AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You call me Kiera, no teasing, no little, no princess, and I’ll stay in this crazy cold water a few more minutes.”
“You don’t like me teasing you?”
“On the contrary, I adore your teasing, but I’m ‘Princess’ to the whole world. I want to be Kiera to you, and I want to hear you say it.” She ran her hands around to his muscular back, clinging to him, and was rewarded with him trembling slightly under her touch. At least she hoped it was a tremble and not a shiver from this blasted cold water.Bosh. All she wanted was to hear her name from his lips.
Mason studied her, as if questioning her motives. Her motive was simple: to secure his heart. She returned his gaze, and then she pulled the edge of her bottom lip between her teeth and gave him a come-hither look. That had seemed to affect him earlier today.
Mason groaned. His eyes dropped to her lips and then met her eyes again. “Kiera,” he whispered in a husky voice that warmed her from the inside out.
Kiera’s stomach did a dance, and her body went hot from head to toe. She prayed he’d lean in, but he only studied her. “Mason,” she whispered, arching up toward him.
“Yes … Kiera?”
It would happen. He would say her name before, during, and after he kissed her.
“I’m not even cold any longer.”
Mason smiled, but instead of kissing her long and slow, he sobered. “We’d better get you out of here, then.”
He easily carried her up the steps. She shivered involuntarily and leaned into his broad chest. He paused and his gaze swept the surrounding area, but all was clear. Sergeant Mueller walked past the stairs leading into the spa and nodded to them. If he found it odd Mason was holding her, he didn’t show it. Maybe he thought it was part of pretending to be a couple. Oh, shoot. What if Mason was only pretending? But in this secluded spa area, they were sheltered from the windows. Nobody could see them. No reason to pretend.
Mason carried her cradled against his chest across the tiled floor and down into the hot pool. It stung her rear, feet, legs, and abdomen like a million hot needles.
“Ouch,” she cried out.
Mason grinned, leaned back into a seat, and did the last thing she wanted him to do. He released his grip on her. She forced herself to pry her fingers from his shoulders. It would be awkward to hold on when he wasn’t touching her any longer. She floated away from him.
“This is great,” he said. “I never relax like this.” Even as he said it, he did another perimeter search. As if her stalker would jump out of the sauna at them.
Relax?There was nothing relaxing about touching him, him saying her name so beautifully, almost kissing him.
Kiera edged to a seat next to his, their arms brushing as she settled in. He jolted slightly but closed his eyes and looked for all the world to be enjoying the hot, thermal water and the soothing jets.
“No time to relax for our Charming Captain?”
He chuckled but sadly didn’t look at her. “No, princess, no spare time. No rest for the too charming.”
She was too hot now. The tingling sensation from cold to hot had stopped, but she didn’t like what he was intoning. He was too charming. How many women was he currently dating? What about Miriam? Was that why he’d let Kiera go?
Her brother Malik and her stepbrother Chad had both been insanely charming players before they committed to the loves of their lives. Could she cure Mason of his playing ways?
Or was he happy with his life dating a million women and not interested in the princess he’d known forever and possibly still thought of as too young for him?
Drat! She had to scheme better. This time together could not be squandered. They’d made some great progress. Now she had to figure out how to capitalize on it.
ChapterSix
Mason wasin a rubbish truck full of trouble. Why had he even imagined it would be a fun joke, a way to cool his own ardor, to pick Kiera up and hold her in his arms so he could jump in the cold plunge with her? As if holding that incredible woman against his chest wouldn’t affect him. It was something he would’ve done when the princess was twelve. She wasn’t twelve any longer.
She’d felt so right in his arms—her womanly shape accentuated in the modest blue swimsuit, the sparkle and tease in her blue eyes, her asking him to call her Kiera. He blew out a breath and did another perimeter check, pretending not to be affected by her, pretending his whole world hadn’t been tipped upside down this afternoon, that it didn’t just keep on tilting. He felt like he was clinging to gravity by his fingernails. How was he supposed to ‘pretend’ to date Kiera but not pursue her or fall for her?
She was mesmerizing, and he was in so much trouble.
Should he call General Ray and explain he’d made a big mistake claiming he would never be interested in Kiera? He could convince the man that Kiera was his perfect match and the Serial Dater was ready to settle down. He could swear on the penalty of death that he would never trifle with her feelings.
No. The general would think he was teasing, and Mason was on an assignment here, not a dating op. The fact that this spa area was safe was no reason to let down his guard. He studied the small surrounding area diligently. Quiet. No danger. Curses, he wanted some danger. Not the princess in danger, but something to distract him from her arm and leg innocently brushing against his.
Was it innocent?
