by Merry Farmer
She nodded. Underneath her stoic exterior, Mack caught a hint of panic. He could feel her shaking just a bit as he ripped through her jeans enough to secure his rudimentary bandage. It was as if, now that she was out of immediate danger, she was letting her fear bubble to the surface.
“You’re okay,” Mack assured her, a warm, confident feeling spreading through him. He met her eyes and made sure she was looking at him before repeating, “You’re okay, I promise. I’ve got you.”
She nodded. Their eyes stayed locked. She had the most beautiful, deep, brown eyes. They were filled with fear now, but behind that he saw intelligence and experience. And beauty. The more he looked at her, the more he could see it. She had a perfect, oval face—even if it was covered in scratches—with high cheekbones, and sensuous lips. Her eyes had just a slight tilt to them too, making her look exotic and mysterious. They stirred something within him, something he hadn’t felt for a long, long time.
“Prince Mikael.” His name suddenly blasted from a loudspeaker on one of the circling helicopters. “Do you have the situation under control?”
“Prince?” Gloria gasped. The fear left her eyes for a moment, replaced by shock.
“Yeah, that too.” Mack grinned, then stepped away from her, heading toward the console in the center of the boat to grab the radio. “This is Mack,” he said, hoping he still had the radio set to police frequency.
“What is the status of the pilot?” a voice answered him.
“She’s injured,” he reported, “but not badly. There were no passengers. We’re heading to shore.”
“Do you need an ambulance to meet you there?”
“Absolutely,” he answered. “I’ll stay with the pilot until then. Her name is Gloria Swann, and she appears to be British.”
“Understood,” the voice answered.
A moment later, the helicopters backed off, heading for the shore. Mack twisted to address Gloria through the open window behind the captain’s chair.
“Hold on,” he told her. “We’re heading back to shore. And don’t worry, I’ll stay with you.”
He didn’t know what compelled him to make the promise, but he meant it. He wasn’t sure why, but he needed to stay with Gloria for as long as possible.
2
The second Mack steered his boat into the marina, he spotted an entire team of paramedics waiting for them.
“You’re in luck,” he called over his shoulder to Gloria. “We’ve got a welcoming committee.”
She laughed, but there was more anxiety than humor in the sound. Mack shot another quick look her way before being forced to focus on docking. He’d always had a pretty good sense of people. His impression of Gloria was that she was tough, poised, but scared out of her wits. Who wouldn’t be after crashing a plane? But more than that, there was something about her that intrigued him. He’d felt a visceral connection when she looked into his eyes. He wanted to know her. She stirred something in him that he hadn’t felt since his fishing days, and he was dying to know what that meant.
“Here we go,” he called back to her as he finessed his boat into the slip where the medical team was waiting. “Back on land, safe and sound.”
The medical team jumped into action, climbing aboard and going straight to Gloria. They paused long enough to greet him with, “Your highness,” and nods as they did.
“I still can’t believe I was rescued by a prince,” Gloria said, her voice shaky and thin.
Mack shrugged, pretending nonchalance in a bid to keep her calm. “It’s what we do. My brothers and I all had lessons in rescuing damsels in distress when we were in school.”
She gave him another weak laugh that turned into a grimace as the medical team tested her injured arm and leg. The bone-deep need to protect her from any sort of pain or harm gripped Mack, and instead of seeing to his boat, he inched closer to Gloria.
“Is she badly hurt?” he asked the medical team.
“It doesn’t look too bad, all things considered,” a female paramedic answered. She spoke to Gloria, saying, “Your left shoulder is dislocated, so we’ll get that taken care of first. Prince Mikael did a good job of stopping the bleeding around your knee. We’ll take you to the hospital to assess whether there’s any internal bleeding or damage, but considering you’re conscious and sitting up, I’d say you had Aegir’s own luck on your side.”
