The Royal Affair (The Palmera Royals)

She’s on his turf, but she’s not giving up the reins that easily.

The Palmera Royals, Book 2

All her life, Princess Marina Palmera toed the family line—until she fell for Jonas Wilder. Their whirlwind affair broke her heart when he left without a word.

Devastated, Marina defied convention to build her love of horses into a thriving international business. But now the bloodstock auction has brought her to New Zealand. The turf of the one man she doesn’t want to see.

Jonas was once under Marina’s exquisite spell, until a single phone call brought him back to brutal reality. While he dallied with the princess, a car crash killed his ex-wife and robbed his little daughter of her voice. Blaming himself, he has vowed that nothing will ever again distract him from caring for his child.

But when a chance meeting and the child’s love of all things “princess” draws her from her silence, Jonas will make any sacrifice to keep her words flowing. Question is, can he keep Marina in his life for his daughter’s sake—and keep his heart from tearing down the walls between them?

Warning: Contains a brassed-off princess, and a sexy Kiwi horse breeder. And a wild helicopter ride that leads to a hot night in the wilds of the New Zealand bush.

The Royal Affair

Jane Beckenham

Dedication

To my editor, Linda Ingmanson,

who has faith in me.

Many thanks.

Chapter One

All it took was a whisper, an imitation of the breeze trailing through the treetops, to set Princess Marina Palmera’s nerves on edge.

Flanked by her bodyguards, she walked into the reception area of Parakai Bloodstock Auctions, just south of Auckland, aware of a hush descending across the room. She had long ago learned to ignore the reaction her presence instigated, and today was no different. The racing world was cutthroat, and she wouldn’t have lasted a week without her steely determination. Today was all about business and not about being a princess.

Or remembering the man who had inspired her to walk this road.

As owner of Palmera Stables, Marina wanted the best horses she could buy, and even the possibility of running into Jonas Wilder was not enough to deter her from sourcing some of the world’s finest bloodstock in New Zealand.

Besides, what was the likelihood he’d turn up?

Better to shut that part of her life away. Forget about him.

With the auction about to start and the perfunctory welcomes completed, she headed toward the arena.

“Hello, Your Highness.”

That
voice.

A sudden chill pervaded her limbs. She tugged the edges of her jacket closer.

“Marina.”

No. No.
She didn’t want to hear his voice, for it to be him. She didn’t want to turn around and see him.

Damn it. Why now? Why after all these years did she react this way?

Pasting her princess mask in place, Her Royal Highness, Princess Marina of San Torrevna, turned to face the man who’d trampled her heart.

Her breath caught, but with well-practiced manners, she covered her reaction.

Jonas wasn’t the same as when she’d last seen him four years ago, though. He was better. Much. A little worn around the edges, but better looking than any man had a right to be. She steadied her nerves, refusing to allow any hint of her inner turmoil to show. She’d let this man get under her skin, closer than anyone else—once. But never again. This was the same man who’d walked out on her without a backward glance. Who’d never returned her calls. Who’d broken her heart.

She wouldn’t make that mistake ever again.

Drawing on all her royal training, she tilted her chin that little bit higher. “Hello, Jonas.”

“What are you doing here?”

His acerbic tone surprised her, but even though he caught her in his steel-gray gaze, she held her princess facade firmly in place. “Surely it’s obvious. I’m here to buy a race horse or two.”

“You!” He frowned. “Since when has the party princess deigned to attend anything more taxing than opening a garden fête or to be a high-class clothes horse?”

His scorn sliced across her heart, and she stiffened, drawing her cashmere jacket a little closer. “Do you have a problem with me being here, or did you think I would be sitting at home still pining for you? You walked out four years ago, Jonas. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I got on with my
life.”

She wouldn’t admit that it had taken a while. Their few months together had been bliss and heaven all rolled into one, but a fantasy that sadly didn’t last. “The party princess is no more.” Rancor dripped from her voice. “You may have heard of Palmera Stables.”

A sudden wave of suspicion washed across his hooded gaze. “Everyone in the industry is talking about their winning stable of horses.”

He doesn’t know
.

That surprised her. Jonas Wilder had a long history of involvement in the international racing world. His horses that trained at Totara Park were renowned winners. “It seems my success is working, then.” As she watched him, his confusion followed by the slow hint of understanding, Marina took pleasure in her revelation.

“What?”

“I own them.”

“You!” His shock escalated. “Since when?”

