Today was one of those days.

King Phillip sat behind his desk, in the palace office. She loved her brother to death, but there were times when the similarities between him and their late father were uncanny. The same jet-black hair and smoky gray eyes. The same towering height and lean, muscular build. The same stubborn streak.

Sophie on the other hand had inherited their father's quick and sometimes volatile temper. She took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm, because she had learned years ago that blowing hertop and pitching a fit only made Phillip dig his heels in deeper. "When you said I would be involved in the hotel project, Phillip, I had no idea my duties would include babysitting."

"No one knows this island like you do, Sophie. And if the architect is going to design a structure that complements the unique characteristics of our country, he's going to have to see it first."

She had wanted, had hoped that for the first time in her life the family would set aside their archaic traditions and allow her to take on a bit more than the royal responsibilities she sometimes grew so tired of. Something slightly more challenging than planning parties, attending charity functions and playing goodwill ambassador.

Both Phillip and their half brother, Prince Ethan, had assured her that if she stuck to the royal program without complaint, she would be involved in the business of the hotel chain the family had recently purchased. And in light of her current assignment, she couldn't help but feel she was getting, as the Americans liked to say, the raw