I’m finishing up my edits on Winning Back the Princess. I love how the story came out, and I can’t wait for you to read it!
I thought I’d give you a SNEAK PEEK of chapter one!
DISCLAIMER: WordPress does not love it when I copy and paste from Scrivener. 🙂 It deletes paragraph breaks, italics, etc. I try to fix them, but I’m sure I missed some. 🙂 Any formatting errors will be fixed in the published version of this story. It is also going through its final proofread at the moment, so minor errors may be present that will also be fixed in the published story.
CHAPTER ONE
Princess Charlotte of Durham didn’t want to be a special guest at her ex-boyfriend’s South African hotel. But being a princess usually meant not getting her way.
She stared out the window of her rented sedan at the magnificent marula trees rushing past, awe racing through her despite her attempts to hold it back. Sparse branches topped with a canopy of green leaves reached toward fluffy white clouds set against the bluest sky she’d ever seen. The narrow road they drove on looked newly resurfaced, and the dark of the blacktop contrasted sharply with the gold grasses on either side. Heat shimmered in the air, and for the first time in her life Charlotte understood what people meant when they talked about desert mirages. The road looked wet, like it had rained recently, but she’d been in the car for more than an hour and there hadn’t been a drop of moisture.
Adam had spoken for hours about South Africa, describing everything from the animals to the food while they cuddled together in a hammock on his private rooftop garden. His passion for the country, and the resort he ran there, had come through in every sentence.
Had that really only been six weeks ago?
Well, his words hadn’t done this country justice. Not surprising, since Adam was a total liar.
Emma reached across the seat and squeezed Charlotte’s hand. The cousins were only a few months apart in age, and had grown up more like sisters after Emma’s parents died in a car crash and she moved to the palace with her brother. Right now, Emma’s expressive blue eyes were dark with concern. “Are you okay?”
Charlotte forced a smile and nodded. “Of course. Just admiring the landscape. I can’t believe we’ve let the boys handle the overseas engagements for so long.”
“I know.” Emma rested her hands primly in her lap. She’d worn a fitted white blazer and skirt today. It made her tanned skin glow and really set off her dark silky hair. “But the family dynamic is changing. Now that Alex and Stefan are occupied with their fiancées, maybe Aunt Nicolette will let us do more solo engagements.”
“I hope so.” Charlotte’s mother was fiercely protective, and had preferred to keep the girls close to home. In fact, this was the first time Emma and Charlotte had been allowed out of the country without one of their brothers accompanying them. It was a refreshing change.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Emma pursed her lips, frowning. “I know this is a lot.”
In the front seat of the car, Joseph—one of Charlotte’s two bodyguards—shifted, murmuring something to the driver in a low voice that she couldn’t discern. Joseph was a hulking man, with a stern expression and deep love for firearms. And while he and Karla, Charlotte’s female bodyguard who road in the sedan in front of theirs, were great at keeping confidences, Charlotte still liked to maintain as much privacy as possible.
She leaned closer to Emma, lowering her voice. “Stop acting like I’ll fall apart when I see him. I’m not here because of that.” She’d only spent ten days with Adam—a whirlwind romance—while he dealt with an issue at one of the Durham hotel properties. No one but Emma and Charlotte’s security detail had known about the relationship, which had been fine by her. After seeing the media circus her brothers Alex and Stefan had gone through, she’d been content to hide the truth.
It had been obvious from the start that Adam wasn’t looking for something serious. Charlotte wasn’t either, at least at first. But despite her better judgment, she’d fallen hard. And after that last magical evening together, she’d thought maybe he’d fallen for her, too.
“Okay, okay.” Emma held up a placating hand. “This isn’t about Adam.”
“It isn’t,” Charlotte insisted. “I never would have come if Education Beyond Borders hadn’t asked me to keynote at the conference.”
She hadn’t wanted to say yes to the invitation, considering that this year the three-day education conference was being held at Adam’s hotel. That meant Charlotte would probably run into him at least once or twice, which would be beyond uncomfortable. But she’d never been able to say no to talking about the vital importance of education. Since Emma loved traveling, she’d offered to accompany Charlotte for moral support.
Was it too much to hope that Adam wouldn’t be at the hotel at all during the conference? Although they’d parted with no promises of the future, she’d thought he’d at least call. Had been so certain he felt the same as she did.
