Page 13 of His Runaway Princess

When the time came to eat dinner, they did so with the same wine they’d helped make - just quite a bit further along in the process than the part they’d worked on. The two tables of four led to some awkward glances between the other three couples.

None of them really wanted to sit with Amalia and Ryker. That much was clear.

Ryker was the one who offered a solution. “Why don’t we move the tables together? Then there’s no need to separate any of you.”

One of them smiled as they all gave a sigh of relief. “Our apologies, Ryker, is it?”

Ryker nodded.

“This is a trip we’ve been planning to take with our parents for a decade.” The woman pointed to the other two men. “Those are my brothers. We booked it over a year ago, but our parents...” Her breath caught in her throat.

“They were killed in an accident about two months ago,” one of the brothers went on. “We completely forgot to cancel their reservations until we got here.”

That explained why there were two open slots - for a couple.

“We’re so sorry for your loss,” Amalia said, hoping her tone sounded as sincere as she meant it to. That was horrible. “Please, don’t feel the need to include us. We completely understand why the six of you want to spend this time together as a family.”

At least she hoped Ryker did as well.

That was how she ended up, once again, having a cozy dinner with the man pretending to be her significant other.

And kind of wishing it could be real.

5

By the time they returned to their room, Ryker found himself grateful they hadn’t changed hotels overnight. At least they hadn’t needed to check in to a new place after all day on ATVs.

“Do I look as ridiculous as I think I do?” The princess turned to look at him. “This is not what I expected.”

Ryker laughed. “No more ridiculous than I do, I’m sure.”

Her muddy nose wrinkled. “You’re covered, except the area around your eyes where the goggles were.”

“Then we’re about the same.” He nodded toward the bathroom. “Why don’t you shower first? Do you need anything from the desk or the store? I can run over while you clean up.”

As soon as he said it, Ryker wanted to kick himself. He couldn’t leave Princess Amalia here by herself. Unprotected.

Thankfully, she shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. I have clothes I can wear to dinner this evening.” After she took some clothes out of her suitcase, the princess went into the bathroom. “I’ll hurry so you can get cleaned up, too.”

“Thanks.” After the door closed behind her, Ryker went out to the balcony rather than trying to find a place to sit where he wouldn’t get something completely covered in dried mud.

Somehow the fact that it was dried mud made it worse than just being dirt. The breeze coming off the Mediterranean felt cooler than he expected. He really should have looked at the schedule more carefully before agreeing to the day’s excursion. The ATV ride had been a lot of fun, but also had moments that could have bordered on dangerous - at least slightly dangerous.

It wasn’t a trip he would have let Princess Genevieve take without someone driving it before her. He suspected most other protection details would feel the same way.

But they’d survived. The princess had the time of her life and had told him so. They were both covered in dried mud from head to toe, except for the areas covered by goggles and gloves.

He didn’t know how long the princess took in the bathroom, but it seemed like forever. As he waited, the mud continued to dry on his forearms. He picked at it, wincing as it pulled on his arm hair.

“Ryker, it’s all yours.”

He turned to see Princess Amalia looking freshly scrubbed and wrapped in a tightly belted robe. Her hair had been piled on her head with a towel wrapped around it.

“I tried to make sure all the dirt rinsed down the drain, and I didn’t leave a mess in the shower. My clothes are in a plastic bag to give to the hotel laundry. I’d imagine you want to do the same thing. There’s a second bag in there for you to use.”

“Thanks.” Ryker smiled at her as he went into the bathroom.

As quickly as he could, Ryker set himself to rights. Fairly certain he’d cleaned most of the dirt and mud and gunk off, he hurried to get dressed and back into the living area. He knew there was very little risk to the princess in a hotel suite on the eighteenth floor when no one knew she was there, but leaving her alone still didn’t sit well with him.

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