The Lost Princes of Ambria 06 - Taming the Lost Prince Read Online Free Page B

“Okay, you can turn around.”
    He turned and looked at her and he was knocked out. Here he’d just come from a royal ball filled with beautiful women who’d all spent half the day in the beauty shop and were dressed to kill and no one he’d seen there turned him on the way Kayla did wearing a simple sweatshirt and black leggings, with her hair looking like a tornado had just come through.
    “I think I love you,” he said, taking in all her rumpled glory and smiling. “I know I’ve missed you like crazy. It’s so good to see you again.”
    She gazed into his warm blue eyes and melted. She knew he was kidding, that this was his way of joking about emotions instead of dealing with them. But she also knew he was recognizing the ties between them and ready to embrace them, just like it used to be.
    Still, she had to wonder if he remembered that last night as clearly as she did. He had done nothing to indicate it. As far as she was concerned, she hoped he had a touch of amnesia. That night had been a crazy rush of pain and grief and anguish and they hadn’t handled it very well. Best to forget it. If they could.
    She gave herself a moment to really look at him. Pellea had found him a striking uniform to wear to the ball, but he’d taken off the jacket and pulled open the shirt, displaying some gorgeous skin and manly chest hair. Now he looked less than formal. She shook her head at the sight, but despite everything, she enjoyed seeing him. She always did.
    “How did you get away from Pellea?”
    He shrugged. “It wasn’t easy. The woman was watching me like a hawk.”
    She sighed and sank into a chair, gesturing for him to sit on the couch across from her. “She’ll probably be calling me any minute to organize a search party.”
    He moved her discarded jacket and dropped down onto the arm of the couch, then leaned toward her. “You won’t give me up, will you?” he said with a puppy-dog look.
    “Are you kidding?” she told him crossly. “Of course I will. I’m not risking my job so that you can play hooky.”
    He laughed. “Good point.” Then he frowned. “What is your job exactly?”
    “I’m the queen’s personal assistant. I do whatever she needs to get done but doesn’t have time to do herself.”
    It was a good job and she was proud of it. As a single mother without anyone to count on but herself, she was lucky to have it. If she ever lost it, for any reason, she would be in real trouble. There weren’t many good jobs for women in Ambria right now and the queen was a wonderful woman to work for. With a two-year-old of her own, Pellea understood the problems Kayla had to face and was ready to give her a lot of leeway.
    “Ah,” Max said, “impressive. Quite another level from the job you had in Trialta.”
    She smiled, thinking of it. “Selling T-shirts to tourists from a kiosk on the beach. Yes, I didn’t get much chance to show my skills and talents at that one.”
    But it hadn’t mattered then. Her days were spent waiting for Eddie to come back from a flight, and her nights were filled with wine, music and friends. For a few months, life had been carefree and exciting. But you had to pay for everything, one way or another, and she’d been paying the price ever since.
    Max was staring at her as though he could see what she was thinking. “And yet, here you are, barely two years later, assistant to the queen.”
    She gave him a look. “I do have a university education, you know.”
    He appeared surprised. “No, I didn’t know. When did you get that?”
    She smiled. “Long before I first met you.”
    “No kidding.” He frowned, thinking that over. “That’s more than I’ve got. And they think they want me to be a prince.”
    Her smile wavered a bit. It was true. From what she knew of his background, he might have a bit of trouble. He’d never been shy about it. While sipping drinks in the sidewalk cafés of Trialta, he’d regaled them with tales of his childhood living on the