Once Upon a King

by Holly Jacobs

  He moved toward her in slow motion. Easy, as if he if thought she might bolt.

  Cara could have told him that there was no way she could move even if she wanted to. She knew she should want to, but she wasn’t sure she did.

  “Cara mia,” he murmured just before his lips touched hers.

  The same jolt that had shaken her from her usual staid manner three months ago hit her again. It zapped every ounce of common sense from her brain. That had to be why, rather than pulling away, she stepped into his embrace.

  It had to be the explanation for her arms wrapping around his neck of their own volition.

  It had to be why she was the one to deepen the kiss, the one to pull him closer, the one to hold on as if she never wanted to let go.

  That jolt had burned her synapses and her brain could no longer control her body.

  Michael was the one to break off the kiss. He was back to studying her again. His index finger brushed against her lips.

  “Do you still maintain there’s nothing between us?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

  Cara didn’t know how to answer. She’d fibbed to him about that night, and thought she’d done a pretty good job of it, but lying now would only make her look absurd. So she ignored the question and simply said, “Good night, Michael.” She held the door open for him.

  “But Cara—”

  She didn’t allow him to finish his but Cara. Instead she repeated, “Good night.”

  He sighed and walked from the room. “You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me after you kissed me like that. There’s still something there, and I think it’s getting bigger.”

  Cara shut the door and sighed her relief, knowing it was just a temporary respite.

  The only thing they had between them was a baby, and Michael was right, it was getting bigger. Soon she wouldn’t be able to hide it anymore.

  Truth be told, she didn’t want to hide it.

  Even though Michael being a prince complicated things more than they already were, it didn’t alter the fact that Cara wanted this baby. She loved it. And she couldn’t wait to share the news with her friends.

  But first she had to share the news with Michael.

  Less than three more weeks, she told herself firmly. All she had to do was hang in until after the wedding, then she could go home to her normal life.

  Her hand rested on her stomach. Maybe not so normal.

  Her mind was far too muddled to figure out anything tonight.

  Maybe tomorrow, things would be clearer.

  Michael felt buoyed by his success. Not only had he kissed Cara, she’d kissed him back. No one could fake that kind of desire.

  She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  So why was she holding back?

  Marstel startled Michael from his thoughts. “How did it go?”

  “I finally talked to her…alone.”

  Rather than being sympathetic to his plight, his friend laughed. “The great Prince Michael, reduced to cornering women. What is the world coming to?”

  “It’s not funny, Marstel,” Michael said, warning in his voice.

  Marstel didn’t have a warning meter. He never knew when he was pushing the limits.

  “Actually it is quite funny,” he assured Michael. “I didn’t laugh at all when you spent three months looking for your mystery woman, so I feel I’m allowed a couple chuckles now that you found her and she’s making you work for it.”

  “Some friend.”

  “Do you want to go over your schedule?”

  Michael didn’t think he could concentrate on anything but Cara. “Later maybe?”

  They walked in companionable silence for a minute, then Marstel asked, “Is she still mad that you left her?”

  “I didn’t leave her, she left me.” Michael shook his head. “No, that’s not fair either. Our losing each other was a mix-up.”

  “So now that you’ve found each other, why aren’t you unmixing?”

  “Things are even worse. I don’t know why she’s trying to deny what’s between us, but I know things will straighten themselves out eventually. She might not want to admit it, but she’s my destiny.”

  “The question is,” Marstel said quietly, “are you her destiny? She doesn’t seem to think so.”

  “She’s wrong.”

  They walked without saying anything more for a while longer, then Marstel suddenly blurted out, “She might think you’re not her destiny, but she watches you all the time.”

  “All what time?” Michael asked.

  “At dinner. Every night.”

  “She doesn’t watch me, she just talks wedding plans with my mother and visits with the ambassador.”

  “She looks, all right,” Marstel assured him. “Whenever you’re not looking she’s watching you with the intensity of someone on a diet looking at a piece of chocolate cake.”

  Michael laughed. Marstel’s current girlfriend was continually dieting, and they’d all seen her chocolate-hungry look.

  “And,” Marstel continued, “there’s something in her eyes that makes me think she feels more for you than she wants to let on.”

  “Why would she try to hide it?”

  Marstel shrugged. “You can be sure I don’t understand women. I don’t even try.”

  “No, you simply pack up and move on when things get tough.”

  “That’s right,” Marstel said with a nod. “And if I were talking to anyone but you, I’d suggest you do the same.”

  “But you wouldn’t suggest it to me? Why?” Michael asked.

  “Because you’re an arrogant prince who doesn’t listen to anybody’s advice but your own.”

  Marstel had known him a long time, but obviously didn’t know him as well as he thought he did. “You’re wrong. I listen to suggestions all day.”

  “Ah,” Marstel murmured, nodding his head. “Suggestions and advice for the country. But not for your personal life.”

  “I—” Michael knew he couldn’t argue.

  Marstel had been suggesting, not so subtly, that he give up the search for his mystery woman since he’d started it. But Michael knew that he was meant to be with Cara. No one could have talked him out of it.

