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hissed.
    “Does the truth hurt? Well, I don’t care what you think of me. Here’s how it’s going to work. Where you go for the next week, I go. Deal with it.”
    Sam was gearing up for a tear fest and fully expected her to jump off the deep end. Instead, she straightened her back, came and stood right in front of him, under his nose, all five feet seven inches, minus the heels.
    The musky fragrance she wore did a number on his senses. All he saw were her plum colored lips curling into a smile, that didn’t reach her cold hazel eyes when she tipped her head up to look him. She did this bobbing thing with her neck. One hundred percent attitude aimed smacked right at him.
    “Deal with this.” She jabbed a finger at his chest and he felt her red fingernail through his shirt. “I did the bodyguard thing when I was growing up and there wasn’t one around that could keep up with me…ask Matt. This is my father’s doing and he always gets what he wants at any cost. I’ll give you twenty-four hours, then you can go crawl back under whatever rock my father found you.”
    “I’ll take that bet. Guess what,
Princess
? I’ll be around a lot longer than twenty-four hours.” He stepped around her. “I need to speak with your father. In the meantime, I would suggest you give me a copy of your itinerary for the week so I can do my job.”
    “Go to hell!”
    Sam shrugged, pausing at the door. “Should you choose not to provide me with the information required that’s fine by me. It’s your life. You can choose to live it above ground or sleep with the weeds. I would think above ground would be more rewarding. Be ready in an hour.”
    He left her fuming in the salon and ran into Mimi in the hallway carrying a tray. His hand went out to her elbow to steady the tray. She obviously overheard his conversation with Princess.
    “I’m still trying to decide if I like you, Mr. O’Malley. A word of advice—”
    A crash came from the salon and Alexandria stormed out a few minutes later. She halted her steps at the door when she saw them and then tore off in the opposite direction toward the stairs.
    She was a spoiled brat all right. Whenever she didn’t get her way, she threw a tantrum. Well, he wasn’t going to put up with that. She would either follow his rules or her daddy could find someone else, but not before her twenty-four hours deadline. He didn’t want to lose that bet.
    “Being liked is not a job prerequisite.” He watched as Princess marched up the stairs.
    “You take great pleasure in goading her. I wonder why?” Her head cocked to one side as she balanced the tray with the silver teapot and fine china. She peered at him as if she knew something he didn’t.
    Why was that? He considered Mimi’s comment for a moment then brushed it aside.
    “I’d like to see Prescott before we leave.”
    “Follow me, Mr. O’Malley.”
    They made their way down the long corridor toward a set of French doors that opened into Prescott’s office. He had papers spread across the mahogany desk in front of him. He was on the phone and motioned for them to enter. Mimi unloaded the contents from the tray onto a table set for two close by the opened patio door.
    The breeze blowing in off the water failed to take the edge off the summer heat floating in the room. It wasn’t just the heat that got Sam’s blood boiling. It was Little—Miss-Sunshine and the way her jeans molded her hips as she ran up the stairs.
    “Can I get you anything, Mr. O’Malley? Perhaps some breakfast?” Mimi asked as she passed him.
    “I’m fine.”
    “Let me know if you change your mind. Oh, a gentle piece of advice…don’t judge a book by its cover,” Mimi said, for his ears only. A wide grin spread across her face. “Your little bet with Alexandria…my money is on the Princess.”
    “You don’t know me very well, do you?”
    “And
you
don’t know Alexandria.”
    •  •  •
    “Thou shall not kill.”
    It was one of the Commandments.