Royal Distraction Lucy McConnell (ebook reader online TXT) 📖

life, but being in his arms made dealing with the bad things easier. She could draw from his strength and find the courage to face what was to come.

What had Mother said? Love is found in facing hard moments together and drawing close. She and Tatum hadn’t shared hard times together. All they’d had were sweet moments and wonderful kisses. Therefore, according to her mother, she shouldn’t be in love with him. But she was going through a hard time now, and all she wanted was his warm arms around her. Didn’t that say something about her capacity to fall in love with him?

She sighed.

It was Friday morning before Nyssa’s and her parents’ schedules aligned for a video conversation. She avoided looking at the picture of herself in the lower right corner of the screen. A night spent tossing and turning did nothing for her hair, her complexion, or the sadness that hung in bags under her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Father. I’ve failed us all.” Nyssa clenched the hotel pencil under the desk and it snapped in two. Father couldn’t see it on the laptop screen he talked through. Mother was there somewhere, out of camera range. Nyssa hated not being in the same room with them. They were a modern family now—sharing news, good and bad, over video chat.

It wasn’t the same.

The promised tour was anything but thrilling. She’d met several senators and representatives and a governor of some state or another. She saw marbled halls and paneled walls where laws were written, voted, and signed. She’d sipped tea with the First Lady. Two days ago, she would have soaked up every minute with wide-eyed wonder.

Not today. Today she barely made it back to her room before the despair hung a hammock over her heart and settled in.

“We knew it was a long shot,” replied the king.

“Perhaps if you had been here, or Turk.”

Her father swatted away her concerns. “The outcome would have been the same.”

Nyssa clasped her hands together under the table, feeling small and knowing her voice was even smaller. “I’m ready to come home now.”

Father shook his head. “You cannot. Prince Marius extended his visit to America to spend time with you.”

“I’d forgotten.” Prince Marius of Riodan. Their neighbor and closest ally—an island and country they could count on for help, if Father would ever ask for it. She had already lost the help of the American government; she could not afford to alienate the prince as well. She had to see him.

A storm cloud passed through her thoughts. She needed to do more than see him; she needed to secure his affection. Not falsely. An honest effort to get to know Marius, to make him a friend, and to openly evaluate the possibility of a courtship would be her course.

Perhaps … perhaps with time she could put the memory of Tatum’s kisses away and take her place as a princess of both Zimrada and Riodan. She closed the lid on the box of chocolate turtles, leaving the rest uneaten, un-enjoyed like her relationship with Tatum.

“Very well. I will be ready,” she replied.

Chapter Sixteen

Tatum adjusted his tie. Private security work was an interesting vocation. One day he dressed as a Bedouin, and another he looked like he was ready to host Jeopardy! Wearing a charcoal-gray suit, a white shirt, a black tie, and sporting a freshly shaven face, he would blend in with the other security details working the exclusive restaurant.

Caroline’s catered to the wealthy who desired privacy with separate dining rooms. Heavy wooden doors that locked from the inside allowed the rooms to be secured from the inside.

Tatum both liked and hated the idea. He liked that he could lock someone out, but hated the idea of being trapped. Earlier that day, a staff member had given him the rundown on emergency exits, procedures, and noted his sidearm in the log. The guy didn’t ask if he had other weapons, and he didn’t volunteer the information. Packing more iron than the other guy knew about was never a bad idea.

After the tour of the location, Tatum rode in the limo to pick up the prince. He wasn’t staying at the same hotel as the princess, and for a moment Tatum was disappointed. Even a glimpse of Neese would hold him over until he could find her on her home turf.

Execute the plan.

As far as princes went, Prince Marius from Riodan wasn’t too bad. He went over his plans with the princess of Zimrada for the evening with Tatum. Nothing spectacular. A quiet dinner of seven courses. Nothing that would sweep the princess off her feet.

Tatum was thrilled, though. He would finally meet the princess. Well, probably not meet her, as security personnel were supposed to blend in with the drapes. If all went well tonight, she would remember his services to her neighboring country when he and Nelson gave their presentation to the royal family.

Marius fidgeted with his cufflinks. He caught Tatum watching him out of the corner of his eye. “I am sorry. I did not think I would be nervous tonight. I have known this woman since she was three.” He wiped at the moisture accumulating on his forehead. The interior of the vehicle held steady at sixty-eight degrees. The guy was stressing out.

It wasn’t Tatum’s place to offer dating advice to a prince. Yet he couldn’t help but feel for him. Six months ago, he would have offered a noncommittal grunt and let him sweat it out. “Women aren’t intimidating when they are three. It’s when they grow into women that they scare the tar out of us.” Tatum glanced towards the prince and then checked traffic behind them for any sign of a tail.

The prince laughed. “I’m not sure how I feel about a bodyguard who is intimidated by a beautiful woman.”

Tatum allowed himself a smile. “You didn’t say she was beautiful.”

“I did not know how beautiful she was until I caught a glimpse of her