Page 1 of His Runaway Princess

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Ryker Drasil knew he shouldn’t wear his sunglasses inside the ferry.

But old habits die hard - or not at all.

Especially when you’re trying to watch someone who doesn’t want to be watched.

He’d been on holiday for three weeks, but Ryker still hadn’t been able to turn off his internal protection officer. Not after so many years on the job.

And the person he watched seemed to be alone - and she definitely shouldn’t be.

Unless his eyes deceived him, Princess Johanne of Øyanord was on the Ravenzarian ferry with him.

Alone.

He didn’t know that royal family very well, but he’d worked a number of events where she had been along with his primary protectee, Princess Genevieve of Eyjanian.

After looking her up on his phone to be sure, Ryker did something he hadn’t done in quite some time, if ever.

“Is this seat taken?”

The young woman with the dark blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail looked up at him.

Had he ever noticed how incredible her green eyes were?

Focus, Ryker. Taking his sunglasses off, he tried to brush the attraction out of his mind.

“Pardon?” The music, obnoxious as it was, couldn’t have drowned him out.

He turned on his best smile, the one he’d been told was charming. Princess Genevieve had been the one to tell him that, while trying to distract him when she’d done something against the advice of her security team - but that was beside the point. His smile widened. “Is this seat taken?”

She glanced down at the empty seat beside her then looked around the half-full ferry. “If I said yes?”

“Then I would walk away,” he told her with a deferential nod of his head. “Or you can tell me it is available, and we can both have a hopefully pleasant conversation instead of whatever that music is supposed to be.” At least she’d picked a quiet corner, or the quietest one available anyway.

The princess shrugged. “I suppose you can sit wherever you’d like.”

Ryker sat down close but not too close to her. “I would never want you or anyone to feel uncomfortable.” He held out a hand. “I’m James, but they call me Ryker.” There couldn’t be any harm using his legal name could there?

She took his hand cautiously. “Amalia.” She’d made a smart choice to use one of her middle names.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Amalia.” He didn’t want to let go of her hand, for reasons that weren’t as professional as they should be. “Where are you headed?”

“Ichnusia.” She didn’t offer any more information.

The southern island, but not a specific location on it. Good for her. “Got any big plans while you’re there?” He stuck his sunglasses backward on his head to keep them out of his way.

She shook her head. “Not yet. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“Spur of the moment trip?” That would make sense. She couldn’t have planned very far ahead if she didn’t want her security teams to know where to look for her. It seemed likely she would have deactivated her phone.

Having been on a security team with a protectee who liked to disappear from time to time, he could easily imagine how frantic they must be at the moment. After the first few times, Princess Genevieve had worked out a system of code words with her team. She refused to stop, so it was the best option. Much later, they learned she’d been meeting with Levi Prescott - who she eventually married.

“I suppose you could put it that way.” She gave him a smile, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Do you have any recommendations?”

“There are any number of things to do. You can plan your own tour, rent an auto, and drive around the islands.” He gave a casual shrug. “It may be cheaper to rent one on each island instead of taking one across between the two.”

“I don’t think I would like to plan my own tour. I don’t know enough about the islands to do them justice.” Her hands rested on her lap, but her fingers began to twist together.

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