The Princess Finds Her Match
“Nic, I’m sorry. I have to go.”
There was a long pause. His eyes assessed her for several seconds before he replied. “I’ll bring you where you need to go.” He had his arms crossed against his still-bare chest. “Give me five minutes.” On the way to the bathroom, he cupped her face and dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead.
This was not the way it was supposed to happen. Trust her to botch the plan and find the sweetest, sexiest man to have a one-night stand with. Lexie’s heart constricted at what she had to do. Guilt gnawed at her insides, but Theia’s call had doused the sexual haze she had been wrapped up in since encountering Nic. Like a thief, she quickly stepped outside the hotel room, keeping her head down low in case somebody recognized her. Fat chance of that, she thought hysterically, catching a glimpse of her bare face, rumpled dress, and unruly hair by the elevator mirror. Still, she would rather have her walk of shame done in private rather than plastered all over the tabloids. She was old news, but Peter’s death was not.
Reaching the lobby, she quickly looked around for the concierge and asked for a cab. “There are several lined up by the taxi stands, ma’am.” The concierge pointed to a side wing of the lobby entrance. After murmuring her thanks, Lexie made a dash for it. She had just reached the outside “foyer” when she heard Nic shouting her name. Her furtive leave taking made her feel small.
“I told you to wait,” he said in rebuke when he had reached her side. His eyes flashed with hurt and quiet anger. “I’ve got a rental car.”
“I’m sorry, Nic,” she said, flustered at the sight of him once again. “I’m in a hurry.”
“I told you I would take care of it,” he gritted out.
She tried to blot out memories of his gallantry, protectiveness, and sweetness last night but the images of him smiling, his beautiful lips twitching at the corners in amusement, and the heat and tenderness in his blue eyes as he looked at her kept intruding. She couldn’t bear to be the one inflicting that hurt. Lexie pulled the collar of his shirt and kissed him. It was a kiss intended to soothe, to ask for forgiveness, and to say goodbye, but Nic hurriedly change the tone by pressing her body flush to his. His lips latched on to her hungrily. Somewhere, Lexie registered the flash of a strobe and drew back in alarm. It was only a group of tourists laughing nearby, but the camera flash reminded her of the feeling of being hunted, of the relentless pursuit. Lexie could not believe how foolish she had been acting once again. They were in a public place, making her an easy target for the press to document her guilt and shame as they had done once before. With a choked sob, she wrenched free from his embrace and without looking back, left him standing all alone by the curb.
* * *
Nic’s concentration was shot and judging by the murderous look on Rupert Butler’s face, the team owner knew it, too.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” roared Butler as he caught up with him on the way to the pony lines to get fresh mounts as was obligatory after each play period. It was the fifth chukker in the championship game between Team Arion and Team Black Cavalier, and the score was 10-8 in favor of the latter. “You let that puny gaucho ride you off!”
In his rage, Butler was oblivious to the tense silence that descended on the team. Composed of four players, Butler was the only American. The rest were from Argentina, including most of the grooms tending to the ponies. Nic, whose father was Argentine, let Butler’s insulting use of the word gaucho slide off. For now. As team captain, it was Nic’s responsibility to head off any would-be burgeoning mutiny.
“Get your ass out of your head and earn every fucking dollar I’m paying you!” The veins on Butler’s pale forehead were threatening to pop out. By sheer will of force, Nic stopped himself from landing a blow on the bastard’s face. He wouldn’t be doing himself or his horse-breeding farm any favors if he got thrown off the team. “If Walkden wins the championship, you’d better start looking around for a new patron,” he sneered before thundering off to the field.