The Duchess and Her Bodyguard

Chapter Two

She hadn’t told him the whole truth.

May, as the family called her, hastily adjusted the neckline of the white evening dress that had drawn Wade Stevens’s frankly interested gaze. The whole truth, a truth she wasn’t about to share with him, was that she’d requested him as her escort because she’d been as attracted to him as he seemed to have been drawn to her.

His age, his personality and the probability he was more likely to understand her than the two older Secret Service men hovering over her, had been a factor in his favor. But the truth was that it had been his virile appearance in his immaculate white dress uniform that had first captivated her and then held her attention.

She’d kept her eyes on him while he’d worked his way through the room, occasionally stopping to chat with someone he knew. It had been his easy smile, the way the corner of his eyes crinkled as he laughed that had finally convinced her.

She’d sensed then he was a man who had a sense of humor and knew how to enjoy life. A man who would know how to make her laugh.

She hadn’t known much laughter during her arranged marriage. Married at nineteen to a titled cousin, chosen for her by her father, she had tried to be the proper wife her late, older husband had expected. He had suddenly fallen dead at her feet of a heart attack a year ago.

Her period of mourning over, she had taken her father up on his invitation to travel with him on this short trip to the United States. She was desperate to enjoy her stay. Now was her chance to enjoy her youth and taste the freedom that had evaded her as a member of the royal family of Baronovia, and, until the recent birth of her half brother, its heir apparent.

The sight-seeing agenda laid out for her by the U.S. State Department had left her cold. The rules laid down by her Secret Service escorts had left her even colder. As for the commander, he may have been right about her wanting to see a side of Washington that was more than its stone monuments, but she didn’t care. She was more determined than ever to visit the places she’d longed to see.

If it meant using her royal status to charm or intimidate him into seeing things her way, so be it.

It was too bad she had to play a game with him, she thought regretfully as he held the door open for her. He appeared to be a genuinely decent man. Just as she knew herself to be a flesh-and-blood human woman under the role of imperious royalty she was playing. In different circumstances she might have enjoyed meeting him.

“EVERYTHING SETTLED?” Undersecretary of the navy Logan materialized at Wade’s elbow.

“You might say so, sir,” Wade agreed cautiously with a glance at the duchess.

“Good.” As Logan shook Wade’s hand, his relief was evident. “What’s on your sight-seeing agenda for tomorrow?”

“Sorry, sir,” Wade replied. “I’ve found it best never reveal my plans ahead of time.”

Logan started to speak, then appeared to change his mind. “Of course, Commander. You’re in charge.” He smiled at the duchess. “With your permission, Your Grace, I’ll leave you in the commander’s capable hands. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.” He bowed and hurried away.

Wade had been tempted to laugh when Logan acted if a diplomatic crisis had been averted. A stickler for propriety and rules, if Logan had known of Wade’s plans, he would have nixed the idea of shopping for appropriate clothing in Wal-Mart.

Somehow the idea didn’t sound amusing anymore.

Wade gazed down at the duchess. She’d tried to use her charm on him to get her way, but it wasn’t going to work. He’d actually expected her to tell Logan she’d changed her mind about wanting him for an escort. Instead, she’d slipped her hand through his arm, smiled and gazed up at Wade as if she was a star-struck fan of his.

Wade knew better. The wily duchess had an agenda. Although she seemed to have given in to his conditions for their outings, her teasing smile was a dead giveaway. Instinct told him the dimples that danced across her cheeks hid the truth.

He gazed down at her manicured hand. Another gesture that gave her away. He knew that royalty didn’t normally touch strangers. The duchess was acting, trying to use charm to get her way. Only time and his watchful eyes would tell what was behind that smile of hers.

He didn’t trust her as far as the front door to the Blair House.

“You are going to at least consult with me on our agenda, are you not?” the duchess said in a silky voice that dripped with honey.

He wasn’t buying.

Wade hesitated long enough to see her squirm, a question in her eyes. Good. He intended to keep her on edge while he laid down the rules. “That depends on what you have in mind.”

She took her hand away. “To begin with, I saw all of your national monuments that I care to see on our way in from the airport. Now I want to see the other side of the city.”

“Hold it right there,” Wade ordered before the last words were out of her mouth. “I don’t know what you mean by the other side of the city, but I have a strong suspicion it’s the wrong side.”

