The Expectant Princess

by Stella Bagwell

  Prudence’s response was a knowing smile that had Dominique heaving a sigh of irritation.

  “What are you smiling about?” Dominique hurled the question at her. “Do you think that’s funny?”

  The suggestive grin remained on Pru’s face. “No. I think it’s rather telling that ever since you returned from your outing with Marcus last week, you’ve been moping. And now that you’ve seen him again, you’ve come back to life. I admit you’ve been grieving for your father, but that’s not your real problem. You’re in love with Marcus Kent!”

  Chapter Seven

  The next afternoon, Dominique was on her way down to the courtyard to take a walk in the garden when she rounded a bend in the stairwell and nearly bumped head on into Marcus.

  “Dominique!”

  Grabbing a hold on her elbow, he steadied her teetering weight. “I’m surprised to find you here in this part of the castle,” he said, his gaze quickly traveling down her loose yellow sweater and slim beige capri pants. “Are you going out somewhere?”

  She smiled faintly and wondered if, like her, he’d spent most of the night thinking about their kiss. No, he was too mature, she mentally argued. He was a man and they didn’t romanticize, they simply enjoyed what they were doing at the moment, then later forgot about it entirely.

  “Only to the gardens for a walk,” she answered. “I took this long route through the castle to get more exercise.”

  His hand still on her arm, he moved up to the step where she was standing. The nearness of him shook her and she tried not to notice how tall and commanding he looked in his dark suit or the way his gold-brown eyes slid leisurely over her face.

  “You look better today. There’s color in your cheeks.”

  She could have told him the color in her cheeks was there because she felt self-conscious. After Prudence had taken one look at her last night and decided she was in love with Marcus, Dominique feared anyone and everyone might see beneath her skin and know what she was really feeling.

  Before she’d retired to bed last night, she’d argued loud and long with Prudence, denying the other woman’s accusation. But now as she looked at Marcus’s strong, handsome face, she was melting with the need to touch him again, to feel his breath upon her cheek, to experience the erotic magic of his lips.

  She breathed deeply and nervously reached up to touch the brown scarf she’d twisted, then tied around her long hair. “Thank you. I feel somewhat better.”

  Marcus glanced cautiously behind them, then back down the stairwell as if to make sure the two of them were completely alone.

  “I’m glad I’ve run into you like this,” he said. “I was intending to call you as soon as I got back to my office.”

  Her heart began to thump with foolish anticipation. “Oh. Why?”

  “I want you to have dinner with me tonight.”

  Have dinner with Marcus? The two of them had gotten vexed with each other while having a simple drink at the inn. A whole dinner might be even worse, she considered. And how could she possibly sit across from him for any length of time and not say, Marcus, I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time. Only I’ve just now realized it.

  “Do you think that’s wise, Marcus?” she asked, then seeing the frown on his face, she quickly went on, “I mean, everyone is soon going to know I’m pregnant. You don’t want your good name to be sullied, too.”

  He frowned at her. “You let me worry about my name. Right now, I want to hear you say you’re agreeable to having dinner with me tonight. There’s something I want to talk over with you. And we both have to eat anyway.”

  In other words, he was making it clear there would be nothing romantic about the evening. The whole thing would be strictly business for him. Which wasn’t surprising to Dominique. One kiss from Marcus Kent didn’t equal romance. It didn’t equal anything. So if she planned to keep her sanity, she was going to have to forget last night once and for all.

  She sighed. “What time shall I be ready?”

  He pushed back his cuff and studied a slim silver wristwatch. “I still have two more meetings before I quit for the day. I’ll come fetch you from your suite around seven. Will that be okay?”

  Where she and Marcus was concerned, nothing was okay. But she had to pretend it was. She had to keep on pretending he was a friend who was simply trying to help her. Nothing more.

  “I’ll be ready,” she promised.

  His gaze slid slowly, appreciatively over her face. “Good.”

  A footstep sounded from the stairwell higher above them. Marcus instantly dropped his hold on her arm and stepped away from her side just as Luke Stanbury came into view.