“Since you left. I’ve come a long way since then.” Her mouth curved upward. “I could say it was thanks to you, but it wasn’t. It has been all my
hard work.” She glanced toward the auctioneer heading into the arena. “The auction is about to start, and I need to take my place.” She gave him one last beaming smile, leaned forward and kissed his cheek oh so briefly. “Nice seeing you again, Jonas.”

Aware of the attention focused in her direction, she pivoted from Jonas before he could read what she knew to be an open book in her eyes—that he still affected her just as he had four years ago.

Damn. She needed to control those emotions. Especially today. She took her seat and then snuck a quick peek in Jonas’s direction. Shock scored his expression. Removing his hat, he scrubbed his fingers through his hair.

She remembered doing that.

Remembered…

Stop! Stop right now.

She tried to. Desperately. But still she couldn’t help but wonder if his shock was because of her success, or maybe, just maybe,
it was because she’d kissed him.

Caught deep in thought and frowning, she suddenly realized none too subtle glances were being cast her way once more. She stamped down her futile musings and pasted on her “on show” face. She was royalty, and people expected a princess to smile.

For years, she’d been the perfect princess. Done what needed to be done. She was tired of it. Wanted her own life. A real life. Owning the stables went a small way toward creating that independence, but something was missing. Something in her heart.

She cast another furtive glance toward Jonas.

Stupid move. His steel-hard expression latched on to hers. Swallowing, she snatched her gaze away and forced herself to concentrate on the auction. In a short time, she had bid on two horses, her success proving a soothing antidote to having seen Jonas, realizing too that time had not healed her heart or made her forget.

As the bell sounded, she quickly dealt with the paperwork, a little frustrated she’d missed out on a third horse that hadn’t reached reserve. She nodded to her bodyguards, indicating she was ready to leave, and headed toward the exit.

“Going so soon? I thought you might want to catch up for old times’ sake.” Jonas stood in her way, hands on his hips, black-jean-clad legs apart.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He pushed away from the door, crossed the few steps between them, and Marina’s nerves rioted. “Why not?”

A frisson of heat scurried down her spine, and she fought the urge to reach out and touch him. So stupid. Why oh why could she not forget this man? She gritted her teeth and forced a smile, but it felt stretched thin, just as were her nerves. Despite her silent words that she could handle it, handle him, she’d only been lying to herself.

“Because, Jonas,” she said, keeping her voice as modulated as possible, “you don’t deserve a moment of my time. We had a brief affair. Two months. That’s all.” She made it sound so casual, but it had been nothing of the kind. “You couldn’t be bothered to even tell me why you dumped me. Never offered a good-bye or returned my calls.”

“You brushing me off, Princess?”

Marina’s mouth slipped into a tiny smile. “Yes, I am, but then that’s exactly what you did to me. So I guess we’re even. Good-bye, Jonas.”

Jacques and Pierre, her bodyguards, had been watching closely and knew her well. The moment she uttered her good-bye, Jacques stepped between them to guide her outside.

“
Are horses your new arm candy, Princess?” Jonas asked.

At his cutting tone, Marina’s footfall stalled, and she spun round to face him, barely resisting grinding her teeth. She fixed him with a hard-edged stare. “I did not travel all this way to wimp out at auction,
Mr. Wilder
.”

His ebony brows shot up. “A little out of your league, aren’t you? I remember you were more a Prada girl.”

“I don’t need to prove myself to you. Or anyone.”

A ruddy color seeped beneath his tan that went some way to soothe the part of her that wanted payback. She waved her folder of purchase orders at him. “Or is it that you think princesses can’t be good for anything except parties?”

“I thought it went with the princess lifestyle.”

A tiny choke of laughter bubbled up her throat. “That, Jonas is a fantasy which comes with the territory of being media fodder.”

“Okay, so you’ve bought yourself a bunch of horses. But what I can’t figure out is why. You’re part of the rich and famous set, everything money can buy. Clothes. Travel. A life of ease. Why bother?”

“One party morphs into another eventually,” she said truthfully, and after Jonas had walked out, that life became anathema.

Disdain registered in Jonas’s eyes. “You were bored.”

“No, not bored. I found a passion and wanted to fulfill it.” She’d also wanted to be free from her royal world, something she had not quiet succeeded at—yet. Duty and responsibility before self was the family motto.

Buying designer handbags didn’t take much brainpower. Running a now multimillion-dollar stable of horses whose wins spanned the globe took brains, determination and commitment. “I’m not playing at this, Jonas. I
am
Palmera Stables. My horses have already won major racing events worldwide. Two weeks ago, Octavia won the Dubai World Cup.”

“What about Charlie Flanders’s horse?What happened?”

