by Gigi Thomas
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Blurb-1
Dedication-1
CHAPTER ONE The Little Poacher
CHAPTER TWO The Loaded Lorry
CHAPTER THREE Father of the Year
CHAPTER FOUR The Right Honorable...
CHAPTER FIVE About Last Night
CHAPTER SIX Daddy's Girl
CHAPTER SEVEN Shared Custody
CHAPTER EIGHT Knight in Tarnished Armor
CHAPTER NINE All I Want for Christmas...
CHAPTER TEN Emotional Traffic Jam
CHAPTER ELEVEN Mêlée
CHAPTER TWELVE Accidental Discoveries
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Selfish Love
EPILOGUE
Thank You
Acknowledgements
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bound to the Baron
Royal Revels, Book One
Gigi Thomas
Copyright © 2018 Gigi Thomas
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9781719885744
Will love prevail? Will they fight for their happiness? Or will secrets continue to keep them apart?
For five years, one decision has haunted Baron Caden Hargrove. But, Caden knows that he can never be with the woman he loves. When he sees her again and all his old feelings rush to the surface, he begins to wonder if he made the right decision after all.
When her former love is suddenly thrown back into her life, Kenya Morris realizes the feelings that she has long denied may not be buried as deep as she'd thought. After how things ended, Kenya refuses to fall for Caden again. However, Kenya knows that there's one thing that will forever make her…
Bound to the Baron.
To my mother, who instilled in me a love of reading and telling stories.
CHAPTER ONE
The Little Poacher
Kenya Morris was about to have a rude awakening. To most people, Kenya was living the dream. One of the top business execs in her company, she had a talent for reading people. It was a talent for which her bosses paid her very well. It was this talent that had her sitting in first class comfort, in British Airways Club World, on her way to London for a six-month assignment. Her company was taking its first step towards an international expansion, and they trusted her to take the reins. Kenya was ready.
With a father in the military, Kenya learned to be disciplined; and with a mother who died when she was young, she was accustomed to taking care of things on her own. Growing up like this created, in her, a granite-like strength. Dedicated and ambitious, Kenya was valedictorian of her high school, went to Howard on scholarship, where she graduated top of her class, and earned her MBA from Harvard with top honors and a full ride as well. It was no wonder that she excelled at her job.
Somehow though, no matter how perfect a life seems, how talented a person is, one always falls short in some area. Kenya looked down at her daughter, Cadence, in the seat beside her. She appreciated that the adjacent seats faced each other. She could be working on her prospectus, as she was now, but with barely a shift in her eye Kenya could see the sleeping four-year old laying in the fully-reclined seat.
Kenya wondered how her daughter would take the change. The tot was very excited by the idea that she would meet the Queen and stay in a real castle. Kenya smiled, remembering her daughter's conviction that it would happen. She was so much like her father that way. Well, what Kenya knew of her father...or thought she knew. Where was her gift of reading people then? Instead of the straight-laced clear-headed person Kenya normally was, she let herself be hoodwinked by a dimpled smile, sparkling green eyes, and the pouty lips of a mouth that apparently lied to her about everything.
It was pathetic. Embarrassing. It made her feel a stereotype, and she tried so hard to avoid clichés. Kenya sighed, adjusting the cashmere blanket around her daughter. The only good thing that came from her delusion was Cadence, and Kenya would not give up her baby girl for the world. It was just the two of them, and she wouldn't want it any other way. They didn't need him in their lives. They were doing just fine without him. In spite of him.
~
“What about settling down? Have you thought about getting married? Having a family? I’m sure there are a few women in the country who would love to know.” The pallid Daily Mail reporter chuckled, her artsy purple-hued bob bouncing as she did. She was obviously including herself in that number, and the question hung in the air.
“I suppose everyone must want that someday,” Baron Caden Hargrove finally answered, absently staring out the window of his Westminster office at the city beneath him.
Hopefully, he could wrap up this meeting quickly: “London’s Finest.” He hated doing these interviews. They were usually just thinly veiled society pieces trying to get gossip under the mask of journalism. Married?—he wondered. Children?
It was funny how quickly one’s plans and priorities can change. Five years ago, Lord Hargrove thought he had everything he wanted. Four years ago, all he wanted was his life back. Well, he supposed, he still wanted that. But, there was no point in having those thoughts. It never ended well. He had to be positive or at least pretend to be. It had been nearly three full years. He could count on that.
“I suppose I’ll just have to see what the future holds,” Baron Hargrove ended.
"Sorry to interrupt, Lord Hargrove, but you have an urgent call from the Minister of Health." His assistant said, popping his head in the door.
“Thanks, Copper,” he answered, before turning to the Daily Mail reporter. “Is there anything else?”
“Umm... Well, I guess I have everything I need” she said, reluctantly putting away her things.
“Thank you for being so understanding. I do appreciate it,” he charmed, soon coaxing the smile back to her face. Caden picked up the phone as she began to exit the room, waved goodbye as she entered the waiting elevator, and sighed with relief as he watched the doors close. He immediately hung up the phone, and his assistant, Copper, sashayed into the room.
