Her heart thumped. She tried to imagine herself resisting that smile, that charm—
Actually, he hadn’t been all that charming in this chat, except when it suited him. That was the curse of getting involved with someone she didn’t know. She’d met and made love with Prince Charming. She had no idea who the real Prince Dominic was. What if he was like her dad? Only pulling out the charm to get what he wanted?
Oh. No brainer. She could resist that like sour wine at a bad dance club.
“Ginny, this relationship can go any way you want.” And the stoic, respectable prince was back. “Behind the walls of this palace we can be as distant or as intimate as you wish. But make no mistake. If you marry me, it’s temporary. Don’t get stars in your eyes. Don’t get any big ideas. This marriage will not become permanent. I had been promised to a princess as part of a treaty and that was what I wanted. A marriage that meant something, accomplished something. A real marriage doesn’t work in my world. So this little arrangement will not turn permanent. You need to know that, too, before you decide.”
Copyright © 2016 by Linda Susan Meier
ISBN-13: 9781488002922
Saved by the CEO
Copyright © 2016 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Barbara Wallace for her contribution to The Vineyards of Calanetti series.
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Marrying for the baby’s sake
Prince Dominic Sancho has always lived up to his family’s royal expectations. Until one irresistibly spontaneous night with teacher Ginny Jones has dramatic repercussions—she’s now carrying the next heir to Xaviera’s throne! There’s only one solution—a royal wedding…
A marriage of convenience is Ginny’s worst nightmare, but for their baby’s sake, she says “I do.” And as the royal couple jet off on their honeymoon, she begins to realize that beneath the royal etiquette, Dominic is a daddy—and loving husband—in the making!
The Princes of Xaviera
Two princes, conveniently wed!
You are cordially invited to celebrate the weddings of Xaviera’s most eligible princes...
When Prince Dominic spends one night with Ginny Jones, it comes at a price...a marriage of convenience in order to claim his heir!
Pregnant with a Royal Baby!
Available February 2016
Prince Alex always believed royal rules were made to be broken, but when his royal duty comes calling, it’s time for Alex to meet his princess—and wife-to-be!
Coming soon!
For better or for worse, these gorgeous princes are about to claim their brides!
Dear Reader,
From the moment I wrote the first scene of Dom and Ginny’s book, Pregnant with a Royal Baby!, I knew this couple was magic. On the outside, they looked like ordinary people. Ginny loved her mom, loved her job and was making a normal life for herself. Dom had spent his thirty years preparing to become a king. Nothing could or would keep him from his carefully planned destiny.
Except a baby. LOL
Babies have a way of changing everything. Dom and Ginny discover this as the pregnancy that forces them to marry slowly becomes a baby to them—a person, a little life they’d created and needed to protect—and the tie that binds them is no longer duty, but love.
Dom and Ginny’s journey was one of the most fun, most unexpectedly emotional stories that I’ve ever written. I know you’ll love this couple and this story as much as I did writing it.
Susan Meier
PREGNANT WITH A ROYAL BABY!
Susan Meier
Susan Meier is an author of over fifty books for Harlequin. The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter was a RITA® Award finalist, and Nanny for the Millionaire’s Twins won the Book Buyer’s Best award and was a finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Awards. She is married and has three children. One of eleven children, she loves to write about the complexity of families and totally believes in the power of love.
Books by Susan Meier
Harlequin Romance
The Vineyards of Calanetti
A Bride for the Italian Boss
Mothers in a Million
A Father for Her Triplets
The Larkville Legacy
The Billionaire’s Baby SOS
First Time Dads!
The Tycoon’s Secret Daughter
Nanny for the Millionaire’s Twins
Kisses on Her Christmas List
Single Dad’s Christmas Miracle
Daring to Trust the Boss
The Twelve Dates of Christmas
Her Brooding Italian Boss
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
To my own Prince Charming, and our marriage, a journey of ups and downs that surprises me every day. Usually in a good way. :)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
WHEN THE DOORBELL to her condo rang, Virginia Jones, Ginny for short, had just gotten out of the shower after a long, long day at Jefferson High School in Terra Mas, Texas. Her school was the last on a list of places Prince Dominic Sancho of Xaviera, a small island country between Spain and Algeria, was visiting on a goodwill tour. As guidance counselor, she’d shown him the school and introduced him to staff, then herded the kids into the gymnasium, where he’d given an hour-long talk on global economics: how the world was a much smaller place than it had been before the internet.
She’d loved the talk, but she’d liked looking at Prince Dominic even more. Tall and broad shouldered, he filled out the formal uniform of his royalty like a man meant to be a king. His dark eyes sparkled with amusement at the antics of “her” kids. His full lips had never stopped smiling.
