“You need rescuing?”
She saw the teasing glint in his eyes and responded to it with a smile.
“Trust me. My cousin’s girls all have my number. If you’re not there to protect me, who knows what might happen?”
Tempting, she thought. So very tempting. She’d only been in America for three days and already she was feeling a little isolated. Being on her own was liberating, but, as it turned out, lonely. And it wasn’t as if she could call the few friends she had in the States—the moment she did, word would get back to her family and, just like that, her bid for freedom would end.
What could it hurt to spend the day with a man who made her toes curl and the family he clearly loved? She took a breath and made the leap. “All right, thank you. I would love to rescue you.”
“Excellent. My cousin and his family should be back any minute now. So while we wait, why don’t you tell me where you’re from. I can’t quite place your accent. It’s British, but…not.”
She jolted a little and fought to keep him from seeing it. “You’ve a good ear.”
“So I’ve been told. But that’s not really an answer, is it?”
No, it wasn’t, and how astute of him to notice. She’d been trained in how to answer questions without really answering them from the time she was a child. Her father would have been proud. Never answer a question directly, Alexis. Always be vague. Watch what you say, Alexis. You’ve a responsibility to your family. Your heritage. Your people…
“Hey. Alex.”
At the sound of his concerned voice, she shook her head, coming out of her thoughts with relief. That was the second time Garrett had rescued her today. She didn’t want to think about her duties. Her role in history. She didn’t want to be anything but Alex.
So instead of being evasive again, she said, “Why don’t you try to figure out where I’m from and I’ll let you know when you’ve got it right?”
One dark eyebrow lifted. “Oh, you’re challenging the wrong guy. But you’re on. Five bucks says I’ve got it by the end of the day.”
Oh, she hoped not. If he did, that would ruin everything. But she braved it out and asked, “Five dollars? Not much of a wager.”
He gave her a slow grin that sent new flashes of heat dancing through her system. “I’m open to negotiation.”
She actually felt her blood sizzle and hum.
“No, no. That’s all right.” She backed up quickly. Maybe she wasn’t as prepared for that zing of romance as she had thought. Or maybe Garrett the Gorgeous was just too much for her to handle. Either way, she was nervous enough to try to cool things down between them just a little. “Five dollars will do. It’s a bargain.”
“Agreed,” he said, one corner of his mouth lifting tantalizingly. “But just so you know, you should never bet with me, Alex. I always win.”
“Confident, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
A thrill of something hot and delicious swept through her veins. Nerves or not, she really enjoyed what he was doing to her. What was it about him that affected her so?
“That was fun, Uncle Garrett!”
A tiny whirlwind rushed up to them and threw both arms around Garrett’s knees. The girl gave him a wide smile then shifted suspicious eyes to Alex. “Who are you?”
“This is Alex,” Garrett told her. “Alex, meet Mia.”
She smiled at the child and couldn’t help noticing that the little girl held on to Garrett’s legs just a little more tightly.
“Mia, don’t run from me in these crowds,” a deep male voice shouted.
Alex turned to watch an impossibly attractive couple approach, the man holding on to a smaller version of the still-wary Mia.
“Alex,” Garrett said briskly, “this is my cousin Jackson and his wife, Casey, and that pretty girl with them is Molly.”
“It’s lovely to meet you all.”
Jackson gave her a quick up and down, then winked at his wife. “Wow, leave Garrett alone for a few minutes and he finds the most beautiful woman in the whole place—”
His wife nudged him with an elbow.
“—not counting you of course, sweetie. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Nice recovery,” Casey told him with a laugh and a smile for Alex.
“Always were a smooth one, Jackson,” Garrett mused.
“It’s why she loves me,” his cousin answered, dropping a kiss on his wife’s head.
Alex smiled at all of them. It was lovely to see the open affection in this family, though she felt a sharp pang of envy slice at her, as well. To get some time for herself she’d had to run from her own family. She missed them, even her dictatorial father, and being around these people only brought up their loss more sharply.
“It’s nice to meet you, Alex,” Casey said, extending her right hand in welcome.
“Thank you. I must admit I’m a little overwhelmed by everything. This is my first trip to Disneyland and—”
“Your first time?” Mia interrupted. “But you’re old.”
“Mia!” Casey was horrified.
Garrett and Jackson laughed and Alex joined them. Bending down slightly, she met Mia’s gaze and said, “It’s horrible I know. But I live very far away from here, so this is the first chance I’ve ever had to visit.”
“Oh.” Nodding her head, Mia thought about it for a minute then looked at her mother. “I think we should take Alex to the ghost ride.”
“Mia, that’s your favorite ride,” her father said.
“But she would like it, wouldn’t you, Alex?” She turned her eyes up and gave her a pleading look.
“You know,” Alex said, “I was just wishing I knew how to find the ghost ride.”
“I’ll show you!” Mia took her hand and started walking, fully expecting her family to follow.
“Guess you’ll be spending the day with us for sure, now,” Garrett teased.
“Looks that way.” She grinned, delighted with this turn of events. She was in a place she’d heard about her whole life and she wasn’t alone. There were children to enjoy and people to talk to and it was very near to perfect.
Then she looked up at Garrett’s blue eyes and told herself maybe it was closer to perfect than she knew.
“And after the ghost ride, we can ride the jungle boats and then the pirate one.” Mia was talking a mile a minute.
“Molly, honey, don’t pick up the bug,” Jackson said patiently.
“Bug?” Casey repeated, horrified.
Still holding Mara, Garrett came up beside Alex and said softly, “I promise, after the ghost ride, I’ll ride herd on my family and you can do what you want to do.”
The funny thing was, he didn’t know it, but she was already doing what she had always wanted to do.
She wanted to be accepted. To spend a day with nothing more to worry about than enjoying herself. And mostly, she wanted to meet people and have them like her because she was Alex Wells.
Not because she was Her Royal Highness Princess Alexis Morgan Wells