“How was that?” Copper asked.
“Fifteen minutes,” Lord Hargrove said, looking at his watch. “You’re getting much better at this. I liked the whole Minister of Health bit. That was a good touch.”
“Thank you,” the slender man said, doing a mock curtsy.
“Now, I’m going to get out of here and enjoy some of this beautiful day. You should take the rest of the afternoon off, when you’re done. Go for a walk. Smell the flowers,” he joked as he exited the office.
As Lord Hargrove traversed the grounds of St. James’s Park, the brisk air cooled his skin and carried with it the aroma of flowers. He took a deep breath, appreciating the melody of scents and the tickle of the cool May breeze. It was one of his favorite parks in the city. The stone path meandered through verdant hillocks, and he could hear the ducks calling him from the lake behind the little glen. He looked down the hill at them but changed his mind, instead, walking past the trees and further into the park.
He continued heading down the path until he found himself at the flowerbeds. It was not his usual walk. He supposed he’d been following the scent, because he was being pulled in that direction. Reeds of lavender towered over yellow daffodils on one side and clusters of peach colored roses framed the opposite side. Lord Hargrove was lost in appreciating the splendors of life when he saw a small body, crouched down before a display of tulips. There were three in her hand, and she struggled in her attempts to remove a fourth.
He looked around. Though it was early in the afternoon and the garden was not as crowded as it normally was, he couldn’t see anyone who might belong to her. He couldn’t just keep walking, so he crouched down beside her. First things first, he thought.
“I don�
�t think you are supposed to pick the flowers,” Lord Hargrove said.
“Who say?” the little flower poacher asked in an American accent. She turned around, and the Baron was face to face with the most adorable girl he had ever seen. His heart jumped unexpectedly. Her skin was like tea with a bit of cream or toffee, and she had a fro of brown coils that fell to her shoulders and encircled her face like a halo.
He was arrested for a few moments by her sparkling green eyes before quickly catching himself. He pointed to the large wooden placard just a few feet away.
“That sign right over there say...ah, I mean, says,” he began. He sighed. “But, I’m guessing you can’t read yet can you?”
She shook her head no, her curls tousling around her face in the breeze.
“I’m three,” she responded, putting up four fingers, the discrepancy causing the Baron to chuckle. “But, I know my ABC’s,” she continued, to which end she sang the entire song for him as proof. He listened patiently until she finished.
“That was very good,” he commended. “Now, what are you doing out here all by yourself? Did you get lost?”
“I not lost. Don’t like Nanny. I’m looking for the Queen.”
“Are you now? Is that who the flowers are for?” Lord Hargrove asked.
The girl nodded, her face adorned with a beautiful smile, which revealed the dimples in her cheeks. He just stared at her for a few moments, stunned. He had an inexplicable feeling of déjà vu, but he couldn’t imagine why. Maybe, Hargrove decided, he should be trying to find her parents rather than have them find him here gazing at their three-year-old like some pedo old man.
“Well, I know the Queen would not like to hear that you left Nanny and ran off... or that you talked to strangers. I don’t think your mummy would like that either. If you go back, I’ll let the Queen know, so she won’t be upset. What do you think?”
The Baron rose to his full height and began scanning the garden again to see if anyone looked particularly frantic. He looked back down when he felt a tug on his pant leg.
“You really know the Queen?”
“Yup.”
She huffed dramatically.
“Fine,” she conceded, reaching up and taking his hand.
A shot of lightning seemed to run through his body at the touch, and his heartbeat went wild. The Baron froze, just staring at her tiny toffee colored hand in his palm. It felt so... natural. He shook the thought away. Maybe, that reporter’s last question affected him more than he realized. He should probably get home and get some rest. Maybe, he had overexerted himself today.
They began their search, walking in the direction his little poacher believed she’d left her chaperone, but after a few minutes they started calling out, hoping that at least if she couldn’t see them, she would hear them.
“Nanny!” he called, cupping his free hand around his mouth as a speaker.
Baron Caden Hargrove hadn’t called for a nanny in over twenty years, and his baritone calling in tandem with his companion’s childish octave made more than one garden visitor look on in amusement.
“Caydee?” A woman’s voice called from behind them. “Caydee!”
“Mommy!” The Baron’s flower-girl squealed running into the arms of a shapely woman with skin as rich and dark as melted chocolate. She stooped down and swept the little girl in her arms as she did.
“Oh, Caydee you...What did I tell you about running off like that? Nanny and I have been looking for you everywhere. You are in so much trouble.”
“Sorry mommy. I was looking for the Queen,” she mumbled through her pout.
“You...Oh! What am I going to do with you?” she said, kissing the little girl, obviously more grateful to have her back in her arms.
“See, I told you mummy would be worried,” Lord Hargrove said from above them.
He reached out his hand, proffering one of the flowers his young friend had dropped during the sprint to her mother. Since they were already picked, she might as well keep them.
“I’m sorry,” her mother began. She held the girl in her arms as she stood up to greet him.
