‘The first race in the series will be here in Santaliana.’
Devereaux addressed the assembled media from the podium which had been placed on the bow of his magnificent yacht, Water Dragon. He sounded confident, capable and committed, with the right amount of enthusiasm to capture everyone’s interest.
Dressed as one of the prince’s crew, Mackenzie stood on the deck, slightly off to Devereaux’s right and hung on his every word. Even though she should be listening critically, she ended up being just as caught up in the excitement as everyone else appeared to be.
Scanning the faces of the reporters, there was no denying their avid interest. Pens flew over notepads as they jotted down every word he said, and the cameras rolled as cameramen jostled for the best position. It was going as well as she’d hoped—maybe even better than she’d hoped.
Of course, it helped that Devereaux was stunningly handsome and possessed such natural authority people felt compelled to listen to him. Despite herself, she kept eating him up with her eyes, knowing he wouldn’t be aware of her scrutiny. His focus was on the media pack he addressed.
White shorts cut off just below his knees emphasised the deeply tanned skin of perfectly muscular calves. A collared blue and white striped rugby jersey hugged his broad shoulders lovingly. The colours looked good against the ocean and reflected the colour of his eyes. The open vee neck made it hard to stop from reaching out to touch the exposed flesh that beckoned.
Pulling herself up from her wayward thoughts of the sensory delight she’d known when she’d touched his body nights ago, Mac focused on the crowd.
Hans, Miriam and Eliza stood on the dock just to the edge of the pack with a group of five other children. When Eliza found out about Devereaux’s yacht, she’d hounded Dev and begged him to take her sailing. He’d agreed to the outing provided she had Mackenzie’s permission.
Mac hadn’t just agreed, she’d suggested he also take another five children of palace staff members along on a short sailing adventure. The jaunt was to take place immediately after the press conference.
She’d reasoned it was a great way for the media to get some footage of the yacht on the water, and that having children on board for a joy ride would be another way to soften his image.
Thinking back to her discussion with Devereaux, Mac had to fight the smile which tugged at her mouth. He’d started to protest and she’d neatly shot his arguments down in flames, reminding him she knew very well that he was not allergic to children!
Since last Friday night, there’d been something of a truce between them. Devereaux had stopped with all the flirtatious banter and suggestive comments. Even so, the sexual awareness between them hadn’t lessened. In fact, Mac was even more aware of him now and found she missed the verbal sparring. But, Devereaux seemed determined to keep her at a distance—careful not to touch her if he passed her anything across the desk they shared. If she was at one end of the room in a meeting with their assistants, he was always at the other. If anything, his deliberate actions to keep a physical space between them only made it more compelling to yield to the magnetic force which demanded they come together.
‘What’s prompted this sudden interest in your late sister’s foundation?’ one of the journalists asked when Dev invited questions.
Mac held her breath. She’d worked at question time with Dev—thrown a hundred different questions at him that she’d thought the journalists might ask. She’d also coached him on the best way to answer each one. This was one of the questions they’d covered. How would he respond?
‘Princess Eden was a tireless worker for many charities but gave her name to this foundation. It was very close to her heart. My sister remains very close to my heart and I wished to honour her memory by helping raise funds for the projects undertaken by the Princess Eden Foundation.’
Yes. She released her breath. Dev played the game the way they’d planned.
‘But why now, after all these years?’ the same journalist pushed.
Dev hesitated. She’d told him to be honest—instructed him to open up and show a vulnerable side to him. Would he do it?
He shot a look at Mackenzie.
She held her breath.
‘We all react to loss in different ways,’ he said, as he continued to look her way. ‘We grieve in different ways. At times we can get so caught up in wishing back the past or hoping we could’ve changed it, that we lose sight of the present and don’t plan for the future.’ He paused again.
My God! He’s talking to me! He’s telling me again to move forward with my life.
She was only able to breathe again when he looked back to the media pack.
‘I’ve been guilty of that. I wish to move forward and celebrate my sister’s memory in this way rather than continuing to grieve her loss.’
Relief made her weak. After all the resistance of last week and his outright refusal— even up to last night—to stop attending nightclubs and picking up women, he’d handled this media conference exactly according to her plan.
King Gabriel had elected not to attend the media conference because he wanted Dev to have the positive spotlight. When he saw the news footage, the King was bound to be happy.
Mac’s father, who’d spoken to her about her plans last night on the telephone and was following the project with great interest, would be ecstatic. It looked like this was going to be another successful project for the Roberts Consultancy and one more feather in Mac’s cap.
