Jonah slipped his arm around her shoulders and tucked her by his side, her soft curves pressed enticingly against him.
She stiffened.”You can’t be planning to tell them … uh …”
“About your father?”
Her brown eyes flashed with warring anger and fear.”About your theories. About you and me.”
“My lips are sealed, princess.”
“Stop calling me that,” she said through gritted teeth as the footsteps thunked louder and closer.
“You and I both know it’s true. There’s no more denying it. The only question is, how far will you go to keep me quiet?”
She gasped.”You can’t mean—”
“Too late to talk, Eloisa dear.” He squeezed her lightly as the group closed in, her family leading.”Trust me or not.”
The older man in the lead fanned a hand over his wind-blown blond hair, whisper thin along the top. His daughter—the bride to be—was an even paler version of her father. Even her hair seemed bleached white by the sun, yet she didn’t sport even a hint of a tan. Her fiancé hovered behind, fists shoved in his pockets. He shuffled from foot to foot as if impatient to be anywhere but here. A small crowd gathered behind them while others watched from the deck railing.
Jonah extended his hand to Eloisa’s stepfather.”Sorry I’m late, sir. I’m Eloisa’s date for tonight’s shindig. I’m Jonah Landis.”
She wouldn’t be able to dismiss him as easily this time.
Harry Taylor’s eyes widened.”Landis? As in the Landises from Hilton Head, South Carolina?”
”Yes, sir, that would be my family.”
“Uh, Harry Taylor, here. Eloisa’s father.”
The guy all but had dollar signs flashing in his pupils like some cartoon character.
Jonah stifled the irritation for Eloisa’s sake. He appreciated the advantages his family’s money had brought him, but he preferred to make his own way in the world.
Meanwhile, though, Jonah knew how to deal with money suck-ups like this. He’d been on guard against them since the sandbox. Even kids figured out fast whose dad had the biggest portfolio.
A photographer stepped from the back of the pack, lifting the lens to his eyes. Eloisa tucked behind his shoulder as flashes spiked through the night.
Smiling widely, Harry shuffled aside to clear the way for the photographer to get a better angle. The old guy all but offered to hold the photographer’s camera bag.
Audrey elbowed her yawning fiancé, hooking arms with him and stepping closer.”When did you and Eloisa meet, Mr. Landis? I’m sure our guest—the editor of the local events section of our illustrious paper—will want plenty of deets for her column.”
“Call me Jonah.” He could feel Eloisa’s heart beat faster against him.
He could claim her easily here, but then their separation would be out in the open as well. He intended to be much closer to her.”I met Eloisa during her study-abroad program last year. I found her impossible to forget and here I am.”
Every word of that was true.
Eloisa’s sigh of relief shuddered against him.
Audrey loosened her death grip on her fiancé's arm long enough to sidle beside her sister for the next round of pictures.”Aren’t you full of surprises?”
“Not by choice.” Eloisa smiled tightly.”Besides, this is your night. I wouldn’t want to do anything to detract from that.”
Her stepsister winked, eying Jonah up and down.”Hey, if he were my date, I’d be lapping up all the media attention.”
What the hell kind of family was this?
Jonah pulled Eloisa closer to his side, sending a clear”back-off” signal to Audrey. She simply smiled in return, tossing her hair over her shoulders playfully. Her fiancé seemed oblivious, poor bastard.
Eloisa buried her face against Jonah’s shoulder and he started to reassure her—until he realized she wasn’t upset or even seeking him out. She was just hiding from the clicking camera.
The photographer snap, snap, snapped away, the flashes damn near blinding in the dark night.
Audrey reached for her sister.”Come on. Just smile for the camera. You’ve been hiding out here all night and I could use some fun and interesting pictures to add to my wedding album.”
Eloisa thumbed off the band from her ponytail. Her hair slid free in a silken sheet that flowed over her shoulders and down her back. She’d never seemed vain to him, but then most women he knew primped for the camera. Even his three sisters-in-law were known to slick on lipstick before a news conference.
Except as he watched her more closely he realized she used the hair as a curtain. The guy might be getting his photos—to deny them would have caused a scene with Audrey—but there wasn’t going to be a clear image of Eloisa’s face.
Realization trickled through of a larger problem between them than even he had anticipated. He knew she wanted to keep her royal heritage a secret. That was obvious enough and he respected her right to live as she pleased. But until this moment he hadn’t understood just how far she would go to protect her anonymity. A damned inconvenient problem.
Because as a Landis, he could always count on being stuck in the spotlight. Just by being with her, he’d cast her into the media’s unrelenting glare.
He’d wanted revenge, but didn’t need to unveil her secret to repay her for her betrayal. He had other, far more enticing ways of excising her from his mind.
Three
Eloisa wished that photographer would tone down the flash on his camera. Much more of his nonstop shutter bugging and she would have a headache. As if this evening wasn’t already migraine material enough.
Thank God the party had finally all but ended, only a few stragglers hanging on and sidling into the photo ops. Jonah—the cause of her impending headache—stood off to the side with her stepfather. Determined to keep her cool, Eloisa stacked tiny crystal cake plates left haphazardly on the dessert table. Her sister watched from her perch, lounging against the end of the table.
Audrey balanced a plate with a wedge of the raspberry chocolate cake on one hand, swiping her finger through the frosting and licking it clean.”You should let the catering staff take care of that. It’s what they’re paid to do.”
”I don’t mind, really. Besides, the cleaning staff charges by the hour.” She also needed a way to burn off her nervous energy from Jonah’s staged kiss.
“That doesn’t mean you need to work yourself to the bone. Go home.”
She wasn’t ready to be alone with Jonah. Not yet. Not with her feelings still so close to the surface. But judging from the stubborn set of his jaw as he stood under a string of white lights, he wasn’t leaving her life anywhere anytime soon.
“I’m staying here with you.” Eloisa sidestepped a band member carrying two guitar cases.”No arguments.”
“At least have some cake. It’s so amazing I almost don’t care that I’ll have to get my wedding gown resized.” Audrey swiped up another gob of frosting, her blue eyes trekking over to Jonah, then sliding back.”You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you, sister dear?”
“So you said earlier.” Eloisa placed the forks in a glass so all the plates stacked evenly and handed over the lot to a passing catering employee.
How rare that someone accused her of being full of surprises. She’d always been the steady one, tasked to smooth things over when her more-sensitive