by Leanne Banks
“Impressive,” he said. “I bet your reschedules are going to be disappointed. Too bad,” he said without a trace of sympathy.
She laughed. “I’ll call you later,” she said and they hung up and her heart felt ten times lighter.
The following afternoon, Bridget relieved the backup nanny while the twins were sleeping. From previous experience, she knew her moments of silence were numbered. She used the time to prepare bottles and snacks for the boys.
Sure enough, the first cry sounded. She raced upstairs and opened the door. Travis was sitting up in his crib wearing a frowny face.
“Hello, sweet boy,” she whispered.
He paused mid-wail and stared at her wide-eyed.
“Hi,” she whispered and smiled.
Travis smiled and lifted his fingers to his mouth.
Bridget changed his diaper. Seconds later, Tyler awakened and began to babble. Tyler was the happier baby. He was a bit more fearful, but when he woke up, he didn’t start crying immediately.
Bridget wound Travis’s mobile and turned her attention to Tyler. She took each baby downstairs ready to put them in their high chairs. Snacks, bottles, books, Baby Einstein and finally Ryder arrived carrying a bottle of wine.
“How’s everybody?” he asked, his gaze skimming over her and the boys, then back to her. “Did they wear you out?”
“Not too much yet,” she said. “It helps to have a plan.”
He nodded. “With alternatives. I ordered Italian, not pizza. It should be delivered soon.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“I’m hoping to lure you into staying the night,” he said.
“Ha, ha,” she said. “The trouble with luring me after an afternoon with the twins is that I’ll be comatose by nine o’clock at the latest. I talked to your part-time sitter and she told me Suzanne will be out for a few more days. Is that true?”
He nodded. “She had laparoscopic surgery, so her recovery should be much easier than if she’d had an open appendectomy.”
“Then I think the next step is to get a list of your backup sitters and inform them of the situation and make a schedule for the children’s care. So if you don’t mind giving me your names and contact information, I can try to get it straight tomorrow.”
He blinked at her in amazement. “You’re deceptively incredible,” he said. “You give this impression of being lighthearted and maybe a little superficial. Then you turn around and volunteer to take care of my boys, recruit doctors for your country and make countless appearances.”
“Oooh, I like that. Deceptively incredible,” she said, a bit embarrassed by his flattery. “Many of us are underestimated. It can be a hindrance and a benefit. I try to find the benefit.”
Ryder leaned toward her, studying her face. “Have you always been underestimated?”
She considered his question for a moment, then nodded. “I think so. I’m number four out of six and female, so I think I got lost in the mix. I’m not sure my father ever really knew my name, and my mother was beginning to realize that her marriage to my father was not going to be a fairy tale.”
“Why not?”
“You must swear to never repeat this,” she said.
“I swear, although I’m not sure anyone I know would be interested,” he said.
“True enough,” she said. “My father was a total philanderer. Heaven knows, my mother tried. I mean, six children? She was a true soldier, though, and gave him two sons. Bless her.”
“So what do you want for yourself?” he asked. “You don’t want the kind of marriage your parents had.”
“Who would?” she said and took a deep breath. “I haven’t thought a lot about it. Whenever Stefan has brought up the idea of my marrying someone, I just start laughing and don’t stop. Infuriates the blazes out of him,” she said, and smiled.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he said.
His eyes felt as if they bored a hole through her brain, and Bridget realized one of the reasons she was drawn to Ryder was because she couldn’t fool him. It was both a source of frustration and relief.
“I’m still figuring it out. For a long time, I’ve enjoyed the notion of being the eccentric princess who lives in Italy most of the year and always has an Italian boyfriend as her escort.”
“Italian boyfriend,” he echoed, clearly not pleased.
“You have to agree, it’s the antithesis of my current life.”
“And I suspect this life wouldn’t include children,” he continued with a frown.
Feeling defensive, she bit her lip. “Admit it. The life you’d planned didn’t include children…at least for a long while, did it?” He hesitated.
