“Regardless, you were careless. Thank God I arrived when I did.”
“Thank God . . .” Her lips thinned and her eyes flashed as she turned back to face him. “I didn’t need rescuing, you know!”
“That’s not what it looked like. Or what it felt like when you wilted against me.”
Her pink cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. “I was going along with your stupid plan. It’s not like I was going to shout ‘Oh look! It’s the prince!’ to the entire beach.”
“He grabbed your arm.” Thinking about it still made Diego’s gut clench.
“And I would have pulled away and left. Or screamed. It was a public beach, you know.”
“And your bag. Is everything still inside it?”
She looked confused. “What?”
“Check your bag. Are you missing anything?”
He watched as she rooted through her bag, and saw her face whiten. “My wallet. Are you saying . . .”
Diego sighed. “Tourists are targets in certain areas. What was in it?”
She sat back against the cushions of the seat. “Just some money. A credit card.”
“No ID?”
“I didn’t think I’d need my passport at a café and market.”
He appreciated the snap in her tone. He preferred a little heat to crying or dramatics. For all her sweetness, there was a toughness to his little English Rose.
And she’d probably cuff his ears if he ever called her that out loud.
“What are you smiling at?” she demanded.
“Nothing. Sorry. Anyway, we can cancel your credit card. How much cash did you have?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Certainly not as much as I left the palace with.”
“Good shopping?”
“Very.” She turned her head to look at him as the level of antagonism in the back seat went from a boil down to a simmer. “How did you even know where I was?”
Diego knew she was probably going to be furious at his next words, but he wouldn’t apologize for taking what he considered necessary precautions. “When you called for Marco to take you to the city, a security detail was sent as well. They heard you give the taxi driver instructions for the beach, and I got a call.”
Her mouth had dropped open and poof! they were up to the boil again. “You had me followed?” Without waiting for an answer, she leaned forward so she could see Marco’s profile. “And you. You didn’t think to tell me?” she accused.
“Leave Marco out of it. He was just following my orders. And the security was really just one woman, who would have stepped in and got you out of any sticky situation. Until you got into the cab. She called me and then followed you.”
“I can’t believe you did that.” She scowled at him. “How do you people even live like this?”
He sent her a long, hard look. Was it really so bad that he’d wanted to be sure she was safe? Particularly if she went somewhere alone. The fact that the man at the beach had touched her sent an uncommon jolt of rage through his veins. What if someone had recognized her? She’d had her picture taken once before, and she hadn’t liked the headline that accompanied it. The security had been set up to be unobtrusive, and to step in only if needed.
It had been a part of his life for so long he hardly thought about it anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t understand her frustration. She wasn’t accustomed to this sort of intrusion. But she could have been a little more grateful for the help.
“You work,” he said stiffly, “for the Navarro household, and for the Crown Prince of Marazur. You are in charge of the heirs to the throne. Did you really think you wouldn’t have your own security?” He let out an exasperated breath. “Did you even read your contract?”
“I thought I’d have the freedom of a day off to myself,” she snapped.
Marco looked in the rearview mirror then. Diego shook his head. Not many people got away with speaking to him in such a familiar and antagonistic way.