“Perhaps,” she added with a frown. “At least, the Secret Service agents seemed to think so. Nevertheless I have my mind made up. I will see no more monuments.”

“Really.” Wade’s eyebrows rose and came together. “Just what did you have in mind?”

“I shall give you a list tomorrow, after you call off the Secret Service. Right now I would like to speak to my father.” She started to move away.

“As a matter of fact, so would I.” Before she could take a second step, Wade touched her elbow and urged her to a corner of the room. “First let’s get something straight, Your Grace. You tell me what you’d like to see, then I’ll tell you if I agree. And as for the Secret Service men, forget calling them off. Like I said, they’re in.”

Her face paled and her eyes turned as cold as the glittering emeralds around her neck. “I think you’re forgetting who I am and who you are, Commander.”

Wade felt as if he’d been slapped in the face.

“Not at all, Your Grace,” he said with as much restraint as he could muster. “I’m Commander Wade Stevens, of the United States Navy. A lawyer attached to the Judge Advocate General Corps. While I’m not normally in the escort business, I am also the man you apparently asked for as an escort. And as your chosen escort I get to make the rules. You might say,” he added dryly, “you’re in my hands for the duration of your stay.”

At the annoyed expression that came across her face, Wade began to wonder if the duchess actually knew the reason his government was interested in protecting her. Or if she realized that if she hadn’t been in some kind of danger, the Secret Service and his own services would never have been called into play. Just how urgent remained to be seen.

He settled for the middle ground. “Where I come from, Your Grace, anything worth doing is worth doing well. Especially after an order from my superiors. So, how about starting over? As long as we appear to be stuck with each other for the next few days, how about a truce?”

He knew, even as he asked the question, that any truce the lady might agree to wasn’t going to be worth the powder to blow it to hell.

MAY GAZED in stony silence at the man who was turning out to be her bodyguard as well as her escort. Instead of being intimidated by her royal status, he appeared not to be impressed. Part of her was annoyed, even angry at his take-charge attitude. Another part, the sensible part of her, admired his courage. If there ever was a man she wanted as an escort around Washington, D.C., it was this Wade Stevens. From the moment she’d watched him make his way across the room in his eye-catching uniform, she’d sensed that a woman could be a woman and enjoy herself with him. Now, if she could only make him see things her way.

He stood more than six foot tall, with wavy brown hair and hazel eyes that changed with his thoughts. In his pristine white uniform, his athletic figure stirred emotions in her no other man before him had managed to do. Certainly not her late husband.

When their gazes locked, she realized that she wanted more than Wade Stevens’s company. She wanted him as a woman wants a man, and, heaven forgive her, in ways she was almost embarrassed to contemplate.

On the other hand, attracted to him or not, she had promised herself she would never let a man control her again the way her late husband had been wont to do. And certainly not a person from another country. Asking her to cooperate with him was one thing. Ordering her to do it was another.

She’d spent her life as a member of the Baronovian royal family, with a position to be upheld. Unfortunately, upholding that position had too often kept her from going where her heart and her interests had led her.

And now, to her surprise, her heart had led her straight to a man she could never make her own.

She had hoped things would be different in the United States, a country where her tutors had told her everyone had been created equal and everyone was free. Somewhere she could be herself—May Baron—instead of the Dowager Duchess Mary Louise.

If only she could tell him she wasn’t the woman she appeared to be.

She pulled her thoughts together, told herself to ignore Wade, to ignore her attraction to him. She wanted to see how ordinary people lived in the United States, a country that had intrigued her for years. No way was she going home without seeing the city she’d read about in a magazine during her flight here.

Even though she came only to his chin, she drew herself up to her full height. Instead of being May, the woman she actually yearned to be, she assumed the persona of Dowager Duchess Mary Louise of Lorrania, widow of the late duke of Lorrania. “I am going to speak to my father,” she repeated. “And, since I am surely safe here, you may consider yourself at liberty to leave. I will see you at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Wade stared at her for tense moment before he shook his head and kept a studied smile on his face for the benefit of possible watchers. She’d agreed to go along with him a moment ago. What had changed her mind?

“Take it easy, Your Grace,” he said. “We’ll visit your father together. Then, I’ll leave.”

