by Raye Morgan
Kelly stepped forward and blocked his way, grabbing handfuls of sweatshirt fabric at chest level to stop him in his tracks.
“No,” she told him forcefully, her eyes blazing.
He stopped and looked down at her in surprise. “No?”
“No. You’re wrong.”
He bit back the grin that threatened to take over his face. She looked so fierce. And then it came to him—she really did care about this.
“What makes you so sure about that?” he asked her.
“Common sense.” She tried to shake him with the grip she had on his sweatshirt. She didn’t manage to move his body, but got her point across. “She’s your responsibility.”
He winced, his gaze traveling over the planes of Kelly’s pretty face. She had good cheekbones and beautiful eyelashes. But her mouth was where his attention settled. Nice lips. White teeth. And a sexy pout that could start to get to him if he let it.
“You’re right,” he told her at last. “You’re absolutely right.” Then he added softly, “How’d you get to be so right about things?”
She released his shirt, pretty sure she’d convinced him, then lifted her chin and gazed into his eyes. He was so handsome and so troubled, and she wanted so badly to help him, but she couldn’t resist teasing him a little.
“I’m an objective observer. You should take my advice on everything.”
“Fat chance.” He chucked her under the chin and made a face. “You’re the one who wants me to start chasing royal moonbeams, aren’t you?”
She caught her breath, wanting to argue, wanting to tell him he was going to be surprised once she’d really explained things. But she stopped herself. It still wasn’t time.
She needed more information before she jumped in with both feet. She wouldn’t want to raise false hopes. She shivered, as much with that thought as with the cold.
“I’m no prince. Look at me.” His voice took on a bitter edge. “My baby’s even scared of me.”
“That won’t last. Give her time.”
He nodded, a distant look in his eyes. “My head says you’re right, but my heart…” He shrugged. “Like Shakespeare wrote, ‘there’s the rub.’”
She smiled. A man who quoted Shakespeare. “Where did you get so literary?” she asked him. “I didn’t think you went to university.”
“I didn’t. I signed up for the army as soon as I graduated from high school. But I read a lot.”
“In the army?” That didn’t fit her preconception.
“Sure. Once you get deployed overseas you have a lot of downtime.”
“I thought army guys usually filled that with wine, women and song.”
He nodded. “Okay, you got me there. I did my share of blowing off steam. But that gets old pretty fast, and our base had a great library. Plus, the master sergeant was a real scholar, and he introduced me to what I should be reading.”
Joe frowned when he saw her shivering. “You’re cold.”
She nodded. “I should go in.”
“Here, this will take care of it.”
In one swoop, he loosened the neck of his sweatshirt, then lifted the hem, capturing her under it. Before she knew what was happening, he’d pulled her in to join him.
“What are you doing?” she cried, shocked.
“Shhh.” His arms came around her, holding her close, and he whispered next to her ear,” You’re going to wake up the neighbors.”
The thought of anyone seeing them this way sent her into giggles. “Joe, this is crazy.”
Was he just close so that he could whisper to her, or was he snuggling in behind her ear?
“Warm enough?” he asked.
“Oh, yes. Definitely warm.”
Though she had to admit hot might be a better word. The darkness and the fact that her face was half hidden in the neck of the shirt saved her from having him see how red her cheeks had turned. His skin was bare under the sweatshirt, and now she was pressed against his fantastic, muscular chest. If it hadn’t been for her thick T-shirt…
It doesn’t mean a thing, she warned herself, and knew that was right. But how could she resist the warmth and the wonderful smoothness of his rounded muscles against her face? She closed her eyes, just for a moment. His arms held her loosely, and since they were outside, wrapped in fabric, it was okay. She knew he was purposely trying to keep this nonthreatening, and she appreciated it. But no matter how casual he tried to make this, she was trapped in an enclosed space against his bare upper body. Her heart was beating like a drum and her head was feeling light. If she’d been a Victorian miss, she would be crying out for the smelling salts about now.
