Reckless With Their Hearts

by Terri Anne Browning

  There had to be a good explanation! Her heart whispered while her brain went into survival mode and demanded that she run. Gritting her teeth she returned to the front of the pharmacy and purchased the magazine along with her vitamins.

  She was supposed to meet Sebastian for dinner at six. But it was barely three now. She needed to talk to him about the picture and his weekend. Feeling sick she left the Medical Plaza and let Benoit take her home. The Royal Guard kept shooting her concerned glances from the rear mirror and she knew that she must look frightening. But she ignored him.

  When she was finally home she rushed up to her room and put her vitamins away along with her pictures of her precious blob. She had wanted to wait and talk to Sebastian about the baby after she had seen the doctor. But now she was undecided on if it was the best time to bring it up.

  She showered then took extra care with her hair and makeup as she got ready for her date with Sebastian. Her fingers trembled as she snapped the bracelet he had given her for Christmas around her wrist. What if he wanted Aria Bentley still? What if..?

  Downstairs she met Garth as he was coming in the front door from work. He stopped to kiss her cheek. “Meeting Sebastian?” He gave her a sly grin when she nodded. “Have fun.” And he went on upstairs, whistling.

  She frowned after him for a moment. Wondering at his overly happy mood. But then with a shrug she continued out the door. One of the other Royal Guards was waiting on her, as the evening was usually the time when the three changed shifts. They weren’t really needed any longer, because the robbery case had been closed for a few weeks now. Zach, the teller, had taken a deal which would put him away for more years than the man had left. But it seemed that Jean Pierre Michon, newly crowned king of Thibaud still felt that she needed protection.

  Eve thanked the guard and sat in the back of the town car as he drove her through the city to meet Sebastian. She clenched her clutch in her hands, inside the magazine was rolled up to fit. She hoped that she could get through this evening without the man she loved stomping her heart into even more pieces than it already was.

  When the guard pulled up in front of the restaurant, one of the city’s most notoriously romantic places to dine she paused to speak to the man. “Don’t go far.” She told him. “I…I don’t know if I will be leaving with Sebastian.”

  “Of course Mlle. Patel.”

  There was a long line of people waiting to be seated, but Sebastian was already waiting for her. She made her way through the crowded dining room. Eve ignored the admiring looks she got as she passed table after table to get to the man she loved. He stood as she neared, his eyes eating up the sight of her in her knee length grey silk dress and red heels.

  He pulled her close and kissed her tenderly. “Eve.” He breathed her name and she thought she felt him tremble as he stepped back.

  Sebastian pulled out her chair and she sat, feeling like an automaton as she placed her napkin in her lap. A bottle of wine sat on the table, and she frowned at it wanting some but knowing that she was unable to have any because of the baby. Sebastian took her hand, linking their fingers together as he asked questions about her day.

  Eve pulled her hand away and reached for her water glass. “My day was busy.” She told him, her tone cool. “How was yours? Did you get what you needed taken care of in LA?”

  He frowned at her tone. “It was productive.” He reached for her hand again but she kept it out of his reach. “What’s wrong? Are you mad at me?”

  She took a long swallow of her water, hoping to steady herself. “I want to know about your weekend. Tell me about it…You said Friday that you were going to dinner with your CFO.”

  Something darkened his blue eyes. “Yes. It was a business dinner.” Was that guilt in his eyes or was she imagining things?

  When he didn’t continue her heart began to pound, anger boiling in her veins. “What happened after dinner?” She asked, her tone no longer cool.

  “He talked me into going for a drink.” Sebastian shrugged. “Then I went back to the hotel and went to sleep. Do you want a minute by minute report on what happened over the entire weekend? Or is there a reason behind this inquisition?”

  She opened her clutch and dropped the magazine on the table between them. “I only want to know what happened Friday.” She said between clenched teeth.

  “Eve…What..?” He reached for the magazine, frowning at the first page. “Since when do you read this crap?”

  “This is actually the first one I have ever read.” She informed him. “And only because I was reading it to someone who couldn’t do it for themself.” She took the magazine from him and flipped to the appropriate page before dropping it down between them once more.

  She watched as he looked down at the glossy picture glaring between them. His face turned white and his eyes snapped back up to hers. “It isn’t what you think. Nothing happened.”

