Once Upon a Prince Read Free Page A

sister, Avery, everyone was waiting inside for the news.
    Engagement news
.
    “Suz?”
    She glanced over her shoulder at Adam. “I’m fine.” She didn’t wait for his response, just skirted around the sea oats and up the path to the deck.
    Slipping on her flip-flops, she avoided the kitchen and the hovering expectations by heading for the parking lot.
    She’d never been into romance, fairy tales, knights in shining armor, or handsome princes riding up to save the day. Just a happily ever after with her strong hometown marine. Now what was the plan for the rest of her life?

TWO
    I ’m going out.” Nathaniel glanced to the dining-room table for the keys to the motorcar, the rented black SUV.
    He thought Liam had deposited them there after he’d returned from his daily breakfast errand.
    “Going where?” Jonathan, Nathaniel’s aide, crossed the living room with his iPad in hand, concern creasing his face.
    “Nowhere. Just out.” Where were those blasted keys? Nathaniel lifted the newspaper Liam had been reading.
Aha …
    “Liam’s gone for a run.” Jonathan returned his attention to his iPad, tapping the screen, scrolling through his emails, no doubt. “Wait for him to return.”
    “I don’t need Liam.”
    The aide snapped his attention to Nathaniel. “You’re not going alone.”
    “I don’t need a security officer with me on this small island. No one even knows I’m here.”
    “Mrs. Butler knows you’re here.”
    “Yes, but I’m her surprise guest at the benefit, so I’m sure she’s not made my presence known. Besides, Americans love the British princes. Us Brighton lads go virtually unnoticed.”
    “The Crown will have my head if anything happens to you.”
    “Shall I send a note, tell them I’m choosing to wander about on my own, absolve you of all responsibility?”
    “Now you patronize me.”
    “And you worry too much, Jonathan.” Nathaniel turned, signaling the end of the conversation. He was going for a drive—alone.
    Having been on the island for three days at the family’s American holiday cottage, Nathaniel had seen nothing except the beach, which was beautiful, the pinched expression of his aide and solemn countenance of his security officer, both of whom were fine friends but
not
beautiful to behold.
    Three grown men on holiday, lounging in a hundred-year-old cottage, watching movies and playing an ancient Brighton card game, made Nathaniel restless.
    Technically, though, he’d traveled to America on business, not for a holiday. The king’s business, to be exact. So the kingdom of Brighton
owed
Nathaniel a true vacation. One with sun and surf and perhaps the company of a pretty woman with whom to dine.
    In light of this, his aide and beloved nation could spot him an hour or two on his own.
    “Do you know where you’re going?” Jonathan dashed around the sofa to intercept Nathaniel in the foyer.
    “Gladly, no.” Nathaniel stepped around him and into the sunshine and freedom. He loved his country. Loved Brighton’s low-cloud days that had a nip in the air, but he also loved the sun, the heat, and the endless blue sky of Georgia. “It’s a small island. I’m sure I can manage my way round.” He smiled at Jonathan, so serious and intense. The man took his duties as aide to the crown prince of Brighton most seriously.
    “I’ll go with you.”
    “Jonathan, I need a moment to myself.” Nathaniel slipped behind the wheel. “To think.”
    “About what?”
    “I don’t know … life.”
    The man sighed, collapsing his thin shoulders. “You have your mobile?”
    Nathaniel patted his trouser pocket, where he’d tucked the phone. “Go back to what you were doing, Jon. I’ll not be gone long.”
    Pulling out of the drive, Nathaniel turned south on Ocean Boulevard and powered down all the windows.
    The sun-baked July breeze filled the interior and blew his hair, the loose threads of his shirt, and the nagging thoughts on his heart.
    Easing off the accelerator, Nathaniel