Page 6 of His Runaway Princess

So why did she trust Ryker?

Shouldshe trust Ryker?

For the moment, unless she wanted to turn her phone back on, she had no choice. Not when that other guy kept looking at her the way he did. She supposed it could be possible they were in collusion with each other, but she didn’t really think so.

Instead, as they shuffled off the ferry along with a crowd of others, she found her hand in Ryker’s to make certain they didn’t lose each other.

As they made it out of the crush of people, he turned to her. “Do you have luggage?”

She shook her head. “No. Spur of the moment, remember? Do you?”

“Nothing I need to get right now.”

Before Amalia could ask what that meant, they were off again, still hand-in-hand as Ryker did something on his phone.

She still hadn’t figured out where they were going when she found herself in a vehicle driven by someone Ryker didn’t know.

As they pulled away from the dock, he leaned closer to her and spoke softly. “Welcome to your Yfir.”

The ride-sharing app she would have had no idea how to use.

“We’ll go make our reservations then we’ll have a better idea of what we need to go find for you.”

“You don’t have anything either.”

“Very true. We’ll figure out what we both need.”

The drive didn’t take overly long, and they exited the auto. Ryker thanked the man then held the door to the building open for Amalia to enter ahead of him.

Two men entered a few minutes after she and Ryker did. Amalia glanced at them then turned her attention back to the pictures of different excursions offered by this particular agency.

She didn’t pay much attention to Ryker as he filled out the paperwork for both of them.

“Wonderful. Thank you.” He wrapped up his conversation then came over and took Amalia’s hand. “We don’t have long, sweetheart, but there is a shop across the street where we can pick up a few supplies.”

Sweetheart? Amalia didn’t say anything but they left the building.

Ryker didn’t let go of her hand, but walked quickly across the street and through the door. But he didn’t stop until they were near the back wall.

Then he leaned close. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I really hope you feel that you can. There was only one room still available. It could be given to a single person or a couple. I told them we were together. I promise you, on my honor as a gentleman, on my life, you are safe with me.”

Emotions warred within her. She shouldn’t trust him. She’d known him maybe two hours. Everything she’d ever been taught told her to run, far and fast, until she could find a safe place.

And yet... he was a safe place.

She knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Everything logical told Amalia to turn her phone on and have her security team come find her, but sneaking away wasn’t logical and trusting Ryker wasn’t either.

She did both.

With a nod, Amalia took a deep breath. “I trust you. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I do.”

“Then let’s find a few things we need for the first few days. We can get the rest of what we need as we go.” Ryker walked toward the luggage section and picked out a suitcase for himself. “What would you like?”

She’d never chosen her own luggage. Ryker managed to let her know what size to look for without making a big deal out of it. The shiny purple one called to her.

They went through the store, choosing a few items of clothing and quickly picked a pair of trainers. Before she knew it, they’d made it through the store and the checkout. When she snuck off, it hadn’t occurred to her that she’d need financial means.

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