Along Came A Prince by Carlyn Cade

interested in
getting the most money they could from the rag magazines. In her line of work
among all the fame, the riches and perks, privacy was the one thing that was
not allowed.
    But would she give
it all up? “ No, I wouldn’t,” she said out loud with no one to hear her except
herself. “Well, I always have my disguises,” she added to the silent nobody in
the room.
    It suddenly came
to her that she was totally unprepared for London. She spied the Make the
Most of London guide on an end table, right next to the welcome gifts the
hotel had provided – a huge basket of fruit, mini-boxes of Guylian chocolates, assorted
nuts, and a bottle of champagne chilling in a shiny gold ice bucket. Fresh
flowers, tucked everywhere, were in abundance. She picked up the book, thumbed
through it and started reading to learn more about the city, until the phone
rang. A man identifying himself as Mr. Obertelli, the hotel manager, wanted to
know if her room was satisfactory or if she wanted anything. He also assured her
they would do everything to guard her privacy while she was there. She hung up
after insisting to Mr. Obertelli that everything was perfect.
    Now all she needed
was a phone call from Clay telling her what to expect next in this ultra-rich
world she was not accustomed to. With all this royalty around her, she felt
like a secret spy for the Queen of England waiting for Clay’s instructions for
her next mission.
    Her cell phone
rang. She wondered if she should answer it in guarded whispers, “ This is
Agent 000. What’s my mission? ” She was still giggling when she said hello.
    “What’s so funny?”
Clay asked.
    “Nothing much. I
was just basking in all the royal treatment I’ve been receiving and the royalty
itself surrounding me in this hotel and my suite.”
    “And that’s
funny?” he asked quite seriously.
    “I’m a little farm
girl, you know. Now I feel like a secret agent who reports to the Queen.”
    His tone changed,
and she heard him laugh quietly.
    She smiled. “Sorry,
I’m just used to role playing. The airplane flight, a limo waiting at Heathrow,
a fantastic hotel…it’s all pretty enchanting for me, and you arranged
everything. So thanks to you, I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
    “Role playing, right?
Now that sounds fun. I think I may be doing that at the moment. You should see
me. I just came out of a freezer. I’m bundled up in warm, heavy winter clothes,
and I look like an ice fisherman in Alaska using my chain saw to slice through
the ice. My chisels and blow torches are also at my side.”
    “Can you send me a
selfie of that?”
    “You wouldn’t even
recognize me. And speaking of the Queen, her security team has been at Harrods
all morning checking out the whole area. It seems we may have a visitor tonight
from the Royal Family.”
    “Excuse me, but
are you serious?”
    “Maybe you should
join her security people here, so you can practice your secret agent skills.”
    “You’re kidding me,
right?”
    Clay laughed. “Yes,
about your secret agent skills, but not about someone from the Royal Family
coming to my ice show.”
    “It never occurred
to me that you knew the Royal Family personally, but now when I think about it,
it makes perfect sense that you do.”
    “Actually, Prince
William is a good friend.”
    “Were you a guest
at his wedding?”
    “With my parents,
yes.”
    “And no one took
your photo when you attended?”
    “We weren’t the
attraction that day.”
    Shayna was
shocked. What was she doing here in London with a prince who was so attached to
royalty? That answer was easy. He didn’t seem like a prince. He just seemed
like Clay, a handsome guy, who she was immensely attracted to and wanted to get
to know better.
    “I was wondering,”
he said, “if you would like to come to Harrods now for lunch. I can get away
for a while. I thought you might like to do a little shopping this afternoon as
long as you’ll be here anyway. There will be plenty