The world was receiving its first glimpse of a very different Prince Devereaux. On a professional level, it was the first time Mac had allowed herself to relax and believe she could pull off the greatest achievement of her career. A little flame of optimism sparked inside her. It hadn’t just become a professional challenge. She’d started believing in Devereaux’s potential on a personal level and she wanted to swing the tide in public favour for her most recalcitrant client. She wanted to redeem the irredeemable prince.
Secretly, she hoped that Devereaux’s public reformation would also spill over into his private life. If he could get a taste of this—of doing something worthwhile, of being committed to a great cause—she hoped he’d also want more from his personal life. Everything in her willed him into a positive future. Everything in her willed him to be the man she believed he could be—the man she needed him to be.
The remainder of the questions went well. Then, it was time to get the children on board and set the sails for their trip around the harbour.
Mac took her place at the rear of the boat, wanting to be well away from the camera lenses as they trained on the group of children who lined up to put on their life jackets before coming aboard via the long gangplank. She didn’t see exactly what happened next, but the sound of a child’s distressed cry and a collective gasp of alarm from the onlookers, right before she heard a splash, told its own story.
People shouted out in alarm.
One of the children wailed.
Adrenaline surging, Mac raced towards the front of the yacht. She saw Devereaux dive off the bow and into the water.
Joining the rest of the crew she peered over the edge of the boat and into the deep water, but was unable to see anything below the surface. Fear surged through her.
‘It was a young girl!’ someone called from the crowd on the jetty. ‘She hadn’t put her life vest on!’
‘The prince went in after her.’
Eliza.
Mac’s blood ran cold.
She turned away from the rail and ran back towards the gangplank, searching desperately for a glimpse of her accident-prone daughter. ‘Eliza?’
Hans was at her side in an instant, leading her up the gangplank and onto the dock. ‘This way!’
Although she was still worried for the safety of the child in the water, she believed Hans was leading her to Eliza and knew relief that her daughter was safe. Then, she saw Miriam and froze.
Miriam’s face was deathly white—a picture of her shocked horror. ‘I’m so sorry. She was right beside me one moment, then she was gone!’
‘No!’ The denial was a mere whisper from Mac’s lips as she turned back to the water.
‘Devereaux will save her,’ Hans told her as his arms braced her shoulders.
‘He’s got her!’ someone cried.
‘The prince has the little girl!’
A cheer went up through the crowd.
‘Come with me,’ Hans demanded, leading her by the elbow. ‘She’s safe, Mackenzie. Devereaux has her.’
She expected him to guide her to a spot where she could get a better view of Eliza. It took a few moments to sift through her shock and realise he led her away from the water, towards a limousine.
‘What are you doing?’ Panic made her voice shrill. ‘I need to go to Eliza!’
‘Get her out of here!’ Hans ordered, nudging her towards one of Devereaux’s bodyguards.
‘No!’ she cried out. ‘Eliza!’
It was useless. The crowd cheered and clapped so wildly, she couldn’t make herself heard.
Mac was bundled into the back of the limousine. The bodyguard jumped in beside her and pulled the door shut. As she tried to scramble back out, he caught her by the wrists and manacled each of them in his hands.
‘Miss Roberts,’ he said. ‘Your daughter’s safe. She’ll join us in a moment.’
‘What are you talking about?’ She pulled fruitlessly against his hold. ‘Let me go to her! I need to see her for myself.’
‘You can’t be identified,’ the guard insisted firmly even though his eyes were full of understanding. ‘You can’t afford to have any media attention drawn to you and you can’t identify yourself as Eliza’s mother.’
‘To hell with that! Eliza’s more important than this assignment!’ she raged.
‘Believe me, she’s okay.’ He gestured towards the window with his head. ‘Look! The prince has her. There they are! They’re coming to the car right now.’
Mac couldn’t help herself. A huge sob broke from her throat and her eyes filled with tears. Surrounded by a team of bodyguards who kept the reporters away, a dripping wet Dev strode towards the car carrying an equally soaked Eliza in his arms. Her arms were around his neck and her head was buried against his shoulder so that her face was obscured by her hair, but Mac knew it was her and relief poured through her.
‘Move over,’ the guard instructed. ‘Prince Devereaux will get in with your daughter and then we’ll get straight back to the palace.’
This time she didn’t hesitate to follow the command.