But she wasn’t Victorian. She was up-to-date and full of contemporary attitudes. Wasn’t she? She’d had sex and provocative bodies and scandalous talk thrown at her by the media all her life. She could handle this. Never mind that her knees seemed to be buckling and her pulse was racing so fast she couldn’t catch her breath. This was worth it. This was heavenly. It was a moment she would never forget.
And then she remembered that he was supposed to be a prince of Ambria. She had no right to trifle with him this way. That thought made her laugh again.
“Joe, let me go,” she said, pushing away. “I’ve got to go in and check on Mei.”
“And leave me out here all alone in this sweatshirt?”
“I think you’ll be able to manage it.” She wriggled free, then shook her head in mock despair as she looked at him. “I feel like I was highjacked by the moonlight bandit,” she grumbled, straightening her T-shirt nightdress.
His grin was crooked. “Think of me as the prince of dreams,” he said, and then his mouth twisted. “Bad dreams,” he added cynically.
“Stop agonizing out here in the dark and go get some sleep,” she advised as she turned to leave. “Mei is going to need you in the morning.”
CHAPTER FIVE
KELLY SLEPT LATER than she’d planned, and when she opened her eyes, sunlight was streaming into the room. She turned her head and found a pair of gorgeous dark eyes considering her from the crib. Mei was standing at the railing, surveying the situation.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Kelly said, stretching. “Did you have a good sleep?”
The cute little face didn’t change, but the baby reached down to pick up a stuffed monkey that had been in her bed, and threw it over the nail as though it were a gift. Kelly laughed, but wondered how long she’d been awake, just standing there, looking around the unfamiliar room, wondering where she was and who was going to take care of her. Poor little thing.
Rising quickly, Kelly went to her. “I’ll bet you need a change, don’t you?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, and Mei didn’t resist, going willingly into her arms. Kelly held her for a moment, feeling the life that beat in her, feeling her sweetness. There was no way Joe was sending her back. No way at all.
Joe was waiting for them when they came into the kitchen. He had coffee brewed and cinnamon buns warmed and sitting on the table. He’d set two places and poured out two little glasses of orange juice. Kelly was carrying Mei and she smiled at how inviting everything looked. Including Joe, who’d made the effort to dress in fresh slacks and a baby-blue polo shirt just snug enough to show off his muscular chest and bulging biceps.
He caught her assessing look and smiled. She quickly glanced away, but in doing so, her gaze fell on where he’d tossed the big blue sweatshirt over the back of a chair. Memories of how it had felt inside that shirt the night before crashed in on her like a wave, and suddenly her cheeks were hot again. She glanced at him. His smile had turned into a full grin.
He was just too darn aware of things.
“Here’s your baby,” she said, presenting his child for inspection. “Isn’t she beautiful in her little corduroy dress?”
“She is indeed,” he said brightly, looking warmly at his child. “Good morning, Mei. Can you give me a smile today?”
Evidently not. His daughter shrank back, hiding her
face in Kelly’s hair and wrapping her chubby arms tightly around her neck.
Kelly sent Joe an anxious glance, wishing she knew what to do to make this better. His smile hadn’t faded, though his eyes showed some strain. She approved of the effort he was making. He met her gaze and nodded cheerfully.
“New attitude,” he told her.
“Oh. Good.” She managed to smile back. “I guess.”
“I’m going to take your advice and learn to roll with the punches.”
“Did I advise that?” she murmured, gratified that he was at least thinking about what she’d said.
He moved into position so that Mei couldn’t avoid looking at him.
“Tell me,” he asked her, “what does a little girl your age like to eat?”
Mei scrunched up her face as though she’d just tasted spinach for the first time.
Kelly sighed, but decided to try ignoring the baby’s reactions for awhile and hope they faded on their own. Chastising her would do no good. She was a little young for a heart-to-heart talk, so that pretty much left patience. Kelly just hoped she didn’t run out of it.
