, are you going to come in with me, or are you going to sit out here in the car and sulk?”
“I don’t sulk.”
“Good. Let’s go get coffee.”
Danni got out and muttered a “yes, Your Highness” under her breath. By the time she’d got round to Adam’s side of the car he was already standing, breathing deeply of the crisp air. “One day…” she said.
He waited for her to continue, a smile still tilting his lips.
“Yes?”
“One day I’m going to outmaneuver you.”
The smile widened and stole her breath. “And on that day Satan will swap his pitchfork for a snow shovel.”
She shook her head and turned away, breaking the direct line of fire of that smile. She’d forgotten, or maybe never realized because she’d known him forever, how attractive he really was. Especially when he smiled. But now wasn’t when she wanted to be noticing things like that. Now, when she already felt the ground slipping and tilting beneath her. Irritation was the emotion she should be after. Irritation that he thought he could so easily best her. Irritation that it was so often true.
Inside the café they ordered drinks and chocolate muffins and sat at a booth with a view over the pine-forested hillside and up to the snow-covered mountains.
“You can see these mountains from my office in the palace,” he said, leaning back in his seat after his first sip of coffee. “Every time I see them I remind myself that I ought to come up here. Rafe and Lexie have been up to the Marconi chalet several times and even Rebecca and Logan have visited. But it’s been years since I made the time. So, thank you.”
Danni shrugged. “Pleased to be of assistance.” More pleased than she could let him know. Already he looked different, a little less strained. This could be her service to the country. Though right now she didn’t care about the country, just about him and that this would be good for him. He looked relaxed and open. “So, who’s the date?” She needed to remind herself what was really going on here because she was in imminent danger of forgetting. He hadn’t told her anything. Just that whoever she was would already be up at the chalet.
“Claudia Ingermason.”
“The figure skater?” The Claudia Ingermason Danni was thinking about had won a medal for San Philippe two winter Olympics ago and had since launched her own brand of top-of-the-line winter and ski gear. She was also stunningly beautiful with the looks of a Swedish supermodel.
He nodded. “Rebecca set it up. Claudia’s an old school friend of hers. You said to try dating someone I could have fun with. We both enjoy skiing. So it should be…fun.”
“You’ve met her before though?”
“Not exactly.”
“So, this is a blind date?”
“No. I know who she is.”
“Did you bully Rebecca into setting you up with someone?”
“I resent the implication that I bully people. And even if I tried, Rebecca would be the last person to stand for it. I asked her if she could think of anyone and she came up with Claudia.”
“Sounds perfect.” Danni set down her coffee. “So why don’t we get going? The sooner I get you up there, the sooner you and Claudia can start having fun.”
“There’s no rush. She’s tied up in a photo shoot for her next season’s line. It’s running behind schedule. She’ll be an hour behind us at least.” Adam’s hands were wrapped around his mug and he didn’t appear in any hurry to go. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Why this still feels like work?”
“Because you’re making it work. You’re trying to force it.”
“I’m just trying to speed things up.”
She shook her head. “Relax. If you remember how. If it’s meant to be with Claudia, it’ll work out. And if it’s not, at least you still got to go skiing. But either way I think we should get going because I don’t like the look of the weather.” The distant clouds seemed to have grown darker in the time they’d
been sitting here.
Adam frowned. “You’ve had a weather update?”
“It’s not supposed to snow till much later this evening or possibly tomorrow.”
“That’s what I thought.” He shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. His eyes drifted closed in a long slow blink. And given that this was the most relaxed she’d seen him in years, Danni wasn’t going to hurry him along. He’d been out till the early hours of the morning at a state function and from a comment he’d made earlier, it sounded as though he’d scarcely gone to bed because of calls to the other side of the world he’d had to take.
“What are you doing?” Danni asked, horrified, fifteen minutes later as Adam got into the front seat beside her. She’d been looking forward to the subtle reprieve from his company. Company she could like too much. Now he was beside her instead of in the back, preventing her from putting things into their proper perspective. Me driver, you passenger. Me commoner, you royalty.
Now, as he sat beside her, she had bad thoughts like me woman, you man instead.
“What does it look like?”
“It looks like you’ve forgotten where you’re supposed to sit.”
“Where I’m supposed to sit? It’s my car. I can sit anywhere I want.”
Definitely man, and one who thought he could do whatever he wanted. Probably because he usually could. Time for diplomacy.
“And a very nice car it is, too. But I’m your driver. And the point of having a driver is so that you can sit in the back and work. Use your time efficiently. Not have to worry about conversation.” Like he had done for the first hour of their trip when he was completely oblivious to her. They had each had their space.
“We agreed that this wasn’t a normal driving role. You’re also here as a friend and adviser. Besides, I’ve finished what I need to do for the time being. Now, I thought I’d sit up here. The view’s better.” He looked at her as he spoke so she kept her gaze where it ought to be, trained on the road as it wound up into the mountains. Though if she was able to look at him, she might be better able to gauge what he was playing at. Or not. She never knew with Adam. By all accounts no one did. She’d often heard his brother and sister, and even once his father—from whom he’d inherited the trait—complain of that very same thing.
He opened the glove compartment.
“What are you doing?”
“I like seeing what you keep in here.”
“Nothing.”
He pulled out the thriller she was reading, turned it over. “Doesn’t look like nothing.”
“Nothing you’d be interested in. Adam?”
“Yes?”
“You’re sure you haven’t got work you should be doing?”
With a smile he closed the glove compartment. “I’m sure. The truth is I’m having second thoughts about this date. Not the skiing part, but the having to get to know another woman.”
“It’s because you’re still looking at this as work.”
