Page 33 of Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra)

“I get it. You’re busy. Maybe tomorrow?”

“School, more homework, the diner, another talent show rehearsal I promised I’d be at.”

“Well, at least I’ll see you there.”

Of course he would. He was everywhere. He was just smashing through all these walls I’d put up, pushing his way in.

Apparently not noticing my scowl, he said, “I hope you enjoy your time with Whitney. Do you plan on giving herallthe details from last night?” So he had overheard us. But no matter what I said, he would read too much into it. If I said I’d told her all about how he had rescued me and helped me with foaling Summer Breeze, he’d be smug. If I insisted, truthfully, that he hadn’t come up, he’d probably think I was lying.

Even though I was not the one in the car whose pants were usually on fire. I was pretty sure he was still keeping stuff from me. I decided to just ask. “How did you find me last night?”

I hadn’t had my phone with me. Tommy didn’t even know what we were going to do, so it’s not like I had told Rafe where we would be. I narrowed my eyes and gritted my teeth together. Had he followed us, taking this stalker thing to a whole new level?

He tugged at the collar of his shirt with one finger. “Marco knew.”

Marco? How in the world did Marco know? Did he have Marco follow me? “How?”

“He’s been keeping an eye on you.” He swallowed a couple of times. He had to have known how angry that would make me, but he’d done it anyway.

I held my breath for several counts, letting it out slowly. “That stops right now,” I said as calmly as I possibly could. I didn’t feel calm, though. I had spent my entire childhood being watched. I had never had any privacy or time to myself. Ever. Once I’d gotten my freedom, I had no plans of giving it up again. I didn’t need his protection. More accurately, his bodyguard’s protection.

Sighing, I pressed a hand to my stomach. If I dug my heels in, so would he. I could be nice. You’d catch more flies with honey than with acid, anyway. “I’m not in danger. I don’t need to be tracked or watched. Okay?”

So much time passed I thought he might not have heard me. “Okay,” he finally said.

“You’ll stop? Marco will stop?” I clarified.

“We’ll stop.” I could hear in his voice that it had cost him to agree. After I had found out about him being a prince, he admitted that he was a little obsessive about security when it came to the people he cared about. He didn’t tell me why, and I had just accepted his statement at face value. Even though I was mad at him, I knew he still cared. Why else would he be here? Giving up his worldly, glamorous life to live in a house smaller than his family’s jet?

Oddly, gratefulness welled up inside me and tugged at my nicer emotions. His hand was between our seats, and I had to fight the impulse to reach over and hold it again. I loved holding his hand. It was always toasty, soothing and exciting at the same time.

I put my hands under my legs to make them behave. I looked at the snowy, never-ending fields as we drove past. I pictured myself mentally building an igloo wall back up around my heart, brick by frozen brick.

And I saw an image of Rafe dismantling it just as quickly.

But I didn’t need to worry about him destroying my defenses when I kept unlocking the gate and inviting him inside.

I somehow managed to make it all the way to my diner shift the next day without thinking about Rafe incessantly, but when I got to work I saw that the sunflowers were still blooming. Mocking me. Of course he would buy an expensive kind that would last forever so I couldn’t forget.

It didn’t help matters that Nicole stared at them and sighed every five minutes.

Then Whitney arrived, her face all aglow, and she actually hugged me. “What’s that for?” I asked.

“For bringing that wonderful man into our lives!”

It was like somebody had transferred a new personality into her. I’d never seen her beam like that before. “Are you talking about Rafe?”

She sat down carefully on one of the barstools. “Yes! He’s started a software company here in town, and he’s hired all the people who lost their jobs to come work for him.”

It did not compute. “What?”

“He even rented out the old pharmacy across the street for his offices.” She pointed, and I saw the red brick building that hadn’t been open in years. Christopher’s parents owned the building, and they’d been losing money on it for a long time.

I put my fingers to my temples. “Wait, wait, wait. This doesn’t even make sense. Nobody there knows anything about software. They made printer parts.” Most of them hadn’t even been to college.

“He’s planning to hire some trainers and programmers to come out and teach them everything they need to know. Maybe even enroll them in classes at UI. He’s going to pay them while they learn, and the benefits are incredible. It’s not going to cost us anything out of pocket to have this baby. Everyone starts at the end of this week.”

At that, Nicole’s ears perked up. “Programmers? Aren’t those usually men? Possibly single men?”

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