  There was no arguing with the fact, so he didn’t even try. And he was saved from changing the subject when his mobile rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the caller ID.

  “I have to take this,” he said.

  “Saved by the bell,” Marstel said, grinning as he gave a wave and walked down the hall.

  “Hello,” Michael said to Jace, his future brother-in-law and private investigator.

  “I got your message about calling off the search. Are you sure?”

  “Positive,” Michael said.

  For a moment he thought about telling Jace that he’d found his Cara, but he decided to hold off for a while. This prickly Cara was trying to run from what they had. He wouldn’t give her another reason to avoid him by telling her friends and annoying her.

  “I’m sorry,” Jace said. “Are you going to be okay? I know how much this meant to you.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Michael assured him. They continued to talk about this and that, and Michael realized he was right. He’d be fine as soon as he could convince Cara that they were destined for one another.

  Four

  “So, young lady, why the long face?”

  Cara jumped at the sound of a voice. She’d thought she’d found the perfect hiding place. A little sitting nook, tucked in a seldom-used corridor. She’d been trying to avoid Michael since that kiss a few days ago. Thankfully, it wasn’t Michael who’d discovered her, but Ambassador McClinnon.

  “I’m fine, sir. How was your day?”

  He took a seat across from her. “Paul and I went fishing this morning. He doesn’t relax enough. When I visit I’m under the queen’s orders to see to it he does. Anna might not have been born a royal, but she does have the regal command mastered.”

  “And did it work today?
” she asked.

  She loved Parker’s parents. They were hardworking advocates for Eliason.

  “He didn’t catch a gol-darned thing, but he did spend a lot of time laughing, so I’m thinking it did.”

  Every now and again a hint of the ambassador’s southern roots slipped into his voice.

  “Garn-darned?” she asked, smiling at the term.

  He chuckled. “Sometimes there aren’t any swearwords like the ones of your youth.”

  Cara looked up from the seating chart she was working on.

  Actually reworking.

  She’d come up with a version based on Shey and Parker’s suggestions, and now was trying to incorporate the queen’s personal assistant Esme’s suggestions as well. She felt like she was walking a tightrope, trying to keep everyone happy.

  “Did you know that you can’t sit Parker’s godmother near her great-uncle Sven because back in the day they had a fling?” she asked.

  He smiled warmly. “The heart is a fickle thing. It can carry a torch or carry a grudge for decades. Love and hate, it’s a fine line.”

  “I can’t imagine carrying a grudge against anyone I loved.”

  “Then you’re a rare lady,” he said with a wistful note in his voice.

  “You can imagine someone who can?”

  “Let me tell you a little story. When I was more than a bit younger, there was this girl at home. I fell in love with her in kindergarten. We got caught snitching cookies and sat in the corner together. I couldn’t imagine a life without her. She was my everything.”

  The ambassador got lost for a moment in the memory of his girl.

  “What happened?” Cara finally asked.

  “We had a volatile relationship all through school. We fought, we made up. The making up was especially sweet. One time after a fight, she was working a kissing booth and I paid to kiss her…. Oh, how we made up that time.”

  Lightly his finger brushed his lip, as if he could remember the feel of that kiss all these years later.

  “Where is she now?” Cara asked.

  “One fight, we didn’t make up. I was waiting for her to apologize. I guess she was waiting for me to, as well. All I know is one day she was gone and it was too late. I left and went to graduate school and her family all moved away. I came home and she was gone.”

  He paused a moment. “How on earth did I start talking about Pearly?”

  “Pearly?” Cara asked weakly.

  Cara’s bookstore back in Erie, Pennsylvania, was located on Perry Square. Right across the park there was a beauty salon, Snips and Snaps, where the square’s version of a town crier, Pearly Gates, worked.

  The ambassador’s Pearly couldn’t be the same one. But for the life of her, Cara couldn’t imagine two Pearlys roaming the U.S.

  “Pearly Gates. Oh, that girl was a pistol. Kept a fella on his toes. She’s probably long since married, with a house full of kids and grandkids. Pearly was the type who needed a family.”

  “Pearly Gates?” she murmured more to herself than to the ambassador.

  “I know, it’s an unusual name. She used to say her mama named her Pearly Gates to remind herself that her daughter came from heaven. Her mama, and the rest of the world, needed the reminder because Pearly had a bit of the devil in her.”

  Cara’s suspicion was confirmed.

  She’d heard Pearly tell that very story. Pearly’s childhood sweetheart here in Eliason…Who would have thought?

  But Cara knew that the ambassador was wrong. Pearly had never married, never had that house full of kids and grandkids. But she did have a family. A large extended one that encompassed all of Perry Square. Pearly was truly the square’s heart.

  “She sounds like something special,” Cara said. More than sounded. Cara knew firsthand just how special Pearly was.

  And she was coming to Eliason for the wedding.

  Cara thought about telling the ambassador, but decided against it. She’d let them both be surprised.

  “Oh, she was special,” he said, wistfully. “I’ve often wondered where she is now. Her whole family scattered to the four corners of the earth it seems.”

  “And here you are in Eliason, the friend of a king.”

