Page 30 of The Princess and the SEAL

Chapter 12

Ryan

IGRABBED GISELLE’S HAND ONCE we were outside of the hotel. “Are you okay?”

She leaned into my chest, and I embraced her. “No, of course I’m not. And thank you for backing me up; it means a lot to me. No one has ever defended me to my father like that.”

That’s because you’ve never dated a real man.“No need to thank me, babe. I was so proud of you and the way you stood up to your father.”

And I was, but I knew that it was one thing to stand up to her father about a quick vacation before she was married. She would never stand up to her father in the long term. No matter what happened between us in the next week, she would definitely go through with her marriage.

Not that it mattered to me. I’d known her for only a day. Why would I care who she married? One thing was for certain: she would never marry an American like me.

“Yeah, I did. I think I really made him upset. But he had no right to come after me and demand I come home. I just knew he would do this; I knew that he wouldn’t trust me to be on my own.”

I smirked. I didn’t want to agree with her father and upset Giselle, but even so, I felt the need to be honest with her. I could tell that, like most privileged girls I’d met, Giselle spent her life surrounded by yes people who would never call her out on her shit.

I would always tell her the truth, no matter what it cost me.

“I mean, I can’t say that I blame him. I would’ve come after you, too.”

She gritted her teeth and pulled away from me. “I’m an adult. Why does everyone treat me like I’m a child? My father, Miguel, and now you? I can handle myself.”

I exhaled. That did not come off the way that I’d intended.

“I understand, babe. I’m not saying that at all. I know you can handle yourself, but like I’ve been saying, you’re royalty. He was obviously worried, and rightly so.” I needed to change the mood. I put my thumb under her chin and forced her to look at me. Her mascara was smudged under her eyes, but I still thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. “So, what do you want to do now? Go out to dinner?”

She shook her head. “Actually, no. I’d like to just rest and order room service.”

I paused. We were staying at a small bed-and-breakfast. I didn’t think they had room service, but I could ask.

“Sure, whatever. I’ll ask the innkeeper if she can make us dinner, and we can eat in our room.” Her face contorted. What was on her mind? “What? What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.”

“No, it’s not nothing. What are you thinking?”

She dropped her shoulders. “Seeing my dad rattled me. And I told him you were my bodyguard. Now that he knows about you, I don’t think we should lie.”

“I’m not following you, babe.”

“Is there any way we can stay at my hotel? I have a suite with two separate bedrooms.”

“My place is fine.”

“But it’s really not, Ryan. If word gets out that we are sharing a small room, it could be really damaging to my image.”

I exhaled. I knew this was coming. Now that her father knew that I would be traveling with her, I would have to guard not only her but also her reputation.

I had given my word to her father, so I might as well man up.

“Fine. Let’s go check out.”

She placed her hand on my arm. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it.”

We walked down the street in silence. I was careful to keep my distance from her while I scanned the area for any suspicious people. Once we arrived at the bed-and-breakfast, I had the awkward talk with the innkeeper. She had been so kind to us that I didn’t want her to think that we hadn’t enjoyed her place. I paid her in full for my week and explained that Giselle wanted to be in the center of town.