Royal's Untouched Love (2 page)

He showed her out with a kiss, and then he sighed. There really was no getting out of what came next.

Dressed in a pair of silk pajama pants and a light robe, he stepped out into the solarium. Summer in New York could be a chore, but from his glassed-in position high above Manhattan, he thought it was fairly tolerable.

"Hello, Mother," he said when she picked up. "I hope you are well."

Greta LaMer had been the reigning monarch of Sweden for longer than Jaque had been alive. She was the daughter of the previous king, and according to ancient Swedish law, she was the one to inherit, not her husband. When her husband, Jaque's father, died after just four years of marriage, she had carried on, beloved of her people and a terror to those who would oppose her. Jaque was therefore not surprised when she did not mince words.

"Have you seen the news feeds?"

Jaque rubbed his hand over his eyes, not certain about the specifics, but fairly sure about what was coming.

"Pray tell, which ones, Mother?"

"Don't be smart," she snapped. "Why is that when I ask my press secretary for the most recent reports, the thing that shows up is news that my firstborn son has decided that Manhattan is his personal playground? What have you been doing out there?"

"Personal playground is honestly a little strong, I feel …"

"The feeds are covered with stories of you buying out an entire audience's worth of tickets so you could take a prima ballerina out for a sail," snapped Greta. "Explain that, oh Son of mine."

Jaque smiled briefly, thinking of the lovely ballerina who had been so pleased with a night off.

"It was a whim," he said with a shrug. "She was the soul of care and sweetness."

"I don't really care if she was Marilyn Monroe with Mother Theresa's soul returned. You need to stop these wild antics, Jaque."

Before he could respond to that, she sighed, a surprisingly regretful sound.

"Mother?" he asked cautiously.

"You have been running wild for what feels like a decade, Jaque," she said, her voice softer than it was before. "By the time I was your age, I was married and widowed. I know that there was a great deal of sorrow there, but there was also joy, so much joy that I am afraid you are missing."

"I think I am doing very well in the joy department," Jaque said, trying to keep his tone light.

"No, you're not," she said softly. "You're having fun. I know you are. Your father, rest him, was a wild one too, but when he married, he told me that he had never known real joy until we were together. I might be an old romantic, Jaque, but that's what I want for you as well."

Jaque sighed, looking out over Manhattan. It was always shocking when his mother spoke so clearly to him, but he knew when she did, she was utterly sincere.

"Times are different now, Mother. Men and women are different."

"Actually, they are just alike," she said, a trace of amusement in her voice. "Your father once bought out an entire restaurant in Bornholm so we could eat without any interruptions at all."

She sighed, and her tone became a little firmer.

"I'm at the end of my patience, Jaque. I am not going to live forever, and I refuse to leave our country to someone who will not take it seriously and who insists on making a spectacle of himself in front of the entire world. Get your act together and get it together now, or I will take drastic measures."

Jaque frowned. "You sound like you have my disinheritance on your mind," he said, some iron entering his tone.

"Do not test me in this matter," said Greta, her voice taking on the edge it had when she was dealing with heads of state. "You don't know how far I would be willing to go to protect my country from someone I don't think deserves to be at the helm."

After their phone call, Jaque stayed in the solarium for several long minutes. He stared out over the city with unseeing eyes.

He wondered what it would be like, to move through the world without being the black sheep Prince of Sweden. Money wasn't a concern; his father had left him wealthy, and LaMer Enterprises was worth millions of dollars. Very little would change, except for the cloud that hovered over him, telling him that one day, he would have to return home to Stockholm, leaving behind the oceans he loved so much.

He could feel the pull of five hundred years of history and his duty as the latest of the line, but at the same time, the sea called to him, and it was the sea he had followed for some ten years now.

Jaque sighed. He didn't want to go home to Stockholm, not yet. Fortunately, there was work to be done at the Greek arm of LaMer Enterprises, and even his mother couldn't fault him for taking care of it. Not only were his yachts the top of the line luxury models in the world, they were becoming the sea-going vessel of choice for the rich and royal.