  “Yes, it sometimes still feels surreal. Back then I was just Buster McClinnon and I planned on being with Pearly forever.”

  He suddenly gave himself a little shake and stood. “I apologize. You were sitting enjoying a quiet space to work in, and I came and interrupted with an old man’s remembrances.”

  “It’s too bad all my interruptions weren’t as pleasant,” Cara assured him.

  “Forgive my interference, but I wondered if you needed any assistance.”

  “I’ll figure this seating chart out, but thanks.”

  “Not with that, with Michael. I’ve noticed you playing hide-and-seek with the prince.”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” she said as a sinking feeling hit her. If Ambassador McClinnon had noticed, then who else noticed?

  “Your secret’s safe with me. I think everyone else is so wrapped up in the wedding plans that they haven’t seen that something’s going on between the two of you.”

  Before she could deny it, he said, “And there is something. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not right now, but thank you.”

  “Any time my dear. Any time.” The ambassador slowly walked away, and Cara thought she heard him murmur, Pearly.

  Cara didn’t want to think about what the ambassador had said. She wasn’t even sure how they’d moved from discussing seating charts to love.

  The ability to turn a conversation…Pearly Gates had it as well.

  It was easier to think about reuniting Pearly and the ambassador at the wedding than to think about her problems. So she made a quick call to Parker, filled her in on the wedding plans and then on finding Pearly’s love.

  “I’ve known Ambassador McClinnon all my life. You’re sure he meant our Pearly?”

  “Positive. There couldn’t be two Pearly Gates in the country.”

  “In the whole world,” Parker added.

  They both laughed and then Parker launched into one of her Jace-itis attacks. She gushed and raved about her fiancé, about their plans. Cara had learned just to let the attacks run their course. An occasional oh, or really was all it took to keep Parker going.

  Shey was known to have Tanner-itis on occasion, but she didn’t seem to gush nearly as much as Parker. But the fact that Shey gushed at all showed the true depth of her feelings.

  “Oh, hey, Jace is here,” Parker said. “I’ve got to run.”

  “No problem. Just wanted to let you know about Pearly and keep you up-to-date on the plans.”

  “Thanks, Cara. Not just for the call, but for everything.”

  “You know I’d do anything for you and Shey.”

  “The feeling’s mutual,” Parker said.

  Cara had tears in her eyes as she hung up. She’d read that pregnant women were more emotional, but she’d never expected this.

  She wiped her face and started gathering up her papers.

  “Cara mia, what’s wrong?”

  “Oh, jeez. You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.” She jumped to her feet, wiped at her eyes again and tried to do a circumspect sniff.

  So much for her quiet hideaway. Tomorrow she’d have to hunt a new one out.

  That was the good thing about the castle—there were a lot of nooks and crannies.

  “I didn’t sneak,” he said. “A prince never sneaks. You were just too preoccupied with your crying to hear me approach.”

  “I wasn’t crying.”

  He trailed a finger down her left cheek and held it out for her to inspect. It was obviously damp.

  “My eyes were watering,” she said. “Allergies, I think.”

  “What are you allergic to?” he asked, not appearing to believe her.

  “Princes.”

  Oh, that was good. She was keeping track of all her best comeback
s to share with Shey. She was doing her friend proud.

  “Really?” Michael asked. “You didn’t seem allergic when I did this….”

  Cara knew what he was going to do, just like she knew she should run. But she simply stood there and waited, a shot of anticipation coursing through her body as he pulled her into his arms.

  “Not allergies,” he whispered softly against her neck. “I wish you’d tell me what’s wrong. If it’s possible, I’ll fix it.”

  “I don’t need anyone to fix my problems.” First Parker, now Michael. “I’m an adult, and I’m totally capable of addressing my own problems. The only thing I need right now is a good allergy pill.”

  “Cara mia.” That’s all he said, just that absurd pet name she’d found so endearing that first night and now grated on her every last nerve.

  Okay, so maybe it didn’t always grate as much as it should. Right now, as a matter of fact, it felt sort of sweet.

  He kissed her softly on the cheek, and, needing to put some space between them, she took a step back.

  The kiss, rather than comforting her, only left her hungry for more.

  He grabbed her arm softly and held her in place, then pulled her gently toward him. She could have pulled away, should have, but she didn’t.

  “Cara mia,” he murmured as his lips touched hers.

  This kiss didn’t have the hunger the other one had. It was soft and spoke of understanding and empathy.

  It melted the last of Cara’s resistance.

  She wanted this man even though she knew it was too soon to feel anything but a superficial attraction. She knew it in her head, but couldn’t seem to convince her heart of anything but the fact she wanted him. Wanted him with a growing passion she didn’t know how to extinguish.

  As if it knew, the baby fluttered again.

  Just a small brush, as soft as Cara imagined a butterfly’s wings would be. She pulled back from Michael and her hand flew to her stomach.

  For a moment she almost reached for Michael’s hand, to place it on the baby…their baby. But that moment was fleeting and she remembered he didn’t know yet.

  “Cara?” he asked, staring at her—studying her. This time it was far more intense than it ever had been before.