No. His gut tightened and his first instinct was to run, but that was certainly not what he was going to do. That would only increase suspicion. ‘Sure. We have to do it sometime.’
‘Okay. Keep your distance, we’re friends, that’s all.’ She gave him a conspiratorial wink. ‘Remember, no one knows I’m Dom’s sister.’
‘Yes, Your Highness,’ he ground out through gritted teeth, not wanting to keep his distance at all. Not wanting to be here at all. ‘This is going to be awkward on so many levels.’
Luckily, Dom was standing with their colleague, orthopaedic surgeon Emilia Featherstone, and the small talk between them all was general, brief and light before they were called to dinner.
Even though they were seated at the same large circular table as Dom and Emilia, they were separated by other guests, far enough away for intimate conversation to be difficult, particularly in front of the other six diners with them. But the sharp ache under Lucas’s ribcage didn’t fade at all. He’d got away without interrogation this time, but it was going to happen. And either he was going to have to lie or front up to his best friend very soon.
He breathed out, grateful for a reprieve, and tucked into a particularly delicious Caprese salad reminiscent of Isola Verdian cuisine.
‘Do you think he suspects anything?’ Lucas asked Gigi, glancing over towards his friend.
‘I think he’s barely registered that we’re here. He’s only got eyes for Emilia.’ Giada watched her brother whisper something to Emilia. ‘How did he put it? Old friends? I bet there’s something more going on there.’
‘Do you think so?’ He had to admit that they did look cosy. Had something been going on that he didn’t know about? Were Emilia and Dom involved? He was starting to think he didn’t know his best friend at all.
Giada swallowed. ‘That dress is something else, she looks amazing. No wonder he’s distracted.’
‘It’s red, yes. Kind of nice. But not a patch on yours.’ He meant it. She was the most beautiful woman in the room.
‘You really don’t have to say that.’
But he could see her heart wasn’t in this conversation as her eyes kept darting to her brother. Lucas realised that, unlike him, she wanted to talk to Dom. ‘I’m sure he’ll make an effort to talk to you properly later.’
‘You think so? When he has a beautiful woman at his side? Domenico is smitten.’ There was no bitterness in her tone, although it was a little wistful and resigned to the fact that Dom had other things on his mind than his sister. Again.
Lucas’s heart stung for her. All her life she’d been wanting someone in her family to notice her. He couldn’t fathom how they hadn’t—she was dazzling in every way. ‘There’s been no evidence of any kind of relationship between them, other than collegial friendship, for as long as I’ve known them. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence they were chatting when we went over. Anyway, it’s none of our business.’
‘It is very much my business if she’s going to become Queen of Isola Verde.’
Okay. He hadn’t thought about that. ‘I’m really not sure that’s on her agenda. She loves being a doctor. I can’t see her giving that up. I doubt Emilia even knows Dom’s real identity.’
‘If she does know, it’s because Dom thinks she’s special. Look at the way he’s gazing at her.’ Gigi drank her sparkling water, her gaze returning to Lucas. ‘You don’t have to see the ramifications but I do.’
‘Oh, I see them all right. We only had a very quick chat with them and even then I stuffed up. Did you see Dom’s eyes narrow when I called you Gigi? And then I said Isola Verde is beautiful and I’m not supposed to have been there.’ He hit his head with the heel of his hand. ‘I am so not good at lying.’
‘Yes, you are. When you’re on duty you mask your emotions and it’s just the same for me. You learn very quickly not to let things affect you, and if they do you simply cover your reactions with a smile.’
He much preferred the animated, emotion-filled Gigi. The one he’d made love to just before she’d put on that sexy dress. The one who’d cried out his name while stealing his heart. Damn, he wished they weren’t here right now, playing grown-ups when they could be at his house, playing an entirely different game.
But all this talk about Domenico and the King reminded him that this affair with her was fast coming to a conclusion. Soon the truth would be out about Roberto’s operation—they certainly couldn’t hide it for ever and, whatever happened to the King, Dom would have to return to Isola Verde and take his rightful place there.