Prince Alexis paused in conversation with a foreign diplomat and greeted his daughter with a broad smile. “Ah, my dear, I was beginning to wonder where you were.” He glanced at Wade as if he didn’t know who he was. “Why don’t you introduce your escort, my dear?”

Wade bit back a comment. According to Logan, the prince had been consulted about his daughter’s choice of escort. Now, the prince was pretending not to know him. And not to know the duty included being his daughter’s bodyguard as well as her escort. If the assignment was a secret, there had to be more here than met the eye. Hopefully, he thought with crossed fingers, an escort was all he would be called upon to be.

“Commander Wade Stevens of the United States Navy,” Mary Louise replied distantly. “My father, Prince Alexis.”

Wade shook the prince’s hand. After seeing the fond gaze the man sent his daughter, Wade didn’t have the heart to suggest his daughter needed to be told to listen to reason. Or to even suggest it was time to tell her all the reasons for their visit and any danger that might be attached to it.

“I just wanted to say good-night, Your Highness,” Wade said after noting the wary look in the duchess’s eyes. He knew, without her saying so, she wasn’t anxious for her father to hear about her behavior. “With your permission, sir, I expect to pick up Her Grace tomorrow morning at nine.”

“Of course, Commander. I’m sure my daughter will be very grateful to get away from boring affairs of state. Where are your plans for sight-seeing?”

Wade sensed the duchess tense beside him and couldn’t bring himself betray her. Somehow, somewhere, under that royal facade had to be the woman in white with the sensuous smile he’d been attracted to. A real woman he could reason with. It was up to him to find that woman without making a public deal of it. “Her Grace and I are going to make our plans in the morning.”

He heard her sigh of relief. Behind that cool royal exterior and imperious manner there beat the heart of a young woman. A woman who valued her father’s approval, even if she didn’t value his.

Wade turned to the duchess. “I’ll be here to pick you up at nine, Your Grace. But I would appreciate your walking me to the door. With your permission, sir?”

“Of course,” the prince remarked. “Go ahead, my dear. I’ll be here waiting to say good-night when you return.”

May took the arm Wade held out to her as they threaded their way through the thinning crowd. “Thank you for not telling my father we are not in agreement,” she said in an undertone. “I am sure I will have a wonderful time in your city. And by the way, you may call me May when we are out in public. It’s the name my family calls me. That way no one will know who I really am.”

Wade took his cap from an attendant. It was becoming difficult to keep up with the lady’s many mood changes, but duty was duty. After a quick glance at the door, he led her back to a quiet corner. “I have two things to say to you before I leave, May.” He waited until he had her undivided attention.

“One—never, ever stand by a door or a window while you’re here in Washington. And maybe not even when you go home. You make too good a target.”

Uneasy at the warning, May glanced around the crowded room. The marine band continued to play, flutes of champagne were still being passed around, and the remaining guests appeared in no hurry to leave. If there were danger here, there was no evidence of it that she could see. “I’m sure you’re exaggerating, Commander. And the second?”

“I’ll look over your list, but I have no intention of changing my mind about being the one to decide where we go tomorrow.” Wade’s gaze locked with hers. “And remember, the Secret Service stays. In the meantime,” he added softly, “why don’t you put yourself in my hands, Your Grace? I promise you’ll enjoy yourself.”

She stared at him, and for a moment her expression softened. For a moment he thought she was going to agree with him. Instead she caught her breath, turned on her heel and headed back to the ballroom.

After being invited to call her May, he could have sworn his charge was about to turn into a human being instead of an imperious royal. Maybe it was just as well she’d walked away when she had. If she hadn’t, he would have been tempted to forget the lady had a motive of her own. Or to forget how much he’d been attracted to her.

Futile dreams, he told himself with a sigh of regret as he left for his apartment. He and the duchess were two strangers passing in the night. She’d been born to the cushioned life of a member of a royal family where her every wish was a command. He was a former All-America basketball hero turned lawyer who’d worked for everything he had. By her standards that couldn’t be much.

He’d have to play out the next few days carefully. He had to stop thinking about his never-to-be-realized attraction to the beautiful and sensuous lady in white and the invitation in her eyes.

He had to concentrate on not only protecting the duchess from herself; he had to protect her from him.

