The Princess Has Amnesia!

The Princess Has Amnesia!
Patricia Thayer

When Princess Anastasia's private jet crashed, she couldn't recall her royal roots. Her handsome rescuer, former FBI agent Jake Sanderstone, took the beautiful lone survivor to his humble home. And while Jake struggled to untangle a web of clues, the only thing the pair discovered was an undeniable attraction burning between them….As they were trapped by stormy weather, desire raged, though Jake fought off his longing to ravish the anonymous beauty. But as Princess Anastasia's memory slowly returned, would their newfound love become something of the past–or be something so powerful that it could supersede the demands of duty and country…?

“Don’t play with fire, Chère, you’ll only get burned.”

He stood, then walked to the door.

“Jake,” she called after him, then went nearer. “Don’t go.”

His shoulders tensed.

“I’m tired of being alone,” she said. “Day after day, you leave me. Is my company so…difficult?”

“Don’t you understand, Ana? I’m trying to do the right thing. You have a life somewhere else. When you leave here, I don’t want you to have…regrets.”

“I already have regrets, Jake…. I regret that I don’t remember who I am. But I will never regret anything we share during our time together.” Her breathing grew ragged. She was so angry she wanted to cry.

She marched out the door, without a clue as to where she was going.

And she didn’t care.

The Princess Has Amnesia!

Patricia Thayer

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To all the other ladies in the CROWN AND GLORY series:

Libby, Allison, Chris, Cara, Karen, Maureen, Elizabeth and Barbara. It was a pleasure to work with such talent. Hope we can do it again.

And to the two new men in my life, Harrison John and Griffin Thomas.

Your grandma loves you.

PATRICIA THAYER

has been writing for the past sixteen years and has published fifteen books with Silhouette. Her books have been nominated for the National Readers’ Choice Award, Virginia Romance Writers of America’s Holt Medallion and a prestigious RITA

Award. In 1997 Nothing Short of a Miracle won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Special Edition.

Thanks to the understanding men in her life—her husband of thirty years, Steve, and her three sons and two grandsons—along with her daughter-in-law, Pat has been able to fulfill her dream of writing romance. Another dream is to own a cabin in Colorado, where she can spend her days writing and her evenings with her favorite hero, Steve. She loves to hear from readers. You can write to her at P.O. Box 6251, Anaheim, CA 92816.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Prologue

Fifty-mile-an-hour winds and driving rain had shut down the Penwyck Airport. All flights in or out had been cancelled because of the fierce storm. In the tower the air traffic controller tried desperately to contact the troubled jet that had taken off just before the closure. Perspiration beaded over his body as he frantically searched the screen for the signal.

Nothing.

“Royal Bird Two, repeat your location. Over.” He spoke clearly into the microphone, then released the button praying for a miracle that the plane would reappear in his quadrant. Again he asked for verification. “Royal Bird Two repeat your location. Over.” But outside of heavy static, there was only silence.

He swallowed back the dryness in his throat and repeated the request again, then again. There was no response from the royal family’s jet.

He buzzed for help and his supervisor appeared immediately at his station. “Royal Bird Two has disappeared from our radar,” he explained, trying to keep the trembling from his voice.

“What do you mean disappeared?” the supervisor asked, unable to hide his panic. “How can that be?”

“I’m not sure. The plane could have dropped in altitude…” They all knew the worst, but no one would speak of it. Tensions ran high in this type of job, but to lose the royal family’s plane…“The last transmission from the jet was a request to change their flight pattern, hoping to get out of the weather. I cleared them, then suddenly they were gone.”

The supervisor immediately picked up the phone and called the palace. After receiving his orders, he took the controller’s seat and he tried to make contact himself. But he couldn’t summon the missing jet either.

Not ten minutes later the tower door swung open and three men rushed in. Their black suits were meant to make them blend in with the crowd, but just by their stature and presence alone, they stood out. They wore badges that proclaimed them members of the Royal Elite Team. One of the men, Jack Harrison, approached the control module and everyone stepped back. His expression was deadly serious as he glared at the supervisor.

“We have a Priority One situation here. So we will go over everything, step by step,” he ordered, then pointed out the window at the raging storm. “Princess Anastasia is out there somewhere and we have to find her.”

Chapter One

The Lear jet vibrated from turbulence as Anastasia Penwyck’s grip tightened on the armrest of her seat. Under normal circumstances, she didn’t mind flying, but this roller-coaster ride was not to her liking. Not at all.

Maybe it had been foolish of her to go off to London in such weather, but with all the madness going on at the palace recently, Ana had put her own projects aside too long. The needs of the children who had come to depend on her were important. Now that Owen had been safely returned home, she couldn’t delay what she had to do. Even if it meant she had to be up at the ungodly hour of 5:00 a.m.