Courting Carolina (27 page)

Jane pulled the quilt over her nearly frostbitten nose when the rising sun hit her face, but then sat up with a gasp when she realized that instead of dreaming, she was hearing the song for real. She gasped again when she spotted her iPad leaning against the front wall of the cottage as it played “Good Morning Sunshine,” the giant clock on its screen proclaiming it was six forty-two a.m. Jane scrambled for the iPad and stuffed it under her sweater even as she glanced over her shoulder looking for Nicholas—only to yelp in surprise when the cold tablet touched her bare belly. She jumped to her feet and ran in her cottage, pulled out the iPad, and frantically tried to remember how to shut off the stupid alarm.

“You
idiot
,” she growled into the sudden silence broken only by…What was that noise? It sounded like rain coming from—Jane ran into her bedroom just as a rumble of thunder filled the room, and stood gaping at her sound machine sitting on the nightstand. Sweet Athena, what was Alec doing? She ran to the window, saw it was locked, and peered out at
the woods. How had he gotten in? Or more importantly, how had he gotten onto the resort grounds?

No, even more importantly,
why
?

What was he hoping to accomplish by coming here? And dammit, if he was going to sneak into her cottage, why hadn’t he awoken her? Jane walked to the bed and fell back onto it to stare up at the knotty pine ceiling, undecided if she wanted to scream or burst into tears.

Alec had been here twice now and hadn’t even said hello, just bringing her stuff back one or two pieces at a time. But
why
? What could he possibly be trying to prove? Well, other than that he really wasn’t afraid of her father, she thought with a snort. For the love of Zeus; didn’t he realize that with nothing more than a flick of a wrist, Titus could turn him into a dung beetle or a sea slug or a…

Jane bolted upright. Was Alec trying to send her a message by sneaking in past Nicholas’s guards? Like maybe
she
could sneak
out
past them just as easily?

Then why hadn’t he just taken her with him?

But then what? Were they supposed to spend the rest of their lives running? Jane threw herself back down. Not while wearing a shackle around her ankle, they couldn’t, because Father and Mac and Nicholas would always know where she was.

Damn. She needed to find a way to contact Alec and tell him to stop trying to help her. Duncan, maybe? Could she ask him to deliver a letter to Alec? Or Sam? She’d only seen Sam once since she’d been back, but the man had acted rather aloof, as if he didn’t want to be seen speaking to her.

Jane bolted upright again. The privy! If the helicopter had delivered the shelter yesterday, the privy should be leaving today or tomorrow. She could sneak over to the building site and place a letter inside where Alec would find it. “Yes!” she cried, jumping off the bed. She tapped a button on the sound machine until the room filled with ocean waves crashing onto shore, turned up the volume, and ran into the bathroom. After taking care of her morning rituals but too excited to
dress, she rushed to the main room and sat down at the small desk, opened the top drawer, and pulled out a pen and several sheets of stationery embossed with the Nova Mare crest.

But then she stilled with the pen poised to write.

What to say? She snorted, deciding she should probably start by apologizing for lying about who she was—even if the scoundrel
had
known all along. And then maybe she would give
him
hell for deceiving
her
.

She stilled again, her mother’s serene smile when she wanted to persuade Titus to see things her way suddenly flashing in Jane’s mind. No, she would probably have a better chance of persuading Alec to stop coming to Nova Mare if she
didn’t
tell him only an idiot would push Nicholas’s and Mac’s patience past the point of no return.

She sighed, and started with her apology.

Jane heard a knock on the door and straightened with a groan at the realization she’d been sitting bent over the desk for nearly an hour. “Just a minute,” she called out, gathering up all the pages she’d filled and shoving them in the drawer. “Who is it?”

“For a woman who’s been waiting over a week to get her hands on that Arabian mare, I’m surprised you’re late, princess.”

“Nicholas!” Jane threw open the door to find him holding her bedding, which he tossed onto the sofa when he walked inside. “I…I got involved in a book and didn’t realize what time it was.”

His eyes narrowed on hers. “What are you reading that’s turned you pale, Lina?”

She pressed her hands to her cheeks and spun around. “No, I’m just shocked I forgot about my morning ride with Hashim. I’ll just be a minute.”

