Leading her to the door, he addressed them, “Thank you all for your consideration.”
People nodded and smiled and a few said, “You’re welcome.” Then they reached the door. The lock clicked as Antonella sprang it.
He said, “Ready?”
Ginny nodded.
He opened the door to the whir of cameras and shouts of questions. “How are you?”
“Why did you faint?”
“What’s your last name?”
“Are you pregnant?”
Dominic’s steps faltered.
But Ginny slid her sunglasses on her face and smiled at them. “I didn’t eat lunch.” She turned to Dominic and entwined her arm with his. “Dom told me to eat lunch but—” She held out a leg. “Look at these jeans. They are to die for and I wanted them to fit.” She smiled again. “American girls, right? We love our jeans and we want them to look perfect.”
Then she turned them in the direction of his Mercedes. His bodyguards created a path for them to walk.
He opened the door for her.
She slid inside. Before Dom could close the door, she gave a final wave to the press. “I’m fine,” she called out to them. “And, I swear, I will eat before we come out again.”
Walking around the hood of his car, he heard the rumble of laughter. He peeked up to see the smiles of approval on the faces of those in the crowd. And why not? She was beautiful, approachable, likable.
But he also saw a few reporters frowning in his direction. He saw the ones on their cell phones talking feverishly.
He slid into the car. “You know your pregnancy’s out now, right?”
“Yup.” She caught his gaze. “Looks like we won’t need a second date.”
“You’re saying yes?”
She nodded.
He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “Thank you.”
“Oh, don’t thank me. I have a feeling we’re in for one hell of a ride.”
CHAPTER FOUR
THEY SCHEDULED A press conference for nine o’clock the next morning in the press room of the palace. The king announced his son’s marriage to Virginia Jones of Texas in the United States, a former guidance counselor. Then he gave the podium to Dominic.
As Ginny expected, the resounding cry that rose from the crowd was... “Is Ginny pregnant?”
Another man might have been cowed, embarrassed or even unprepared. Ginny knew Dom had rehearsed every possible scenario of this moment into the wee hours of the morning with someone from his staff.
So she wasn’t surprised when he smiled and said, “Yes.”
The swish and whir of cameras filled the room. Several people called, “Ginny, look here.”
But she kept her eyes trained on Dominic because that’s what her two hours of training the night before had been about. That and choosing something to wear. After a doctor had seen her and pronounced her well, a clothier had arrived with swatches and catalogs. Sally from the protocol office had wanted her in a raspberry-colored suit. The king had thought she’d look more dignified in a white suit. But she’d reminded them that she’d fainted because she was pregnant and had gotten too hot. Her choice for the press conference had been a simple green dress with thin straps and a pale green cardigan—which she could remove, she reminded the king—if she got too hot.
The king had scowled, but Dominic had suddenly said, “I think she’s right.”
All eyes had turned to him. He’d shrugged. “You’re not the ones who had to watch her fall. I barely caught her. I don’t think we want to risk having that happen again.”
Nope. If there was one thing Ginny knew, it was that she did not want to faint again. Seeing ten pictures of herself crumpling to a coffee-shop floor in the newspapers that morning had been enough to cure her of ever wanting to faint in public again.
But Dominic standing up for her choice had caused her breath to quietly catch. Her simple pregnancy might impact an entire kingdom—and maybe someday even the world—but this was her baby. And Dom’s.
When he stood up for her, he caught her gaze, and in that second a wave of feeling had almost made her dizzy. They’d created a child and were getting married—temporarily. He’d warned her not to spin fantasies of permanency with him, and she wasn’t, but with a baby on the way and so many people telling them what to do, she didn’t see how they could get through the next few months without forming a team.
Which made it a terrible, terrible thing that she’d compared him to her father. Because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop doing it. Not because she genuinely believed Dom was like her dad, but because she was so afraid. Living with her dad had been a nightmare. Only a fool would deliberately enter that kind of situation again.
So he couldn’t be like her dad. He couldn’t. Yet something about this situation, and Dom, set off warning signals that would not let her relax.
Watching Dominic speak now, she waited for his signal for her to join him at the podium. He fielded a question or two about how they met, then, just as they’d practiced, he turned to her with a smile and said, “Why don’t we have Ginny join us to help answer some questions?”
In her high-heeled white sandals that perfectly offset the pretty green dress, she carefully walked to the podium. He slid his arm around her waist, bringing her closer to the microphones. Questions filled the air.
“Have you found a dress?”
“Are you having morning sickness?”
She heard the questions, but looking up at Dominic, all she saw were those onyx eyes filled with expectation. Could she stand up for him? Would she stand up for him? Would she protect his reputation as the future king the way he’d stood up for her the night before? Was she willing to fully commit to the charade?
Just as she couldn’t quite get herself to trust him, the question in his eyes told her he didn’t entirely trust her, either.
Which made them even.
If there was one thing she’d learned about partnerships, it was that they ran best when the partners really were even. Oddly, this deal would work not because they trusted each other, but because they didn’t.
