Read Online Prince Daddy & the Nanny by Brenda Harlen - Free Book Online

barely taken a dozen steps out the door when she heard a familiar chime. Startled, she turned back to see the prince reaching into the pocket of his shorts.
    â€œYou weren’t really planning to take your BlackBerry down to the beach, were you?” she asked incredulously.
    â€œI’ve been waiting to hear back from a new client,” he said without apology. And without another word, he turned away and connected the call.
    Riley watched him, her big brown eyes filled with disappointment.
    Hannah shook her head, acknowledging that while the prince might have a fabulous body and a face worthy of magazine covers, his priorities were completely screwed up.
    Then she remembered the telephone conversation she’d overheard and the prince’s adamant refusal to send his daughter away to school. Obviously he loved his little girl and wanted to keep her close—so why did he keep himself so distant from her? And why was she so determined to uncover the reason for this contradictory behavior?
    Pushing the question from her mind, at least for now, she continued toward the water and the expensive private beach that had been calling to Hannah since her arrival at Cielo del Norte. “Do you want to know one of my favorite things about the beach?” she asked the princess.
    The little girl shrugged but trudged along beside her.
    â€œWhen the waves break against the shore, you can give them your troubles and they’ll take them back out to the sea.”
    â€œNo, they won’t,” the princess protested.
    But instead of her usual confrontational tone, this time the denial was spoken softly, and the quiet resignation in her voice nearly broke Hannah’s heart.
    â€œWell, not really,” she agreed. “But I’ll show you what I mean.”
    She found a long stick and with it, she wrote in the sand, right at the water’s edge: M-A-R-K-I-N-G-T-E-S-T-S.
    â€œI’m a teacher,” she explained. “And I love teaching, but I don’t like marking tests.”
    The little girl looked neither interested nor impressed, but she did watch and within a few moments, the movement of the water over the sand had completely erased the letters.
    Hannah offered the stick to Riley, to give her a turn. The princess seemed to consider for a moment, then shook her head.
    So Hannah wrote again: T-O-F-U. She smiled when the letters washed away.
    â€œWhat’s tofu?” Riley asked.
    â€œBean curd,” Hannah said. “It comes from China and is used in a lot of vegetarian dishes.”
    Thinking of China made her think of Ian, so she wrote his name in the sand.
    â€œWho’s Ian?”
    â€œSomeone I thought was a friend, but who turned out not to be. He’s in China now.”
    â€œEating tofu?”
    She chuckled at Riley’s question. “I don’t know—maybe he is.”
    The little princess reached for the stick. She paused with the point of it above the sand, her teeth nibbling on her bottom lip. Finally she began to make letters, carefully focusing on the formation of each one until she spelled out: R-A-M.
    â€œYou don’t like sheep?”
    Riley smiled, just a little. “It’s ‘Riley Advertising Media.’”
    â€œYour dad’s company?”
    The little girl nodded.
    Hannah frowned as a strange thought suddenly occurred to her. “Did he actually name you after his business?”
    Now the princess shook her head. “Riley was my mommy’s middle name—because it was her mommy’s name before she married my granddad.”
    â€œOh. Well, it makes more sense that you’d be named after your mom than a corporation,” Hannah said lightly.
    But the little girl was writing in the sand again, this time spelling out: H-A-N-A…
    She tried not to take it personally. After all, this game had been her idea, and she should feel grateful that Riley was finally communicating with her, even if she didn’t like