Protecting The Princess - Nadine Millard Page 0,16

on edge.

And she was more than a little embarrassed at having sniffed the man.

“And as I said when you sniffed me—” He grinned now as though he’d known where her mind had wandered. “I feel that I should at least see that you’re fed while you’re waiting. Perhaps he, or she, is delayed?”

Harriet’s temper flared again.

“Mind your own damned business,” she spat before she could stop the words. She clamped a hand over her mouth, but of course, it wasn’t as though she could put the words back in.

Never before had she cursed. She was the Crown Princess, for goodness sake! This – this cad brought out the very worst in her.

As she stared at him in horror, a grin suddenly broke out across his face and those dimples made an appearance. Despite her hatred of the man, Harriet’s heart still stuttered at the sight and that just made her even more annoyed.

Pointedly turning her back on him, she bent down and hefted the bags. Her mortification lent her a strength she didn’t know she had, and she managed to get them both off the ground without falling over.

With as much dignity as she could manage, Harriet tilted her chin and marched off, away from him and his arrogance, and his dimples.

Her march lasted a couple of seconds before the weight of the bags began to take effect, but Harriet would rather die than stop or put them down while he was watching.

So, on she went. At more of a shuffle than a walk. But at least she was doing it alone, without any help.

And, she told herself with a spurt of pride, she’d managed to get away from the palace and to Gant all alone without interference.

It felt good to be independent. And she wasn’t going to let Christopher, or Alex, or that awful Mr. Lauer stop her.

Chapter Eight

Once again, Jacob found himself torn between amusement and frustration as he watched Princess Harriet shuffle away like an eighty-year-old woman.

She had gumption; he’d give her that. And he hadn’t expected it from her.

In truth, he hadn’t expected any sort of personality at all. In his experience, women of the upper echelons of Society were banal in the extreme. And Princess Harriet was literally their leader.

But he’d been wrong. She had more personalities than he knew what to do with, in point of fact. And at the moment, she was a veritable shrew.

Jacob muffled an oath as she staggered away then laughed softly as his own swearing reminded him of hers.

The perfect princess with the muck mouth.

He shouldn’t have riled her up like that—teasing her the way he had.

But he hadn’t been able to help himself. For some reason, he thrived on getting a reaction from the princess.

And teasing her had been a sure fire way to get her het up and away from him. Something he’d definitely needed to do at the time.

Truthfully, as inconvenient and unwelcome as it was having her lying against him so trustingly then feeling those lips pressed to his skin, it had awoken a desire in Jacob that he’d never felt before. There was no escaping it, and no getting around it.

And God help him, he knew that if he’d stayed there, with her pressed against him like that, and her lips tantalisingly close, he’d have kissed her.

It had gotten her away from him well enough. And given him some much-needed space to get his body back under control.

But it had backfired, too.

Jacob hadn’t accounted for the woman’s sheer stubbornness, and now he had to think on his feet again.

How was it that a nannying job had caused him more hassle in twenty-four hours than any of his other jobs did in weeks?

He watched worriedly as she stumbled before righting herself. He’d carried those bags. They were manageable but heavy, and the princess was positively tiny compared to him. She wouldn’t get far with the weight of them.

And Jacob couldn’t even allow himself to think of the trouble she could get herself into alone on the road like that.

The Winter Palace was a goodly walk away, even without luggage. She’d never bloody make it!

As he watched, one of the bags fell from her grip, and he laughed aloud as she kicked the offending item before bending to retrieve it.

His mouth dried at the view and he turned away quickly.

Jacob had done a lot of stupid things in his time but lusting after the Crown Princess of Aldonia was bad, even for him.

He gave his head