You happened
.

Halfway through the auction for Flanders’s filly, Babushka, she made a big mistake and glanced in Jonas’s direction—again. When she realized his sexy, hooded gaze was focused on her and not the auction, her brain turned to mush, concentration shot.

“Babushka is Charlie’s top thoroughbred. Do you still want her?” he asked.

“Of course.” She wouldn’t offer him a single hint that, without even trying, he’d already gotten under her skin—again. “Losing the bid is only a slight hitch to my plan.”

“Charlie doesn’t give second chances. If the horse doesn’t sell at auction, then he heads home with it.”

“Not if I have my way, he won’t.”

“Really?” His mouth quirked at the edges, and admiration sparked in his gaze. Marina soaked it up. “You intend to butt heads with Charlie? He’s a tough nut to crack.”

“You think I can’t? Watch this space, Wilder.”

What he thought was why the hell had he taken today to turn up to the bloodstock auction? He’d intended to send his foreman, but at the last minute changed his mind. His sister Emerald agreed to have his daughter, Suzie, for a couple of nights, while his stable hand would feed the horses, and the two young jockeys would follow through on any training required. Subsequently, he was a free agent.

Just as he’d been when he’d first set eyes on Marina.

Four years ago, newly divorced and with Suzie holidaying with his ex-wife, Talia, Jonas had had time to visit San Torrevna with his other sister, Stella.

He wasn’t looking for love, but then fate took over, and he’d been bewitched by lush ebony hair and eyes the color of cornflowers. Marina had delighted in showing him her city, her country, and he’d delighted in pleasuring her nights and days, delaying his return to New Zealand.

Marina had been doing princess duty when he received a phone call no father ever wanted to hear. His darling little Suzie was in hospital, his ex-wife dead, her lover also dead in a head-on road smash.

Fear tightened a steel band around Jonas, insidious in its intensity as he revisited that moment. He should have said good-bye to Marina. Should have explained. But all he’d been able to think about was getting home and being with his daughter. Guilt had charged through him from that day and forever more for not being with his daughter. Suzie needed him more than Marina ever would, and he determined never, ever, to let his daughter down again.

But Marina turning up today had blown his equilibrium to pieces, and just for a second, he couldn’t help himself. He had to look at her. From beneath the rim of his Akubra, he stared at the woman he’d drowned in for two months, who turned him inside out with a single smile. Definitely temptation on heels—heels he remembered digging into his thighs while he stripped her of her silky stockings.

Four years later, nothing had changed.

Princess Marina Palmera had an aura about her, and no matter what she wore, she was stunningly elegant.

Naked—she was perfect.

Jonas dragged his gaze away. He couldn’t do this. Couldn’t lust after someone he couldn’t have. Wouldn’t let himself have. Not again. He needed to skedaddle pronto.

“Well, nice meeting you…um…again.” He offered her a curt nod, fleetingly wondering if he should have bowed, given she was royalty.

Bow to her? Hell, he wanted to drag her into his arms and make out. Here. Now. Jeez, he had it bad. Intent on getting out of there, Jonas didn’t see Charlie before he plowed into him.

“Jonas, you going so soon?” Charlie Flanders was one of the old-timers in the horse industry. A short, barrel-chested man, his face a roadmap of life with lines etched deep, he slapped a hand on Jonas’s back.

“Yeah, needed back at the homestead.”

“Thought Suzie was with Emerald.”

“She is, but…” Jonas’s gaze slipped sideways to where Marina stood with her bodyguards. Oh, man, he really, really needed to get the heck away, or temptation and exotic perfume would be his downfall.

Charlie tipped his bald head toward Jonas and whispered, “Time you got a life, son. Moved on.”

Every muscle in Jonas’s body tightened to the breaking point, and he shot the portly horse breeder a warning glare.

“You can deny it all you like, but I don’t see a bevy of beautiful women beating down your door,” Charlie said. “Time to get you a wife. You need a mother for that sweet little girl of yours.”

Jonas clenched his jaw. “Like hell!” His gaze fixed momentarily on Marina. He’d tried four years ago to lose himself in hair as silky as night and a body made for him, only to be hurtled back to earth by a phone call.

Charlie looked beyond Jonas, and his smile broadened. “Your Highness.” He held out a hand and sidestepped Jonas.

Jonas watched Charlie’s rough-worn workman’s hand enfold Marina’s, watched as her long slim fingers with their soft pink nails wrapped around the older man’s. He remembered those hands in his, on him.

He swallowed back the sudden lump in his throat.