Crowning His Unlikely Princess

Not if he could help it. And especially not with Cassidy, whose professionalism was the aspect of her nature he admired most. He’d never ruin that by giving in to his baser desires.

Cassidy lifted her head as if sensing the sudden shift in his mood.

She was good at that, sensing what he needed when he needed it.

The noise from the crowd clustered behind the barriers went wild as his door was opened. Cassidy’s eyes widened and he gave her a look. ‘Welcome to the other part of my world.’

She peered at the expectant crowd. ‘I think every unattached female in Arrantino got the message that you would be here this afternoon.’

Amused by her observation but determined to close down any thoughts of that nature, Logan shook his head. ‘Stick close and follow my cues.’

Stepping from the car, he reached back to offer Cassidy his hand before he could think better of it. Once again a tingle of unwanted awareness slid up his arm and his eyes cut to hers. Soft colour winged into her face as she snatched her hand back as if she too had been burned by the brief contact.

Frustrated that even the mildest of touches could set off alarm bells in his head, he was determined to not touch her again. Or ride in a car with her given that her floral scent was still clinging to him.

Intensely glad that the palace security team had kept the hungry paparazzi at bay, he greeted members of the public for five minutes before joining the museum director on the steps to the entrance and heading inside.

‘It’s an honour to have you here in His Majesty’s stead, Your Highness,’ the director gushed. ‘We hope the King is well.’

‘The King is fine,’ Logan said. ‘You have a good turn-out today.’

‘Thanks to your visit. The recipients of the royal grants are very much looking forward to meeting you.’

‘And I them.’

Turning to ensure that Cassidy was okay, he turned to find her deep in conversation with various staff members, seemingly undaunted by the pomp and ceremony of the occasion.

As if sensing his eyes on her, she raised her head, giving him a questioning look he translated to mean, Do you need me?

Part of him instantly replied that, yes, he did need her, but since it wasn’t a part of him that controlled logic and discipline he ignored it, giving a subtle shake of his head and tuning back into the director’s descriptions of the innovations that had taken place in the museum since he’d last visited.

There was an air of gravitas to the whole affair and Logan wasn’t sure if it was because his brother’s potential abdication was overshadowing the situation or not, but try as he may he couldn’t seem to get the young artists who were the recipients of the royal grants to relax and open up about their work with the freedom he would have liked.

Frustrated, he was digging deeper into the motivation of one particularly interesting piece of work when a soft laugh rang out in the quiet room.

Every head turned toward his Cassidy, who had her fingers clamped over her mouth to stifle her mirth. The artist beside her could barely contain her own laughter, and the director of the museum frowned sternly.

But Logan couldn’t help moving toward the pair to find out what had made her laugh.

‘Want to share?’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ She bit down on her lower lip as she realised that she had an audience. ‘It’s nothing really. I was admiring Michael’s oil painting of snails, only for him to confess that actually they’re pastry scrolls.’

‘It’s a breakfast theme,’ the young artist confirmed graciously, ‘but you could eat snails for breakfast if you wished.’

‘Not the ones in my garden,’ Cassidy confessed, making everyone around her smile.

She peeked up at Logan through her long lashes as they moved on to the next piece. ‘I’m going to let you take the lead on this one,’ she murmured. ‘I’m likely to offend someone if I do it.’

‘I doubt you could offend a flea,’ he observed, finding his gaze riveted to her lively expression.

If he had thought her smile had been stunning during his plane taking off, it was nothing compared to seeing her so open and warm with the people around her.

And her enthusiasm was infectious, relaxing everyone around her.

It was the icebreaker he had been looking for and it completely changed the mood of the tour, replacing the dry discourse over the various pieces into lively, friendly chatter. Logan followed it up with a speech promising more grants in the future and a private moment with the director.

He was wondering where Cassidy had disappeared to when one of the staff informed him that she had ducked into the ladies’ room. When she didn’t reappear after a few minutes, Logan checked his watch and excused himself to go and find her.