Gigi’s pregnancy would be obvious. There would have to be an announcement and Lucas’s part in this would break up his friendship with Dom.
What then for Gigi?
A flicker of hope lit up inside him. If Dom became King and returned to Isola Verde then Gigi would be off the hook there. She wouldn’t have the burden of shouldering the monarchy’s responsibilities like did now. Would she consider moving here? She’d be free to—
‘Hey, Lucas.’ Arvi, the paediatric endocrinologist on his right, leaned over, swirling his glass of red wine. ‘Are you going to the Seahawks game tomorrow?’
‘Er...no. Who are they playing?’
‘Vikings. Gonna be a tough one. That new quarterback...’
Not wanting to be rude, Lucas applied the mask of interest and immersed himself in football talk while his date chatted to the woman next to her.
Only she wasn’t his date. He couldn’t hold her hand, couldn’t parade her onto the dance floor. He couldn’t kiss her under the mistletoe someone had strung up, he couldn’t cradle her belly and rock in time to the music. He couldn’t announce to everyone that she was carrying his child, because that announcement had to be timed and worded carefully and sent out to the world’s media, and he wasn’t even sure his name would be mentioned.
Being with her these last few weeks had changed him. She’d taught him to look for the positives, to cling to hope. To make the best out of every situation. She’d made him laugh.
Simply, she’d made him happy.
He felt the brush of her leg against his and the rush of desire almost overwhelmed him. He slid his hand under the tablecloth and found hers. She turned her palm upwards and he stroked lazily over her skin, knowing where her sensitive places were and that his touch drove her wild. He heard her breathing quicken and felt her shift closer. As close as public decency would allow. They, like Domenico and Emilia, were old friends after all.
The first chance they had to get out of here he’d take it. If reality was going to be hitting them soon he wanted to live in the bubble for as long as he could, which meant tonight would probably be their last.
The main course was served. Beef. He was now involved in a conversation about new diabetes management technology. And almost dying of pure lust whenever Gigi turned to him and he got a glimpse of her smile, the waft of her perfume, the profile of her gorgeous breasts.
He was going mad. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Somebody gave a speech about something...he wasn’t focusing on anything but her.
Dessert was something fancy—a cake that tasted like Earl Grey tea with smoky grey icing, and indeed, as delicious as both Max and Ayanna had suggested it would be.
‘Good?’ Gigi asked as she swallowed her final piece before making a start on the rest of his.
‘Amazing. More than amazing.’ And he wasn’t just talking about the food.
She’d twisted in her seat and was turned towards him now, her knees between his, her foot stroking his leg...all hidden by the long drape of the white linen tablecloth. Her hand crept over to his thigh.
He blinked. Swallowed. ‘Gigi,’ he warned, wishing he didn’t have to say it. ‘We’re supposed to be behaving.’
‘No one’s here, Lucas. Look around, no one’s interested in us and no one can see.’
He’d b
een so absorbed in her he hadn’t realised that their table was empty, apart from themselves. Domenico and Emilia were on the dance floor and Gigi was watching them with a curious expression.
Judging by the way they were dancing so closely there was definitely something going on between his friend and the surgeon. And if there wasn’t...there would be soon.
Lucky Domenico. No one knew his real identity here so he could wine and dine and dance and risk being the subject of hospital gossip for a little while...and then his life would change irrevocably when he was crowned King.
Lucky? Dom’s life would never be his own again. Lucas was going to miss his friendship and camaraderie in the ER. Things wouldn’t be the same.
A bit like his own life. Who would have thought he’d be at a charity ball with a princess rubbing his leg very close to his crotch?
God, he wanted her. Wanted more than this. Wanted everything. And the fact she’d opened up to him and started to trust him a little gave him hope that they could work this out somehow. As a family. The three of them.
Whatever that meant. Even the word made him panic, but he calmed himself. Others managed it.
