An Officer and a Princess. Carla Cassidy

with the focus on the immediate family members and their friends. Nobody had been spared scrutiny, including King Michael’s brother, Edward, who had now assumed the king’s responsibilities, and his two sons, Luke and Blake. Since Michael’s kidnapping, Blake had married Rowena Wilde, Isabel’s lady-in-waiting.

      No red flags had gone up with anyone who had been investigated so far, leaving everyone to speculate on just who had been giving Shane Moore his orders. Who had been responsible for the king’s kidnapping? And why?

      In a last-ditch effort to force the hand of the conspirators, a rumor had been circulated that Prince Nicholas had been found dead, but so far that rumor had prompted no move from the guilty.

      Today was Shane Moore’s funeral and Adam wondered how many of Shane’s cohorts would show up to pay their respects. Although Isabel hadn’t mentioned it yet, he had a feeling he and “Bella Wilcox” would be among the bereaved.

      He sighed and shut off the shower. He hoped he and Isabel weren’t in over their heads. He knew if anything happened to Isabel while she was with him, it would be another nail in the coffin of his family name.

      Dressing, he shoved these thoughts out of his head. He couldn’t focus on his family problem now. He had to stay focused on pretending to be Adam Wilcox, not Lieutenant Commander Adam Sinclair.

      He stepped out of the bathroom, surprised to see Isabel awake and propped up on the pillows. The sheet demurely covered her, only a whisper of lilac silk visible at her shoulders.

      “I hope you saved me some hot water,” she said, a little edge of crankiness in her voice.

      “And good morning to you, too,” Adam said dryly.

      She frowned and raked a hand through her hair. “I don’t suppose this place has room service.”

      “Ha, fat chance,” Adam retorted. He sat on the chair to put on his shoes. “But, if you’ll get dressed, we should be able to find a place to have breakfast someplace nearby.”

      “Coffee…that’s what I need,” she said as she shoved the covers back and stood.

      Adam averted his gaze, but not before he caught a glimpse of her with the silky nightgown clinging to every curve. His internal temperature skyrocketed, and he was grateful when she disappeared into the bathroom.

      He scrubbed a hand down his face and leaned back in the chair. This was going to be harder than he’d thought. He hadn’t slept well and was already dreading another night on the damnable chair.

      However, the thought of lying next to Isabel on the too-soft mattress, the thought of feeling her body heat washing over him, filled him with an almost unbearable tension.

      He’d fought his feelings for Isabel for years. First, when she’d been a recruit under his command. Even then, there had been awareness between the two of them, a heady tension that had filled him both with excitement and dread.

      Any relationship between an officer and a recruit was strictly forbidden, and neither of them had been willing to jeopardize their careers for a tempestuous foray into romance, no matter how appealing that romance might have been.

      But, you aren’t her commanding officer anymore, a small voice whispered inside his head. True, he wasn’t. But, she was a princess, and he was a man with a dishonorable stain on his family name.

      Half the people in the country of Edenbourg believed his father was a traitor. Adam certainly wasn’t a potential suitor for Princess Isabel.

      Besides, if the newspapers were correct, she was already bound to the pretty-boy Sebastian Lansbury and King Michael had given his approval to the match right before his kidnapping.

      It was best for Adam to keep his mind on two goals…the first was to find the king, and the second was to clear his father’s name. Isabel was just as taboo for him now as when she’d been his recruit and he’d been her commanding officer. And he would do well to remember that over the next couple of weeks.

      Isabel polished off the last of her second buttered croissant, feeling much better than she had when she’d first awakened.

      She and Adam sat in a small café just down the street from the King’s Men Tavern. It was early enough in the morning that only a few patrons drifted in as Adam and Isabel ate breakfast.

      Isabel was once again clad in “Bella” clothes, although she’d chosen the least risqué of what she’d packed in deference to Adam’s wishes.

      Bright purple slacks hugged her tightly, and a blouse the same hue clashed cheerfully with her hair color. Spike heels and dangly earrings completed her fashion statement for the day.

      Adam was a lot less creative in his dress code. He was clad in another pair of black jeans and a clean gray T-shirt that did magnificent things to his gray eyes.