“I know when my niece was this age, she was all about finger food. She loved cut up bananas and avocados, and for awhile she seemed to live on cheese cut up into little squares.”
He nodded. “I’ll have to make a store run. I’d pretty much counted on the nanny to be the expert in this sort of thing.”
“We can wing it for now,” Kelly assured him. “And for the moment, I’ll bet she would like one of those yogurts I saw in the refrigerator.”
“You think so?” He pulled one out and held it up. “How about it, Mei? Ready for some yummy yogurt?”
Her gaze was tracking the yogurt cup as though she hadn’t eaten in days, but when he moved close with it, she hid her face again.
“I guess you’ll have to give it to her,” he said drily. “She’s pretty sure I’m the serpent with the apple at this point.”
Mei went into the high chair willingly enough after Kelly let her toddle around on her little chubby legs for a few minutes, but she kept her eye on Joe, reacting when he came too close.
“Don’t worry,” Kelly told him, smiling as they sat down at the table and she began to feed Mei from her yogurt cup with a plastic spoon shaped like a dolphin. “She’ll come around.”
He smiled back, but it wasn’t easy. They talked inconsequentially for a few moments. Mei ate her yogurt lustily, then played with some cheese Kelly cut up for her. Joe offered Mei a bite of cinnamon roll, but she shook her head and looked at him suspiciously.
“You’ve gotten over those doubts you had last night, haven’t you?” Kelly asked at one point, needing reassurance.
“Sure,” he said, dismissing it with a shrug. “Funny how the middle of the night makes everything look so impossible.” He gave her a sideways smile. “And yet makes doing things like snuggling in a sweatshirt suddenly seem utterly rational.”
“You dreamer,” she murmured, holding back her smile and giving Mei her last bite of yogurt. Then Kelly looked at him sharply. “But you aren’t still thinking of…” She couldn’t finish that sentence without saying things she didn’t want to say in front of the child.
He shrugged again. “I know what I have to do. I think I understand my responsibilities.”
She frowned. She would have been happier if he’d sounded more enthusiastic, but she had to admit she understood. In the face of so much rejection, it was pretty hard to get very excited. She wanted to tell him not to worry, that surely things would get better soon. There was no way he could stand a lifetime like this—no one could. But he wouldn’t have to.
And you know this…how? her inner voice mocked her.
Kelly wasn’t sure about that, but knew it had to be true.
“Are you going to be calling an agency to find a new nanny?” It was sad to think of someone else coming in and taking over, but it had to be done. She couldn’t stay forever.
“I already have.”
“Already? You’re fast.”
“Well, I called and left a message on a machine. They weren’t open yet. But I have no doubt we’ll get someone out here by this afternoon at the latest.”
“Well, there’s no hurry,” Kelly told him. “I’ll stay until you get someone else.”
His eyes darkened and he gazed at her for a moment as though trying to figure out what made her tick.
“Don’t you have someplace you need to be?” he asked at last.
“Not at all. My week is wide open.”
He looked as though he didn’t get her at all. “So you really did come here to California just to find me?”
She nodded.
He shook his head as though she must be crazy. She braced herself for questions, but he didn’t seem to want to deal with it yet. Rising from his place, he took his plate to the sink.
Watching him in profile, she was struck once again by how much he looked like a member of the royal family of Ambria. She was going to have to bring that up again soon. But in the meantime, there was another issue to deal with.
“Joe, tell me something,” she said as he put the orange juice in the refrigerator. “This designer person who brought up Ambria…”
He turned to face her, then sank back into his chair at the table. “Sonja Smith? What about her?”
Kelly wasn’t sure how to go about this delicately, so she just jumped in. “What exactly did she say to you?”
He thought for a second. “She didn’t say anything much. She said that Dory at the Baby Boutique had told her she thought I might be from Ambria. That’s all.”