The decision could be put off for a little longer, he decided, going back into the penthouse.

A noise from the bathroom alerted him to the presence of another person. Quietly, he made his way to the bathroom, and when he heard the hissing shower, he opened the door.

Standing under the spray was a tall and impressively gorgeous blond, her head tilted back and her hair streaming down.

"Hey," she said cheerfully. "Do you want to get in on this?"

Well, he had decided to put off making any decisions about his life until after Greece. A little more fun couldn't hurt.

"I think that's a fantastic idea," he said, smiling. He stripped off his clothes and with a grin, opened the glass shower door.

CHAPTER TWO

The day had started off innocently enough. Heidi had been alone in the apartment from which most of her things had been shipped off. Olga had left for a long-planned family visit, leaving Heidi to her own devices until she could take off for Greece the next morning.

She got up, she made herself some breakfast, she fed Masha, and she was just wondering about going out for a walk when she got a text. She wondered if it was Olga checking up on her, but when she read the text, she was startled to say the least.

I know your plane takes off tomorrow, but if you are already packed and good to go, I can give you a lift to Athens tonight.

She blinked. She would have just dismissed it as spam, but who knew that she was going to be going to Athens the next day?

Thank you very much for your offer, but who is this?
Heidi texted back.

Ha, sorry about that. This is Jaque LaMer, your new boss. I was looking at your dossier and I realized that you were heading out. I know that the folks in Human Resources are looking after you, but I thought I would offer something a little more hands on.

Heidi sat frozen on the couch. She recognized the name, of course, but she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do in this situation. Was she supposed to take her boss' generous offer? Was it really all right to get flown out with her new company's CEO? Was he even who he said he was?

While she was agonizing, another text came through.

So it finally occurred to me that you might think I'm some kind of horrible human trafficker who is going to get you on a plane to some dark place in the world where you'll never be seen again. That is a logical and fair assumption to make. Do you have Skype?

Heidi hesitated for a moment, and then she entered her Skype ID into the text. Less than ten seconds later, she had a request for a video chat. She propped up her phone to hopefully hide the sleeveless nightgown with the frog print that she wore to sleep, and, biting her lip, she clicked to accept.

"I know you!" Heidi exclaimed before she could stop herself.

The man on the screen was relaxing at what looked like one of New York's many roof-top restaurants. The sun glinted off of his dark brown hair, and when he smiled, she could see the glint of perfect white teeth. With the sunglasses on, she knew exactly who it is.

"Do you?" the man asked teasingly.

"You were at my graduation yesterday," Heidi blurted out. "Next to the aisle."

"I was," he said, his tone warm and friendly. "I was in the neighborhood, and I realized that the graduation of my newest employee was happening close by. I decided that I wanted to see the woman that my HR department told me we had to have."

Heidi blushed a little at the praise.

"You didn't have to do that," she said, looking down.

"Ah, I knew that you were going to be busy with your friends and family," he said easily. "I just wanted a peek."

As a matter of fact, she had headed to the grocery store to splurge on her favorite ham and cheese sandwich, and after that, she had gone home to her apartment. She wasn't going to mention that to him though.

"It was still nice to see you," she said a little shyly.

"Ah, but I called you for a reason. As you can clearly see, I am Jaque LaMer, and not some cruel imposter here to take advantage of young graduates. You can find of picture of me in your welcoming documents, but I can also show you this."

He held a small card up to the camera so she could see. It was, in fact, a Swedish driver's license, confirming that the bearer was Jaque Phillipe LaMer and a resident of Stockholm. Heidi also noticed with envy that Jaque's photograph looked like something out of a fashion magazine. She looked like a frowsy
haystack of red hair in hers.

"So you are who you say you are, she said. "But why are you offering me a ride?"

He shrugged. "Convenience. Curiosity. I will be doing at least some work with you in the months to come, and I wanted to see what I was getting up front. You don't have to accept if you don't want to, I imagine that you have parties and people who want to see you off."