Gloria’s eyebrows shot up, but whether because of her condition or because the paramedic used Aegir’s name was unclear. She gritted her teeth and showed an impressive amount of mettle as the medical team popped her shoulder back into place. Mack flinched when she swooned after that was done, but there wasn’t a lot he could do. Gloria was moved to a stretcher, and the team carried her off the boat.
“Wait.” Gloria came to quickly, reaching for Mack with her good arm. The color rushed back to her face. She hesitated, looking suddenly sheepish and uncomfortable. “Will you…will you come with me?”
Mack’s heart melted at the plea. He had a gut instinct that it wasn’t a normal reaction for her. And really, who would appeal to a nearly complete stranger to come with them to the hospital unless they were far, far more shaken up then they wanted to let on.
He smiled. “Of course I’ll come with you.”
A small crowd had gathered around the boat, which the medical team had to shoo away as they carried Gloria to the ambulance. Mack spotted the marina manager in the crowd and stepped aside to give the man the keys to his boat and instructions to take care of it. He knew the man well and trusted him implicitly, and within seconds, he was climbing up into the ambulance where Gloria was settled.
“Solrighavn Memorial Hospital is only a few minutes away,” he assured Gloria, sitting near her head.
She reached for his hand. Mack caught it in both of his and held on tight. The medical team had done everything they could for the time being, so they sat back letting him talk to Gloria uninterrupted.
“I’m not usually like this,” she said with another of her thready laughs. “I’m going to have to kick my own ass later.”
Mack grinned. “I saw your plane go down. I watched it flip. I don’t care how badass you are on a good day, you have every right to lose it right now.”
“I flew combat missions in Libya,” she argued, shaking her head, then wincing at the pain.
Mack’s brow went up. “You did?” She nodded. “That’s awesome.”
No sooner had he said that then his heart sank and his smile faded.
“That’s a heck of a lot more than I’ve ever done.”
“You’re a prince,” she said, visibly trying to steady her breathing. “It’s your job to fight dragons, right?”
He laughed. “The only dragon around here is my Aunt Marina. But don’t tell her I said that,” he added with a mock terrified look.
Gloria smiled. The beauty of it hit Mack right in his gut. “What do real princes do?” she asked, panting slightly through her pain.
He could tell she was making conversation to steady her nerves, so he answered, “My brother Alek helps our mother, Queen Viktoria, because he’ll take over someday. My brother Arne is Minister of Culture.”
“How many brothers do you have?” She blinked. “I’m sorry I don’t know more about Aegiria.”
“It’s a small country,” he said. “And I have five brothers.” Since he didn’t have any interest in listing the accomplishments of a group of people he loved but who overlooked him most of the time, he asked, “What about you? Any siblings?”
She laughed, deeper this time, but it must have caused her too much pain. She winced, then answered, “Strangely enough, I have five brothers too.”
“No,” Mack grinned. “What are the odds of that?”
“Pretty small.”
“And you’re the only girl?”
She nodded. “It made growing up an adventure, I can tell you. That’s probably why I went into the military.”
“Ah, so you’re a fighter. Everything makes sense now.” H
e grinned. Every new thing he learned about Gloria piqued his interest more.
But she shook her head. “I left the RAF six months ago.”
She didn’t say more. Not only that, her expression clouded over. There was a story there, which only made him want to know more. He didn’t want to pry, though.
“What do you do now?” he asked instead.
“Aside from crashing planes into the Baltic?” she replied with a crooked grin.
A zing hit his heart at her expression, but that turned quickly to an ache as she answered her own question with a one-shoulder shrug, dropping her eyes from his. Mack rubbed her hand in his. She had more stories than the royal library, and he was interested in all of them.
“You never answered my question,” she said, glancing up at him again. “What does a prince like you do all day?”
He met her question and her curious look with a lopsided grin of his own. “Same as you.”
