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Once inside, she set her things down on the dining table and headed for the bedroom, where she was sure she’d left her phone. It was charging on her nightstand. She unhooked the charger, just as she heard a knock at the door.
She belted her cover-up a little tighter and moved to the door. With a gentle tug on the knob, the door opened and she came face to face with Juan Carlos Salazar. The king.
She blinked and a rush of heat rose up her neck. She trembled at the sight of him, the gorgeous, unexpected, surprising sight of him. The phone slipped slightly in her hand and she grabbed at it before it crashed onto the floor.
His eyes were on her, and those dark raised brows made her flush even hotter. With guilt. Piercing disappointment flickered in his eyes. She hadn’t told him the absolute truth when she’d left Del Sol.
“Princess,” he said.
“Your Majesty,” she responded.
His lips twitched. “I see you’ve decided to stay on in Alma, after all.”
“I, uh, yes.” She didn’t owe him an explanation. One heart-robbing kiss didn’t give him that right. “My plans changed.”
“Quite unexpectedly, I assume.”
“Yes, that’s right.” The movement of two bodyguards caught her attention. They stayed back, at least five feet away, but she was certain they could hear every word. “Would you like to come in?”
His gaze dipped down to her bikini-clad body, covered only by a soft robe of silk that reached her thighs. “Yes.”
She backed up a few steps and he nodded to his bodyguards and then entered. They stood face-to-face again, alone in her suite.
Despite her guilt and a sense of being caught red-handed, this was the most exciting thing that had happened to her in three days. But how did he find out where she was and what did he want from her?
Her cell phone buzzed and she looked down at the screen. A text was coming through from Jasmine. She hadn’t had time to call her back yet. Quickly, she scanned the message.
Heads up. I might’ve made a mistake by giving King Montoro your location. He was charming and said it was a business thing. Apologizing in advance. Love you!
She lifted her lids to him. Okay, so he wasn’t psychic. But he was thorough.
“It’s good to see you again,” he said.
Warmth swelled inside her like an overflowing river. He had too much of an effect on her.
“It’s nice to see you, but I do admit, it’s quite a surprise.”
On this warm day, he was wearing dark trousers and a tan shirt, sleeves rolled up with his hands in his pockets, looking as casual and delicious as any man she’d ever met. Man, not king. But she couldn’t forget who he was. “I have to admit, I was also surprised to learn you hadn’t left the country.”
“You were looking for me?”
“Yes, I spoke with your assistant. She’s very nice, by the way, and she’s loyal to you. But the fact is, I have something of a business venture for you. And after I told her a little about it, she was willing to let me get in touch with you.”
His eyes skimmed over Portia’s body. Another wave of heat shimmied down to her belly and she turned away from his hot, assessing stare. Man or king, he was dangerous. “Would you like to sit down?” She waved him over to a latte-colored leather chair by the window that faced the Atlantic. “Please give me a minute to change my clothes.”
“Only if you have to.”
There was a wicked twinkle in his eyes that tweaked something lusty and recently unleashed in her body. It made her run, not walk toward her bedroom. “I’ll be a minute, Your Majesty,” she called over her shoulder.
His chuckle followed her into her room.
She scrubbed her face clean of sunscreen and removed her hair fastener, combing the tangles away and then gathering the strands back up into a long ponytail. She put on a pair of white capris and an off-the-shoulder cornflower-blue blouse.
A hint of lip gloss, some shading to her eyelids and she was ready. And more than mildly curious as to what was so important that King Juan Carlos had come all the way here to seek her out. She gave a last glance in the mirror and nodded. She felt a little less vulnerable to the king’s hungry eyes now.
* * *
Juan Carlos stood when Portia entered the room. His heart hammered in his chest at the sight of her. She didn’t know it yet, but he was determined to possess her. Aside from his newfound reign over Alma and his duties here, she’d become the most important thing in his life.
In such a short time.