“Why did the Baby Boutique person think you were Ambrian?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I went in a week ago and talked to her about needing some advice on stocking a baby’s room, and she told me about Sonja and had her call me.” He grimaced. “I don’t know where she got the idea for the Ambrian connection. I never said anything to Dory about that. I’m sure Ambria never came up. In fact, the existence of Ambria hadn’t entered my mind in…oh, I’d say a year or two. As far as countries go, it’s not high on my list.” He shrugged. “The point is, Ambria isn’t a favorite of mine. And I have no idea why anyone would think I was interested.”
“Hmm.” Kelly gazed at him thoughtfully.
“Sonja came over, did a great job, and that was it. End of story.”
“That’s all?”
He made a face. “Well, not really. She wasn’t just a designer decorator. Turns out she also tries to rustle up customers for tours she arranges. She works at a travel agency and was putting together a tour to Europe, including Ambria, in the summer. She said if I was interested I should give her a call. She thought I’d enjoy it.”
Kelly didn’t know what to think about that. It seemed a bit strange. Of course, there could be any number of reasons someone of Ambrian heritage might find his face appealing—and familiar, just as she had. It might be completely innocent, just a businesswoman trying to drum up sales for her tour.
On the other hand, it might be someone allied with the usurper Ambrian regime, the Granvillis. And from everything she’d learned lately, if the Granvillis were after you, you were in big trouble. Joe was taking all this lightly, but she was afraid he didn’t know the background the way she did. If he had, he might have been more on guard.
That meant she’d better tell him soon. It was only fair to warn him. The fact that she knew he would scoff at her warnings didn’t encourage her, but she knew it had to be done. And that somehow she was going to have to convince him.
“Well? Are you interested in the tour?”
He gave her an amused look, then rose to take the rest of the plates to the sink. “No. I’ve never had a yen to travel to a place like that. In fact, I’ve done enough foreign travel for awhile. I think I’ll stay put.”
She nodded. “Are you going to see her again?”
“Maybe. She might come by to meet Mei. I suggested it. I thought she might li
ke to see what the child she did all this for looked like in the midst of it.” He frowned, turning to face Kelly. “Listen, what’s with the third degree? Does this somehow impinge upon your royal dreams?”
She shook her head. He was teasing her, but she wasn’t in a teasing mood. Until she found out what this designer person was up to, she was going to be very uneasy. “Not a bit,” she claimed cheerfully. Glancing up, she saw that he was looking at Mei, his face set and unhappy. It broke her heart, and she immediately had the urge to do something about it.
Rising and moving to stand close to him at the sink, she leaned in so she could speak softly and not be overheard by Mei. She’d been thinking about different schemes for getting the child to accept Joe. She could hardly stand to see the obvious pain in his face when his little girl rejected him.
“Here’s a thought,” Kelly said, very near his ear. “Why don’t you just go over and sit by Mei and talk. Don’t even talk to her at first, just near her. You could talk about your past with her mother. Maybe tell her how you met. Or anything else you can think of. Her name was Angie, right?”
He turned on her as though she’d suggested he sing an aria from La Bohème. “What? Why would I do any of that?”
Kelly blinked up at him, surprised at his vehemence. “Okay, if you don’t want to do it directly, why don’t you tell me about Angie in front of Mei. About where you met her, what your wedding was like, things like that.”
His complete rejection of her idea was written all over his face. In fact, he was very close to anger.
“Why would I be telling you about Angie? Who are you?”
Kelly stared at him, her first impulse being to take offense at what he’d said. But she stopped herself. This was an agonizing situation. That was why she was trying to fix things. Didn’t he see that? But maybe not. Maybe she was intruding and she ought to back off. Still…
She sighed, wishing she knew how to defuse the emotion he was feeling.
“I’m your friend, Joe. I care.” Shaking her head, she looked into his eyes. “And I’d like to hear about it.” She put a hand on his forearm, trying to calm him. “Just talk about it. I don’t have to be there at all. Let her hear you.”