Something in her expression shifted. A flicker of understanding filled her eyes. The pull Mack had felt since hoisting her onto his boat intensified. He didn’t know what it was, but he thanked his lucky stars that he’d been out on his boat exactly when and where he’d been to bring her into his life. Maybe Aegir had something to do with it after all. A little divine intervention never hurt anyone.
“We’re here,” the paramedic announced as the ambulance made a turn.
Mack sat back in his chair, letting go of Gloria’s hand as the team surrounded her. Their eyes were still locked, though, and he smiled to reassure her when the nervous look pinched her beautiful features again. He wanted to wipe that look away forever.
He was forced to hang back and stay out of the way for a bit as the medical team removed Gloria from the ambulance and took her into the emergency room. Mack followed after her. His status as a member of the royal family had its perks, and he was allowed to follow the gurney into the ER despite not being a member of Gloria’s family. It probably helped that she wasn’t in dire distress. And he could tell from the grateful looks she sent him as the hospital team took over from the paramedics that he was actually doing some good by throwing his royal weight around to stay with her.
He grinned to himself as the ER doctors assessed her condition and planned the tests they would give her. Imagine that. He was actually useful for a change. It felt good.
Those good feelings were dented almost immediately as his phone rang. One of the ER doctors sent him a look that even a prince couldn’t argue with, since he wasn’t supposed to have his phone on in the area where they were.
“Sorry,” he whispered, checking his phone. It was Marina. He leaned in to touch Gloria’s good shoulder. “I have to get this, but I’ll be back in a second.”
She nodded, smiling, and Mack’s heart did another flip into his gut. He hated stepping away to answer the call.
“Hi, Aunt Marina,” he said, answering the call anyhow as he marched out to the waiting area. Several sets of surprised eyes followed him as he found a quiet corner where he could talk.
“Mack. Where are you?” Marina asked.
“Um, I’m at the hospital.”
There was a brief pause before she said, “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”
He let out a breath, rubbing a hand over his face and wracking his brain to figure out how to explain. “I was out on the boat, and I witnessed a small plane crash into the water. I was close enough to help the pilot get to safety, and I’ve come with her to the hospital to make sure she’s all right.”
Marina’s pause was longer this time before she said, “Oh my God, is she okay? That sounds horrifying.”
“Oddly enough, I think she’s going to be fine. She has some minor injuries and the doctors are sending her for tests, but they’re optimistic. She’s a former RAF pilot, and it looks like she had the skills necessary to crash and walk away. Or rather, swim away.”
“Thank heavens.” Marina paused yet again. Mack could almost hear the shift in her thinking. “She’s not going to sue, is she?”
“Sue?” Mack blinked, not sure he’d heard right.
“You can never be too careful these days. We’re a high-profile family, after all. She could use this as a way to extort money. There’s no such thing as a Good Samaritan these days. Did you do anything that could be considered negligent or harassment?”
A bubble of anger flattened Mack’s otherwise good mood. “She’s not going to sue,” he snapped. “She was shaken, I helped her, now she’s in good hands. Why does everything I do have to be wrong?” He wasn’t sure why the last bit came out, but as soon as it did, he winced.
Marina let out an impatient breath. “You always were touchy. If the woman is fine, she’s fine. So leave her at the hospital and get back to the palace.”
Considering how mercilessly she’d just squashed his mood, it was audacious for his aunt to make that kind of demand. “You don’t need me there,” he said. “Gloria wants me to stay with her.”
“Gloria?” Doubt laced Marina’s voice. She made another sound and went on with, “We’re in the middle of trying to stage the most lavish wedding Aegiria has seen in decades.”
“I thought Mother and William wanted a small, private affair.”
“There’s no such thing as a small, private, royal wedding,” Marina went on. “No matter what they think.”
“You don’t need me for anything,” he insisted.
“We need the whole family. The press has been biting at my heels for any tidbits we can throw to them. We need photographs, interviews. We have to plan every detail so that no one sets a foot wrong.”
“If you’re worried about family members setting their feet wrong, why aren’t you talking to Kristoff or Viggo?”
