“I … actually no, it’s all been provided by the palace stylist. And if you saw what other women wore to those sorts of places, you’d believe me.”
“I do,” he said. He’d secured the perimeter of more than one of those types of establishments, though he’d never been in one as a guest. It wasn’t his scene. Not in the least. “What else?”
“And I want to go out and order my own dinner.” She spoke slowly, her words gradually picking up tempo as she went along. “And I want to go to the beach. And … and I want … I don’t even know everything I want because for so long all of my decisions have been made for me.”
She stood, her breasts rising and falling with each breath. “I … Please don’t be lying to me.”
“I’m not.” Something in his stomach twisted. Hard. “I’m not changing what happens in six months. Just what we do now. And you have to stay with me. At all times. If I lose sight of you for a moment, I will personally lock you in your room for the duration.”
Eva swallowed. He was offering her a life line—more than anyone else. Yes, it was just a vapor of what she really wanted. The surface, shallow experiences when there was a deep well of things she craved. But it was something.
Offering her an olive branch, even if he was keeping his distance. It was more than anyone else had done. Her other guards had been silent annoyances, making sure she felt watched, never speaking to her. Never interacting with her.
Mak was the last person on earth she’d expected to break that barrier. But he seemed to understand.
“What’s changed?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” He stood and rested his hands palms on the tabletop.
“Something changed between last night and this morning. Last night you told me I was nothing more than a spoiled brat, and I think you were ready to lock me up then.”
“It’s true.” He walked along the opposite side of the table, his fingers resting lightly on the polished wood surface as he did. “It is not my job to approve or disapprove of the decisions your father has made. I’m here to protect you. That’s the beginning and end of it. As it is with all of my jobs.” He rounded the edge of the table and stood across from her, without the protection of antique furniture between them. “You remind me of someone.”
She took a step toward him, an involuntary action. She simply felt drawn to him. Like seeing brilliant art that you had to get closer to. “I do?”
“Yes. She … If I could give her a day at the beach, I would. But I can’t. So I will give it to you.”
He raised his head, the bleakness in his eyes stunning her, stopping her from moving closer. She wanted to ask, but she didn’t. She knew he wouldn’t tell her. There was something in his voice, a depth and intensity. There was emotion. It had been absent every other time he’d spoken. But not now. This was something real. Something that stretched to a place she couldn’t grasp.
“I … don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t thank me.”
“Why?”
“It would be far too close to a civilized interaction between the two of us. It hardly seems right.” He looked at her, his eyes assessing. “And anyway, this is all a part of my job. I’m already being paid. I don’t require anything more.”
He might not think it was more, but it was to her. So much more. “All right then. I accept.” She had to do it quickly, in case he changed his mind.
“Good. When would you like to start?”
“Are you free today?”
“I happen to be charged with keeping an eye on a certain princess today, and I can do that anywhere.”
She fought the urge to do something truly juvenile like jump up and down. Or fling her arms around him. “Really. Really, thank you.”
“There are rules,” he said, his voice hard. “You will stay in my sight at all times. You will not question me. On anything. If I say we need to leave, we leave. If I say you need to get down on the ground and cover your head, you do that. If you fail to do any of these things, I will personally see that you are confined to the inside of the palace, and trust me, neither of us wants that.”