  The sight of Dominique and Marcus stopped him short, as though he’d not been expecting to find anyone in this lonely end of the castle. But he collected himself quickly and a bright smile instantly appeared on his face.

  “Well, hello,” he said to the two of them, then added with a chuckle. “I’m glad to see I’m not on a dead end and that people really do use this part of the castle.”

  Dominique smiled at her cousin. “Don’t worry, Luke. Most people who aren’t accustomed to the castle’s endless stairs and hallways easily get lost in all the twists and turns.”

  “Were you headed somewhere in particular?” Marcus asked him.

  The cool tone of Marcus’s question surprised Dominique, but Luke didn’t seem to notice. He continued to regard both of them with a friendly smile.

  “Down to the courtyard. To the gardens. Aunt Josephine tells me that a few of the flowers are starting to bloom now, so I thought I’d go have a look.”

  “What a coincidence,” Dominique told him amiably. “I was just going there myself. If you’d like to join me, I’ll show you the way.”

  The tall, dark-headed American stepped down eagerly and looped his arm through Dominique’s. “I’d be delighted. It’s not every day a man gets to be escorted by a beautiful princess.”

  Dominique glanced pointedly at Marcus. “I’ll see you later.”

  His only acknowledgment was a nod of his head, but as the two of them walked past him and on down the stairwell, Dominique could feel his gaze following her and Luke. She wondered what Marcus was thinking about. Her, or her American cousin?

  Later that evening, Dominique was in her bedroom dressing for her approaching dinner with Marcus when she heard voices in the outer room. Moments later, a knock sounded on the doorjamb and she glanced away from the mirror to see her sister standing in the open doorway. Like their brother, Isabel was tall with dark hair. She’d always been an independent, take-charge sort of person. Dominique had always admired her and looked up to her. And she desperately hoped when Isabel found out about the coming baby, she wouldn’t condemn her.

  “Well, don’t you look pretty!” she exclaimed.

  Dominique glanced down at the dress she’d chosen to wear. It was a loosely fitted sheath that stopped just at the top of her knees. The outer layer was concocted of sheer chiffon splashed with pale pink roses. Beneath the overlay of flowers, a darker dusky pink crepe clung more closely to the curves of her body.

  “Thank you,” she said, then gestured nervously to her dress. “You don’t think this is a bit too much for a casual dinner, do you?” She looked up, giving her sister a helpless smile. “I’ve never had your sense of taste.”

  Scoffing at Dominique’s words with a wave of her hand, Isabel stepped into the room. “You look perfect. And I’d say your tastes are extremely good,” she added with a smile. “Prudence tells me you have a dinner date with Marcus.”

  Dominique groaned. “Prudence has a loose tongue. It’s hardly a dinner date! We’re just friends.”

  “Well, whatever it is, I’m glad you’re getting out of this suite. That’s the reason I’m here, actually,” Isabel explained. “To force you to have dinner with the family tonight. But you already have something much better to do. So I’m going to leave and let you finish getting ready.”

  Isabel started out of t
he room and Dominique turned back to her reflection in the mirror. Then before her sister could step through the door, she called to her.

  “Isabel, do you think I should wear my hair up? Like this?” Hurriedly, she twisted the heavy tresses into the semblance of a French twist at the back of her head.

  Tilting her head to one side, Isabel studied her thoughtfully from one angle, then another. Eventually, she shook her head. “Leave it down. The twist is pretty, but it makes you look older.”

  With a little wave of her hand, Isabel left the bedroom.

  Smiling to herself, Dominique reached for a box of hairpins and went to work pinning up her golden-brown mane.

  Marcus called for her promptly at seven and declined to have a drink before they left Dominique’s suite.

  “Dinner is all ready and waiting for us,” he explained. With a hand at her back, he guided her across a wide corridor and to the first stairwell that would lead them down to the palace grounds.

  “Is your car parked in the courtyard?” Dominique asked as they descended the curving stone steps.

