A Bodyguard For The Princess (A Bad Boy Romance) (34 page)

“I am so sick of this movie,” I said. Zach laughed, a proper laugh that made his whole body shake, and jostled me so much that I sat up to look down at him, confused. “What? What's so funny?”

“I don't know,” Zach replied, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. “It's just… I am, too. Maybe it's the stress.” He drew in a wheezing breath and shook his head. When he calmed down, I settled again.

Zach picked up the remote for the TV from the floor, left there forgotten the previous night when we were thoroughly distracted by each other's bodies. He flicked over the few channels. I still thought the selection was decent considering we were on a ship. Zach paused on the weather and listened until the report restarted, then went back to flipping. The movie was almost over, and the next one would be a newer drama. On the fourth round of surfing I put my hand over his.

“Turn on the music,” I said softly, “and just hold me for a while. We'll deal with this whole mess tomorrow, okay?” Zach sighed heavily, but did what I asked. He put the remote back on the floor, then wriggled out of his shirt to sleep. I tugged the blanket up over us and laid my hand on his stomach, gently stroking the line of peach fuzz that ran down the middle. “We'll tell them at breakfast,” I continued. “Just short and sweet. It's the best way to do it.”

“Okay,” Zach agreed. He kissed my head and gave my shoulders a squeeze. His body relaxed, and it wasn't long before he fell asleep. I wasn't awake for long afterwards, but I don't think his sleep was any more restful than mine. It had been a long time since stress had kept me awake, and I hadn't missed the constant tossing and turning and the weird dreams that woke me up every few hours, leaving me groggy and disorientated. At least I had Zach, my solid rock, holding me the entire night despite our difficulties sleeping.

Morning came quicker than either of us wanted. The sunlight woke me up, as always. He let out a frustrated groan. I reached for his wrist and squinted through bleary, sleep-blurred eyes at the time on his watch. It wasn't as early as I thought. No time for sleeping in then.

The more awake I became, the more nervous I grew. I dressed while Zach was in the shower, trying not to obsess over the little things like how my shirt looked or how I couldn't get my ponytail to hang right. I was still messing around with the latter when Zach finished showering and came out of the bathroom in his boxers. There were shadows under his eyes.

“Just leave it down,” he said gently. “It looks better that way.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, turning around to lean against the dresser. My thumbs pressed into the corners of my eyes. “I'm sorry. I'm just—”

“Stressed. I know.” Zach took my hands and rubbed my knuckles, offering me a small, comforting smile. “It'll be okay,” he said. “I don't think they'll freak out, but if they do, well... The trip will be over soon, and we can deal with everything then if we have to. Okay? One step at a time.”

“You know I'm bad at that,” I said.

“I know you are,” Zach replied through a tiny chuckle. “But try, okay? For me?”

“Okay,” I replied, and managed a small smile for him. He flicked my chin with the side of his knuckle and leaned down to give me a soft, lingering kiss. I savored every second of it, not knowing for sure when I would be able to get another. “Finish getting dressed,” I told him, my lips moving against his as I spoke. “I want to get this over with.”

“Yes, boss,” Zach replied.

I turned away from him and pulled my hair tie out of my hair, leaving it around my wrist. I still wasn't happy about my hair, but it was just my nerves making me jittery. I almost jumped when someone knocked on our door. Zach paused with his shirt half over his head and quickly tugged it down his stomach before I answered the knock. Mom stood on the other side, looking bright and cheerful and well-rested—everything I wasn't.

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” she said and ruffled my hair. I grunted and pulled my head away. “Someone didn't sleep well. Are you going to come up for breakfast or do you want to go back to sleep?”

“We're coming,” I replied.

Zach came up behind me. He handed me my purse. I checked my key was still in it before leaving the room with him behind me. Evan popped out of his and Mom's room a couple seconds later. He smiled at both of us, looking just as happy as Mom, and together, we headed to the dining room to eat. Zach and I shuffled our feet, stress and sleepiness weighing heavily on our shoulders. Every now and then, Zach touched the small of my back, just a little bump of his knuckles to reassure me he was still there.

We walked ourselves to our table and sat down. Zach and I ordered juice, our parents, coffee. Mom wouldn't stop staring at me. She knew something was wrong. From the looks she kept giving Zach, I think she'd picked up on his mood as well.

She reached across the table to touch my hand where it was lightly curled around my glass of juice. “You okay, sweetie?”

I glanced at Zach, who nodded slightly, then sighed and shook my head. “There's something we need to tell you,” I said. My words instantly had our parents' full attention.

“Go ahead,” Mom said.

I opened my mouth, trying to think of the words to say but floundering. Zach came to my rescue. He took my free hand in his and put them plainly on the table for our parents to see. His jaw was tight, and his throat worked hard as he swallowed, but at least he could talk.

“We didn't tell you before, but Annie and I knew each other in school,” he said. “We dated. It was really serious. Dad, I know I told you about the girl, but I never told you who. Well, now you know. And we...” He paused and took a deep breath. “I love her. And I know that makes all of this even more awkward than it already is, but that's just how it is, and nothing's going to change that, not even you two getting married. So if it's a problem, go ahead and tell us now, because I'm letting you know that I'm not going to give Annie up without a fight.”

My heart thudded so hard I could barely breathe. Our parents looked at us, then looked at each other, then grinned and laughed. My anxiety was replaced by confusion.

“What?” I asked. “What's so funny?”

“Oh, sweetie,” Mom said, shaking her head and patting my hand. “Did you think we didn't know? We're your parents. We always know things like that, no matter how subtle you think you're being. We were just waiting for you two to tell us.”