But he hadn’t called. First one day had passed, then two, then three. On day five, she’d seen a picture of him with Brionna Cartwright on an online gossip site. Apparently, the two heirs to hotel fortunes were dating. Charlotte really had been nothing more than a fling. The pain had gone much deeper than hurt pride.
Her fingers curled around the romance novel she held in her lap, seeking the comfort only a book could bring. If she ran into Adam, she’d treat him like any other employee she encountered on the trip—polite but aloof. She wouldn’t think about how his lips could command hers with a simple touch, how soft his hair felt beneath her fingers, the way his mere presence could make her shiver—
Joseph shifted in the front seat, distracting Charlotte. Emma stared at her with a knowing expression.
Charlotte shifted uncomfortably, pretending to take interest in a rodent scurrying across the road. They had to be mere minutes away from the resort by now.
“You don’t have to speak to him,” Emma said finally. “Don’t even look at him. Pretend he’s not there.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “So if he shows up and tries to talk to me, I’m supposed to just ignore him and walk away? Mother will love that. Very royal behavior.”
Emma lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “You’re a princess of Durham. You can behave however you’d like, and Adam Montgomery will just have to deal with it.”
Charlotte’s mouth quirked up in a smile. “It’s precisely because I’m a princess that I can’t act like that. But thanks for the sentiment all the same. What would I do without you?”
“Be totally overrun by your brothers, probably,” Emma said with a laugh.
Charlotte sighed, smoothing a hand over the cover of her book. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and he won’t be here. For all I know, he’s off at some other exotic hotel with Little Miss Perfect. They only own about a billion resorts across the globe between the two of them.”
Little Miss Perfect—that was the nickname they’d given Brionna. There was something about her that just seemed off. Maybe it was the plastic smile she always gave the cameras, or the way she had a canned answer for any question asked by a reporter. But it was hard not to feel jealous of the gorgeous brunette. Did Brionna know that only a few days before she and Adam had gotten together, he’d been kissing Charlotte?
Probably not. Adam would have kept that information to himself, no doubt.
“Right,” Emma deadpanned. “Because hotel managers always vacation on a foreign continent while an important conference is being held at their hotel.”
“A girl can dream,” Charlotte said. A lock of hair fell into her eyes, and she tucked it behind one ear. The blonde color still surprised her every time she looked in a mirror. She’d needed a change after Adam disappeared, and dyeing her hair had fit the bill. The fact that her natural brown hair color was nearly identical to Brionna’s was just a coincidence.
“For your sake, I hope you’re right and that he’s sitting on some beach in Greece right now,” Emma said. She stared out the window and let out a contented sigh. “Not that his view could be any better than this. I had no idea Africa was so beautiful.”
That much was true at least. Charlotte stared out the window, trying to push away her negative emotions and just enjoy the moment. In the distance, a long, brown spotted neck reached for leaves high on a tree. Her heart gave a feeble, happy flutter.
That was an actual giraffe in the wild. She was cruising through the African savanna. This was the chance of a lifetime, and she didn’t want to spend her entire trip being angry.
“It’s like something out of a postcard,” Charlotte said. “No wonder the boys always kept the international engagements for themselves.”
“And I thought they were just being gentlemanly.” Emma smirked. “Think we’ll have any time for sightseeing?”
“Maybe. I asked Becky to try to fit a safari ride into the schedule, even if it’s only a short one.” Her personal secretary was usually able to accommodate those types of requests, and the hotel website advertised safari rides as short as ninety minutes. Charlotte had spent most of the eleven-hour plane ride from Durham researching Hotel Montgomery. Situated on the edge of tribal lands, the resort catered to tourists eager to go on safari, and to trophy hunters hoping to bag the Big Five. The money from the hunts helped with conservation efforts, while the meat fed the tribes. Although the resort was relatively new—not quite two years old—it had already made a name for itself as a premier travel destination.
Emma gasped, pointing to a lion sprawled in the shade of a tree only a rock’s-throw away. It yawned, and Charlotte could make out each individual tooth in the giant mammal’s mouth. She gaped, adrenaline mixing with awe. Could a lion attack a moving car? She wasn’t sure how fast they could run.
