Chapter 5
“Rummy!” Emberly placed her run of hearts onto the table.
Winzig tossed his remaining cards down with a grunt. He’d spoken in German to Braun and Max a few times during the evening, but mostly he just grunted.
Across the table from her, Max studied the cards in his hand, then he peered over the edges at her. His brows were furrowed, his eyes serious, and his expression intense. He was competitive and smart and had been challenging to play with, learning the game easily.
Next to Max, Braun paused in knitting a scarf to assess Max’s hand. His eyes widened, then he tsked before his needles began clicking again at top speed. A bright-green cashmere scarf was taking shape quickly because, apparently, Braun was an expert knitter.
“Just admit defeat, Max.” Emberly couldn’t keep from taunting Max the same way she did her brothers. All throughout the evening, she’d done her best to treat Max like a brother, hopefully sending him a clear message that she wasn’t interested in being his call girl.
Tyler had been worried that Max was setting her up to be more than just his ambassador. He’d practically yelled at her in her office when she’d told him about going there for a meal tonight. “I’m not letting you have dinner with a stranger in his cabin. You’re not his call girl this week.”
Tyler had been so opposed to her exclusive arrangement with Max and her plans to eat dinner with him in his cabin that he’d dragged her up to the house in order to gain Dad’s support in making her cancel.
Surprisingly, Dad hadn’t taken Tyler’s side.
Instead, he’d studied Emberly’s face for a long moment before telling Tyler to let her continue the relationship with Max.
At Tyler’s exasperation, Dad had finally agreed to the overbearing regulations Tyler had demanded—that ranch employees go regularly to check on Emberly, that she could only be in the cabin if Max’s staff remained with him, and that she had to leave no later than ten o’clock.
It was nearing ten, and strangely, she wasn’t ready for the evening to come to an end.
The whole night from start to finish had been much more enjoyable than she’d expected.
Dinner had been relaxed, and Max had regaled her with stories from his childhood in Vollenstadt, which was the capital of Karltenberg.
Braun had chimed in with eccentric comments about Max from time to time, which had made both her and Max smile.
After dinner, she’d offered to teach everyone how to play Euchre. Max had known a little from his days in college, but neither Winzig nor Braun had caught on, and eventually she’d decided Rummy would be easier. Winzig had been a good sport and joined in, although he hadn’t won a round.
“I cannot admit defeat, Emberly.” Max spoke in a voice that mimicked hers. Then he slowly lowered his cards to reveal an even longer run in diamonds—one that put his score into the lead.
She grinned. “Guess I owe you dessert.”
“It appears you do.” Max grinned in return, his eyes lighting with both playfulness and pleasure. “Double chocolate French silk pie.”
They’d decided that whoever won the game owed the other person dessert. It was all in good fun, and she had forgotten to ask the servers to include dessert with their evening meal. So either way, dessert was in order.
“I shall relish every morsel of the pie.” Max’s voice filled with teasing.
At a knock on the cabin door, she startled.
Winzig was up and at the door before she could even move.
For a man of his size, he was surprisingly nimble.
He was also intimidating, as most protection agents were, including her brother Dustin, who’d been an elite Army Ranger for a number of years before retiring and becoming an executive protection agent.
He now lived in California when he wasn’t on assignment, usually out of the country.
Whenever he visited the ranch—which had been more often since Dad’s diagnosis—he was very close-mouthed about who he was assigned to.
Dustin was the quietest of them anyway, and the secrecy of his job made him even more so.
Whatever the case, she understood Winzig’s job and wished she could ask him questions about it. But the guy spoke mostly German, and she hadn’t yet admitted to everyone that she knew German and could understand them when they switched over to it, which had only been a couple of times.
As Winzig opened the door, he positioned himself so that whoever was on the front porch couldn’t see inside very well.
“I’m here to walk Emberly back to her cottage,” came her brother Kade’s voice.
Emberly stood and quickly crossed to the door. “I don’t need anyone to walk me home, Kade.”
She knew he wasn’t to blame for showing up.
Tyler had probably texted him and asked him to come.
Even so, she was irritated he was here. The walk to her place in the woods near the lodge was less than a quarter of a mile, and she was used to being out and about the ranch on her own at all times of the day and night.
