Royal - Danielle Steel Page 0,85
worlds for him. “What about you? What are you going to do when you leave here in two weeks?” he asked her.
“I’m going to travel for a month, to Australia. I’ve been dying to see it,” she said innocently, and he looked at her with suspicion. It was the first time she had mentioned it to him.
“Why is it that I don’t believe you? What do you have up your sleeve? Something to do with horses undoubtedly. Amateur races perhaps?” He grinned at her and she laughed.
“You know me too well. Don’t tell your father. He wouldn’t approve. He and the queen think that the amateur races in Australia aren’t worth bothering with. But it’s good experience if they ever change the rules here. I could ride in the Newmarket Town Plate. But I didn’t have a mount for it. So, I’m off to Australia.”
“And after that?”
“I don’t know. I could go home to my father for a bit, and give him a hand in the stables. He hurt his knee and could use the help.”
“Why don’t you buy yourself a decent dress and come to London. You could come to some of the parties I organize. I can put you on the list as Her Royal Highness, and you could impress my crude clients with the important people I know.”
“It sounds a bit awkward to me.” She looked hesitant.
“It’s not. They’re actually very nice, and I could use some more royals on my list. Victoria will come to any party. But it’s a bit slim pickings after that. I need another Royal Highness. Hell, I’ll buy you the dress,” he teased her. “Something shocking and naked and sexy.” He liked the vision of it and she laughed.
“I’d look like a ten-year-old who ran away from a brothel,” she said. “Why couldn’t I come in my riding clothes?”
“On horseback preferably. You can always join the circus if you’re bored.”
“Thank you,” she said primly.
“Just don’t get yourself killed in those second-rate amateur races in Australia. Be careful, Annie. I know you won’t be, but I’ll worry about you.”
“No, you won’t.” She laughed at him. “You’ll be too busy giving parties to think about me.”
He looked serious when he answered. “That’s not true. I think about you a lot. And I do worry about you. You need someone to take care of you.”
“No, I don’t,” she said stubbornly, jutting out her chin. “I’m tougher than I look.”
“And more vulnerable and innocent than you think. I don’t want anyone taking advantage of you.” He felt protective of her, which was new for him.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. He remembered all too easily how terrified he had been when he thought she was dead when she fell off the horse during their second race. They had never raced again. She was like his little sister now. She was unfamiliar with the world she had been catapulted into, and the people in it, who would have liked to take advantage of her in countless ways. Anthony was well versed with that world, she wasn’t.
“Just be careful.” They went to his room after dinner that night, for the first time. But she knew she had nothing to fear from him now. He wasn’t a masher, there were more than enough women who were desperate for him, and they had genuinely become friends.
He poured her a short glass of gin, and she made a face when she drank it. He drank a malt whiskey, neat, and they sat talking for a while, and then she got up to leave.
“We got a new horse today. I’m exercising him tomorrow to get a feeling for him,” she said as she stood up. “I’m going to miss this place.”
“They should hire you. You’re better than any of the trainers they’ve got.” He meant it, and walked her to the door, and she looked up at him with a smile. She seemed so tiny standing in front of him as she looked into his eyes, and for the first time, he wanted desperately to kiss her, but didn’t dare. There was a long awkward moment as she looked up at him and felt something too. She thought it was the gin, but he knew it wasn’t the whiskey, it was her. But the last thing he needed was a royal princess, and to have his life run by the queen and the Crown and the cabinet, who would have to give their permission for every move he