“Be honest. I was,” she said.
“No,” he finally admitted. “But not because I was in Italy with an Italian girlfriend.”
“No, you were planning to do something more important. A career in medicine. Perfectly noble and worthy, but it would be hard to make a child a priority when you have the kind of passion you do for your career. A child would be…inconvenient.”
He took a deep breath. “We choose our careers for many reasons. I wanted to feel like I had the power to help, to cure, to make a difference. It was more important for me to feel as if I were accomplishing those goals than building a family life.” He shrugged. “My family life sucked.”
“There you go,” she said in complete agreement. “My family life sucked, too. In fact, I wanted to get so far away from it that I wanted to move to a different country.”
He chuckled. “So how is it that Princess Bridget is changing diapers and taking care of my twins?”
Bridget resisted the urge to squirm. “I won’t lie. I once thought children were a lot of trouble and not for me, but then I got a couple of adorable nieces. I still thought I wouldn’t want to deal with them for more than a couple hours at most with the nanny at hand to change diapers, of course.” She bit her lip. “But it’s just so different when they’re looking at you with those big eyes, helpless and needing you…. And it would just feel so terribly wrong not to take care of them.”
“And how do I fit into it?” he asked, dipping his head toward her.
“You are just an annoying distraction,” she said in a mockingly dismissive whisper.
“Well, at least I’m distracting,” he said and lowered his mouth to hers.
Bridget felt herself melt into the leather upholstery. She inhaled his masculine scent and went dizzy with want. He was the one thing she’d never had but always wanted and couldn’t get enough of. How could that be? She’d been exposed to everything and every kind of person, hadn’t she?
But Ryder was different.
She drew his tongue deeper into her mouth and slid her arms around his neck. Unable to stop herself, she wiggled against him and moaned. He groaned in approval, which jacked her up even more.
From some corner of her mind, she heard a sound.
“Eh.”
Pushing it aside, she continued to kiss Ryder.
“Eh.”
Bridget frowned, wondering….
“Wahhhhhhh.”
She reluctantly tore her mouth from Ryder’s. “The babies,” she murmured breathlessly, glancing down at Travis as he tuned up. The baby had fallen on his side and he couldn’t get back up.
“Yeah, I know,” Ryder said. “I’m starting to understand the concept of unrequited l—”
“Longing,” she finished for him because she couldn’t deal with Ryder saying the four-letter L word. It wasn’t possible.
“Bet there’s a dirty diaper involved,” Ryder muttered as he tilted Travis upright.
“Could be,” she said and couldn’t bring herself to offer to change it. She covered her laugh by clearing her throat. “I wouldn’t want to deprive you of your fatherly duty.”
He gave her a slow, sexy grin. “I’ll just bet you wouldn’t.”
“It’s an important bonding activity,” she said, trying to remain serious, but a giggle escaped.
“Can’t hold it against you too much,” he said. “You’ve been here all afternoon.”
Bridget rose to try to collect herself. Her emotions were all over the place. Walking to the downstairs powder room, she closed the door behind her and splashed water against her cheeks and throat. Sanity, she desperately needed sanity.
The doorbell rang and she returned as Ryder tossed the diaper into the trash before he answered the door. He paid the delivery man and turned around, and Bridget felt her heart dip once, twice, three times…. Adrenaline rushed through her, and she tried to remember a charming, gorgeous Italian man who had affected her this way. When had any man affected her this way?
Oh, heavens, she needed to get away from him. She felt like that superhero. What was his name? Superman. And Ryder was that substance guaranteed to weaken him. What was it? Started with a K…
“Smells good. Hope you like lasagna,” Ryder said.
“I can’t stay,” she said.
“What?” he asked, his brow furrowing.
“I can’t stay. I have work to do,” she said.
“What work?” he asked.
“Rescheduling my meetings and appearances. I also need to take care of the childcare arrangements for the twins.”