“Don’t rush. I’ve heard keeping a man waiting is the first weapon a woman pulls from her arsenal if she’s determined to catch his interest.”

Jane stopped at her bedroom door to gape at him. “You
think I’m trying to catch the
Bedouin’s
interest?” She snorted. “Hashim’s not a buffoon; he’s an arrogant, condescending son of a bitch. The guy thinks I should be honored if
he
decides to choose
me
to be his wife.”

“He has good taste in horses.”

Jane took a calming breath when she saw Nicholas’s eyes turn sparkling blue and shot him a smile. “I hope he knows that when he leaves here
alone
right after the ball, the mare’s staying.”

“You’re slipping, princess,” Nicholas said with a chuckle, heading back outside. “I would have expected you to insist the stallion he also brought stays, too.” He stopped just before closing the door, his eyes narrowing again. “Why am I hearing ocean surf?”

Jane gave a negligent wave at the bedroom behind her. “It’s a digital sound machine I bought last year in New York City. I’d forgotten about it, but found it in the bottom of my satchel when I was looking for something to wear this morning.” She shrugged. “Maybe now I can start sleeping in my bed again before my nose falls off from frostbite.” She waved him away when his eyes remained narrowed on hers. “Go on, Nikki; I’ll be along in a few minutes.”

He took a glance around the interior of the cottage, then stepped back inside, walked to one of the chairs in front of the hearth, and picked up her iPad. “What’s this?”

“That’s just my computer,” she said, backing into her bedroom. “I’ll see you in the barn in twenty minutes,” she added brightly, closing the door then leaning against it with a shudder. Damn, she’d never been successful lying to Nicholas. Even as a boy he had always seemed to know when she was beating around the truth, and if he suspected Alec had been here again,
Nicholas
would likely be sleeping on her porch.

Sheikh Hashim may have brought her a magnificent mare as a token of his interest in procuring
her
interest, but it had taken the man almost a week to let Jane do more than brush
it, as he apparently didn’t want her breaking her magnificent neck before he could wed and bed her—presumably in that order. Of her suitors, Hashim was by far the boldest, to the point of arrogantly saying, to her face, how honored she should feel that he was even considering her to be his wife—number
four
, he had accidentally let slip this morning while Jane had been brushing
her
magnificent mare.

Had her father lost his mind?

“I don’t like that look in your eye, Lina,” Nicholas said, walking beside her leading his horse as she led her prancing mare out of the barn. “What are you up to?”

Jane glanced over her shoulder to see Hashim unhooking the stallion he’d also brought through time—because he apparently wouldn’t be caught dead riding anything but a magnificent Arabian—then shot Nicholas a glare. “I’m about to do wives number one, two, and three a huge favor, at the same time making sure I don’t become number friggin’
four
.”

Nicholas shook his head, although she could tell he was fighting a grin. “Not on my watch you’re not.” He pulled her to a stop. “A simple ‘no’ from you is all it takes.”

“But I’m down to only three and a half suitors now with just nine days to go.”

His mouth twitched again as he arched a brow. “Who’s the half?”

“Niall,” she said, breaking into a full-blown smile, “although I’m starting to count him out completely.” She glanced at the barn then back at Nicholas. “Watching Jacoby and Soren get sent home got me thinking that if
all
of my suitors get sent home before the ball, I’ll be off the hook without having to outright reject them. Don’t look at me like that,” she muttered, her smile disappearing. “I didn’t bite Jacoby’s horse’s ass, and I certainly didn’t push Soren off that cliff. But their unfortunate accidents made me realize that Daddy can’t very well expect me to choose from
zero
.”

“Not on my watch, and sure as hell not with this one,” Nicholas growled, gesturing toward Hashim mounting his horse, the jerk apparently not even willing to do Jane the honor of helping her mount. “He’s
not
a buffoon, and you
could wind up on the wrong end of the next ‘unfortunate accident.’” Nicholas grabbed her around the waist and tossed her up onto her mare, then clasped her leg to get her to look at him, his eyes having hardened to steel. “Your word, Lina.”

“Well, fine then,” she snapped as she started to spur her horse forward.

Nicholas grabbed the reins and held the mare in place. “What else aren’t you telling me?” He suddenly stiffened. “You’ve seen MacKeage.”

“Of course I have. I had dinner with Niall last night.”

