Page 1 of Some Like It Royal

Chapter1

Alyx

The pounding on the side of the car jerked her awake. Alyx shoved up her sleep mask and glared blearily at the window of her Volvo. If the cops seriously planned to make her move again, she might lodge a complaint with the city. The parking garage wasopen to the publicand she didn’t pull in until after it opened. She’d parked in the back corner of the roof, on purpose, to avoid taking any choice parking from day dwellers.

But the blond haired, blue-eyed god cupping his hands against the glass to see past the glare did not look like a cop. Grumbling, she unfolded herself from the blanket. She’d just found the perfect position for her legs and back—one that wouldn’t leave her cramped awkwardly when it was time to get up.

She waved a hand at him as if to say “what?” and he answered with a two-knuckled knock on the glass and rolling his finger as though miming the window opening. She sighed. Yeah, he might appear lickable, but she was about to get a ticket and she hadn’t paid for the last one yet.

Shoving the blanket off, she reached over and shoved the key in so she could roll down the window—but only partially. “Look, Officer, I’m sorry. I was too tired to drive home, and I thought I’d park here safely and get someZ’s.”

“Really? That’s why you pulled in two hours ago and hunkered down? And you’ve parked here for the last three mornings to sleep?” Hot caramel poured over ice cream didn’t sound as good as his voice. The pure liquid sex in the deep baritone ripped the cobwebs of sleep out of her mind and she crawled forward to peer up at him.

She knew him.

It wasthatguy from the restaurant—great tipper and really cute, but he’d seemed eager. Too eager.

Crap.

“You’re not a cop.” Grumpy accusation hung in the air. It was one thing for a cop to rouse her from sleep, but another for the guy who’d sat in her station night after night, staring at her with wild speculation in his eyes. Years of bouncing from foster home to foster home gave her radar for people who wanted something from her. She didn’t know what his game was, but…ugh. No, thank you.Determined to ignore him, she pressed the button to raise the window once more.

“Wait.” He thrust his hand through to catch the glass and I took the pressure off the button before I crushed those fingers. He held up a carrier with two oversized cups of coffee from Dancing Goats. It was one of her favorite coffee shops, both for the coffee they made and the ambience. Also, they didn’t charge extra for using milk alternatives like oat milk. The scent hit her with a vicious allure. Okay, she might forgive him for waking her up. Maybe. “Can we talk?”

He wanted something. Why else bring her coffee? Of course he wanted something.

She sighed.

“Ten minutes. All I’m asking for is ten minutes. I brought coffee. There’re croissants too.” He let go of the window to grab the paper bag off the tray and dangled it invitingly.

Bastard.But her stomach growled at the thought. She’d skipped her free meal the night before—the dinner shift had been slammed and she needed the extra tips to cover the weekend immersion class coming up in Santa Monica. Cutting another look at him, she weighed her options. If she ignored him, he’d probably knock again or report her. Either way, it wasn’t worth the hassle.

“Fine. Ten minutes. Back away from the door,” she ordered and waited until he complied before disentangling the last of the blanket. After tugging the key out, she scooted over to climb out of the passenger side of the car. It was away from him. That let her straighten her shorts and tank top to something a little more presentable.

Finger combing her tousle of red hair, she wished she’d tucked the ponytail holder around her wrist. It was what she usually did, but last night’s shift left her dead on her feet by two a.m. and she’d still had to drive five miles to the parking garage.

Maybe she should really think about getting an apartment. But the ones she could afford were dumps or so far out, it would cost her even more to drive back and forth. Worse, if she sank all of her money into a place to live, she wouldn’t be able to take classes.

A lose-lose proposition all the way around.

She squinted across the top of the car. Mr. Godlike kept his distance, but damn if the man didn’t look fantastic. Bronze skin, white button-down shirt open at the collar and sleeves rolled up. His dress slacks weren’t wrinkled and his blond hair curled just slightly toward his face. He didn’t even have the grace to look a bit stubbly and rumpled.

Padding barefoot around the car, she held out her hand for the coffee. He handed it to her and opened his mouth, but silenced when she held up a finger. She inhaled the sweet fragrance of the coffee and considered taking a sip—just one, what could it hurt? But the guy was a few slices shy of a full loaf and this was LA. With great regret, she set the cup on top of her car.

Beware strangers bearing gifts…

“You have ten minutes. Go.” She leaned back against her car, cradling her Taser in her hand. He frowned and looked at the bag of croissants and then over at her again. She shook her head. If she wasn’t drinking his coffee, she wouldn’t take his tasty pastries either—no matter how good they smelled.

Sighing, he took his own coffee cup out before setting the holder on the black Lexus she hadn’t noticed parked right next to hers. With exaggerated care, he took a long drink before leaning back against his vehicle, mirroring her pose.

“My name is Daniel Voldakov. I own Spherecast Technologies.” He paused as if she should recognize the name.

Lifting her eyebrows, she glanced meaningfully at her watchless wrist.

“We’re the fastest-growing software company in the States. I’ve made great strides in Canada and South America, but we can’t get traction in the European Union markets. Too many competitors from old families there.” Irritation discolored the words. “But I have an opportunity that I’d like to explore and a proposal for you…”

Alyx sighed, rolling her head from side to side to relieve the crackle of tension stiffening the muscles. She concentrated on keeping her expression bland, waiting. The scent of the dark-roast coffee kept tormenting her, but her grip on the Taser remained firm.

“If you’ll agree to marry me—and by that, I mean you don’t have to actually marry me, but wewillhave to be engaged—and lend me the use of your royal title, I can make the acquaintance of the Andraste Grand Duke, Armand. Once we’ve cemented that introduction, I could use his influence to open the EU markets for the company.”

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