He walked slowly toward her, his gaze holding hers. She felt her stomach tumble with each of his steps. “You’re not leaving because you have work to do, are you?”
She lifted her chin. “I’m a royal. I always have work to do.”
He cupped her chin with his hand. “But the reason you’re leaving is not because of work, is it?”
Her breath hitched in her throat.
“You’re a chicken, aren’t you?” he said. “Princess Cluck Cluck.”
“That was rude,” she said.
“Cluck, cluck,” he said and pressed his mouth against hers.
After making the schedule for the twins’ care, Bridget paid her sister an overdue visit. Valentina had threatened to personally drag her away from Dallas if Bridget didn’t come to the ranch. Her sister burst down the steps to the porch as Bridget’s limo pulled into the drive.
“Thank goodness you’re finally here,” Tina said.
Bridget laughed as she embraced her sister. “You act like I’ve been gone for years.”
“I thought you would be spending far more time here, but you’ve been appearing at events, traveling to Chicago. And what’s this about you helping that physician with his twin babies? Haven’t you helped him enough?”
“It’s complicated,” Bridget said. “He’s had some childcare issues. I think they’re mostly resolved now.”
“Well, good. I think you’ve helped him quite enough. Now you can spend some time with me,” Tina said as she led Bridget into the house. “I have wonderful plans for us. Two aestheticians are coming to the ranch tomorrow to give massages and facials then we spend the afternoon at the lake.”
“Lake?” Bridget echoed. All she’d seen was dry land.
“It’s wonderful,” Tina reassured her. “The summer heat and humidity can get unbearable here. We have a pond with a swing, but we’re going to the lake because Zach got a new boat. Zach and one of his friends will be joining us tomorrow afternoon. Then we’ll have baby back ribs for dinner.”
Bridget’s antennae went up at the mention of Zach’s friend. “You’re not trying to set me up, are you?”
“Of course not. I just thought you’d enjoy some no-pressure male companionship. Troy is just a nice guy. He also happens to be good-looking and eligible. And if you two should hit it off, then you could live close to me and—” Tina paused and a guilty expression crossed her face. “Okay, it’s a little bit of a setup. But not too much,” she said quickly. “Troy and Zach are business associates, so we’ll have to drag them away from talk about the economy.”
Bridget’s mind automatically turned to Ryder. There was no reason for her to feel even vaguely committed to him. Her stomach tightened. What did that mean? she wondered. “I’m not really looking right now,” Bridget said.
“I know,” Tina said. “As soon as you take care of the doctor project, you’re off to Italy and part of that will include flirtations with any Italian man who grabs your fancy. But if someone here grabs your fancy…”
“Tina,” Bridget said in a warning voice.
“I hear you,” Tina said. “Let’s focus on your amazing niece.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ve missed the little sweetheart,” Bridget said as they walked into the kitchen.
“Missed her, but not me!” Tina said.
Bridget laughed. “I adore you. Why are you giving me such a hard time?”
Tina lifted her hand to Bridget’s face and looked deep into her gaze. “I don’t know. I worry about you. I wonder what’s going on inside you. You smile, you laugh, but there’s a darkness in your eyes.”
Bridget’s heart dipped at her sister’s sensitivity, then she deadpanned. “Maybe it’s my new eyeliner.”
Tina rolled her eyes. “You’re insufferable. I always said that about Stefan, but you’re the same, just in a different way.”
“I believe I’ve just been insulted,” Bridget said.
“You’ll get over it. Hildie made margaritas for us and she always makes doubles.”
Chapter Six
Bridget’s morning massage coupled with one of Hildie’s margaritas had turned her bones to butter. By the time she joined Tina, Zach and Troy on the boat, she was so relaxed that she could have gone to sleep for a good two hours. For politeness’ sake, she tried to stay awake, although she kept her dark sunglasses firmly in place to hide her drooping eyelids.