If it were permitted for grown women to swoon, she would have made a fool of herself with him that afternoon. As it was, common sense had kept her professional. And now she was tired. Not up for a visitor.
Her doorbell rang again.
She gave her glass of wine a longing look before she rose from her sofa.
“I’m coming.” She said it just as she reached the door. Going up on tiptoes, she peeked through the peephole. When she saw Prince Dominic, she gasped and jumped back.
Her doorbell rang again.
She peered down at her sweatpants and tank top, ran a hand along her still-wet long blond hair and knew this would go down in the annals of her life as one of her most embarrassing moments.
With no choice, she pasted a smile on her face and opened the door.
He laughed. “
I caught you at a bad time.”
“Unfortunately.” Just looking at him made her heart speed up. He’d removed the royal uniform and replaced it with a lightweight white V-neck sweater and jeans. Not a hair of his shiny black curls was out of place. His dark eyes sparkled with amusement.
“You probably think all Americans are idiots.”
“No, I think the United States is a very comfortable country.” He paused long enough to lift his perfect lips into a warm smile. “Are you going to invite me in?”
She motioned for him to come in with a wave of her hand and kept hyperventilation at bay only by a miracle of self-discipline. She had a prince entering her house. A good-looking, good-natured, good everything prince.
As she closed the door, he said, “I’d actually come here tonight to see if you’d like to have dinner with me.” He shrugged. “And show me your town.”
She had to work to keep her eyes from bugging. He wanted to take her out? Then she realized his request made sense. She’d shown him the school. Of course, she was the prime candidate to show him the town. He was not asking her out.
“Then I thought maybe we’d fly to Los Angeles and go to a club.”
She let her eyes bulge. Okay. He was asking her out. “You want to go clubbing?”
“Don’t you like to dance?”
Her heart tripped over itself in her chest. “I love to dance.”
He smiled. “Me, too. I’m afraid I don’t get to dance often, though. Duty supersedes fun. Please say you’ll come with me.”
“I’d love to.”
Though he was in jeans, he looked good enough to eat, so she slithered into her prettiest red party dress, put on her best makeup and slid into tall black sandals.
They had dinner at the local Italian restaurant, with his bodyguards unobtrusively eating at the tables beside theirs, then they actually got on his royal jet and flew to LA, where they’d danced until three. He should have dropped her off at her building lobby. Instead, he came up to her condo, and the few kisses they’d shared in his limo turned into passionate lovemaking. The best sex of her life. She’d kissed him goodbye at the door in her one and only fancy robe—which she’d retrieved from her closet when he made the call to his driver that he was ready. Then just when she was about to shower for school again, he called her.
“Thank you.”
The sweetness of his words caused her throat to tighten. Her voice was soft and breathless when she said, “You’re welcome.”
“I’m sorry we’ll never meet again.”
“Me, too.”
But in a way she wasn’t. She’d had a wonderful fairy-tale night with a prince, something she could hold in her heart forever. There would be no need to worry if he would be a good king or a bad king; no need to know if he did stupid things like hog the bathroom; no need to worry if the stress of his job would make him an alcoholic, as her dad had been. No need to know the real Prince Dominic Sancho.
There had been one glorious, wonderful night. No regrets and no worries about the future. The way she liked all her relationships.
They hung up on mutual sighs. In the process of setting her phone on her bedside table, she realized that because he’d called her, she had his number. She clicked a few buttons and when the digits came up caller ID said private line. She smiled. She didn’t just have his number she had his private number.
That pleased her enormously. If she ever got curious or lonely, she could call him...
Or not. Best to sit and stare at his number and imagine good things. Not bad. Never bad. She’d had enough bad in her life.
Knowing there was no time to sleep, she dressed for school, hugging her secret to herself. For two weeks she walked on a cloud of happiness, then one morning she woke and realized she hadn’t gotten her period, and she knew there really was a good reason to have his private number.
* * *
“Thank God our country isn’t like Britain used to be where the future king had to marry a virgin.”
Prince Dominic Sancho held back the anger that threatened to rise up in him. He’d been the perfect royal for nearly thirty years and one slip, one reckless night in America, had wiped all that away. His father might be angry, but it was his life plan that had been changed. In order to ensure the integrity of the line and the safety of his child, he had no choice but to marry Ginny Jones, a woman he didn’t know.
“Yes. Thank God I’m permitted to marry the mother of my child.”
“I was being facetious.” Short and bald, with a round belly, his father, the king of Xaviera, was an imposing, strict man. He hated mistakes. Couldn’t even tolerate slipups. Especially not from the son who was his successor.