He touched her hand, to stop it ascending to his trouser zip more than anything. Because he wanted to sink into her, hip deep, and he wasn’t sure how tight a grip he had on his self-control. ‘Do you want to dance?’
She shook her head and smiled, her fingers wriggling under his hand and tiptoeing upwards. ‘Not the way I want to dance with you.’
His gut tightened in anticipation. He had the feeling of falling and he didn’t want it to stop. ‘You can show me later.’
‘Oh, Captain Sensible, I will.’ Her eyes danced and she scraped her chair back. ‘Do you think it’d be rude if we left now?’
‘I think it would be the best idea you’ve had in a long time.’
* * *
They barely made it from the taxi to his front door without kissing at every step. Which excited and frustrated her. She wanted him inside her, to scratch the itch that had been niggling her since she’d watched him dress in his tux earlier.
Eventually, he thrust his key in the lock and they tumbled through the door. Gigi laughed as he backed her up against the wall, her heart full of only him. ‘Oh, wow, Lucas. Happy to be home?’
‘I’m happy to be wherever I can strip your clothes off...with my teeth.’ He kissed her hard then pecked a trail across her collarbone and snagged her dress...with his teeth. ‘You were driving me wild back there. All I wanted to do was sink into you.’
‘That would give the bigwigs something to talk about.’ She tugged his black bow-tie loose and let it fall to the floor. Shame. The man looked indecently good in formal wear, but he looked even better naked. Her fingertips slid inside his shirt and she tugged the crisp white linen out of his trouser waistband then slid her hand down to stroke his erection, enjoying the way he moaned against her hair. ‘We missed the charity auction. Is that bad?’
His mouth was on her décolletage and tracking lower, his fingers unzipping her dress. ‘I’m sure they’ll make enough money without us.’
‘Once the truth is out about Papa being here, I’ll make a generous donation to Seattle General Hospital by way of a thank-you.’ It was bad. It was selfish to want this and only this. To crave being with him, to have his skin against hers, to wrap herself in a cocoon of us. But it was all she could think of.
Lucas tore his mouth from her breast. ‘We need to talk to Domenico. I need to—’
She silenced his words, her finger against his lips. ‘I do not want to think about my big brother when I’m doing this.’
‘Good point. I want you. Here. Then we work out our plan.’ The plan they’d been avoiding because they both knew it meant the end of this.
Or the start of something. Her face lit up. Maybe...?
He growled her name against her throat and tugged her into the kitchen, lifting her to sit on the counter, her dress forgotten somewhere on the hall floor. He stepped back and looked at her, his eyes sliding over her face then to her shimmery dove-grey strapless bra and matching panties. His gaze burned hot. Then he came closer and pressed first his palm then his lips to her bump. ‘God, Gigi. You are incredible.’
‘Stop looking and start doing,’ she commanded, even though the way he made her feel with just a look was just as much a turn-on as his touch. Well...almost.
She wound her feet around his waist and pulled him to her, her skin, her everything straining for him. Not just for his touch but for him, the essence of him, the imprint of him against her skin, his taste. His heart.
Wordlessly he stroked her face, her throat, her breasts and lower, withholding kisses. Making her want and want and want. He smiled. ‘I could look at you all day.’
‘You’d get very bored very quickly.’ She laughed and shook her head.
All day? All year? A lifetime? The thought stilled her. This. Him. For ever. It scared her. Excited her, too.
When she couldn’t bear it any longer she cupped his face and pulled him to her, snatching wet, hot hungry kisses, tearing at his shirt and his trouser zip until he was stripped bare.
His hand glided from her glittery sandal up her calf, her thigh, and then he ripped her panties and laughed. ‘Another set bites the dust.’
‘Plenty more where they came from.’
‘I prefer you without them anyway.’ He sucked a nipple into his mouth, making her shudder with pleasure. ‘I prefer you exactly like this.’