“
Alec.
You met him someplace and he gave you the sound machine and computer. Did Kitalanta take you to him?”

“No! I swear, Nicholas, I haven’t seen Alec MacKeage. Nor Kitty since that day we saw him in the woods.”

“Is there a problem?” Hashim asked, riding up beside Jane.

“I believe her highness should spend time in the paddock getting acquainted with her mare before we let her take such a spirited animal on the trail,” Nicholas said. “I’m sure it would please Titus if you could give his daughter enough instruction to keep her from breaking her beautiful neck.”

“It will be my pleasure,” Hashim said through a tight smile, grabbing one of the mare’s reins as he headed to the paddock. “I’m sorry for bringing you such a dangerous prize, highness, as I was led to believe you were an accomplished horsewoman.”

Jane twisted around to see Nicholas standing with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed in speculation as he watched her, and she shot him an obscene gesture anyone from any century would recognize before turning to Hashim. “I learned to ride before I could walk,” she muttered, pulling the reins out of his grasp and trotting to the paddock.

Jane then blatantly ignored the SOB sitting on his stallion after he’d closed the gate and spent several minutes getting acquainted with her new mare. That is, until she noticed Nicholas striding toward the office pavilion leading his horse. Dammit, he was going to call his guards and give them hell
for letting Alec sneak onto the grounds again. Or else he was going to tattle on her to Mac.

Jane eyed Hashim from the corner of her eye and then pushed the mare into a canter while gauging the height of the paddock fence, deciding it was time to show the arrogant jerk some real horsemanship. She collected the mare by gently pulling on the reins while tightening her legs into its sides, then released its pent-up energy in a burst of speed as she aimed directly for the fence.

“No!” Hashim shouted as the mare soared into the air without hesitation, clearing the fence with ease and surging into a flat-out gallop when Jane leaned over its neck and gave it free rein.

Nicholas spun toward her in surprise, then broke into a grin. “Enjoy your little rebellion, princess,” he said as she raced by.

“Try to keep up, would you, Nikki?” she said with a laugh as he vaulted onto his horse. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Hashim also jump the paddock fence and come tearing after her—his expression not the least bit amused.

Oh yeah; the guy was no buffoon, and she didn’t have any problem picturing him riding across the desert brandishing a raised scimitar. Jane gave a smiled nod at two startled guests as she galloped past, then turned up the cart path that she knew led to a beautiful high-mountain pond a few miles away.

Sweet Athena, it felt wonderful to break free, the sure-footed mare’s equal joy to be racing like the wind palpable. She crested a knoll with a quick look back to see Hashim closing in on her with Nicholas about twenty horse-lengths behind him—the former’s expression still not amused and the latter’s too far away to read.

Well, at least she’d turned Nicholas’s attention away from Alec.

Jane gave an exuberant wave at the guard sitting on a boulder as she galloped past, recognizing from his size and sun-bronzed skin that he was Atlantean. And judging by his
grin, Jane guessed it wasn’t the first time he’d seen Princess Carolina racing by on a horse with Nicholas in pursuit. Although back on Atlantis, Nicholas had always made sure his horse was faster—unlike today, thanks to her arrogant suitor.

Jane had no more than rounded a bend in the path when she gave a startled shriek, realizing that Hashim had caught up with her. She veered away when he tried to grab her reins, and then she pulled her mare to a stop with another laugh. “Ah, Hashim, this beautiful mare is magnifi—” He threw his leg over his stallion’s neck and, reaching out and snagging Jane’s hair, dragged her with him as he slid to the ground. “Hey!” she cried out in pain, shoving against him. “What is your prob—” She cried out again when he slapped her hard enough that she fell to the ground.

“You stupid bitch!” he shouted, bending to her.

But before Hashim could touch her again, Jane’s stalwart protector sent the angry warrior sprawling onto his back with a well-placed fist to the jaw. “Get her out of here,” Nicholas growled over his shoulder just as Hashim sprang to his feet.

Jane flinched in surprise when a pair of strong hands clasped her from behind and lifted her to her feet, then held her steady as she seemed to be trembling with shock or disbelief—or both. “Easy now,” the man said, leading her away. “Come, highness,” he said more firmly as she tried to turn around to see what was going on.