He took a moment to obviously look at and appreciate her ass. “Yes, it’s very smart. And I can hardly wait to set my teeth on it.” Satisfied by the increased heat in her eyes, he continued with the tour. The upstairs consisted of one long hall with bedrooms left and right.
“When we stayed here in the summer, it was expected that we would make our own beds and tidy our own rooms. We did have some staff here, to cook and to take care of the rest of the cleaning. But my brother and sisters and I weren’t catered to while we stayed here. The first time proved a bit of a challenge. But after that, we looked forward to it.”
“This is nice. Homey. And I think it’s good you had to take care of yourself a bit.”
He didn’t know how well he was doing in trying to get her to see him as simply a man. But it had been important to him that she get to know this side of him first. This part of his life lay closer to his heart, his soul, than the other. And thinking that, he knew one other thing he could show her.
“Come, there’s one more thing I want to show you. We need to take the jeep. Don’t worry about Jamie. Andre will take good care of him until we return, and we will only be a few minutes.”
* * * *
He took her to a parcel of land.
Catharine looked out of the corner of her eye and couldn’t miss the pride in Philip’s expression.
“This is mine. When my mother married my father, this piece of land formed a part of her dowry. Her family had held it for generations, next to the Royal Country Estate.”
“Dowry?”
“Yes, I know it’s old-fashioned. As a matter of fact, the marriage of my parents ended up being the last to be handled in the ‘traditional sense’. Their union had been arranged by their parents, and had nothing to do with love. My brother Michael chose his own wife. He fell in love with Helene, and they are very happy together. No dowry, either. Anyway, this is mine, and I plan to build a home of my own here one day. Michael has to live the rest of his life in the palace, as he is the Crown Prince. I, however, am free to make other choices.”
“It’s very beautiful.” She could see where a house could sit, nestled at the edge of a glade of maples. A stream meandered along the back, just in sight. The field was green, dotted with wildflowers, and very pastoral. With no trouble at all she could imagine it, the house, large and welcoming, the yard with a garden or two, and a playground set, two or three children playing happily, waiting for their father to come home from work at the hospital.
Shaking her head to dispel the image, she shot him another look, this one critical. This land, a home of his own, this was his dream, and seemed an intensely personal thing to share. She needed to get them back on the let’s-keep-this-light track, and soon. The more she learned of this man, the more she liked him. Liking him was okay, and even essential to having sex with him. But she had no intention of allowing her emotions to evolve beyond anything more than simple liking.
“Tomorrow,” she said.
“Tomorrow?”
“As soon as you’re done at the hospital. Mom won’t mind watching Jamie. We can do it then.”
“It?”
“You asked me when I would let you have me. That’s my answer. We can plan now on a couple of hours, to start, with the possibility of extending it longer.”
She nodded her head, decision made. And if her announcement had sounded cold and callous, as if a business agreement had been reached, she told herself it was all for the best.
She only wished she could believe it.
Chapter 12
He needed advice, and he needed it now.
Getting out of his car at the base of the steps, Philip nodded to the young woman who curtsied, then got into the vehicle to drive it to the garage. Taking the steps two at a time, it didn’t surprise him when the door to the palace opened before he reached it.
The head of staff, Justin, bowed low. “Good evening, Your Highness.”
For once, Philip didn’t mind the man’s hovering presence.
“Good evening, Justin. Do you know where my brother is?” Silly question. Justin knew where every member of the family could be found during every minute of every day.
“Of course, Your Highness. His Royal Highness is in His Majesty’s study.”
“Thank you, Justin.”
“Would Your Highness care for any refreshments at this time?”
Years of familiarity with Justin’s mannerisms meant he understood the implied message. The majordomo was letting Philip know he was aware the he’d dined at the farm earlier. Justin’s proclivity for seeming to know every facet of his life was nothing short of scary. And he made a mental note then and there not to let the servant anywhere near Kate until he’d won her over completely.
“No, thank you, Justin.” His father kept a stash of brandy in his office. He might just break his no-drinking-the-night-before-work rule, this once.
His feet, encased in well-worn Nikes, made no sound as he walked the long corridor to the office wing. He could well remember, as a child, creeping down this same hallway to the large embossed door at the end, in search of his father when some nightmare or other had chased him from his bed. It had always been father, of course, whom he’d sought for comfort. That’s just the way it had been, what he’d been used to. But now he wondered what he’d missed by not having a warm and loving mother—the kind he’d seen as a doctor of young patients, and the kind he knew Kate to be.
The door to the king’s office had never seemed too imposing to Philip. And he knew despite never having known a loving mother, he’d been very lucky to have had a loving father.
He knocked once, then opened the door. Unlike the staff, family never stood on ceremony.
Michael sat behind the desk, phone to his ear. He looked up, smiled, and waved Philip into the room. “Thank you. Let me know as soon as that information becomes available.”
Philip sat down in front of the desk and nodded to the telephone his brother had just hung up and the file folder he’d closed. “You’re working late.”