“So, it's not... You don't mind?” I asked.

Evan shook his head. “Zach never told me who you were, but I saw him when he was with you and how he was after. Anyone who can make my son that happy is okay in my book, no matter who they are.”

“Same here,” Mom said. “We just want you two to be happy.”

“But… we're—” I stuttered, words tumbling out of my mouth and tripping on my tongue.

“Have a drink, hon,” Mom said. “I know you're worried because Evan and I are getting married—which was a surprise, thank you very much—but you don't need to be. We'll figure everything out as we go. Now, will you two stop sneaking around being miserable and enjoy the rest of the vacation we paid to bring you on?”

“I paid,” Evan said.

“Details,” Mom replied. She let go of my hand and sipped her coffee.

For a few painful seconds my mind was completely blank, and then I felt a smile growing on my face. I saw it mirrored on Zach's. I started laughing and couldn't stop. People around us gave us funny looks, but I didn't care. I never thought this was the direction my life would take me, but God, would it be a story to tell my kids one day—if Zach and I decided we wanted them. Neither of us were keen on sharing the kiss we wanted in front of our parents, even though they didn't care that we were together, but the hug we shared meant more than any kiss ever could.

Bonus Book #2

ROGUE

(A Stepbrother

Romance Novella)

By

Mia Carson

COPYRIGHT © 2016

All Rights Reserved

Amy

“Hey love! You never gonna believe what else I found in New York today!” mom had called on the phone me a few weeks earlier, her voice filled with excitement. She had gone to New York to inspect a property she wanted to buy for her next bed-and-breakfast.

“What?” I had answered, trying my best to sound excited for her.

“I met a man named Gary. He’s a stock broker in New York City!”

“Oh, that’s nice,” I said.

My mom, beautiful and young at forty-two, was always dating new people. This one, however, had seemed serious from the start. I could tell because she never settled on one man right after meeting him.

Gary, however, soon became her one and only. She traveled from San Francisco, where we lived, to New York more and more frequently to work on the bed and breakfast she’d purchased, but also to hang out with him.

I met Gary only once, when he came to visit her in San Francisco. He seemed easy-going enough, but everything was happening way too fast for me to get a solid opinion of him.

“Come spend some time with us in New Rochelle,” my mother had said a few days after she told me about Gary.

“I love my school,” I stated, “so I’m staying up that way.”

“Maybe come down for the summer? It’ll be great to have you here with me. What do you say?”

I paused a moment, leaving an uncomfortable silence. “Maybe.”

“Gary has a son around your age. He can show you around town,” she suggested, like this wasn’t some kind of a life-altering event.

“I usually spend the summer with Dad, so I have to ask him if he doesn’t mind,” I countered.

Dad hadn’t minded and a few days later, I was on the plane heading for my mom’s. Classes were over for the year, so I boarded the plane from San Francisco to upstate New York. I would be spending the summer there. I had always been a protective person and wanted to make sure my mother was doing the right thing. I had also always been a curious person, and I wondered what Gary was like. I sincerely hoped that his son, my soon-to-be stepbrother, wasn’t a total douche.

As the plane inched towards New York, I watched the sun stain the horizon with pink and blue. Now big puffy clouds decorated the perfectly blue sky.

I had my phone on airplane mode, so I had no access to the internet. Bored, I flipped through pictures on my phone. I looked at a few photos of myself, and though it was so vain, I knew I was beautiful. Even in this picture, with barely any makeup, the beauty of my pale skin and honey-brown eyes contrasted elegantly with my light red hair. I inherited my hair from my mother and my eyes from my father.

I scrolled through a few pictures of my dad and me. I had taken one when we were at a baseball game together, our faces framed with sunglasses and freckled from the sun. I frowned, remembering our conversation from a week before.

“Go to the east coast. See some new things. Meet some new people. You can always come here during the summer, and I can always visit. Your mother won’t mind having the extra help at her bed and breakfast,” my dad had urged.

“Are you sure?” I’d asked.

“Positive. Go have fun.”

I found some old pictures of my mom and me. I was a child, playing with toys in the office of the first bed and breakfast she’d opened. I had fond memories there. Meeting the exotic—at least to me—guests had always been a treat. My mother had been happy then, which had been nice. This was her passion, for sure. A passion which led her straight to Gary.

I looked through more pictures, searching for a photo of our last Halloween party. My best friend and roommate from college, Sarah, was by my side like she always was, holding the camera.

“Have a safe one out there. And don’t forget to call me if you need girl talk,” she’d said, giving me a hug before I left.

“I will be in touch with you a lot. I’ll need to talk to someone about all this new and random craziness,” I’d told her, grabbing my luggage.

I met Sarah my freshman year. I would begin my junior year after this summer, and we were as close as ever. She was a girly girl, with cherry-blonde hair and clear, green eyes. She played soccer, and though my mother had invited her for the summer, she couldn’t come to New York because she had soccer camp in preparation for the next season.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re making our final descent into JFK airport. Please make sure your seatbelts are fastened,”
I heard the intercom blare.

Thank goodness
. The fight had taken forever, or maybe I was just so anxious to see what my mother’s new life was like.

The airplane landed, and I followed the rest of the groggy passengers out of the plane. I turned my phone off airplane mode, and it began to vibrate almost immediately. I received several texts from friends, some notifications from social media, and a new number had called my phone several times. Puzzled, I dialed it. It rang for a moment, and then a deep voice answered.

“Amy?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah. Speaking. Who is this?” I questioned, skeptical.

He chuckled in an equally deep voice. “It’s Ashton, Gary’s son. I thought your mom gave you my number.”