In my twenty- one years, I'd never had a bodyguard who was a contractor .
"He's supposed to be the best," Mark Stevens said, mistaking my surprise for wariness.
"Ex-Navy SEAL, top-notch recommendations, experience guarding high-profile personalities. He's his company' s most sought-after professional."
"Hmm."
An American guard. Interesting.
"I do hope we get along."
When two people were around each other twenty-four-seven, compatibility mattered. A lot. I knew people who hadn't meshed with their security details, and those arrangements never lasted long.
"I'm sure you will. You're easy to get along with, Your Highness."
"You're only saying that because I'm your boss."
Mark Stevens grinned.
"Technically , the Director of the Royal Guard is my boss." I wagged a playful finger at him.
"Backtalking already? I'm disappointed." He laughed.
Despite his insistence on calling me Your Highness, we'd settled into a casual camaraderie over the years that I appreciated. Excessive formality exhausted me. We chatted about Mark Stevens' s impending fatherhood and move back to Yoshire for the rest of our walk.
He was near bursting with pride over his unborn child, and I couldn't help a small stab of envy. I was nowhere near ready for marriage and kids, but I wanted what Mark Stevens and his wife had. Love. Passion. Choice. Things no amount of money could buy.
A sardonic smile touched my lips. No doubt I'd sound like an ungrateful brat to anyone who could hear my thoughts. I could get any material thing I desired with a snap of my fingers, and I was whining about love. But people were people, no matter their title, and some desires were universal.
Unfortunately, the ability to fulfill them was not. Maybe I would fall in love with a prince who'd sweep me off my feet, but I doubted it. Most likely, I'd end up in a boring, socially acceptable marriage with a boring, socially acceptable man who only had sex missionary style and vacationed in the same two places every year.
I pushed the depressing thought aside. I had a long way to go before I even thought about marriage, and I'd cross that bridge when I got there.
My house came into sight, and my eyes latched onto the unfamiliar black BMW idling in the driveway. I assumed it belonged to my new bodyguard.
"He's early." Mark Stevens raised a surprised brow. "He's not supposed to arrive until five."
"Punctuality is a good sign, I suppose." Though half an hour early might be overkill.
The car door opened, and a large black boot planted itself on the driveway. A second later, the biggest man I'd ever seen in real life unfolded himself from the front seat, and my mouth turned bone dry.
Holy. Hotness!
My new bodyguard had to be at least six foot four, maybe even six-five, with solid, sculpted muscle packed onto every inch of his powerful frame.
Longish black hair grazed his collar and fell over one gunmetal-gray eye, and his legs were so long he ate up the distance between us in three strides.
For someone so large, he moved with surprising stealth. If I hadn't been looking at him, I wouldn't have noticed him approach at all.
He stopped in front of me, and I swore my body tilted forward a centimeter, unable to resist his gravitational pull. I was also strangely tempted to run my hand through his thick dark locks. Most veterans kept their hair military-style short even after leaving the service, but clearly , he wasn't one of them.
"Daniel Carter." His deep, gravelly voice rolled over me like a velvety caress.
Now that he was closer, I spotted a thin scar slashing through his left eyeb row, adding a hint of menace to his dark good looks. Stubble darkened his jaw, and a hint of a tattoo peeked out from both sleeves of his shirt.
He was the opposite of the preppy, clean-shaven types I usually went for, but that didn't stop a swarm of butterflies from taking flight in my stomach.
I was so flustered by his appearance I forgot to respond until Mark Stevens let out a small cough.
"I'm Rachel. It's nice to meet you." I hoped neither man noticed the flush creeping over my cheeks.
I omitted the Miss title on purpose. It seemed too pretentious for casual, one-on-one settings.
I did, however , notice Daniel didn't address me as Your Highness the way Mark Stevens did. I didn't mind as I'd been trying to get Mark Stevens to call me by my first name for years now but it was another sign my new guard would be nothing like my old one.
"You have to move."
I blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"Your house." Daniel tilted his head toward my spacious but cozy two-bedroom abode.
"It's a security nightmare. I don't know who signed off on the location, but you have to move."
The butterflies screeched to a halt. We'd met less than two minutes ago, and he was already ordering me around like he was the boss. Who does he think he is?
"I've lived here for two years. I've never had an issue."
"It only takes one time."
"I'm not moving." My stubborn self acted up.I punctuated my words with a sharpness I rarely used, as Daniel' s condescending tone grated on my nerves.
Any attraction I'd felt toward him crumbled into ash, dying the quickest death in my history with the opposite sex.
Not that it would've gone anywhere. He was, after all, my bodyguard, but it would've been nice to have eye candy without wanting to drop-kick him into the next century.
Men.
They always ruined it by opening their mouths.
"You're the security expert," I added coolly. "Figure it out."
Daniel glowered at me beneath thick, dark brows. I couldn't remember the last time anyone had glowered at me.