“A few details I wanted to clean up. How are you doing? I’m sorry to hear about Corrine. I don’t envy you your career. I don’t believe I would be able to handle the loss of a child, even if it happened just once.”
Philip acknowledged Michael’s comment with a small shrug. He shouldn’t have been surprised that with all he had on his plate at the moment—acting as regent for their father—that Michael would think to offer sympathy. Corrine had been a six-year-old resident of the Royal Boisdemer Home for Children, and a particular favorite of Philip’s sister. Six months before, Corrine had been diagnosed with leukemia. Everyone, including the little girl, had fought hard. Philip knew he shouldn’t let the loss of a patient hurt him too deeply, but he hadn’t yet figured out how to hold his emotions in check. It seemed an odd thought, but he realized it had been Corrine’s passing that had led him to be at the farm yesterday, where he could meet Kate and Jamie. “That makes us equal. I’m very grateful not to have been born the eldest brother. Mind, I’d do my duty if I had to, but I’m very glad I don’t have to. I’ve not checked in with Sophie as often as I should have. How’s she doing?”
“She’s grieving, and determined not to let anyone know. I believe Rachel took her to lunch today to try and cheer her up. It’s not your job, little brother, to look after her.”
“It’s not a job, but a privilege.” Since Philip had just used one of their father’s most loved expressions, he’d expected his brother’s laugh when it came.
“Brandy?” Michael asked.
“No, just water, please.”
Only four years separated him and his brother, and those four years had never been much of an obstacle to their close relationship. The circumstances of their birth determined that they would have few other playmates. Their family circumstances united them, as boys, against the females of the clan. There existed no sense of competition between them. Philip was grateful for that now. It made asking advice easier.
His brother handed him a bottle of water, and said, “I understand that you’ve taken to stalking defenseless female tourists.”
“There’s absolutely nothing defenseless about Kate.”
Michael chuckled and, instead of resuming his seat in their father’s chair, took the one beside him. “You understand of course, that in my position as regent…” he let his words trail off.
“Yes, I thought you would know about her, and her son, by now. Especially since I asked our people at the resort for help. And then hosted the two of them at the farm, this evening.”
“It’s not in your nature to play games with women, especially if a child is involved, so may I assume that there’s something special about this particular lady?”
Philip opened his water and took a sip. “Yes. I actually came here tonight to speak with you about her. In a you’re-my-older-brother-and-you’re-married sort of way.”
Michael seemed to consider his glass before speaking. “You want advice from me on how to handle a woman? One word: carefully.”
“Smart ass.” Philip said dryly, then smiled when his brother’s eyes widened.
“A new expression. I think I like that one.”
“So do I. She’s afraid, my Kate, afraid to be serious. In her mind, we’re about to have a fling. Jamie’s father hurt her badly, and I think if we hadn’t met, she might have continued on pretending creatures called men didn’t exist. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I did think she’d softened toward me, that she felt something more than the physical. Then tonight she says yes, in such a way that it seemed as if I’d just made a business deal instead of an assignation.”
“I would remind you that I knew within moments of meeting Helene that she would be mine, so the time factor is nothing. Except if Kate has been as badly hurt as you say, it may take time for her to trust fully. Remember how formal Helene was even after we got married? The result of her regimented upbringing. It’s taken her a while to become at ease with the family.”
Philip smiled. “I remember.” Philip toyed with the cap of his water bottle before meeting his brother's eyes. “I thought I would give Papa a call. Speak to him about her. What do you think?”
He tried to read the expression on his brother’s face, but Michael had become better at hiding his emotions in the last few years. Philip blamed that rascal Peter, their chief of Royal Security and poker player extraordinaire.
“If your feelings for your Kate are serious, if you’re thinking marriage, then by all means, give him a call. He’s always there for all of us, he would be quick to remind us, whether he’s on vacation or not.”
Sound advice, Philip decided, even though his brother hadn’t bothered to tell him how to proceed with Kate. Nor, he acknowledged to himself in the next heartbeat, should he have.
“All right. Thanks, Michael. For listening.”
“I’m always happy to listen, Mon frere.”
Philip got up and headed toward the door. He wanted a nice hot shower and a good long sleep. He looked over his shoulder to wish his brother good night, and noticed he was staring over at the folder on their father’s desk.
“Is something wrong?”
Michael’s expression looked startled, as if he’d already forgotten Philip. “No. Nothing is wrong. Just a bit puzzling, is all. Nothing serious.”
Philip remained unconvinced, but he knew his brother. The man liked to hold things close to his vest.
“Don’t work too late.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Philip had to be content with that.
* * * *
For a long moment after the door closed, Michael stayed where he sat, glass of brandy in his hand. He sipped it slowly, appreciating the flavor and the subtle bite of the liquor.
