Pregnant with a Royal Baby! (7 page)

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

D
OMINIC
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.

He probably shouldn’t have mentioned it. Her ability with them was so natural that if he hadn’t pointed it out to her, she would have used it without thought. But he liked talking to her and he liked it when they were getting along. Their natural connection would be what would make the charade work.

Then they’d had that moment of looking into each other’s eyes, and for twenty seconds he’d thought he wouldn’t be able to resist kissing her. But he
had
. He’d remembered his dad, the weakness that plagued him after Dom’s mother’s death. He knew he couldn’t afford a marriage with real emotion. And when he kissed her, he felt things he couldn’t define or describe. So he stepped back, away from a kiss he wanted, to prove he didn’t
need
it.

That should have made her happy. God knew it made him happy to see he could resist her. She should be happy, too. Instead, she was distant.

He left her after lunch and spent four grueling hours in parliament. Tired and somewhat disgusted, he returned to his palace apartment to find Sally and Joshua, the clothier, sitting on one sofa with Ginny alone on the sofa across from them. Though Sally was frustrated, Joshua looked to be the picture of patience as he ran down the benefits of a list of designers.

Ginny frowned. “I know what I like. I know what I look good in. It just seems so sterile to be picking a gown this way. I always imagined myself trying things on.”

Joshua smiled patiently. “Most women would kill for the chance to choose a designer to make a unique gown.”

Ginny only sighed and glanced at the photo array of designers and their creations.

Sally shook her head. “What difference does it make? For Pete’s sake. This wedding is just for show. It’s not real. The gown doesn’t have to reflect
you.
It just has to be beautiful. Something fit for a princess.”

Ginny finally noticed Dom standing in the foyer by the door, but she quickly looked away. Still, he’d seen the naked misery in her eyes.

She straightened her shoulders, as if seeing him reminded her of her duty to him, and she pointed at one of the photo arrays. “This one. I’d like this designer.”

Sally sighed with relief and rose. “We’ll contact him.”

Joshua rose, too. He bowed. “I am at your service.”

Sally said, “Good because she still has a wardrobe to choose. Two pair of jeans and a green dress with cardigan won’t be enough clothes for two days let alone over two years.”

Joshua on her heels, Sally headed for the white double doors. “You’ll be required to meet with Joshua again tomorrow afternoon, Ginny.”

“That’s Ms. Jones,” Dominic said, suddenly annoyed. “She may not be a princess yet. But she will be. And when she is she will be your boss.”

Sally quietly gasped and stepped back, but she quickly recovered. Bowing to Dominic, she said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Joshua all but quivered with fear. New to the palace, because the king and the two princes rarely required help in choosing suits or having them made, he glanced from Dom to Sally, wide-eyed.

Sally opened the door and left. Joshua scampered after her.

Ginny blew her breath out on a long sigh. “You shouldn’t have yelled at her. It wasn’t her fault that I’m having trouble choosing. And our time is running out. She’s right to be annoyed with me.”

He walked to the bar and poured himself a Scotch. “Oh, sweetie. You have so much to learn about being a princess.”

“I’m not going to be vapid and spoiled.”

“Of course, you’re not. But you can’t let staff belittle you.”

“As I said, she was right to be annoyed with me.”

“Again. No. You are the member of the royal family here. If you want to take until the day before the wedding to choose your dress, that’s what you do. Then
they
scramble.”

She laughed.

He sat beside her on the sofa. “So, are you really happy with the designer you chose?”

She shrugged. “He’s as good as any.”

He caught her chin and nudged her to face him. “As good as any isn’t good enough. I want you to be happy the day you get married. It may not be forever, but it’s your first wedding.”

“That’s what I keep thinking.”

“So what would you do if you were getting married for keeps?”

“I’d have a lot of pink roses.”

“What else?”

“My two friends would be bridesmaids.”

“You can have that.” He sipped his Scotch. “What else?”

“I don’t know. I always imagined my mom and me picking things out.” She peeked up at him. “She has great taste.”

He laughed. “Really?”

“Well, actually, we have about the same taste. But picking a gown is just something a girl wants to do with her mom. You know. Second opinion and all that.” She took a deep breath, blew it out, then looked Dom in the eye. “My picture is going to go around the world. I’d like for it to be a good one.”

He nodded. “That’s something I’m so accustomed to I forget that others aren’t.” He rose from the sofa. “I have a dinner meeting tonight that’s going to segue into a bigger meeting with several members of parliament. Why don’t you call your friends on Skype and invite them to be your bridesmaids?”

She looked up at him, her eyes round and blue and honest. She was one of the most naturally beautiful women he’d ever met. She was also being a much better sport about this marriage than a lot of women would be. She hadn’t asked for anything. She just did as she was told. And if she didn’t talk to him, maybe that was his fault? He’d told her not to expect a long, happy marriage. If she held herself back, maybe that’s what she felt she needed to do.

“Really? I can have bridesmaids?”

“As many as you want.” On impulse he bent down and kissed her cheek. “Would a wedding without bridesmaids really look authentic?”

She shook her head.

“So call them.”

* * *

Ginny watched Dom leave the sitting room and head for his bedroom suite, fighting that feeling again. Except this time, she named it. She wasn’t worried about liking him or even being attracted to him. What she was feeling—or maybe recognizing—was that he was a nice guy. A good person. She thanked God he’d reminded her that the wedding needed to “look” authentic to serve his purpose. Otherwise, she might have melted right there at his feet.

She could resist the solemn guy, the one who would be king someday, who wanted everything to be perfect. The other guy, the sweet one who tried to make her happy? That was the guy who had been staring at her in the elevator. The one she’d wanted to kiss. He was the one she had to watch out for.

She returned to her room, found her laptop and connected with her two best friends on Skype. They knew she was pregnant, of course. She’d gone to them for guidance. She’d also called them the day she’d fainted, when she’d agreed to marry Dom. They were not surprised to be receiving invitations to be bridesmaids.

That little piece of normalcy lifted her spirits. It wasn’t going to be a real marriage but it was going to be a real wedding, and she was going to look pretty and have her friends with her. They would keep her occupied the week before the big day. And, in a good mood, she’d be better able to look happy for the ceremony.

The next morning at breakfast, she showed her appreciation to Dominic by asking him how his meetings had gone the night before.

He winced. “There are one or two people who fear we are making an alliance with the United States by bringing you into the royal family.”

She laughed. When he didn’t, she said, “Really? Seriously? They think marrying a commoner from the United States is a lead-in to a treaty?”

“My brother will be marrying a woman as part of a treaty. Why would you be surprised our government is questioning my marriage?”

She shook her head and went back to her oatmeal. “I forget that your country looks at marriage differently.”

“It’s not really my country that looks at marriage differently. It’s the royal family and what’s expected of us. I’ll be spending weeks alleviating the fears of several members of parliament, assuring them that our marriage is not part of a big master plan.”

Taking a bite of oatmeal, she nodded. “I get it. It’s something you shouldn’t think you have to do, but you will. Just like I’ll be spending two hours with Sally’s staff today, learning how to curtsy.”

“I thought curtsying was out. Old school. Something nobody did anymore.”

“According to Sally’s morning memo, there are some small eastern European countries that still believe in it. I just hope we don’t run into any of those royal families when I’m big-as-a-house pregnant. I can’t imagine curtsying and balancing twenty-five pounds of stomach.”