A Royal Mess and Her Knight To Remember

NATALIA GOT OUT of the truck and looked around. She was used to people. Used to being the center of attention, sought out and acknowledged. It came with the whole princess thing. People loved royals.

But out here, with the vast sky and even vaster landscape, she wasn’t the center of attention. There were no crowds to wave to. No movie theaters, no tattoo parlor, no dry cleaners…nothing but space.

She felt as though she’d stepped foot on another planet.

Which brought her to another point. Tim had been nothing but sweet and compassionate, taking in what he seemed to think was a crazy woman, all to get her off the street.

What kind of man did that?

And what kind of woman let him? Was she simply acting on impulse-cruel impulse, in fact-wanting that time to herself at Tim’s expense?

Today was Sunday. The wedding wasn’t until next Saturday. She’d originally figured on an expensive Taos hotel, lots of room service and time alone to enjoy a good book and the pool.

But after today’s fiasco, something else had taken root. The need to do this, to prove herself, both to her family and herself. To be normal. A normal woman.

With all her heart she wanted that, and part of being a woman, she told herself, would certainly include taking care of the people she cared about.

Stupid as it may be, she cared about this man who’d stopped for a perfect stranger. She could help both him and herself.

And still make the wedding.

“Take until tomorrow to acclimate,” Tim said, coming to stand beside her. His arm brushed hers, a simple, uncalculated touch, yet her pulse kicked up a gear. She stood still to be sure, but yep, those were lust hormones racing through her veins faster than the speed of light. Bad, bad princess.

It was also bad how much she enjoyed following him during his tour, watching his very watchable behind and thighs in those jeans nearly worn through in the most interesting of places. He showed her the main house, the bunkhouse where some of his ranch hands lived, and pointed out the two barns; one filled with equipment, one filled with animals. He offered to show her inside those barns, but she hadn’t yet figured out how to mention one little detail she’d forgotten until now.

She was afraid of animals.

So she declined the tour of the barn.

“Why don’t you change out of your wet clothes, then relax until morning?” he suggested when she stood on his porch looking over the vast, open land.

It was quiet here, very quiet. Except for this little eventful trip, there hadn’t been many times in Natalia’s life when she felt as quiet. Alone.

Suddenly all her bravado and swagger deserted her, and she wished she knew this man better, because weak as it sounded, she would have liked to set her head on his very capable-looking shoulder. Let him shield her from the unknown. Curl into his body and be protected.

But she didn’t know him better, and she would do this by herself. “I’ll change,” she said. She’d purchased clothes during their stop at a general store. With his money. An advance, she’d told him. To be paid back. Now she had jeans and T-shirts, just like Tim.

Somehow she doubted she’d look as good in them as he did. “But I’ll start work now.”

“That’s not necessary, Natalia.”

“You’ll all need dinner, correct?”

“Well, yeah.” He looked right into her eyes, in a way few others did, completely uninhibited by who she was. “You sure about this?”

Sure? Ha! She hadn’t been sure of anything since she’d stepped on the plane a tough princess and had gotten off a regular, unsure woman. “Point me to the kitchen.”

He led her through the house, which was as open and spacious as the land around them. The wood floors were scarred but clean, the furniture oversized, just like everything else in Texas appeared to be, and surprisingly warm and inviting.

At home in Grunberg, there were rooms for guests, and rooms for children. Never the two shall meet.

Not so here. Everyone would be welcome in any room, as there were no precious antiques to destroy, or priceless paintings to breathe on. Here would be an incredible place for a kid to run free. Literally. “It’s beautiful,” she said, meaning it.

He laughed as he headed toward a set of white, double swinging doors. “You sound so surprised.” He stopped and turned so fast she nearly walked right into him. Heat radiated from his big body as he lifted his hands to her waist to steady her. She hadn’t closed his jacket. Beneath she still wore her wet leather skirt and top, which didn’t quite meet. As a result his fingers slid around her bare waist, his thumbs brushing her belly. “Do I look that uncivilized to you?” he asked.

He was teasing her again. She could see the smile tugging at his lips, but with his hands on her, she couldn’t react. Couldn’t even open her mouth to retort.

Then a stream of vulgarities erupted from the kitchen in a very furious, very female voice.

“Who is that?” Natalia asked, stepping back so that his hands fell to his sides.

“My sister.” Tim stared at the closed door with dread. “Please, don’t let her have set anything on fire or killed anyone,” he muttered, and with a weak smile to Natalia, he pressed through the swinging doors.

At the huge table sat a small group of rough-and-ready men, all of whom brightened considerably at the sight of Tim.

But at the refrigerator, wearing low-slung jeans, a tank top and scuffed boots, stood a woman, swearing at the rather sparse-looking shelves. “I am not going to face the grocery store,” she said. “No way, no how, not again. I don’t care how hungry you all are, you’ll make do with whatever is in here.” She picked up something moldy. “Well, f-”

“Sally,” Tim said quickly, with his hand low on Natalia’s spine as he guided her into the room.

“Hallelujah.” She whirled with a wide, anticipatory grin that perfectly matched her brother’s.

A grin that vanished at the sight of Natalia, who stood next to Tim in her wet leather covered by Tim’s jacket.

“Sally, meet-”

“Oh, great. Just great. I get in trouble for kissing Josh in the barn and you-”

“What?” asked a man from the table, where all the men had perked up.

“You were kissing Josh?” another asked.

“Wow.”

“Damn, you didn’t tell us that.”

Sally ignored all of them. “-and now you’re flaunting some new biker chick right under my nose. Nice, Tim. Real nice.”

Natalia’s jaw dropped. “I am not the…new biker chick.” Just the idea made her want to laugh. Made her want to stomp her foot in anger.

Made her wonder what it would be like to be Tim’s “new biker chick.”

“Well, then who are you?” Sally demanded.

“I’m trying to tell you who she is,” Tim said mildly, though there was a definite warning in his eyes for his sister. “Now try to behave. Natalia’s the temporary cook.”

“Uh-huh,” Sally said. “And I’m the queen of England.”

“My God, you people and the queen of England!” Natalia exclaimed, baffled. She instantly pitied Tim for having such a horrid sister, and decided to kiss Annie and Lili the moment she saw them next.

Tim laughed and shook his head. “Okay, let’s start over. Natalia, forget Sally, she’s just being bad-mannered and equally bad-tempered, which happens…oh, every few moments or so.”

“Anyone related to you would have the same problem,” Sally muttered.

Tim ignored her. “Natalia, these guys at the table-Ryan, Pete, Seth and Red-they’re my head guys.”

All four men smiled.

She smiled back.