Free Falling for the Princess by Sandra Hyatt

well. It was the royal ballet company so one could make assumptions, but her lack of focus had been complete. Logan—his words, his actions, his proximity—prevented coherent thought. Though she’d refused to look at him through the first act of the ballet, all her thoughts were on him, the way he disconcerted her—deliberately—as he’d done tonight. The way he took what should have been ordinary conversation and twisted it. The way he made her thinkthoughts she didn’t want to think. The way just his fingers interlaced with hers made her think of other joinings and interlacings.
    He had her—usually serene and in control—tied in knots, and she didn’t know how to manage it, how to untangle herself, or her thoughts.
    At a small sound beside her she turned. Logan sat low in his seat, his head tipped back and his eyes…closed! The sound had been a gentle snore. It had also caught her sister-in-law’s attention. Lexie, sitting on Logan’s other side, looked from Logan to Rebecca and then, suppressing a grin, returned her attention to the ballet. Lexie might think it funny but Adam, here with the Swedish ambassador’s daughter, would not. He took his duties seriously. Some would say too seriously, the weight of his future responsibilities already weighing heavily. It had been a long time since she’d heard her brother’s laughter and the last thing she wanted to do was call down his censure on her now.
    Rebecca elbowed Logan in the arm. Slowly, he opened his eyes, then narrowed them on her. “What was that for?”
    â€œWhat was it for? You were sleeping,” she hissed. She’d never hissed in her life.
    â€œI wasn’t sleeping. I was reliving one of those beautiful earlier moments in my head.”
    â€œYou were snoring.”
    Even in the dim light of the theater she could see the amusement in his eyes as he feigned interest and asked, “So, this new lead dancer…what do you think of her?”
    Rebecca turned back in her seat.
    â€œNice legs.”
    â€œYou’re not supposed to be looking at her legs.”
    â€œI meant yours.”
    She looked down to see that with her twisting in her seat the side split in her dress had ridden up and parted,revealing a glimpse of her thigh. Which was still vastly more than she wanted Logan looking at. She rearranged the dress so that it sat properly.
    He leaned closer. “I’m still imagining taking it off you.”
    Maybe she shouldn’t have woken him.
    At the intermission he took her hand and walked with her to the royal lounge. When he would have approached a cluster of people that included her brothers and Eduardo she steered him instead to a quiet corner of the room.
    Still holding her hand, he turned to her. “You want to make out? Here? Do you think that’s really appropriate?”
    He took far too much pleasure in needling her. “It’d be more appropriate than me killing you. Here.” She tried to slide her hand from his but his grasp tightened.
    â€œSo you do want to make out?” His gaze dropped to her lips then flicked to the split in her dress before coming back to connect with hers. Deliberately provocative. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.
    â€œNo. But I do want to kill you,” she said, smiling sweetly for the benefit on any watchers.
    â€œBecause?” His thumb probed gently between her fingers.
    And Rebecca had to fight to keep her focus on what she was saying and not on what he was doing. “You fell asleep. And you made me hiss.”
    â€œBet I can make you sizzle, too.”
    â€œBe serious.” She didn’t want to contemplate that assertion for fear that he might be right. “We’re talking about you falling asleep during the ballet.”
    â€œAnd that’s a capital offense in San Philippe?”
    â€œI’m a patron of the ballet,” she said in a low voice.
    â€œI’m so