His eyes roved the woman’s curves with familiarity. Accentuated by her crouched position, as she rose, the cobalt blue pencil skirt clung to her round bum and shapely thighs. The Baron couldn’t tear his eyes away. Her thick hair flowed in thick twists to her shoulders and shined like satin in the rare afternoon sun.
“Thank you so...” She straightened up and shook the hair away from her brow. “Ca…Caden?”
“Yaya!” Baron Hargrove stared into the face looking up at him, the face that had haunted his dreams for nearly five years. Without a thought, he leaned down and wrapped his arms around both her and the child in her arms. The stiffness of Kenya’s body reminded him why that was probably the last thing she wanted to do.
~
Kenya stared up at him, stunned. This is not what she was seeing. No, this is not who she was seeing. After all these years, was Caden Lord really standing before her? He seemed so different. It wasn't just his closely cropped hair, which was a complete 180 from the shaggy blonde curls Kenya remembered.
His eyes were heavier, though they still sparkled like emeralds against his porcelain skin when he looked at her, and while his face was a bit leaner, it accentuated his chiseled features. His dimples made her stomach do familiar flips when he smiled.
The unbuttoned navy-blue pin-striped blazer Caden wore fluttered behind him like a cape, and the light blue shirt clung to his muscular torso in the afternoon breeze. Caden’s tall frame no longer held the brawny rugby-playing muscles Kenya remembered. He was still broad-shouldered and well-build, just trimmer. Then again, like most memories, Kenya thought, she’d probably distorted him to such titanic proportions that it’s a wonder she recognized him at all. Caden still looked incredibly handsome though. That hadn’t changed. Unfortunately.
All these years she spent thinking about what happened to him. What happened to them. All the nights, she spent wondering if that entire year meant nothing. Kenya had wanted to talk to him so many times, but the idea of actually facing him always scared her. Now, here was Caden Lord standing before her, and Kenya didn’t have the courage to ask him any of the questions she wanted answered. He looked nothing like the cocky yet sweet guy who talked his way into her bed and her heart, either. He looked like someone she didn't know.
“Miss Kenya, you found her!” Cadence’s nanny exclaimed, joining them before the pair had the opportunity to say another word to each other. “I’m so sorry I had to call you away. I didn’t know what else to do. I was about to call a bobby!”
“Yes, thank you. I’m glad we didn’t have to get the police involved.” She turned to face Caden again. Her arms tightening around her daughter, Kenya decided that maybe some things were better left in the past. “I have to go. Goodbye.”
“Please,” Caden said catching her elbow as Kenya began to step away. “It’s been so long. I just...can we just talk...just for a few minutes even?”
It’s been so long? Was he serious? Kenya wasn’t sure if she should laugh out loud or smack him for saying something so stupid. Of course it’s been so long. Whose fault was that? This was pointless. There was no reason to stay here and talk to him. There was nothing to say to him and nothing she wanted to hear.
The last thing Kenya needed was his wishy-washy ass back in her life. She should just tell him to kick rocks and walk away from him without even the courtesy of a dirty look behind. She took a breath to tell him what he could do with himself and heard herself answer,
“Sure.”
What?! What the hell was she doing? Why was she even giving him the time of day? Okay, if she was going to talk to him, it would be for a few minutes only! And, she was going to do this alone. She turned to Cadence’s nanny offering the child in her arms.
“Could you take her back now? I’ll call you.”
“Come on, Miss Cadence,” the nanny said taking her from Kenya.
“Cadence? That
’s an unusual—”
“I...my dad was in the military,” Kenya interrupted him. “I’ve always liked that word.”
Kenya also thought it helped remind her to stay disciplined and focused. It was a good name, because she hoped her daughter would remember those tenets as well.
“All right. Well, no more running away Miss Cadence,” Caden said wagging an admonishing finger to her and with a sly grin added, “and no more talking to strangers either.”
“I won’t. You can tell the Queen, I promise!” Cadence assured.
“Okay. I’ll let her know.”
Kenya watched the interaction between the pair with displeasure. Now, he’s lying to children. I see you’ve stepped down your game Caden. Classy.
“Lord Hargrove, before I go I must say what an honor it is to meet you,” the nanny gushed. “Why all the work you are doing to build the new Children’s hospital it’s—”
“Wait, you know him?” Kenya interrupted.
She turned to face Caden in time to catch the expression on his face and the slight movement of his head as he tried to dissuade Caydee’s nanny from praising him. Fortunately, the woman was too obtuse to understand his signals.
“Everybody knows him, love. Why that’s Baron Hargrove in the flesh that’s done found your little Cadence.” With that, she began leading her charge out of the garden.
For the second time in five years—and the past five minutes—Kenya stood before Caden stunned and speechless. Baron? Baron Hargrove? Lord Hargrove. So, the man she knew as Caden Lord was actually a Lord. A Baron. Kenya wasn’t sure what a Baron was exactly, but didn’t that mean he was basically royalty or something? Kenya was looking past Caden at Buckingham Palace behind him a short distance away. The Royal residence framed Caden so exquisitely; it looked as though he’d just stepped outside from it. The irony of finding out the truth here was not lost on her. Damn. I must be a special kind of stupid, she cursed herself.