If he had ever doubted the capriciousness of fate as it related to his family, he doubted no more. Slowly, he got up from his chair and wandered back to his father’s. Opening the folder front and center on the desk, he looked at the photograph of two women, a mother and a daughter, both smiling at a young boy. The picture had been taken that morning. The good thing—the only good thing he could think of at the moment—both women checked out, security-wise. Words on a page, the facts of a couple of lives etched on a few sheets of standard white paper, couldn’t give a feel for the subjects. But the fact that these women had captured the attention of two men he not only loved, but respected, told him they must be remarkable.
Michael’s pledge to his father had prevented him from mentioning the rather bizarre fact that Philip had become enamored of the daughter of the very woman their father was seeing. The fact that his brother had said nothing of the coincidence told him their father had still not revealed his identity to either of the Ms. Joneses.
“Can this situation become any more convoluted?” he asked out loud.
The phone rang and Michael chuckled, certain he would momentarily find out the answer to that question would be “yes.”
“Hello.”
He listened for a few moments, and then nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate your quick response. No, there’s no problem. Thank you again.”
Getting up from the desk, Michael wandered across the room, to the big bay window and the view of the city and the harbor that sprawled beneath the hill the palace had been built on. Knowing the geography as he did, his eyes tracked directly to the Villa. The situation, he thought, had just gone from the ridiculous to the sublime.
Heaving a sigh, he turned back to the desk and picked up the phone to place a long-distance call, and interrupt his best friend’s vacation.
* * * *
The next day, Catharine left the resort well ahead of schedule. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times she had left her son with her mother—or anyone—while she’d gone out for an evening. And of those few times, two had taken place in the last three days.
For convenience sake, as much as anything, she and Philip had decided to meet once again at the farm. Considering his identity, renting a hotel room would not be a good idea. Making out in a parked car somewhere didn’t even rate consideration. If she was going to do this thing, she would do it in a bed. A shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature rippled over her skin. Abruptly pulling the car onto the shoulder, she turned off the engine and got out.
The last time, she’d been a child in too much of a hurry to grow up, too needy for love to understand she’d been used. Until it was too late. They had a name for thirty-five-year-old men who seduced fifteen-year-old girls, and it wasn’t a nice one.
William had seemed so elegant, so powerful, but also so nice. She’d met him, of all places, at the library. He paid attention to her, bought her small presents, and made her feel important and wanted. She wasn’t completely without blame, or without knowledge. She knew the kisses and touches would lead to something more. She’d been a virgin, but she knew about sex. Or she thought she did. To her fifteen-year-old way of thinking, sex had been something grown-ups did in the dark of night behind closed doors. Something some of her friends at school had whispered and giggled about in the girls’ washroom between classes. And then sex became the price she decided to pay for the feeling of being cared about, and cared for, by an older man.
Now, she could look back and understand that just a few years after the death of her father, she’d been hurting and needy and vulnerable. Then, she thought the trade she’d made a good one.
In terms of what she had now—a loving and lovable son who was the light of her life—it had been a good deal. But in terms of what she’d lost, it had been devastating.
Rubbing her arms to ward of the chill that had descended upon her, she leaned against the hood of the car and stared at nothing.
She’d taken her lumps, and licked her wounds. She’d taken the jeers and the insults of her peers, and the adults who looked at her and had seen a whore. She weathered her pregnancy, determined to do the best job she could taking care of the life growing within
her, determined to keep the baby and be not just a mother, but the best mother she could be.
Her own mother had stood behind her, and for that she would be forever grateful. She’d labored and given birth with only her mother in attendance, and knew that although her baby would never have the love of the man who’d fathered him, he would have family.
Now here she stood, on the verge of taking her second lover. And it was going to be all right, she realized. There was no reason to deny herself the chance to have sex with a man who turned her on and turned her inside out. She hadn’t known him long, didn’t know him well, and would get on an airplane and leave him behind in eleven days. But what she intended to share with Philip wasn’t casual sex. There had been nothing casual about any of this.
Bolder, and bolstered, she got back in the car and set off to get laid.
Chapter 13
There she stood, waiting for him.
Philip took a moment to simply look at her. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
But he craved her above all others.
He knew she hadn’t heard him drive in, for he’d come the back way. But she sensed his presence now. Slowly, she turned to face him.
He’d been wrong. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Saying nothing, he went to her. His gaze locked with hers, and he took her hands and brought them to his lips. “I am so very glad you’re here.”
“I want to be here. With you. But…”
“Shhh. You don’t have to tell me you’re nervous. I can feel you trembling. If you’ve changed your mind, tell me now. I’ll understand. I may go and bang my head against a tree, but I will understand.”
Her laughter wasn’t as full as it might have been, but she did laugh. “I haven’t changed my mind. I’d decided that this time, I would be the seducer. Only, I’ve just realized I don’t know how.”
“Poor Kate,” he said softly, placing her hands on his shoulders, freeing his own hands to wander to her hips. He squeezed, gently, and urged her closer. He wondered if she knew how much she’d just revealed to him? Yes, she had given birth, but in many ways she remained virginal. And therefore deserving of every bit of care and tenderness he could give her.
Prince and Single Mom Page 9
