A Bodyguard For The Princess (A Bad Boy Romance) Read Free

most.”
    Without waiting for him to reach her, she turned and walked up the stone steps, her heels clicking loudly. Matt’s footsteps were nearly silent behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at one point to make sure he was actually following her. His eyes met hers immediately, and she quickly whipped back around.
    Her fingers tugged at her jacket as she told herself it was nothing. He was just another guard. His handsome face with sharp cheek bones and shadow of scruff were nothing. Not attractive at all.
    Then why the hell do you want to catch another glimpse of him and that body?
    Usually, her personal guards were not young and certainly not this drop-dead handsome. Add that to the fact of how rarely she saw anyone outside the palace walls, and Daphne quickly pushed away her sudden attraction to him, which was simply hormones and nothing more. Not that it could ever be more than a simple attraction, anyway.
    “These are my rooms,” she announced, hating how flustered she sounded by the time they reached her doors.
    “Yes, princess. I have studied the map,” he said quietly.
    “Right, of course you have.” She avoided his gaze as she pushed open the heavy, wooden doors and stepped inside. “Marie? Are you here?”
    A happy blonde girl bounced out of the bedroom and curtsied to Daphne. “Princess, I’m glad you have returned early. We have so much to do to get you ready for tonight! Ah,” she said, and her brow shot up when she glanced past Daphne. “And who is this?”
    “Marie, this is Matthias Georgios, my new personal bodyguard,” Daphne introduced, stepping aside so they could greet each other. “And we have plenty of time before the ball to get ready. What I could use, however, is a cup of coffee.”
    Marie pursed her lips. “Princess, it’s nearly lunch time. You should eat instead.”
    “Just the coffee for now, please,” Daphne insisted. “I fear I will need it to last through the endless round of dancing.”
    “If you insist. Anything for you, Matthias?”
    Hands clasped behind his back, he shook his head once but didn’t speak. Marie eyed him and shot Daphne another curious look before she hurried from the room, her skirt bustling about her legs. When the door closed firmly, Daphne let out a sigh and laughed quietly.
    “She’s a bit overzealous some days.”
    “Is that right,” Matt mused as he walked slowly about her rooms. When he shifted, Daphne noticed the bulge under his side where his jacket pressed against his side in the holster, reminding her he was not here for small talk.
    “Right… Well then, these are, of course, my rooms. My bedroom is through that door if there is ever an issue, though I assure you this palace hasn’t been broken into in decades. No one has targeted my family that I’m aware of,” she added with a shrug.
    He wandered towards her bedroom door and peered inside. “Still,” he said after a long moment of staring into her private chamber, “can’t be too careful.”
    The flare of heat in his look had Daphne struggling to breathe, her chest tightening as she turned away from him. How dare he look at her like that? She was the princess. His eyes took in more than they should, regardless that he was her personal bodyguard. Her hand tugged hard on her earlobe, and she plastered a smile on her face as she walked around her rooms. Polite, she must remain polite.
    “My days are fairly simple,” she informed him, returning to the task at hand. “Marie wakes me at seven. Breakfast is served in my rooms unless my parents request otherwise. I do not leave my rooms until eleven when I visit with the heads of our parliament and spend the day in meetings.” Her smile sagged as the sad reality of the dullness of her days hit her. “I…uh, I then join my parents for dinner and afterwards retire to my rooms.”
    When she received no reply, she glanced over. Matt was studying her closely, his gaze lingering over her chest and lower to her legs. Daphne bit her