Rebecca Winters - A Prince for Christmas
Page 8
He eyed both of them for a moment. The regret in his eyes saddened her for his sake, but she was glad this was the end of a relationship doomed for failure. Better now than after they’d said their vows.
When he disappeared up the outside stairs, she closed the door and turned to Eric.
“I—I can’t believe you flew here on Christmas.” Her voice throbbed with too much emotion.
“This is a special day for me. Maren had a Christmas baby. He looks like Stein.”
“How wonderful! Did you tell Sonia?”
There was a gleam in his eye. “I even let her know they’ve decided to name him Eric.”
“That must have thrilled you.”
He nodded. “Of course mother’s ecstatic and totally preoccupied with her newest grandchild. Knute took his family skiing after they opened presents. Everyone had a place to go and something to do. It gave me the excuse I was looking for to come after you.”
Come after her?
She felt her heart skitter all over the place.
“From what I learned from Sonia in the limo that night, you and Bruce must have been planning marriage.”
“We were, but I broke our engagement before leaving for Frijia.”
He studied her with a grave expression. “Now that she has recovered her sight, is it possible you two will be getting back together again?”
“No,” she replied without hesitation.
“You’re sure?”
“Very. Not every man can embrace another man’s child. Bruce came over here tonight to tell me he’s willing to work at it. But that’s not enough. From the beginning Sonia has sensed he hasn’t been able to accept her.
“I told him he should look for a woman who doesn’t have a child. I’m afraid I come with a niece who needs me and my father desperately.”
“I met Professor Remmen. He’s a terrific person. You didn’t tell me he’s a mathematician.”
“Actually he’s the chairman of the department at the university.”
“That’s an honor for a man who’s obviously brilliant.”
“Sonia takes after him.”
“So I gather. However, she resembles her grandmother. He showed me pictures of her and your sister, Marthe. Beauty runs in the Remmen family.”
“Thank you.”
“You are beautiful, you know.”
Kristin didn’t want him to say things like that. It would only deepen the pain when he left again. She rubbed her arms.
“Why did you really come here, Eric?”
He stood there with his legs slightly apart. “I found that I missed you and Sonia, so I decided to get on a plane.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s the reason?”
“The only one. Have you missed me?”
“W—what kind of a question is that?”
“Why are you so flustered? Sonia acted happy to see me. How about you? Do you wish I hadn’t come?”
“The truth?” she cried in anguish.
“Of course.”
“It would have been better if you hadn’t.”
After a pause, “At least that’s honest. My apologies for intru—”
“No—” she broke in on him. “You don’t understand—”
“Then help me.”
“Sonia wasn’t the only one you enchanted, but we’re home now, and the fantasy has to stop.”
“I enchanted you?”
“You know you did,” her voice trembled. “But it would be pointless to spend any more time with you because—because there’s no future in it.”
“What if there were?”
A gasp escaped her lips. “Now you’re sounding like Sonia, but I can’t afford to dream impossible dreams. You’d better go.”
He remained where he was. “Kristin—long before my father passed away, we had an understanding that when I felt the time was right, I could marry any woman of my own choosing.”
The blood pounded in her ears. “Any?”
“Yes. Now I’m going to ask that question again. Have you missed me as much as I’ve missed you over the last forty-eight hours?”
“Till I’ve wanted to die.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.” On a groan, he pulled her into his arms. Their mouths and bodies met in a frenzy of need. Before she knew how it had happened, they were on the couch and Kristin found herself clinging to him.
“I can’t believe I’m holding you in my arms,” she whispered against lips that roamed her flushed face and neck with increasing urgency. “You’ve changed my whole life, Eric.”
“That’s how I felt when I walked in the back room of the Chocolate Barn and saw this beautiful blond woman in red, kneeling next to a little girl who was crying her heart out. Mine melted on the spot when you looked at me with those incredible blue eyes.
“I’d marry you tonight if I could have my own way, but you’ve just come out of an engagement and need time. Would you and Sonia be willing to move to Frijia for a few months so we could really get to know each other?
“Knute is making arrangements for you to be an exchange teacher in Brobak at an elementary school where Sonia could attend. There’s a house for rent close by. We’d be able to spend every possible moment together.
“I need you and Sonia in my life, darling. I’m a better person for being with you. If you can’t see yourself leaving the States right now because of your father, then I’ll come here because my life will never be the same witho—”
“We’ll come!” Kristin declared against his lips. “Maybe it’s too soon to say I love you, but I have to say it. I love you. It’s an all-consuming love I feel in my heart.” She clutched him tighter. “Oh darling—what if dad hadn’t entered Sonia in that contest?”
“Don’t think about the what-ifs. There are too many of them. Right now all I want to do is kiss us both senseless. Do I have your permission?”
Kristin threw her arms around his neck and drew him down to her, leaving him in no doubt that his wish was her desire.
Three months later…
“I now pronounce you, Prince Eric, and you, Kristin Remmen, man and wife. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
To Kristin’s shock, the priest suddenly produced a small golden tiara. He motioned for Sonia to come to the altar. She left her grandpa’s side to approach the priest who set it amongst her shiny brown curls. It was a perfect fit.
“From this day forth, King Knute has declared you’ll be known as Princess Sonia.”
Kristin had an idea Eric had asked his brother if he would make a law so Sonia could be a princess.
Their gazes locked. He was too wonderful. Kristin loved him too much and tried to tell him with her eyes before he gave her a kiss unlike any other.
It was the possessive kiss of a husband. One full of passion and the promise of the wedding night to come.
Sonia’s giggle of pure joy finally caused him to relinquish Kristin’s mouth. He grasped their daughter’s hand. She looked like an adorable angel in a white tulle gown that floated when she walked.
“Daddy?” she whispered loud enough for all the guests assembled in the palace chapel to hear. “Am I a real princess now?”
Eric, resplendent once more in his ceremonial suit, smiled down at her. “Yes, you are.”
“Can I keep my crown on my dresser?”
“If you’d like.”
“Does it mean I can marry a prince someday?”
Quiet laughter whispered through the congregation.
“If you want to, but it won’t be for a long, long time.”
“How come?”
Oh no.
Kristin moaned loud enough to capture her new husband’s attention. He was loving this, but the altar of the chapel was hardly the place for a running conversation with Sonia.
“Because I want to enjoy my daughter for a lot of years first.”
She looked up at both of them. “Mommy? Will you and Daddy give me a little brother?”
Kri
stin’s face went crimson. “Sonia—”
Eric chuckled before flashing her a wolfish glance. “We’ll do our best, won’t we, Your Highness? Now…shall we go meet our guests, elskling?”
“Yes. The boys and Thor have been waiting and waiting for me.”