“I can’t believe they get so close to the road,” Emma said.
“It’s incredible,” Charlotte agreed. No wonder Adam had been so eager to go home. At the time, she couldn’t imagine why he’d chosen to manage one of the South African hotels, instead of one in their native Durham. Now it was starting to make sense.
“What else does the resort offer, aside from safaris?” Emma asked. While Charlotte had researched, Emma had paged through fashion magazines. But Charlotte didn’t mind that her cousin had let her do all the work.
“There’s an elephant sanctuary on the far end of the reserve. Tourists can pay to help the keeper bathe and feed the animals. You can even ride them.”
Emma’s eyes widened with glee. “Oh, we have to try and make time for that. I wish we could stay longer than three days. There’s no way we’ll get to everything before it’s time to go home.”
“Maybe we can come back on vacation sometime,” Charlotte said. Extending their trip wasn’t an option—not with Alex’s wedding coming up in barely more than a week. Three full days at the Hotel Montgomery was all they’d get, and Charlotte wasn’t about to let Adam ruin it for her.
She hoped he was in Greece with Little Miss Perfect. She wanted South Africa all to herself.
Charlotte craned her neck, watching as a hawk glided across the sky. It dove down, snatching some small animal from the grasses of the savanna before rising gracefully once more. She ached to run through those tall grasses. To breathe in the fresh air. To truly enjoy this remarkable corner of the world.
They rounded a bend in the road, passing a copse of trees. The hotel sprang into view, and Charlotte’s breath caught in her throat.
“Is that it?” Emma asked, leaning forward.
Charlotte could only nod. Gleaming white marble sparkled underneath the harsh African sun like a jewel in the desert. Calling it a resort was almost insulting. The Hotel Montgomery was an oasis. No wonder it had a waiting list nearly nine months out.
Fountains appeared on either side of the road, their long and narrow jets of water bouncing into the air. Charlotte glanced at Joseph, knowing he’d throw a fit if she rolled down the window to get a better view. The blacktop transitioned into red cobblestones. Neatly trimmed flowers and bushes lined the front of the hotel, while the windows arched high overhead.
“It’s so beautiful,” Charlotte breathed.
“That’s like calling the Sistine Chapel pretty,” Emma said. “It’s magnificent.”
Charlotte had to agree. The caravan of cars slowed, pulling around the wide circular driveway. They came to a stop underneath the canopy, right in front of the sliding glass doors.
Joseph got out of the car and was quickly met by Karla and Emma’s two bodyguards. Charlotte patiently waited for one of them to open the car door. Another fountain was just a few paces away, jets of water shooting nearly ten feet into the air. A large sign with Hotel Montgomery etched into the stone sat just in front of it.
The car door finally opened. A blast of hot, dry air hit Charlotte right in the face, so different from the cool humidity she was used to in Durham. She accepted Evan’s hand and exited the car, barely noting that Karla was already stationed near the sliding glass doors.
“Thank you,” she said, smoothing a hand down the front of her skirt. Bellhops were already unloading luggage from the trunks of the cars under Becky’s direction, while the four members of the security detail watched the area with wary eyes.
The glass doors slid open, and a man in an impeccable three-piece gray suit strode forward. He was tall, with long legs and a closely shaved beard that defined a strong jawline. His dark hair was styled off his forehead, and his piercing blue eyes seemed to stare right through her. Charlotte’s heart stuttered in her chest, before beating again at double-time. He’d always had the uncanny ability to see through her façade to what lay underneath.
“Adam,” she breathed.
“Princess Charlotte.” His smooth voice glided over her like water, making her shiver. She’d always loved the deep timber of his voice. The way it vibrated against her ear when she laid her head against his chest.
She was frozen to the spot, unable to move. He strode toward her, one hand extended. She accepted it without thinking, letting his hand engulf hers. It was pleasantly cool despite the oppressive heat, the grip firm without being painful. Her entire arm tingled with the contact while her mouth grew dry.
“Welcome to Hotel Montgomery,” Adam said, releasing her hand after one last squeeze. “We’re so pleased you’re here.”
Don’t forget to preorder Winning Back the Princess so it’ll be delivered to your kindle on April 27. I can’t wait to share this book with you!
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