“Are you a real live Cinderella?”
That question made her laugh and brought her out of her reverie. She faced the sea of press crowded into the small room.
“Yes. I do feel like Cinderella. No, I haven’t even chosen a designer to make my dress. So I’ll need all four weeks before the wedding just to find something to wear.” When the reporters laughed, she smiled. “And no morning sickness.”
She paused long enough to give Dominic her best fake loving smile, deferring to him, the way she’d been taught to the night before. When their gazes met, she could see he was pleased with how she handled herself. She recognized that his happy expression was part of their act, but he’d looked at her exactly that way the night they’d gone clubbing. The night they’d created their baby.
Her heart kicked against her ribs. A flash of memories flooded her brain. Kissing in the limo. Laughing at stupid things. Not a care in the world. And for one foolish second, she wished they could be those two people again. Two people just having fun. Not making a commitment—
She quickly looked away. Things like that, staring into his fathomless eyes, longing for a chance just to enjoy each other, would get her into trouble.
She faced the reporters. “So I won’t faint again.” She winced. “That is if I listen to Dom and actually eat breakfast and lunch.”
A quiet chuckle went up from the group as they scribbled in notebooks.
The questions started again.
“What about your job?”
“Will you miss working?”
“What was it like growing up with an alcoholic dad?”
“Did you spin daydreams as a little girl that you’d someday marry a prince?”
The room suddenly got hot. She hadn’t expected her dad’s life to escape scrutiny. She simply hadn’t expected it to come up so soon.
She pushed her hair off her
face, buying time, hoping to cool her forehead a bit before sweat began to bead on it. “I love my job.” She answered the first and second questions together since they were easy, as she dreadfully scrambled in her head to think of how to answer the third. “If it were possible to be a princess and be a guidance counselor, I’d do both. As it is, my duty lies with Xaviera and our baby.” She laughed. “My mom reminded me that even if my baby wasn’t a future king, he’d still take up all my time and shift my priorities.”
Before she could deal with question three, two other reporters raised their hands and called out, “So you’ve spoken to your mom and have her blessing?” and “Where is your mom?”
“My mom is finishing out her semester,” she said, then suddenly wished her mom didn’t have to work. Being alone in a strange country, in a white-hot spotlight with a guy she’d liked a lot was making her crazy. She had to remember he wasn’t fun-loving Dom. He was Prince Dominic. And this marriage wasn’t real. Hell, this whole situation was barely real.
“She has a few more weeks of school, but she’ll be here for the wedding.”
“I’m still waiting for an answer about your childhood with an alcoholic father.”
The sweat arrived, beading on her forehead. A hot, dizzying wave passed through her, weakening her knees, just as it had two seconds before she’d fainted the day before.
“My father was sick,” she said quietly, praying her legs would continue to hold her. “He also died when I was eighteen. I barely remember that part of my life.” That wasn’t really a lie, more of an exaggeration. She didn’t want to remember, so she spent her days refusing to even think about those years.
“As for whether or not I spun fantasies about marrying a prince.” She smiled. “I hadn’t. I was a very pragmatic child, enamored with my mom’s love of her classes and students. But I’m glad I met Dominic.”
Again, not a lie. She was glad she had met him. She’d loved their night out. It was being in cahoots with him, putting so much of her life into another person’s hands, that caused fear to course through her. Especially after the mention of her dad. After being reminded that trusting the wrong person could suck the life out of your soul, reduce you to someone who suspiciously weighed every word and soon didn’t trust anyone. Someone who protected herself by staying in her room, alone and lonely.
She did not want that to be her life again.
This time when she turned to smile at Dominic, she knew her eyes were dull and listless.
She wasn’t surprised when he said, “And that’s all for this morning. Our press office has issued a release with all relevant information.”
He led her off the podium and then out of the room, behind the king, who turned to her with a satisfied look. “You lasted much longer than I predicted.”
She winced. “Thank you, I think.”
“Well, it’s a compliment to an extent. I’m still not sure I trust your fashion sense. And I’m not at all pleased that you didn’t warn us about your dad.”
Her stomach churned. She’d buried her dad seven years ago, but here she was hiding him again, protecting him again—“I...”
Dominic stepped up. “I knew about her dad. My security detail investigated everything.” He caught Ginny’s gaze. “I admit we glossed over his alcoholism because he’s been dead for seven years. But no one kept it a secret.”
She swallowed. Every time she looked in his eyes, she had no question about why he’d so easily been able to seduce her. But every time he talked he reminded her that she didn’t belong here in his life, and how difficult the next years would be. “I guess you did that while we were waiting for the paternity results.”
“Actually, we investigated you when we were told you would be my liaison at the school.” He faced the king. “And you have a full report on Ginny’s life in your office. Her father is in there.”
King Ronaldo said, “I don’t know how I missed it.”
“You missed it because he’s barely a footnote. He was never arrested. Never in the papers. Never anything. And now he’s gone. Ginny and I talked about this a bit yesterday and the end result was I decided there’s no real reason to put her through the memories by insisting she give us details.”
