The Playboy Prince by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

steal?”
    Dorian glanced at the closed door, back at Hannah, then grinned. Digging into his back pocket he pulled out a yo-yo. It might once have been blue, but now it was the gray of old wood with a few chips of brighter paint still holding. Hannah studied it with appropriate respect.
    “This is Bennett’s—His Highness’s?” Hannah corrected.
    “
Merveilleux, n’est-ce pas?
He’s had it since he was five.” Dorian turned the toy over in his hand, marveling that it had once been new and shiny when his uncle had been just the age he was now. “He gets angry when I go into his room and play with it, but how else am I going to be able to make it work?”
    “Good point.” Hannah barely resisted the urge to ruffle the royal head of hair. “And one would doubt he plays with it himself very often.”
    “He keeps it on a shelf. It isn’t that he really minds me looking at it,” Dorian explained, loyal to the core. “It’s just that when I try to make it work, the string gets all tangled and knotted up.”
    “It takes a little practice.”
    “I know.” He grinned again. “And I can only practice if I steal it.”
    “Your logic is flawless, Your Highness. May I see?”
    Dorian hesitated only a moment, then graciously handed it over. “Girls usually aren’t interested in such things.” He made a grimace of masculine disgust. “My sisters play with dolls.”
    “Everyone has different tastes, I suppose.” Hannah slid her finger into the loop, wondering how long it had been since Bennett’s had fit there. The string wasn’t as old as the toy itself. By her guess, it would have been replaced more than a dozen times over the years. On impulse, she let the yo-yo slide down, dangle, then brought it neatly up.
    “Oh, nicely done.” Charmed, Dorian watched her with wide eyes.
    “Thank you, sir. I used to have one of my own. It was red,” she remembered with a half smile. “Until my dog chewed it up.”
    “Can you do any tricks? I tried Round the World once and broke a lamp. Uncle Bennett scolded me, but then he tossed out the pieces himself so no one would know.”
    Because she could picture it so well, Hannah smiled. A loud roar, but little bite, she decided and wished she didn’t like him the better for it. “A trick?” As she considered she took the yo-yo up and down. Then, with a quick flick of her wrist took it Round the World. When it snapped back in her palm, Dorian laughed and climbed on her bed.
    “Do another, please.”
    Calling on memory, Hannah Walked the Dog and had the young prince bouncing on the bed and calling out for more.
    “Well done, Lady Hannah,” Bennett said from the doorway. “Obviously you have hidden talents.”
    Hannah had to bite off an oath as she brought the yo-yo back. “Your Highness.” Toy in hand, she curtsied. “I didn’t hear you knock.”
    “I didn’t.” Bennett pushed away from the doorjamb he was leaning on to walk to the bed. Unrepentant, his nephew grinned up at him.
    “Isn’t she wonderful, Uncle Bennett?”
    “We’ll discuss the Lady Hannah’s attributes later.” He gave Dorian’s ear a twist before turning around. “My property, if you will.”
    Fighting to keep a straight face, Hannah handed it to him.
    “This might seem to be nothing more than a simple child’s toy,” Bennett began as he slipped it into his pocket. “But in fact, it’s an heirloom.”
    “I see.” She cleared her throat on the laugh, but it escaped anyway. Hoping she looked contrite, she stared at the floor. “I beg your pardon, sir.”
    “The hell you do. And he was in here all along wasn’t he?” Bennett pushed his nephew flat on the bed and sent him into a fit of giggles. “You let me go running off all over the palace looking for this petty thief when all the time he was hiding behind your skirts.”
    “The bed skirts to be honest, sir.” She had to clear her throat again, but managed to speak calmly. “When you rushed by with so vague a description, I had