When the door opened, Mac barely registered that the security team formed a protective barrier, ensuring the journalists and photographers couldn’t see into the car to where she sat, and couldn’t photograph Eliza being handed into the car to her mother.
‘Oh, darling! Eliza!’
Devereaux joined them in the car, the door was closed and the vehicle immediately shot forward, away from the rest of the security team and the media pack.
‘It’s okay, Mum.’ Eliza sent her a huge, happy smile. ‘I’m perfectly safe.’
Eliza wasn’t shaken at all. She obviously didn’t realise the seriousness of her situation.
While Mac threw her arms around her saturated daughter and snuggled into her, she sent Devereaux a watery smile. ‘I don’t know how to thank you.’
‘Dev rescued me again, just like I knew he would.’ Eliza’s voice was all easy confidence.
Mac stiffened. ‘Eliza?’
‘What?’ Devereaux demanded at the same time.
The words were too matter-of-fact. The conclusion to what could’ve been a disaster, too well thought out.
Mac was shocked rigid when Eliza bounced on the seat and clapped her hands.
‘It was perfect! Everybody saw it! You’ll be in all the newspapers tomorrow, Dev, and everyone will know you rescued me and you’re a real hero!’
‘Oh, my God!’ Mac whispered as her arms dropped away from her daughter and one hand flew to the tightness in her chest.
‘Are you telling me you fell into the water deliberately?’ Devereaux demanded.
‘Dev, don’t be angry with me,’ Eliza pleaded, shaking her head. ‘This will help everyone see what a good person you are. I was only trying to help.’
‘Eliza Grace!’ Mac was shocked rigid. ‘You could’ve drowned.’
Her daughter’s frown deepened. ‘You know I’m a good swimmer, Mum.’
‘Your mother’s right, young lady. Don’t you dare argue with her. You took a huge risk and you put yourself and others in danger.’
‘But—’ Her lower lip started to tremble and her skin became a mottled red as the gravity of what she’d done, and Dev’s displeasure with her, began to sink in.
‘No.’ The one word from Dev was decisive. ‘Not another word. When we get back to the palace, you can go immediately and have a hot bath and get into some dry clothes. Then, we’ll talk again.’
Embarrassment stole through Mac once she’d got through her initial shock at Eliza’s actions. She didn’t know what to say. ‘Devereaux, I’m so sorry. I had no idea she had this planned.’
‘I know,’ he said more gently. ‘I can see how distraught you are.’ He raised his hand and smoothed his palm down her cheek in a comforting gesture, regardless of the presence of both Eliza and the bodyguard in the back of the limousine. ‘I know I’m not her father, but I do want to speak with her about this.’
Mac was grateful Devereaux wanted to take an interest in Eliza—in trying to guide her and discipline her. Every instinct told her he’d use a good, firm hand with her daughter—not too harsh, not too soft. It hit Mac that Eliza was in need of a steady male influence in her life on a more regular basis. Mac’s father spoilt her rotten, and her brother Jed always played the role of funny, indulgent uncle who wouldn’t hear a bad thing said of his only niece.
Eliza did get into one scrape after another, and although Mac had no doubt this whole incident had been planned for a good reason, she could see the need for a firmer approach with her daughter so her imagination didn’t run away with her again.
‘I’m sorry.’ Eliza’s voice was a faint thread of sound and she looked utterly miserable.
‘You realise there are five very disappointed children down at the dock now?’ Devereaux asked sternly. ‘They’ve been looking forward to going sailing and now they’ve missed out.’
Twin tears rolled down Eliza’s cheeks. ‘I’m really very sorry.’
Dev placed a hand on her shoulder and told her, ‘What you did was wrong, Eliza, even if it came from a good place in your heart.’ He looked over to Mackenzie. ‘I’ll make sure the kids go sailing. There’ll probably be a chance tomorrow. We just won’t do it in front of the media. We’ll keep it low key.’
‘Eliza, I was scared when you didn’t resurface straight away,’ Mac said with a sniffle.
‘I’m sorry you were frightened, Mum.’
‘We all make mistakes,’ Dev continued. ‘If we didn’t, we’d never learn.’
The playboy prince was wise and he was obviously getting through to Eliza because she nodded solemnly.
The limousine stopped in the internal courtyard of the palace and the back door was opened by one of Devereaux’s security team. The bodyguard who’d accompanied them in the back—who looked to Mac as though he’d been trying to make himself invisible the entire way back to the palace—shot out of the vehicle.
Miriam and Hans must’ve gone on ahead in another car, as they both stood in the courtyard to greet the limousine.