  “No. I didn’t bring the car around. I thought we’d walk. Will your shawl be enough wrap?”

  She glanced at him with comiclike confusion. “You mean we’re going to walk all the way into town?”

  He chuckled. “No. I thought I explained. Maybe I didn’t. Luke interrupted us and I guess I didn’t have the chance to tell you we’d be having dinner at my apartment.”

  His apartment! All along she’d pictured them going to one of the more elite restaurants in Old Stanbury. She’d certainly not imagined anything so…private. Dear Lord, how was she going to keep her mind off him without anyone around to distract her. Especially with the way he looked tonight in a crisp white shirt, gray paisley tie and charcoal-colored trousers. His jet-black hair was brushed back from his face and, even in the darkness, glistened like a raven’s wing.

  “Oh,” she murmured. “I didn’t realize.”

  He glanced down at her at the same time he took a light hold on her arm. He’d never seen her looking more beautiful, he realized. The glow of her smooth, creamy skin was enhanced by the pink color of her dress. The upsweep of her hair revealed her long, slender neck. A single emerald nestled in the hollow of her throat and dangled from her earlobes. With each step they took across the palace grounds toward his apartment, he wondered how he was going to keep his hands off her.

  “That is agreeable with you, isn’t it?” he asked, half hoping she would demand he take her somewhere more public. Someplace he wouldn’t be tempted to make love to her. But Marcus wasn’t sure there was such a place. Just looking at Dominique strained his self-control. “I wanted us to have our privacy. But we could drive into town if you’d prefer.”

  Anticipation slithered down her spine, but whether it was from his touch or his words, Dominique wasn’t sure. The one thing she did know was that she was definitely going to have to keep a firm grip on herself tonight. Or Marcus was going to read her like an open book with full illustrations.

  “Of course your apartment is fine,” she told him. “But I was expecting us to go somewhere more public.”

  By now they had descended to the bottom floor of the castle. Marcus opened a heavy wooden door bearing the Stanbury crest and Dominique proceeded him outside of the building.

  Before King Michael’s accident there would have been only one royal guard standing duty outside the castle exit. But minutes after the family had been alerted of the car crash, Marcus had advised Nicholas to increase security twofold. At least until it was proven that the accident was just an accident and nothing more. Therefore, tonight there were two guards to watch the comings and goings of this particular castle door.

  Nicholas and the whole family still considered Marcus’s order a bit overprotective. In their opinion, the king had died in an automobile crash. There was no reason to suspect that any of the Stanburys were in jeopardy from outside forces. But as for Dominique, the sight of the extra guards was welcomed anyway.

  Behind her, Marcus watched one of the guards close the door, then returning his hold on her arm, he began to guide her down a stone walkway. Both sides were bordered with carefully sculpted waist-high hedgerows and lit with softly glowing footlights. The night was clear. Stars twinkled in the inky sky while far to the east a crescent moon hung out over the sea.

  Her sigh was silent as his arm slipped around the back of her waist.

  “I apologize, Dominique. You must have been looking forward to dinner at a nice restaurant. But what I have to say to you can’t be said in public.”

  His comment left her wordless and the two of them walked the remaining distance to his apartment in silence.

  A few minutes later, inside Marcus’s cozy living room, Dominique handed him her chiffon shawl and gazed around her with open interest.

  “Is this where you lived while you and Liza were married?” she asked frankly.

  “No,” he answered. “We had a bigger apartment in town.”

  She was glad Liza hadn’t lived within these walls, she realized. The knowledge of another woman sharing this small home with Marcus would have made her uncomfortable. Probably even jealous. Though she had no right to be.

  He put her light wrap away in a small nearby closet, then came back to where she was standing in the middle of the room.

  “Would you like to have a drink before we eat?” he asked.

  The apartment was very quiet. So quiet that Dominique could hear the old German clock on the wall ticking with each swing of the pendulum and the crackle of the burning logs in the fireplace.