“And I was being sarcastic.” It wasn’t often that he got smart with his father. In fact, he probably hadn’t done it more than five times in his entire life, including his teen years. But discovering a simple one-night stand had resulted in a pregnancy had pushed him over the edge. His brother was the king of playboys but did he ever suffer a consequence for his actions? No. Yet the first time Dom stepped out of line, he was punished.
“I’ve arranged for you and Ms. Jones to meet with the protocol officials whenever you’re ready. But no later than tomorrow morning.” King Ronaldo caught his gaze. “Prepare your bride.”
The insult in his father’s voice cut through Dom like a knife. He just barely succeeded in not sniping back.
He rose from his seat across from the ornate desk that was the seat of power for the king. He should have said, “Thank you for your time, Your Majesty.” A good prince would have done that. Instead he said, “I’ll get back to you.”
“See to it that this wedding is done right. I will not be so easy on you if you screw up again.”
He bowed and headed out of the room. I will not be so easy on you if you screw up again?
Anger coursed through him. He stifled it. His father was the king. Dominic was heir to the throne. He knew there were protocols and rules. He’d broken them. He deserved this.
Still...the penalty for one misstep was marriage?
Marriage.
After the way his father had fallen apart when his mother died, Dominic understood why his dad was careful, rigid now. His grief had been so intense that he hadn’t come out of his quarters for six weeks and in that time the country had begun to crumble. Parliament nearly took his crown, and, watching it all unfold, Dominic had promised himself he would never marry, never soften so much that a loss nearly destroyed him.
When an opportunity for a treaty had arisen, the price being his marriage to a princess of a country that had been an enemy for centuries, he’d thought why not? Not only was the feud between their kingdoms old enough that it was time to retire it, but also there’d be no real emotional ties in a marriage that was part of a treaty, and he’d get an heir who would be a prince in two countries. But now here he was. Forced to marry a woman he didn’t know, ruining his design for a double royal heir, because of his own carelessness.
His life plan really had gone to hell.
He sucked in a breath and walked to the back stairway that led to his private quarters, buying time before he had to talk to Ginny. If he was angry, he couldn’t imagine how she felt—
Unless she’d gotten pregnant deliberately?
The horribleness of the thought froze his blood, stopped his breathing, and he told himself to calm down. Too many things had to align for her to have orchestrated the pregnancy, including the fact that he was the one who had gone to her condo that night. And she’d been a cute mess. Wet hair. Sweatpants. She obviously hadn’t been planning on seeing him that night.
Reaching the top floor of the east wing of Xaviera’s palace, he strode in the direction of the white double doors with intricate scroll designs carved down the sides. The huge square “waiting” area between the top of the stairs and his apartment had scant furnishings, though the walls were adorned with art. Picasso. Rembrandt. Monet. Hidden treasures. Mostly for his viewing. Because that�
��s what his life was. Special. Honored. In spite of the awkward meeting with his father, he knew that he was different. Some day he would be a king.
The click of his heels echoed as he walked along the marble floor. When he reached the doors, he took both handles and opened them onto his home, his haven.
Virginia Jones rose from the tufted bench seat in what served as a foyer for his apartment. Medium height, with long yellow hair and the kind of body that tempts a man to do exactly what he had done the night he met her, Ginny was every man’s fantasy. When her striking blue eyes met his, he remembered how adorable she was at the Texas high school, a guidance counselor beloved by her students. He also remembered the hot little red dress she’d slipped into when he’d persuaded her to go clubbing with him. The dress had brought out the best of her figure, almost made him drool and turned him into a real live Prince Charming. Seducing her had been second nature. The sex had been amazing.
It seemed that was all he could think about when he looked at her. And now he was about to make her a princess.
“So?”
“So, my father and my kingdom wish for us to marry.”
Those bright blue eyes met his. “Wish?”
He motioned for her to follow him into his formal living room. More marble floors greeted them, except these were covered by rich red Oriental rugs. White sofas flanked a white marble fireplace. Red pillows gave the room some color. He gestured for Virginia to take a seat while he strode to the bar and grabbed the decanter of Scotch.
“Can I get you a drink?”
She gaped at him. “I’m pregnant.”
He winced. “Right.” He took a breath. “How about some orange juice?”
“I’m fine.” She held his gaze. “I’m more anxious to learn my fate than to pretend we’re having a tea party.”
He had no idea where the attitude had come from, but that was the truth of getting intimate with someone you didn’t know. She could be the Wicked Witch of the West, or a woman who wanted to save the whales, or a woman who had no loyalties at all, a woman who was lazy, crass or stupid, and he was stuck with her.
Harlequin Romance February 2016 Box Set Page 19