‘Eliza! You poor lamb! Come, let’s get you into a warm tub,’ Miriam fussed.
Poor lamb, indeed! Mac thought, but said nothing as the older woman led Eliza away.
‘You’ll need a hot shower as well,’ Mac told Devereaux.
His eyes trapped hers. They smouldered with deep, sensual intensity. ‘You’re right,’ he told her silkily as he reached out and took her hand in his. ‘But first, I need to know you’re okay. You must’ve been worried sick, even knowing she could swim well.’
The wealth of caring in his expression, in the tone of his voice and in the words themselves dissolved the resistance she’d tried so hard to maintain since she’d been in his bed.
‘I’m very relieved she’s okay, and grateful you dived in to rescue her.’
‘Now I replay the whole episode in my head, I realise the little devil was holding her breath under water, just waiting for me to dive in after her!’ he exclaimed.
If it hadn’t been so serious, Mac might’ve marvelled at Eliza’s ingenuity and temerity. ‘I’m deeply shocked that she planned this … publicity stunt.’
‘A chip off the old block?’
‘No. I would never put anyone at risk to help a client in need.’
‘You have the benefit of maturity.’ He moved one hand in an expressive gesture which downplayed the whole incident. ‘She knows your line of work. It seems she also knows how to play the press. Maybe she’s inherited more of your skill than you realise?’
‘Devereaux …’ She hesitated. A lot of raw emotions whirled within her but mostly she was confused. Even though she wished it could be more, she thought she’d accepted that Dev simply wasn’t the sort of guy who’d be serious about any woman and that theirs had been a brief almost-liaison. Yet, he was so much more than the man he showed to the rest of the world and he’d shown admirable traits once again today.
‘Yes?’
‘I don’t understand you.’
His laugh was short and self-derisory. ‘Better that you don’t.’
‘That’s just it. You don’t want anyone to understand you. I can’t help but think it must be an incredibly lonely way to live.’
‘Leave it, Mackenzie.’ His jaw hardened.
‘You told me to move forward with my life, but isn’t that what you need to do too? Move forward, Dev … away from the grief you’ve been living with since Eden died.’
His eyes became icy blue. ‘They were your words, not mine. It was your script and I delivered it just the way we’d rehearsed. Don’t forget this charade you’ve engineered with my brother is just that—a charade!’ He sat straighter and reached for the door handle closest to him. ‘Excuse me.’
‘You were so good with Eliza.’ She couldn’t help herself. Before he walked away, she still had to try to reach in to the man she believed him to be. ‘You made me realise she’s been lacking a male disciplinarian in her life. You’d be a good father, Devereaux.’
He looked at her with widened eyes.
Oh, shit! That had come out all wrong!
His body was as stiff as his tone when he announced abruptly, ‘I’m going to shower.’
‘Hang on!’ Feeling hot and flustered, she placed her hand on his wet thigh.
Another big mistake! She pulled it away quickly because the feel of that hard, muscled thigh was too intimate. ‘I didn’t mean …’ Her words rushed out even before she knew exactly what she wanted to say. ‘I wasn’t propositioning you then—I meant you’d be a good father because I saw how good you were with Eliza. I didn’t mean you’d be a good father for Eliza!’
His eyes seared hers. ‘Don’t say anything more, Mackenzie.’ A second later, he was out of the car and stalked towards the entryway to the palace.
Mac sighed. The guy probably thought she was giving him mixed messages and in a way, she guessed she was. She wanted Devereaux as her lover, even though she knew she shouldn’t. There was this constant push-pull inside her. Her need to satisfy her sexuality and explore this intense awareness of Devereaux versed her need to hold back and protect her heart from breaking.
Shoving those thoughts aside, she wondered whether he’d feel awkward around Eliza now she’d virtually cast him into a paternal role.
Only two more days and Eliza would return to England ready to start back at school. She’d be back with Mac’s parents, who always looked after their only granddaughter when Mac’s work took her away.
Mac would make the most of Eliza’s remaining time in Santaliana. Devereaux was expected to use the next couple of days to become familiar with the issues to be discussed at the trade negotiations, so she wouldn’t be working alongside him. Instead, King Gabriel had given her the days off so she could play tourist with Eliza.
As much as she was looking forward to the mother-daughter time, Mac knew it would be hard to put Devereaux from her mind. Today had reinforced the heroic qualities he possessed and she adored this side of him. Ah, hell. Who was she kidding? She adored every side of him.