  “A drink isn’t necessary,” she answered. “Because of the baby I’ve forgone spirits, so it would have to be juice or milk anyway. But if you’d like a cocktail, please, go ahead.” She glanced curiously toward an open doorway that she suspected would lead into the kitchen. “Is there—do you have help waiting to serve us?”

  He grinned at her question. “I’m our waiter tonight. I do have a cook and maid, but I let them go earlier this evening.”

  When he’d said private, he’d meant private in every sense of the word, Dominique thought. Apparently he didn’t want anyone overhearing them discuss her father’s accident or the coming baby.

  Her faint laugh was full of disbelief as she gazed pointedly around at the walls and floors. “Do you think we should check the place for wires or bugs of some sort?”

  Marcus couldn’t scold her for making light of the situation. It was the first time he’d heard her laugh in a long time and the sound filled him with unexplained pleasure. Last night, when she’d sobbed openly in his arms, he’d felt his own heart break. He wanted her to be happy. He wanted that more than he had ever wanted anything for himself.

  “I’ve had the whole place swept for electronical devices,” he teased. “So I can safely say we can eat in the dining room or in here by the fire. Take your pick.”

  She glanced at the cheerful fire and the glow of pleasure in her green eyes gave Marcus his answer. He led her over to a small square table and two chairs positioned to one side of the brick hearth.

  “You sit and I’ll bring everything in,” he said as he helped her into one of the padded wooden chairs.

  Dominique’s soft chuckle drifted up to him and he smiled in spite of everything that was on his mind.

  “Marcus, I’ve always thought of you as a government official, not a waiter.”

  “I have a few hidden talents,” he said jokingly, “but don’t worry—I didn’t do the cooking.”

  Moments later, he pushed in a cart loaded with everything they needed for their dinner. Crisp coleslaw, grilled snapper, baby sweet peas in white sauce, scalloped potatoes and thick buttered slices of sourdough bread.

  For once Dominique’s worries had left her appetite alone and she ate with hungry pleasure. Across the table, Marcus enjoyed watching her eat more than he enjoyed the food on his own plate.

  “I don’t suppose you heard anything new from the police to
day?” she asked once they’d gotten well into the meal.

  “I talked with the chief investigator this morning. The autopsy on the king’s driver is still ongoing. The authorities want to make sure no stone is left unturned. Every possible test is being done on Herbert’s remains.”

  “I realize I need to have more patience,” she conceded as she cut into a bite of flaky fish. “But not knowing about my father’s body, or about the whole accident, is so frustrating.”

  He nodded. “How was your walk with Luke this afternoon?”

  She shrugged. “He’s outwardly charming. But—”

  “On the inside?”

  She gave him a helpless smile. “I can’t really say. He only stayed in the garden about five minutes. And then he suddenly remembered he had something to do and headed back into the castle. So I really didn’t exchange that much conversation with the man. But from what little I have, he seems nice enough. So do Jake and Uncle Edward.”

  He sighed. “Yes, all three appear to be genuinely fond of your mother and she of them. But I still can’t forget the timing of their arrival in Old Stanbury. It doesn’t sit right with me.”

  Dominique agreed with Marcus. The chance of estranged relatives arriving at the same time as her father’s accident merely out of coincidence seemed incredible. Yet so far none of the American Stanburys had behaved out of line or suspiciously in any way. In fact, all three seemed quite eager to help with the investigation.

  “Did Father ever mention Uncle Edward to you?” she asked Marcus thoughtfully.

  “Now and then. I think it weighed on him that the two of them didn’t get along. King Michael considered his brother a wastrel, but I still got the impression that he loved him in spite of his failings.”

  “You could be right,” Dominique said. “But that doesn’t sound like Father. He always expected high standards from his family. Especially from his children.” She shook her head regretfully and reached for her water glass. “Like I said last night, I’m almost glad he can’t see me now.”

  When she placed the glass back down beside her plate, Marcus reached across the table and touched her hand. “Dominique, you and the baby are the main reason I wanted to talk to you privately tonight. Not about your father’s accident.”