TO EASE WADE’S WORRY about security, his access to the Blair House the next morning was screened by the same two Secret Service men he’d noticed the evening before.

“No uniform today, Commander?” The older of the two identified himself as Samuel Hoskins and his partner as Mike Wheeler.

“No,” Wade replied with a tight smile, replacing his identification in the inside pocket of his loose-fitting jacket. “I was hoping to fade into the landscape.”

“With a charge like the duchess, good luck,” Hoskins murmured as he eyed the gun and holster Wade wore under his jacket. “I see you’re prepared.”

“Yeah,” Wade answered as he shifted shoulders unaccustomed to the weight of the gun and holster. “Is the duchess up and ready?”

“She’s finishing breakfast. Said to tell you she’d overslept but would be out in a minute.”

Wade nodded. He hadn’t slept much last night. Instead he’d spent the hours lying awake thinking about the intriguing duchess and the amusing way she’d tried to assert her independence. In some ways, in her imperious way of speaking and in her assertive manner, she was an echo of the past. But the chances she was late because she’d lain awake thinking of him was wishful thinking. Royalty and the common man were like oil and water—they didn’t mix. And neither did he and the duchess.

As for the Secret Service, the duchess had been right. In their navy-blue suits, white shirts and black ties, they were a little on the conservative side; however, they did fade into the landscape. Only the small official button in their coat lapels gave them away.

The duchess didn’t know it yet, but at thirty-six, he was just as conservative as they were. At least when he was on duty. It wasn’t only the duchess’s life that could be at stake. It was his future, too. And, like everything he took on, he intended to take this tour of duty seriously.

He eyed his two navy-clad partners. “How about you guys? Ready to roll?”

“We’ll be right on your tail,” Agent Wheeler assured him. “But it would help to know where you’re going.”

Wade shrugged his shoulders. “First stop is Wal-Mart. After that, who knows? You’ll have to wait until I get a chance to talk to the duchess.”

Their eyes swung to the lady in question when she finally sailed into the room. To Wade’s dismay, she was dressed in her version of dressing down—white linen slacks and matching fitted jacket and a green silk shirt that almost matched the color of her eyes. Green pumps were on her feet and a large straw bag hung from one shoulder. He was relieved to see she wasn’t wearing any valuable jewelry he had to worry about.

“No uniform today?” She looked disappointed.

“Not today,” he replied. If she’d asked for him as an escort solely because of his uniform, she was out of luck. “Today we’re going to play at being ordinary folk.”

Ordinary folk. Wade smothered a remark when she raised her eyebrows. No way was the lady going to be able to play at being ordinary. Not when she looked as if she’d just stepped off the cover of Elle magazine.

“Wal-Mart, here we come,” he muttered under his breath. “Is there someplace private where we can talk before we leave?”

She handed him a slip of paper. “If this is what you wish to talk about, I’ve already made a list of the places I want to see.”

Wade glanced at the list. Planet Hollywood. Hard Rock Café. The antique shops at the Capitol Hill District. The infamous grunge Morgan-Hill shopping area. The list went on and included places Wade knew from experience were definitely not for royal visitors. Especially one who could be the target of troublemakers.

The only item on the list he felt comfortable with was the National Portrait Gallery. He sighed and pocketed the slip of paper.

“We can decide later,” he said with a sidelong glance at the fashionable royal outfit. “First, we have to buy you some less obtrusive clothing.”

Over the duchess’s protests, he stopped to tell the Secret Service men to follow him before he hailed a cab. No way was he going to travel around D.C. in a black unmarked car that broadcast Secret Service presence.

“No car?” Her eyebrows rose suspiciously.

“Not today. It’s in for repairs.” He handed her into the cab and directed the driver to Wal-Mart. The duchess looked annoyed when she walked in the door, but thank goodness she kept her thoughts to herself. If she didn’t know what Wal-Mart was, she was in for a surprise. “Anyway, Your Grace, after we get through shopping, we’ll probably get by more easily by taking the tourmobile around the mall.”

“Tourmobile? Mall?” The Duchess frowned. “They are not on my list.”

“Maybe not,” Wade replied. “But they are on mine.”

He had to give the duchess credit when she bit her bottom lip and silently browsed her way through racks of inexpensive brightly colored summer clothing.