Romancing the Crown: Kate & Lucas: Under the King's Command / The Prince's Wedding

Kate lengthened her stride as she crossed the base’s central square in an effort to work off her frustration. Seagulls cried overhead, riding the wind that swept in from the pier. She firmed her jaw at the noise. It was as if the fates were conspiring against her, refusing to let her forget and get on with her life.

Seeing Sam and the baby, stirring up all those painful memories was bad enough, but she’d handled it, hadn’t she? How was she going to cope with seeing him every day? Working with him? Breathing his scent, hearing his voice, seeing his smile?

Well, she wouldn’t have to worry about his smile. So far, he looked to be as pleased about their partnership as she was.

“I’ve been given a place to set up a command center in the north building. I’m meeting the superintendent of the Montebellan police there in twenty minutes.” Sam touched her elbow as he changed direction. “Naturally I’ll include you in the meeting now.”

She couldn’t help it, she flinched at his touch. “All right.”

“Before he gets here, I need to ask you something.”

“What?”

They had reached the building on the north side of the square. When the Montebellans had deeded this enclave to the U.S. Navy, they had stipulated that any structures had to reflect the character of the local architecture. Although this building housed an efficient complex of modern offices, the long windows, slate roof and iron-trimmed wooden entrance doors gave it the flavor of a Mediterranean villa.

Instead of going through those doors, Sam detoured to a corner that was shielded from sight by a large cedar tree. He stopped and turned to face her. “Are you going to have a problem working with me, Kate?”

Leave it to Sam to tackle the issue head-on. She kept her gaze on the top button of his khaki shirt. “No,” she lied. “I’m grateful for the king’s notice. This assignment is bound to look good on my record, so of course I don’t object to it.”

“That’s not what I meant. Will it bother you to be my partner?”

“I wouldn’t expect to be in charge, since you were the one who was called in for this project first.” She paused. “Do you have a problem working with a partner?”

“No, I can use all the help I can get.”

“Fine.” She started to move past him, but he didn’t budge.

“Kate, I’m not talking about our work, I’m talking about us.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Given our past association, I thought you might feel awkward about taking this assignment.”

Her gaze went from his shirt to his throat. And she thought about how that hollow at the base had tasted. She fought the urge to lick her lips. “Thank you for your concern, Sam, but as you said, our association was in the past. And I want to leave it there.”

“Right. That’s what you told me yesterday.”

“I wouldn’t let my personal business interfere with my duty.”

“You never did.”

“What does that mean?”

“Your career always came first.”

That’s because when she’d lost the baby, she had nothing else left. She frowned. No, that wasn’t right. She had chosen this career. She loved it. She had put it first before she was pregnant, too. “I think we’ve covered this topic, Sam.”

“Have we? As I recall, we didn’t do all that much talking when we were together.”

That was true. They’d had far more urgent things on their minds than conversation. She moved her gaze to his mouth, remembering how he’d used it on her neck…and her breasts…and her thighs….

Kate quickly looked away, focusing on the flag at the center of the square. “Maybe I should be asking you if you have a problem working with me, given our past association. You’re the one who can’t seem to let it go.”

Can’t let it go? She’s right, Sam thought. He did have a problem. A major problem. It was distracting enough just thinking about her. How was he supposed to work with her? How could he keep himself from touching her, especially here in the sunshine with her hair gleaming like autumn and her pulse throbbing in the delicate vein at the side of her neck?

He’d been wrong before when he’d thought she looked composed. Now that they were in full daylight he could see she hadn’t slept any better than he had last night. There were shadows under her eyes and signs of strain around her lips.

What was bothering her? It couldn’t be the same thing that was bothering him, that was for sure. If she’d been dreaming of hot sex all night she wouldn’t have brushed him off yesterday or continued to treat him like a casual acquaintance today. She had never been shy about her physical needs—their relationship had been as simple and basic as things could get between a man and a woman. He’d thought the memories they shared were good ones. And they had parted on friendly terms—he’d let her go as neatly as she’d wanted—so what was going on?

If this were five years ago, he would have cupped her cheek and drawn her head to rest against his shoulder. He would have stroked her back and pressed soft kisses to her hair and urged her to confide in him.

But he wasn’t part of her life any longer. She didn’t welcome either his touch or him. “Don’t worry, Kate. You made yourself clear twice already, and the Navy has a strict policy regarding sexual harassment.”

“Good.” She moved toward the door.

“But if you ever change your mind,” he added softly, “be sure to let me know.”

A slight break in her stride was the only sign that she had heard him. “I think it would be best if we get on with our mission,” she said briskly. “What have you done so far?”

As they climbed the stairs to the second story, Sam tamped down his frustration and told her what he had related to the admiral. They reached the office he’d been assigned, and he stepped aside to let her enter first. He couldn’t help noticing that she was careful not brush against him as she went by.

It was another jab to his already bruised ego. Had what they’d shared meant so little to her? Had he deluded himself, distorted the memory of how good it had been? He wanted to grab her arm, spin her around and haul her to him so he could find out.

Instead, he closed the door behind them and watched her walk around the room. He couldn’t grab her. He couldn’t kiss her. He’d meant what he’d said about sexual harassment. It would be a serious charge, and he wasn’t about to risk his career to satisfy his urge for a woman.

No, not just a woman. Kate. His Kate. The lover who had spoiled him for anyone else.

Aw, hell.

“Have you obtained charts of the coastline?” she asked.

He pushed away from the door and walked to the large table he’d set up in the center of the room. “Right here.”

She joined him, although she was careful to keep an arm’s length away. She braced her hands on the edge of the table and leaned over to study one of the charts spread out there. “I know this coast. Even though there are many rocky stretches, there are innumerable places a small boat can pick up a passenger.”

“I take it you think she’ll try to escape by small boat?”

“It’s her best course of action. With the airports closed to her and the cruise lines and ferries on alert, she won’t be able to escape the island by any form of public transportation. She’ll likely try to obtain the use of a private boat.”

That was exactly the conclusion that he’d come to. Sam moved closer to Kate’s side and leaned over the chart with her. He couldn’t help inhaling her scent, and he was already leaning nearer to get another whiff before he caught himself. Damn, how was he supposed to keep his mind on business if she smelled like that? He exhaled hard and traced a line on the paper with his index finger. “The nearest island to Montebello is Tamir. Although relations between the two countries have thawed recently, they don’t have an extradition treaty. If Chambers makes it that far, it won’t be difficult for her to disappear.”

“A small private craft would be able to cover the distance to Tamir,” Kate said. “Even a rowboat could make it as long as the weather conditions were favorable.”

“You said you’ve been stationed here seven months. How many private boats do you figure there are on Montebello?”

Kate lifted her shoulders in a brief shrug. “This is an island. The sea is a major influence on Montebellan culture. There are fishing boats, sailboats and pleasure craft of all kinds. If you added them all up, the number would likely exceed the population itself.”

“I suspected as much. That’s going to make this challenging.”