What she had was an empty apartment where all her things were gone and a cat that she could get someone down the hall to feed.

"No, I would love the opportunity, Mr. LaMer," she said hurriedly. "I can be ready whenever you like. Should I meet you at LaGuardia, or …?”

He grinned, apparently delighted that she was going to allow him to do her such an impressive favor.

"I'll send a car for you around seven this evening. Bring whatever you need, because if I know anything about how people feel about Athens, you're not going to want to come back. And, Heidi?"

Maybe she should have been offended at him using her first name so easily, but somehow, it only made her smile.

"Yes, Mr. LaMer?"

"Knock it off with the Mr. LaMer, all right? I'm the first born son of Queen Greta Marie LaMer, and my proper address is Prince Jaque."

Heidi's eyes widened as her cheeks flushed with heat. "Oh! Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry, of course, Prince Jaque …"

It was only when he started laughing that she realized that she had been had.

"Wow, most people just tell me to go to hell when I pull that one out," he said between chuckles. "I can tell that you're going to be some real fun. No, Heidi, Jaque's fine. When I'm in my design phase, I'm crawling all over my yachts, and no one has time for mister anything then—just Jaque."

She nodded, still blushing, and he quirked a dark brow at her. He really did have a gorgeous smile, she thought.

"Can I hear you say it? Just once? I want to make sure that you can."

It was harder than she expected it to be. "Jaque," she managed, and he smiled.

"There, that's wonderful. See you tonight. And oh, by the way, those are nice frogs."

The Skype call ended, and for a moment, Heidi had no idea what he was talking about. Then she realized that she had let her arm droop as they were talking, and he had seen the nightgown that she had been working to hide.

So that was me making a first impression on my new boss,
she thought with a sigh.
I assume that it could have gone worse. For example, I might have just set myself on fire while on camera.

She was embarrassed, but overall, she was too excited to let it get her down. She would pack up her toiletries and the few clothes she was taking. She would talk to Mrs. Andersen down the hall about taking care of Masha until Olga got back. She might take a farewell walk through her neighborhood.

Then she would be gone.

Then the future would come, and Heidi, who had finally achieved the degrees and certifications that she had been dreaming of for almost a decade, was ready.

*

She wasn't sure what she was expecting when Mr. LaMer, that is, Jaque, said he would send a car. She guessed that it would be like a very nice cab, one of the sort that she had always longed to take when she was first starting school at Columbia. At the time, she had been counting pennies to make sure that she could get lunch every day. Cabs had seemed like an absurd luxury.

She couldn't have guessed that just a handful of years later, she would be waiting in front of her apartment and an honest-to-god limo pulled up. At first, she simply wondered who in the building had rated a limousine being sent out for them. Then, her heart dropping into her shoes, she saw that the man driving it had hopped out smartly and was approaching her.

"Are you Ms. Conrad?" he asked deferentially.

"Yes! I mean, yes, I'm Heidi Conrad. Are you … are you my ride?"

He smiled at her politely. "Yes, Ms. Conrad. Mr. LaMer dispatched me to bring you to LaGuardia. Do you have any other things beyond this bag?"

"No, just this … oh!"

He paused in the act of picking up her luggage, raising an eyebrow at her in surprise. Somehow, she hadn't connected the fact that she was getting into a limo with the fact that she was likely not going to need to get her own bags. When he reached for her bag, she had automatically gone to stop him.

"No, nothing's the matter," she said faintly. "Thank you."

She did manage to remember that he was going to open the door for her. The interior of the limousine was as luxurious as the outside, with buttery leather seats and what looked like a full wet bar. A raised glass screen between the driver and the rear compartment meant that it was entirely sealed. The privacy was nice, but she wondered if the people who were driven about in limos ever got lonely, or if the drivers did.

She was dressed smartly in black slacks and a crisp white blouse, but in the gorgeous car, surrounded by trappings of wealth that she had only dreamed about, she felt distinctly shoddy. For a moment, she was afraid that everyone at her new workplace would take one look at her and know exactly how poor she was, but then she composed herself.