Page 45 of Royal Guard

He nodded. “It’s not your fault. It made sense, with my heritage.”

I put my hand on his arm. “I won’t ever doubt you again.”

He shook his head. “Thank you, Your Highness. But it’s not you who’s the problem. It’s everyone else.”

And he tossed the cherry candy back onto the display stand and walked away.

I watched him sadly until he’d gone. Then I gathered up the cherry candy and bought it. I might not be able to fix everything between our two countries but I was damn well going to help this one man be happy.

34

GARRETT

The afternoon passedin a blur of miles. We were a team, now, and Jakov, Emerik and Caroline all took a turn at the wheel. I could see a storm rolling towards us in the rear view mirror, but as long as we kept moving, we’d stay ahead of it. By sundown, it was my turn again. I blinked and strained my eyes and tried to focus on the white line. I hadn’t slept properly in days. None of us had.

“When are you going to stop?”

The Princess’s voice made me jump and swerve. I’d thought she was asleep, like everyone else. I regained control. “I’m not,” I told her. “We’ve got enough gas to reach New York. Should be another five or six hours.”

“Garrett, you’re exhausted.”

When had it becomeGarrettinstead ofMr. Buchanan?Hearing it did something to me: I felt like the shy kid in high school, noticed by the prom queen. I feltspecial.And my name...it’s a good old-fashioned name, never had a problem with it. But it’s a workingname, a name to be bawled across a field or shouted over the din of machinery.Garrettsounds like tools and rope and dirty hands, just likeKristinasounds like snowflakes and sweet-smelling petals. And yet whenshesaid my name, it sounded different. It sounded respectable.

My chest ached like something vital was being wrenched out of it.God, I’m going to miss her.

“I’m okay,” I lied. But my eyelids felt like they were made out of old, gritty sackcloth. Blinking feltgood.I just needed a goodlongblink—

“Garrett!”

I’d wandered into the oncoming lane.Shit!I wrestled us back onto our side. “I’m fine.”

“Let someone else take a turn!”

I looked in the rear view mirror. Emerik was asleep, hands carefully folded. God, even the man’s snores were prim and proper. Jakov had his head thrown back and his arms and legs spread wide, taking up half the back seat. Caroline was dozing with her head on his shoulder, frowning and muttering in her sleep, working through the guilt. I knew how that felt.

“There is no one else,” I told the Princess.

“Teach me,” she said.

“What?!”

“Teach me to drive.”

I glanced across at her to see if she was serious.

She flushed. “Look, I’m not stupid! I just never learned!”

“I know you’re not stupid, Your Highness,” I looked at her, so she could see I meant it, and our eyes locked.Tomorrow, she’ll be gone….

“It’s a long, straight, empty road,” she said.

I looked. She had a point. Aside from the odd truck, we were the only thing moving.

“Please,”she said. “I don’t want to be useless.”

“You’renotuseless,” I told her firmly. I sighed. “Okay. Get over here.”

I’m not sure what my sleep-starved brain had in mind. I knew she’d be sitting in my lap, but somehow I hadn’t thought about what it would be like to have her—

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