Across the waiting room, Mack caught sight of one of Gloria’s doctors searching for him. His attention instantly drifted away from Marina saying, “I’ve already spoken to Kristoff and Viggo, and now I’m speaking to you.”
“I’ve got to go,” he said, starting toward the doctor. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“You’re needed at the palace now,” Marina insisted. “If you won’t—”
Mack ended the call before she could go on pestering him. As happy as he was for his mother and Dr. Hayes, the wedding itself was close to driving him out of his mind. He couldn’t stand being pulled away from what he wanted to do just so that he could stand around officially doing nothing in front of the press. The more time he spent with his family, the less a part of them he felt. He’d never been happier to have something else to think about.
“How is she?” he asked the doctor as they met in the hall leading back to the ER cubicles.
“Surprisingly well, considering all she’s been through,” the doctor said. “No internal injuries, just a bunch of scrapes and bruises, that dislocated shoulder, and the laceration around her knee. We’ll keep her overnight for observation, but it’s a small miracle she came through the way she did.” He paused, then added, “A miracle or outstanding piloting skills.”
Mack made it to the cubicle where Gloria was being examined just as a nurse and a porter were preparing to move her.
“Looks like you’re going to be hanging around our beautiful country for longer than you anticipated,” he told Gloria with a smile.
“I wasn’t planning on visiting at all,” she said. “I was only in Sweden because I was making a circuit of the North and Baltic Seas. But I guess life doesn’t always go according to plan.”
“No,” he agreed, moving to her bedside to squeeze her hand. “Sometimes it turns out better.”
She smiled. “Thanks for staying with me.”
He didn’t like the finality in her statement. “I don’t have to go,” he said, even though technically, if Marina had her way, he did.
She opened her mouth to say something, but the nurse beat her to it. “Miss Swann needs to rest. She’s been through a traumatic event.”
“Got it.” Mack nodded to the nurse. “I can come by and visit later,
though. Tomorrow morning after a meeting I need to attend?” He felt as though he’d met her at a bar and was making a date to see her again, even as the sounds and smells of the hospital surrounded them.
She smiled up from her rolling hospital bed with the same fetching smile he figured she’d have if they were at a bar. “Thanks. But, oh.”
“Yeah?” He leaned toward her, even though the nurse and the porter were clearly impatient to get her to a room.
Gloria’s face pinched into a sheepish cringe. “Is it too much to ask you to find out what happened to my plane?”
Mack burst into a smile. “Not at all. I’ll let you know.” It was nice to be asked to do something important, something actually useful for a change.
“And,” she hesitated, a dusky flush coming to her cheeks, “would it be all right to have your phone number? You know, in case you have news about my plane.”
A rush of excitement that was entirely inappropriate for the hospital filled him. “Sure. Better still, I’ll have one of my family’s assistants send a cell phone over for you to use while you’re here.”
“Thanks, Your Highness.”
He laughed. “None of that nonsense. Call me Mack. All of my friends do.”
“Not Mikael?”
A wry grin pulled at his mouth. “No one’s called me Mikael since I was a kid.”
“Why Mack, then?”
His grin turned even more sheepish. “It’s because I’ve always loved fishing. So much that my brother Kristoff started calling me Mackerel instead of Mikael. It got shortened to Mack over the years and it stuck.”
“Okay, Mack,” she laughed. “Thanks again.”
“Don’t mention it.” Mack turned to go, and of all things, he winked at her as he did. Never in a million years would he have imagined his day turning out like it had. And at the same time, he had a feeling his whole life had just turned a corner.
Gloria watched Prince Mack walk away as the nurse and porter started to wheel her hospital bed out of the ER cubicle. For some reason, she couldn’t look away from him. She’d been rescued by a prince. A hot prince. And he didn’t seem to be the cocky bastard type either. He’d stayed with her, even though she’d acted like a total ninny.