He smiled slightly at her.
She tried to smile back. But an odd feeling tumbled through her. Not quite a nudge that she should trust him, the feeling told her at the very least she should appreciate the way he’d saved her from having to relive a part of her life that was gone. Past. She shouldn’t have to explain it.
Sally said, “Yes, well, Prince Dominic, you should have bought this to your father’s attention instead of expecting him to find it in a report.”
Dom faced Sally, who stood with her arms crossed, clearly unhappy with him. He said, “I’ll remember next time,” but when he turned to Ginny he winked.
The weird feeling tumbled through her again.
Sally lifted her clipboard. “Okay, Ms. Jones, you have a few people coming to the apartment for lessons today. Mostly protocols and etiquettes. At four, the clothier and I will be bringing catalogs of various designers’ work so you can begin the process of screening designers for your dress.” She flipped a page. “Dom, I believe you’re due in parliament this afternoon.”
Dominic caught Ginny’s hand. “Then I guess we better get back to the apartment and arrange for lunch.”
Sally said, “Fine—”
But Dominic didn’t wait for the rest of her answer. He turned and walked away, leading Ginny down several halls. He walked so fast, she had to skip to keep up with him in her high, high heels, but the air that whooshed past them was cool, and she suddenly felt like laughing. Not only had they survived the press, but Dominic had taken her side—again.
When the elevator door closed behind them, Ginny said, “That was awesome.”
“What? You liked being interviewed by reporters?”
She batted a hand. “I could take that or leave that. What I loved was you walking away from Sally.”
Dom spared her a glance, then he grinned. “She’s protocol office so she basically runs everything. It’s fun every once in a while to remind her that she works for me.”
“Oh, so you’re a tough guy now?”
He laughed. “I told you being a king is all about being respected.”
“Well, in that case, let me say you got some votes of confidence from me.”
He turned. “Really?”
“Yes. Last night when you said we should use my dress choice and this morning when you let me answer my own questions from the press—those were good. But not letting Sally push me around? Or your dad? Those were better. I... Well, I felt like a real person.”
“You are a real person.”
She laughed, but something inside nudged her to talk, to at least trust him enough to tell him the basics. “I know that. But my upbringing was awful. There are more chances that I’m going to embarrass you than make you proud.”
“Are you kidding? Your first public act was to faint, then pretend it was no big deal when you walked back into the fray of reporters to get to the car. You waved and told them you were fine as if they were a bunch of friends hanging out on a street corner.” He laughed. “I think they don’t know what to do with you.”
“So confusion is the way to go, if I can’t beguile them with my good looks and charm?”
He sneaked another peek at her as the elevator door opened on the big square foyer before his apartment. “Oh, I wouldn’t discount your charm just yet.”
She looked up at him. He gazed down at her. With the huge hall just outside the door empty and quiet, the tiny elevator suddenly felt intimate.
Gazing into his eyes, she remembered how he’d pulled her to him outside her apartment door and kissed her like a man so crazy about a woman he couldn’t resist her.
So maybe he did think she had charm.
The elevator door began to close and without looking away Dominic caught it, forcing it open again.
/> “We better go.”
“Yeah.”
Neither of them moved. Something hummed between them. She’d say it was the same something that had brought him to her condo door all those weeks ago, the same something that drew them to her bed, except in the past two days she’d made him laugh and he wasn’t going to make her talk about her dad.
He took a step closer to her and her breath shivered. Her lips tingled from wanting to kiss him. But he stayed where he was, close enough to touch, but not making a move to kiss her, though his eyes shimmered with need.
The air filled with something hot and tempting. She knew she could easily label this lust, but she knew something else was at work here. They really were forming a team. And the pull of that, the longing not to be alone in this deal, fighting for herself and her rights, but having somebody fight with her, was even stronger than the lust that had driven them that night.
That scared her silly.
But his gaze held hers.
And everything inside her trembled with yearning.
She longed for the day she’d met him, when she didn’t fear their future because she didn’t think they had a future, and she wondered what it would be like to let her guard down again—
But Dom had warned her not to spin fairy tales. And life had taught her that good things could turn bad in the blink of an eye. Not more than twenty minutes ago, she’d been worried about comparing him to her dad. Now she wanted to kiss him? To trust him?
Everything was happening too fast.
This was a ruse. Nothing more. And she was going to get hurt if she didn’t stop trying to spin that fairy tale.
She turned and walked out of the elevator to the apartment and to her suite.
CHAPTER FIVE
DOMINIC ATE A very quiet, disappointing lunch. No matter how he tried to engage Ginny, she’d smile distantly and pop a bite of food into her mouth so she didn’t have to talk to him. Glad to see her eating for the sake of the baby, he couldn’t allow himself the luxury of being upset that she wasn’t talking to him.
Still, it made him nuts.
They were perfectly fine in that elevator until the conversation about her charming the press. She could charm the press. And without effort. But something about that one simple comment had made her quiet. Distant.
Harlequin Romance February 2016 Box Set Page 23