The Rancher's Christmas Princess Read Free Page A

and
pitched her voice to a whisper that somehow managed to ring out clear as a
shout. “So what did she want from you? What’s it all about? Come on, you can
tell me. You know I will never tell a living soul.”
    “I don’t know what she wants from me, RaeNell. She hasn’t said
yet.”
    “But everyone saw you having
breakfast with her, the two of you yakking away like you’re the best of
friends.”
    He only looked at her. He kept his expression untroubled,
although he was at least as curious as RaeNell as to what it might be that Belle
wanted from him. “Sorry, she didn’t say.”
    The concrete stairs to the upper floor were visible through the
window that gave a view of the parking lot. He watched Belle and her bodyguard
descend.
    RaeNell pasted on a big smile and stopped leaning on the
counter. The bodyguard opened the door and Belle sailed through wearing a long
wool coat. Beneath the hem of the coat he saw she wore black boots with low
heels. At breakfast, she’d worn a cashmere sweater and tan pants, with tan boots
to match. He liked the way she dressed. Simply and practically. Expensive, but
not flashy.
    She met his eyes. “Preston, hello.” The dark, cold Montana
night suddenly seemed cozy, bright as a new day.
    He offered his arm. She stepped up and took it. He felt like a
million bucks—or maybe two million. The bodyguard opened the door for them.
    As soon as they were outside where RaeNell couldn’t eavesdrop,
he said, “The restaurant’s just down the street. We can walk, if you don’t mind
a few snow flurries and a little gale-force wind.”
    She gripped his arm a fraction tighter, moved in just an inch
closer. He got a whiff of her perfume. It was like her. Subtle, but so tempting.
“I would love to walk.”
    He asked, “Your bodyguard have a name?”
    “Marcus.”
    “You can leave Marcus behind. I promise not to give you any
reason to need backup.”
    She let out a small, resigned sigh. “Marcus goes where I go. If
I dismissed him, he would still follow us. He doesn’t take orders from me. His
job is to protect me and he’s very...committed to his job.”
    “Even if you don’t need protecting?”
    “Yes.”
    “That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
    “Sadly, in this day and age, you just never know. A little over
five years ago, my brother Alexander was kidnapped in Afghanistan. He eventually
escaped and he’s home safe and happily married now, but the kidnapping forced my
family to face a few realities. Whenever we travel now, we have security
round-the-clock.”
    He’d read about her brother’s kidnapping. That afternoon, he’d
spent an hour on the internet learning what he could about Belle and her family.
“I’m sorry to hear about your brother.”
    “He’s doing well now. Truly. But Marcus will be accompanying
us.”
    “Fair enough.”
    She had her face tipped up to him. Her eyes seemed almost
golden in the light that spilled out the lobby windows. She clutched his arm a
little tighter. “Then shall we go?”
    “This way.” He touched her gloved hand where it wrapped around
his forearm. They started off down the street.
    The bodyguard fell back several paces. It wasn’t that hard to
pretend he wasn’t there.
    * * *
    The Bull’s Eye Steakhouse and Casino was in a brick
storefront between the Upper Crust Bakery and Elk Creek Cleaners. The sign out
front was a target with a giant red arrow sticking out of the center. Miniature
multicolored Christmas lights framed the front windows and the door.
    Inside, nothing had changed since the last time Pres ate there.
The walls were paneled in bead board up to the chair rails and decorated with a
lot of bad paintings of cowboys on trail drives. The tablecloths? Vinyl, printed
with Western scenes. The chairs had red vinyl cushions and backs. There was a
full bar. In the back was the “casino,” which consisted of two poker tables and
a row of gambling machines. From the dining room, faintly, you could hear