He cursed under his breath and said, “Get lost, Muffin.”
Such an adorable name coming from a big tough prince like him made her laugh. “You named your dog Muffin?”
“It’s not my dog.” He sat up and shooed the furry invader away, which only made it jump around and yap excitedly. “He’s Louisa’s bag of fleas.”
“He’s so cute!” She sat up beside Chris and held out a hand for Muffin to sniff. He sniffed daintily, then lapped at her fingers with his tiny pink tongue. “Aren’t you just a sweetheart?”
From a distance, behind the tree somewhere Melissa heard Louisa call out, “Muffin! Here, boy!”
Muffin’s ears perked and he let out a short yap, as if to say “Here I am!”
“Shoo,” Chris said. “Go get her.”
Muffin didn’t budge.
“Over here!” Melissa called to Louisa, and Chris cursed again, but at this point an interruption seemed inevitable. She just hoped her hair wasn’t too much of a mess, or her makeup smeared. Though she was sure Chris has kissed away whatever had been left of her lip gloss.
Louisa rounded the tree, looking young and fresh in white capri pants and a pink blouse. Her hair looked soft and cute pulled back in a low bun. She was graceful and petite, almost to the point of looking fragile.
When she saw the three of them there—Chris, Melissa and Muffin—she smiled. Then she pointed a finger at her dog and said sternly, “Bad boy, Muffin. You know you’re not supposed to run off like that.”
“He’s so cute,” Melissa told her.
“I hope he’s not bothering you.”
Melissa said “no,” and Chris said “yes” simultaneously. Melissa gave his shoulder a light shove and told Louisa, “He’s not bothering us at all. Is he a shih tzu?”
“Purebred.” Louisa said proudly, scooping him up and tucking him into the crook of her arm. “He probably smelled the food. He’s a little eating machine. I swear, he’s part pig.”
“Would you like to join us?” Melissa asked, in part to be polite, but also because they had hardly eaten a thing and she hated to see all of that food go to waste.
Louisa opened her mouth to answer but Chris interrupted her. “Actually, we were just getting ready to pack up. Melissa was just saying how tired she is from her trip yesterday, and that she’d like to take a nap. I was going to walk her back to her room.”
Oh, yes, that fifteen-minute plane ride from Morgan Isle was absolutely exhausting. Although she was pretty sure that napping was the last thing he had on his mind.
“The nap can wait,” she said.
“No,” Chris insisted, spearing her with a sharp look. “I don’t think it can. We wouldn’t want you to get too tired.”
“That’s okay,” Louisa said. “Muffin and I are going to take a walk.” She smiled brightly and told Melissa, “Have a good rest.”
Either she hadn’t recognized the innuendo in the nap scenario, or she was just polite enough not to let on. Either way, she waved good-bye and walked off with Muffin trailing obediently while Melissa and Chris gathered the leftover food and packed it back into the basket.
“A nap, huh?” she said.
He grinned. “Yeah. You look exhausted.”
“She’s very sweet, isn’t she?” Melissa asked. “Louisa, I mean.”
“Yes.” His brow tucked into a frown. “Far too sweet for her own good.”
“I get the impression she’s a bit…naive.”
“More than a bit.” He closed the basket, then rose to his feet and shook out the blanket. “I fear someday someone will take advantage of that. And I think we’ve only perpetuated the problem by sheltering her.”
“She may be tougher than you think.”
“I hope so.” He folded the blanket, grabbed the basket, then held out an arm for her to take, flashing one of those sizzling smiles. “Shall I walk you back for that nap?”
She wrapped her arm tightly through his and pressed herself against his side, smiling up at him. “The sooner the better.”
She doubted it would be restful, but it would probably be the most pleasurable nap she’d ever taken.
Chris dropped the basket in the kitchen on the way in and led Melissa upstairs to her room. The halls were blissfully silent, and thankfully they didn’t run into anyone on the way up. Not that it would have stopped Chris from going into her room. He’d have fabricated some reason they needed to be alone.
If Louisa hadn’t interrupted them, he might have made love to Melissa right there on the blanket under the tree, the consequences be damned. Everything about her was so sweet and soft and sexy. He might not have been able to stop himself. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t have put up much resistance, it was obvious she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
They were mere steps from her door, and Chris was already plotting just how he would get her out of her clothes, when a bodyguard named Flynn caught up with them.
“Sorry to interrupt, sire,” he said, bowing his head to both Chris and Melissa. “Prince Aaron is looking for you.”
Yeah, well, Prince Aaron was going to have to wait. “Tell him that I’ll speak with him later.”
“He said it’s urgent,” Flynn insisted. “Regarding the matter this morning, with the e-mail.”
“Right!” Chris said, before the man said too much and piqued Melissa’s curiosity. Aaron had obviously discovered something important. “Where is he?”
“The tech office, your highness.”
“Fine, tell him I’ll be right down.” When he was gone, Chris turned to Melissa. “I’m sorry. I need to take care of this.”
“Trouble getting your e-mail?” she teased.
If only it were that simple. “A security issue,” he said, not wanting to give any more than that away.
“It’s all right. I actually am a little tired. Maybe I’ll lie down for a while.” She grinned. “Reserve my strength for later.”
“I’ll try to make it quick.”
She rose up on her toes and pressed a lingering kiss to the corner of his lips, and it took everything in him not to say to hell with it and back her into her room. But he didn’t want to feel rushed. When he made love to Melissa, he was going to take his time. With this security thing hanging over his head, he would be distracted.
“You know where to find me,” she said, then she slipped into her room and closed the door.
Bloody hell. He lingered another second, tempted to follow her in, then he forced himself to turn and head down to the tech office, hoping Aaron had answers and they could wrap this up quickly. But the instant he stepped inside and saw the look of concern on Aaron’s face, he knew this was going to take a while.
Chapter Seven
Chris stepped into the tech office and closed the door. “I’m guessing the news isn’t good.”
“Good guess,” Aaron said.
The systems administrator, Dennis Attenborough—though everyone called him by his hacker name, Datt—gazed grimly at his computer screen. “This guy knows what he’s doing.”
“Guy?” Chris asked.
Datt