“Got my orders.” Kade tipped up his cowboy hat and angled himself so he could see past Winzig and get a look at Max, who had left the table now too and was crossing to the door.
At twenty-three, Kade was the closest sibling in age to Emberly, and he was also the closest friend among her family.
He had a brawny body like the rest of the McQuaid men, all muscle, ruggedly handsome with dark hair and dark eyes.
He was slightly taller than the rest of the family, and his face was narrower and more boyish, giving him a charm that made him a favorite among the women for miles around.
Kade spent most of his days as the head of the ranch hands.
Though the ranch didn’t have a large herd of cattle anymore like in the early days, they still had enough cattle to use as beef for their guests.
Mainly, the ranch hands took care of the dozens of horses they bred and raised, and they helped with the weekly rodeos the ranch sponsored during the summer.
“This isn’t the military.” Emberly couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her tone. “And there are no orders. Especially from Tyler.”
Kade was still sizing up Max. “Hey.”
“Hello.” Max stopped by her side, looking professional in his pants and shirt.
She’d tried not to be self-conscious in her comfy clothing, but a part of her regretted that she hadn’t taken the time to dress in something nicer.
The truth was, she hadn’t even considered changing, not until she’d seen Max looking so sleek and polished.
Even then, she’d told herself what she wore didn’t matter, that she wasn’t trying to impress Max or draw his attention.
“I’m just checking on Emberly.” Kade spoke calmly while hooking his thumbs through his belt. “Tyler’s worried that you’re planning to take advantage of her.”
“Ka-ade.” Emberly’s scowl spread. “You can tell Tyler I’m a grown woman and can take care of myself just fine.”
Kade shrugged. “Max doesn’t look all that threatening. Probably can’t wrangle a fly.”
“Wrangle a fly?” Max’s brow shot up.
“Kade thinks you’re weak,” Emberly answered bluntly.
“Is that so?” Max drew himself up to his full height, his biceps flexing against his shirt and his shoulders straining at the seams, showing off a body that was definitely not weak.
Max had been a perfect gentleman all evening and hadn’t done anything to make her worried about him taking advantage of her.
In fact, she hadn’t noticed anything since she’d met him, other than that he was a little bossy and arrogant at times.
But with a prince, she supposed that was to be expected.
Kade grinned at Emberly. “You’re trying to get me in trouble.”
“Then go on and leave me alone. You shouldn’t have come.”
“That’s what I told Tyler. But he said I had to walk you home.”
Emberly appreciated that her brothers cared about her, but sometimes they were overbearing.
Especially when it came to the men in her life.
They’d scared off plenty of interested guys when she’d been in high school.
And the first couple of guys she’d dated in college hadn’t lasted long either because of her brothers’ pesky interference.
They’d given her a hard time with Ryan too, and he’d complained about them a lot. She’d always wondered whether, if they’d been nicer to him, he would have loved her back.
She doubted it. The truth was, if Ryan had really cared about her enough, he would have loved her regardless of her brothers. But the other part of the truth was that her brothers had a high standard for any man who came into her life.
She would have to make it very clear that Max was just a guest. He wasn’t in her life.
And there was nothing going on between them except for her being a good hostess and doing her best to make sure Max loved the ranch so that he would go back to his rich friends and talk about it.
Word of mouth was everything to marketing, especially a prince’s word of mouth.
Was it time to tell her family about Max being a prince? Then maybe they would understand her need to spend time with him and make sure his visit went smoothly. Or maybe they wouldn’t understand . . . Her brothers would probably still be nosy and too protective.
“I know you don’t need me along.” Kade gave her another one of his irresistible smiles, the kind that made the local girls swoon over him. “But I haven’t talked to you in a couple of days. Let me walk you back.”
She could sense Max watching her interaction with her brother. Was she holding out hope Max would offer to accompany her home? Surely not. That was ludicrous. Why would he even consider it?
“Fine.” She reached for her coat.
Kade chuckled. “Don’t act so excited.”
“I’ll try not to.”
Within minutes, she’d said goodbye and was walking with Kade along the shoveled and salted pathway toward the lodge. He was full of questions about Max, and she did her best to be as honest as possible.