“It’s partly that but worse than that, I’ve realized that if the chemistry’s not right, it’s just going to be a waste of my time, like getting stuck in an unproductive meeting.”
“Nothing like anticipating success.”
“What if it’s blatantly obvious there’s going to be nothing between us? I should have stuck to dinner. There’s an easy escape. So, just so you know—” he folded his arms across his chest “—I’m blaming you if this goes badly.”
“If that makes you feel better.”
“You know I wouldn’t blame you,” he said a few moments later.
“I’m not so sure of it. But I can live with it.”
She loved the little smile that played at his lips.
They lapsed into silence, and finally Adam seemed content to sit and absorb the beauty and serenity of their surroundings. Snow blanketed the ground and weighed on the branches of the fir trees that stretched back from the road. He spoke only once, to point out the tracks of a deer disappearing into the forest. She could almost feel the tension leeching from him.
His phone rang. The call was brief. He gave assurances to whoever was on the other end of the call that everything was fine and that there was no need to apologize. When the call ended he tipped his head back in the seat. “That solves that. Turn the car around.”
Danni flicked a glance at him.
“We’re going back.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Claudia can’t make it. The art director walked out and the photo shoot’s in chaos. If she’s not going to be there, then there’s no point in me going. Besides now I can attend tomorrow’s meeting of the Prince’s Trust.”
“I thought you were pleased to have a good reason not to attend.”
“I was, but I don’t have that reason anymore.”
“But the skiing?”
“The mountain’s not going anywhere. I’ll come up some other time.”
“You haven’t in how many years?”
“I will.” He wouldn’t, and her heart sank on his behalf. Partly because Claudia wasn’t going to be there but mainly because he’d miss out on the first day he’d taken off in nearly a year. The lines of tension and weariness showed around his eyes. “You’ve got competent people at the meeting for you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why not stick to your half of the plan and enjoy the skiing? If you take care of your own needs, you’re a better leader because of it.”
“There are more important things I should be doing.”
“But—”
“What?”
“Nothing.” It wasn’t her place to comment on his private life. He’d ignore her anyway.
“No. What were you going to say?”
“Just that I can’t turn around here. There are too many blind corners. There’s a place up ahead just a few minutes.”
“Good.” He tilted back his seat and closed his eyes. Within minutes his face softened and his breathing slowed and deepened, and now, finally asleep, he looked almost to be smiling.
It was an hour later before he opened his eyes again. And for the last half hour Danni’s regret over her decision had been growing. Especially the last ten minutes during which snow had begun to fall. Earlier and more heavily than forecasted.
Adam adjusted his seat to a more upright position and looked around, frowning. “Danni?” A low warning sounded in his voice.
“Yes.”
“The light is fading.” He glanced at his watch. “And it’s snowing.”
“Yes. It’s nothing the Range Rover can’t handle.” But she didn’t like it all the same.
“And we still appear to be going up into the mountains.”
“Ahh, yes, so it would seem.”
“So it would seem?”
She didn’t like the heavy sarcasm or the annoyance underlying his words.
“Why are we still going up?”
“Because…”
He waited—far too silently—for her to finish her explanation.
“Because that’s how we get to the chalet, and now we’re not so very far from it.”
“The Marconi chalet?”
“You keep repeating my words.”
“In an attempt to see if they make any more sense when it’s not your mouth they’re coming out of. Sadly, they don’t. And you’re going to have to explain.”
“You fell asleep.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“And you looked so tired.”
“Danni.”
She couldn’t ignore the warning in his tone. “And there really wasn’t anywhere to turn around.”
“For the last hour there’s been nowhere?”
She didn’t answer.
“Turn around. Now.”
“I don’t think it’s a very good idea.” They were only twenty-five minutes from the chalet.
“Clearly you don’t think it’s a good idea. But that doesn’t concern me. What concerns me is getting back to the palace. Tonight. So that I can sleep the
night in my own bed and do the things I’m supposed to be doing tomorrow.” His voice was lethally quiet.
“I thought that you’d appreciate the enforced break. I thought you could use it.”
“You thought wrong.”
“Adam, I—”
A jolt shook the car. It shuddered and pulled to the right and at the same time an alarm sounded on the dashboard computer. All three things told her the same thing. The very last thing she wanted to happen.
A flat tire.
She pulled off to the side of the road. For a moment she sat there not daring to look at Adam. She held the wheel. “This will just take a couple of minutes. And then we’ll be back on the road.” She’d have it changed quicker than another vehicle could get here for assistance or to pick up Adam. She radioed in her intentions and got out.
By the time she reached the back of the car, he was already there, pushing his arms into a down jacket. “What are you doing?” She hitched up her own jacket onto her shoulders.
“I’m going to change the wheel.” He spoke in a tone that indicated he would tolerate no disagreement.
She disagreed anyway. “No, you’re not. I’m the driver. I’m going to change it. That’s what I’m here for.” Danni opened the back.
“You’re here to drive me where I want to go and you weren’t doing that.”
“That’s different.”
“I’m not going to get into an argument with you.” He spoke gently but implacably. “This is my car. I’m going to change the wheel.” Adam reached in front of her and lifted out the spare tire.
“If I was a man, would you insist on changing it?” She grabbed the jack and the wrench and followed him to the wheel that sat heavily on its rim.
Adam set the tire down. “If you were your father I would.”
Danni put the jack beside it and turned to him. She knew, and didn’t like, the obstinate look in his eyes. “And he’d be just as insulted as I am.”
“Deal with it. I’m not going to stand by and watch while you change the tire. What do you take me for?”
He stepped toward the jack and she insinuated herself into the sliver of space between him and the car, blocking his way.