Troy Palmer was a lovely Texas gentleman, a bit bulkier than Ryder. Of course Ryder was so busy he rarely took time to eat. A server offered shrimp and lobster while they lounged on the boat.
“Nice ride,” Troy said to Zach.
Zach smiled as Tina leaned against his chest. “My wife thought I was crazy. She said I would be too busy.”
“Time will tell,” Tina said. “But if this makes you take a few more breaks, then I’m happy.”
“You’re not neglecting my sister, are you?” Bridget asked as she sipped a bottle of icy cold water.
Zach lifted a dark eyebrow. “There’s a fine line between being the companion and keeper of a princess.”
“I believe that’s what you Americans call baloney. You work because you must. It’s the kind of man you are. I love you for it,” Tina said. “But I also love the time we have together.”
Zach’s face softened. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”
Bridget cleared her throat. “We’re delighted that you love each other,” Bridget said. “But I’m going to have to dive overboard if we don’t change the subject.”
Tina giggled. “As you wish. Troy, tell us about your latest trip to Italy.”
“Italy?” Bridget echoed.
“I thought that might perk you up,” Tina said.
Troy shrugged his shoulders. “I go three or four times a year. Business, but I usually try to work in a trip to Florence.”
“Oh, Florence,” Bridget said longingly. “One of my favorite places in the world.”
Troy nodded. “Yeah, I also like to slip down to Capri every now and then…”
Bridget’s cell phone vibrated in the pocket of her cover-up draped over the side of her chair. She tried to ignore it, but wondered if Ryder was calling her. Dividing her attention between Troy’s discussion about Italy and thoughts of Ryder, she nodded even though she wasn’t hanging onto his every word. Her phone vibrated again and she was finding it difficult to concentrate.
She grabbed her cover-up and stood. “Please excuse me. I need to powder my nose.”
“To the right and downstairs,” Zach said. “And it’s small,” he warned.
“No problem,” she said cheerfully and walked around the corner. She lifted her phone to listen to her messages. As she listened, her heart sank. Tomorrow’s sitter was canceling. She was callin
g Bridget because Ryder was in surgery and unreachable.
Pacing at the other end of the boat, she tried the other backup sitters and came up empty. Reluctantly, she called Marshall who answered immediately.
“Marshall,” he said. “’Sup?”
“Hello, Marshall,” she said. “This is Bridget Devereaux.”
“The princess,” he said. Ryder had told her that Marshall had performed a web search and learned who she was. “Princess calling me. That’s cool.”
“Yes,” she said, moving toward the other end of the boat. “There’s some difficulty with sitting arrangements for Ryder’s boys tomorrow morning. I was hoping you could help me with a solution.”
“Tomorrow morning,” he said. “Whoa, that’s a busy day for me.”
“Yes, I’m so sorry. I would normally try to fill in, but I’m out of town at the moment,” she said.
“I might have a friend—”
“No,” she said. “As you know, Ryder is very particular about his backup sitters. He won’t leave the twins with just anyone.”
“True,” Marshall said. “Although I’m last on the list.”
Silence followed.
“I’m last on the list, aren’t I?” Marshall asked.
“Well, you’re an entrepreneur,” she managed. “Ryder knows you’re a busy man with many demands on your time.”
“Yeah,” Marshall said. “How much time does he need?”
“Five hours,” she said, wincing as she said it.
Marshall whistled. “That’s gonna be tough.”
“Let me see what I can do,” she said. “I’ll make some more calls.”
“If you can have someone cover things in the early morning, I could probably come in around ten.”
“Thank you so much. I’ll do my very best,” she said.
“Bridget,” Tina said from behind her.
“Bloody hell,” she muttered.
Marshall chuckled.
“To whom are you speaking?” Tina demanded.
“A friend,” Bridget said. “Forgive me, Marshall. My sister is after me.”
“Good luck. Keep me posted,” he said.
“Yes, I will,” she said and clicked off the phone. She turned to face her sister with a smile. “I’m just working out the timing of an appearance.”
