Protected by the Prince

Why did she wear them?

This time suspicion was a sharp, insistent jab. She was a stranger, in disguise. What a coincidence that she’d uncovered papers that could shatter the peace of the nation.

Tamsin Connors wasn’t what she seemed. Was she part of a plot? An innocent dupe?

He’d just put the glasses down when she emerged.

Her thickly lashed eyes widened to bright dazzling amber, snaring his breath despite his anger. Amazing what those glasses had obscured. Her lips rounded in a soft pout of surprise and instantly fire exploded in his belly.

Slowly she approached.

Conflicting messages bombarded his brain. Caution. Distrust. Curiosity. Lust. Definitely lust.

His jaw hardened as he reined in that surge of hunger. This was no time to let his libido override his brain.

One thing was for certain. He wasn’t going to let Tamsin Connors out of his sight till he got to the bottom of this. Already a plan formed in his head.

He smiled slowly in anticipation.

He and Dr Connors were about to become much more intimately acquainted.

CHAPTER THREE

TAMSIN’S steps faltered.

This man had invaded her thoughts, even haunted her dreams last night. Yet she’d forgotten how overwhelming he was in person.

So big. So vibrant. So powerfully male.

The air seemed to swirl and tickle her sensitised flesh as he subjected her to a short, all-encompassing survey. Heat blazed in her stomach and her skin tightened.

His eyes glittered and his mouth curved in welcome and her heart danced faster than it had on the squash court.

Would he look so welcoming if he knew she’d exhausted herself trying desperately to banish him from her thoughts? That she felt excited by his presence?

No. He paid her salary while she worked on loan here. He was her employer, an aristocrat living a glamorous, privileged life. A man with no interest in her or her work except that it made him eligible for the crown.

He’d be horrified by her reaction to him.

Even now her befuddled brain told her his smile wasn’t a simple welcome. That it signified a deeper level of pleasure, a hint of danger. The sort of danger a sensible woman would ignore.

See? Her instincts were awry. She couldn’t trust them.

Quickly she looked away, scared he’d read her thoughts. Patrick had read her longings like a book. She couldn’t bear to reveal her weakness to this man, too.

The fact that she felt any weakness at all after the events of the last six months astounded her.

‘Dr Connors.’ His deep voice rippled like ruched velvet across her skin. She shivered, unable to suppress voluptuous pleasure at the sound.

Seeking distraction she reached for her cardigan and glasses, holding them close to her heaving chest.

‘I hope you don’t mind me using the court,’ she murmured. ‘Your steward said I could but I hadn’t realised you might…’

‘Of course I don’t mind. It’s good to see it in use. If I’d known you played I’d have invited you to a match.’

Startled, Tamsin looked up, straight into clear indigo depths that seemed warm and inviting.

He looked serious!

Her gaze strayed across muscled shoulders, down to the deep curve of a solid chest outlined against a black cotton T-shirt. She swallowed, her mouth drying at the latent power of him. His arms, tanned and strong, reminded her of the way he’d hoisted her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. Of how, despite her outrage, she’d revelled in his effortless he-man act.

He looked mouth-wateringly good in gym gear. As good as in uniform! It wasn’t fair.

She stepped back, her eyes flicking away nervously.

‘I don’t think I’d be in your league.’ Fervently she hoped he’d put her breathlessness down to her workout.

‘I watched you play. You’re quick and agile and know how to use your body.’ His smile changed, became almost intimate, sending tendrils of heat winding around her internal organs. ‘I’m sure we’d be very well matched.’

Tamsin’s mind filled with an image of them matched in another way altogether. Tanned skin against pale. Hard masculine muscle against female softness.

Heat exploded, scalding her throat and face at the lurid, unfamiliar picture. Horrified, she ducked her head to fumble with her glasses case.

He couldn’t know what she was thinking.

That didn’t stop her embarrassment.

‘It’s kind of you to say so,’ she mumbled. ‘But we both know it would be an uneven match.’

She cast a furtive glance at his muscled arms and wished he’d cover himself up. It was hard not to stare.

‘You underestimate yourself, Dr Connors.’ His words sliced through her thoughts. ‘Why is that? You struck me as a very confident woman when we discussed your work.’