Crowning His Unlikely Princess

Logan raked a hand through his still wet hair. ‘That’s not something you’ll have to worry about in the future because I’m not returning to New York.’

‘Oh.’

Knowing exactly why that would be, and seeing the weight of it in the tense line of his shoulders, she watched as he stalked to a minibar between a set of shelves and poured himself a healthy dose of something amber. Probably Scotch.

‘Want one?’

He held up his glass and Cassidy shook her head. In the office she knew what was expected of her. She knew her role. Now, without the separation of Logan’s oak desk and surrounded by metres of glass, everything was different. She was different. And so was he.

She also knew that if Leo had given up the throne, Logan wouldn’t be happy. He hadn’t wanted his life to change, but he was too honourable not to step into his brother’s place if that was truly required. After all, this was the man who had sat by his brother’s bedside while he’d been sick as a teenager.

In an attempt to get them back on track, Cassidy tried to focus on work. ‘I take it from that comment about not returning to New York that your talk with your brother didn’t go so well.’

Logan barked out a laugh. ‘That’s a polite way of putting it.’

‘What did he say?’

‘He’s enamoured of this woman. Elly Michaels. She’s an archaeologist and as my brother is a keen artefact-collector they’ve been bonding over five-hundred-year-old ceramics since they met six months ago. Apparently she makes him smile even when she’s not there.’

Logan said the last with a healthy degree of derision but it made Cassidy go soft inside. ‘Oh, that is so sweet.’

Logan’s brow rose in mockery. ‘Sweet? To be at the mercy of your emotions? I took you as far too sensible to take that view.’

She was sensible now, but she hadn’t always been. Neediness had made her stupid and she’d never forget the disappointment on her father’s face when his good girl had gone bad. When he’d discovered she’d sent that photo. And she had vowed to never succumb to the feeling again.

But she couldn’t deny that, when her guard was down, like now, she felt something akin to that with her boss. Having refused to view him as anything other than her boss for so long, she didn’t know why she was finding it so hard to switch back to that now, but she was.

Cassidy grimaced. ‘I usually am, but...to find someone special like that is very rare.’

‘You don’t have to convince me of that. I’d go so far as to say non-existent.’

And she supposed she could guess as to why that was if his father had cheated on his mother so often.

‘But tell me,’ he continued softly, almost challengingly, ‘does Peter share your romantic outlook on life?’

‘I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call my outlook romantic,’ she said carefully, knowing that maybe, possibly, if she gave free rein to her deepest desires, it might come close. ‘But Peta is definitely that way inclined.’

Her sister had always loved the idea of being in love and even the twins’ father bailing on her hadn’t been able to squash that side of her nature completely. Hence Dan...

‘Lucky you,’ Logan drawled in a tone that, had he been any other man, she would have said was jealous. ‘To find a man who matches you so well.’

‘Man?’ A frown formed between her eyes. Then realisation dawned. ‘I think we might have our wires crossed somehow. Peta is my sister.’

‘Your sister?’ Logan looked at her as if she had sprouted an extra head. ‘Then who the hell was the guy who kissed you in your doorway when I picked you up?’

‘That was Dan. My sister’s fiancé.’ She shook her head. ‘Seriously, we’ve talked about Peta’s reaction to my coming here... How could you think that she was a...a what? A lover? A boyfriend? I haven’t dated in years.’

‘Easily.’ The arrogant gleam was back in his eyes. ‘You’re a beautiful woman. Why wouldn’t I believe you were seeing someone?’

He thought she was beautiful?

‘Because we work so closely together,’ she said, flustered by the unexpected compliment. ‘And I know every woman you date because I have to inevitably buy them goodbye gifts.’

‘Clearly I don’t know half as much about you. Why haven’t you dated for so long?’

‘Because I haven’t been asked.’ She felt her face burn under his intense scrutiny. ‘But even if I had, I’m not interested in dating anyone.’

Not at all enjoying having the focus on a part of her life that was such a dismal failure, she mentally searched for a distraction. ‘You know what I do when I’m upset?’ she said with Mary Poppins–like enthusiasm. ‘I do something physical.’