‘What is it about you and counter tops?’ She laughed as he pulled her to the edge of the granite, remembering their first time in his bathroom at home.
Her home, not his. The thought struck a chord of pain inside her. She was getting carried away on what-ifs when they still had so much to work out.
‘Now who’s talking too much?’ His hand was on her cheek. ‘I like to have you right here, because I love to see your face, Gigi. When...’
‘When...?’
‘Now...’ he groaned as he slid inside her, eyes locked on hers. ‘Right there. That look. The mist. The joy. Dio, you are beautiful.’
‘You spoke Isola Verdian,’ she gasped, breath catching as sensation after sensation rippled through her. Hot. Dazzling. The light in her heart was swelling and growing. She clasped his shoulders. ‘Lucas...’
He pulled her closer until there was nothing but skin and kisses and heat. And he moved and he moved and he moved. Long slow strokes that whipped her breath away and made her want more. Then she felt his pace change, angling differently, catching her...there.
And yes, yes. His grip tightened. She shuddered against him and he called her name into the darkness.
Dio. It was everything. He was everything. Her Lucas.
CHAPTER TWELVE
IT TOOK A few minutes for the world to come back into sharp focus, his heat and body still tightly holding her as if she was something precious he couldn’t bear to let go.
Reluctantly she peeled herself away and laughed. ‘Bedroom next time?’
‘Everywhere, please. Although I’m not sure there’s a room here that we haven’t made love in.’ He smiled, little beads of perspiration dotting his forehead, his breathing still heavy. ‘We’re free here, Gigi. No one to bother us, no sneaking around.’
Ah.
That was what he wanted, she knew. To be free. And she wasn’t and could never be, unless she relinquished everything she knew and walked away from her royal life.
She kissed him again and slipped down from the counter, an ache settling deep in her chest. She rubbed her ribcage with the heel of her hand, but it didn’t go, lingering even after they’d cleared up and slid under his cool linen sheets.
Within minutes he was asleep and she watched him for a while, stroking his back as she went over the day’s events in her head. The low of seeing her father attached to those machines. Se
eing Domenico looking happy. The sting of pain that they hadn’t managed a proper conversation about things that really mattered. The high of Lucas in his finery, his laughter. Holding his hand, stroking his thigh in public...almost.
They never did get the chance to dance.
Thinking of her brother with a woman he clearly adored brought her own future starkly into focus. Because, for all Lucas’s I’m happy to be wherever I can strip your clothes off, it just wasn’t true, was it?
He didn’t want to be tied by conventions and formalities, didn’t like the palace—her home. Didn’t like intrusions and distractions. Didn’t like her life. Didn’t, in fact, like the idea of a family. And it wasn’t fair to foist all of that on him or to suggest he had to be part of it.
She was the Royal, not him. She was the one with her future fated. All he’d ever wanted was right here in Seattle. His lovely house, his amazing job, his friends. His life.
She couldn’t be Mrs Sensible here in Seattle and he really, really didn’t want to live in Isola Verde.
But how could they co-parent across the world?
Her head hurt with the possibilities; none of them felt right. Her heart ached with the realities. With the way she’d allowed herself to feel something for Lucas when, even from the beginning, she’d known nothing would ever be possible.
Maybe she’d just have to be honest with herself, even if it felt as if she was tearing her own heart apart. She needed to put this firmly in a box. Lucas was a temporary thing. Like the others. He was a challenge she’d conquered.
But he’d conquered her too. Broken down her defences and made her his.
She didn’t want to remember how his kisses made her feel as if she was drowning and she never wanted to surface. How he understood her like no one else ever had. How he saw her for who she was, and who she wanted to be. She didn’t want to remember his touch, his low, rumbling, hard-to-earn laugh.
But she did. She remembered all of it, playing slowly around her head, haunting her, torturing her. Emotions zipped through her heart. It was too complicated. Everything was crashing in on her. If one of them got their way, the other would have to give too much. More than anyone should have to give, just to be together.
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