Oh, God. “And that would be…？”
“Your bucket list.” Those gunmetal eyes drilled into me. “You really want to do all those things before going back to Eldorra?”
Not what I’d expected him to say.
I breathed a sigh of relief before I remembered bucket list number four and blushed all over again. “Yes, but most of it probably isn’t possible.”
It was more a fantasy list than a bucket list. I knew that when I came up with the items, but a girl could hope.
“What if I told you they were?” Rhys placed his mug in the sink before turning to face me again.
“I’d say you were bullshitting me.”
His mouth curled up into a small grin, and tingles raced across my skin. Rhys didn’t smile often, but when he did, it was devastating.
“Always nice to hear you curse, princess.”
Fuck me the way you just promised.
The memory must’ve crossed my mind at the same time it did his, because his smile faded and his eyes heated while I sank a little lower in my chair.
“No, I’m not bullshitting you,” he said, his voice rougher than it had been a second ago. “I can make your bucket list happen if you want me to.”
I wasn’t brave enough in the light of day to ask him if that included number four.
“Why would you do that?”
“It’s my good deed for the year.”
Typical non-answer from Rhys, but intrigue edged out my annoyance.
“Okay, I’ll bite,” I said. “What do you have in mind?”
“No what, where.” Rhys smiled again at my surprise. “We’re going to Costa Rica.”
17
Bridget
Two days later, we landed in Costa Rica like Rhys had promised and drove two hours from the airport to a small town on the Pacific coast.
I stared out the window at the country’s lush landscape, my head spinning from how fast everything had moved. I couldn’t believe Rhys, Mr. Safety and Security himself, was the one who suggested a last-minute trip, but I wasn’t complaining. I hadn't visited Costa Rica before, and four days in a tropical paradise sounded like, well, paradise.
We’d finished packing the townhouse, and I’d turned in my keys that morning. Everything else I needed to do, I could do online. I was, for all intents and purposes, free until we returned to New York.
“This is it.” Rhys pulled up in front of a sprawling, two-story villa. “Bucket list number one.”
Go someplace where no one knows or cares who I am.
That was definitely the case here. The house was nestled high in the hills and the only residence around. How had Rhys even found this place?
My chest tightened with emotion as we unpacked our suitcases from the back of our rental car and walked toward the entrance. “How did you pull everything together so fast?”
Rhys would never let me go anywhere without doing the proper advance work first, but it had only been forty-eight hours since I told him about my list. For him to have researched the town, booked the charter jet and villa, and handled the millions of details that came with royal travel in such a short time…
“I cheated a bit,” he admitted, unlocking the front door. “An old Navy buddy of mine moved down here a couple of years ago and owns this place. He’s on vacation right now and let me borrow it for a few days. I visit every year, so I know the town and people well. It’s safe. Quiet. Under the radar.”
“Exactly what I need,” I murmured. The tightness in my chest intensified.
Rhys showed me around the villa. The walls were all glass, offering gorgeous three-hundred-sixty views of the surrounding hills and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Everything was open, airy, and made of natural stone and wood, and the house’s design made it seem like it was flowing into its surroundings instead of dominating them. My favorite feature, however, was the infinity pool on the second-floor terrace. From a certain angle, it looked like it fed straight into the ocean.
Rhys, being Rhys, also walked me through the security setup. Tinted, bulletproof glass all around, state-of-the-art motion sensors, an underground panic room stocked with a year’s supply of food. That was all I gathered before I zoned out.
I appreciated the security measures, but I didn’t need a detailed breakdown of the make and model of the security cameras. I just wanted to eat and swim.
“Remind me to send your friend a big thank you,” I said. “This place is incredible.”
“He loves showing it off, usually by letting people stay here,” Rhys said dryly. “But I’ll tell him.”
It was already close to two, so the first thing we did after we finished the tour was change and head into town for lunch. The town was a twenty-minute drive from the villa and, according to Rhys, home to less than a thousand people. Not a single one of them seemed to know or care who I was.
Bucket list number one.
We ate at a small, family-run restaurant whose owner, a round-faced older woman named Luciana, lit up at the sight of Rhys. She smothered him with kisses before embracing me too.
“Ay, que bonita!” she exclaimed, looking me over. “Rhys, es tu novia?” How beautiful! Rhys, is she your girlfriend?
“No,” Rhys and I said at the same time. We glanced at each other before he clarified, “Sólo somos amigos.” We’re just friends.
“Oh.” Luciana looked disappointed. “One day, you’ll bring a girlfriend,” she said in English. “Maybe it’ll be you.” She winked at me before ushering us to a table.
I blamed my blush on the heat.
Instead of ordering off the menu, Rhys told me to trust Luciana’s judgment, and I was glad we did exactly that when the food came out twenty minutes later. Olla de carne, arroz con pollo, platanos maduros…all so delicious I would beg Luciana for the recipes had I had any kitchen skills beyond scrambling eggs and making coffee.
“This is incredible,” I said after swallowing a mouthful of chicken and rice.
“Luci makes the best food in town.”
“Yes, but that’s not what I meant. I meant this.” I gestured at my surroundings. “The trip. The whole thing. You didn’t have to do this.”
Especially since Rhys was paying for everything out of pocket. I assumed his friend let him borrow the villa for free, but the flight, the car rental…they all cost good money. I’d offered to reimburse him, but he’d responded with such a dark glare I hadn’t brought it up again.
“Consider it my goodbye present,” Rhys said, not looking up from his plate. “Two years. Figured it was worth a trip.”
The chicken that had been so delicious a second earlier turned to ash in my mouth.
Right. I almost forgot. Rhys only had two weeks left as my bodyguard.
I stabbed at my food, my appetite gone. “Do you have a new client already lined up?” I asked casually.
Whoever it was, I already hated them for getting a beginning with Rhys instead of an ending.
Rhys rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I’m taking a short break. Maybe I’ll come back to Costa Rica, or head to South Africa for a bit.”
“Oh.” I stabbed harder at my chicken. “Sounds nice.”
Great. He’d be playing world traveler while I was attending queen lessons at the palace. Maybe he’d meet some beautiful Costa Rican or South African girl and they’d spend their days surfing and having sex—