  Tears burnt her eyes and made her nose sting. “That doesn’t look like nothing, Sebastian.” She swallowed around the bolder size lump of emotion clogging her throat which threatened to choke her. “It looks like you just about gobbled her up in some seedy club. It looks like the two of you were practically having sex on the dance floor. And it looks to me like you weren’t going to tell me anything about it.”

  “No! That’s not how it was.” He reached for her hand, holding on tight when she tried to pull it away once more. “I ran into her at the club where we went for drinks. We talked and then she went on her way with her friends. But as I was leaving she stopped me and kissed me. She kissed me, Eve. Not the other way around.”

  A tear rolled down her cheek and she angrily dashed it away. “But then you kissed her back.”

  Guilt crossed his face for a fraction of a moment before he shook his head. “Maybe for a second. But only for a second, damn it! And then I pushed her away and left. End of story. Nothing else happened.” His tone was almost pleading for her to believe him.

  Eve grimaced. “You weren’t going to tell me at all where you?” She whispered.

  “No. Because you didn’t need to know.” He ran a hand through his hair and Eve noticed that his fingers were trembling. “Nothing happened.”

  They sat there in tense silence for a long moment. A waiter arrived, and gave them a cautions greeting. It was obvious that the two of them had been arguing, and the waiter was reluctant to approach them. “Still need time to order?”

  “No.” Eve reached for her clutch. “I don’t think I will be staying actually.”

  “Wait!” Sebastian caught her arm as she stood. “Please don’t go, Eve. Stay and let’s talk about this.”

  “There isn’t much to talk about. You just told me nothing happened.” She shrugged. “But you were going to keep it from me. Even when I asked you about what went on over the weekend you weren’t going to say anything.” She pulled her arm away. “Things are changing for us, Sebastian. In a big way. But I’m not sure if I can trust you.”

  “You can. I swear you can.”

  “Maybe…But I’m not sure I’m ready to believe you yet.”

  Chapter 15

  Sebastian stood there and watched Eve walk away, unable to do anything to stop her. To convince her that she could believe in him. When she was gone he felt empty. He dropped down into his chair and pulled out the box that had been weighing so heavily in his pocket all day.

  Inside was the ring that he had spent the day picking for Eve. He had shown it to his father right before they had left the office and Garth had been nearly as excited as Sebastian had been nervous…But nothing had gone as it should have this evening.

  Why hadn’t he told Eve about that stupid kiss as soon as it had happened? He should have pulled out his phone and called her then and there, and told her about running into Aria and her drunken stunt. But he hadn’t. Instead he had put it away, thinking nothing more of it…Except for the guilt that had been eating at him all day.

  He had kissed Aria back for a second. In that second he was
a free man in his mind. He was free to do what he wanted, with who he wanted, when and where he wanted. But in the next second he knew that that was not what he wanted. He wanted to be home with Eve, with her cuddled into his side while she told him about her day. He wanted Eve forever.

  Sebastian realized in that second that he loved Eve. He had been denying it for a long time, perhaps even before Christmas. She meant everything to him…

  And now she had just walked away from him because of his one second of stupidity.

  --

  Garth was waiting on him when he got home. “What happened?” His father demanded. “Eve came in sobbing and wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  Sebastian ran a hand through his hair. “It’s a long story, Dad. Is she in her room?” He was already heading for the stairs.

  “She left. She had an overnight bag with her.” Garth was really becoming concerned. “She said that she would call me and then she left.”

  Sebastian felt as if a rug had been pulled out from under him. He had been hoping to talk to Eve tonight. She needed to understand that he loved her, would never keep anything from her for the rest of their lives. But he knew that she needed some time to calm down. Exhausted, Sebastian dropped down on the bottom step.

  “What happened?” Garth asked again.

  “I made a mistake. And now I’m paying for it.”

  --

  “The sun on your skin suits you.”

  Eve grinned at the man across from her. They were seated out on the veranda overlooking the ocean having breakfast. “Stop flirting.”

  Jean-Pierre laughed. “It is hard to resist when I am in the company of such a beautiful lady.” He took a sip of his coffee. “But seriously, you are actually glowing. I like it.”

  “Thank you. I read that pregnancy will do that.” She nibbled on a slice of dry toast. It seemed that as soon as she had started her second trimester morning sickness had reared its ugly head. Weak tea, loaded with lemon and dry toast helped she had discovered over the last week.

  “Well then pregnancy suits you.” He amended. “I was thinking of going over to London. Would you like to come with me?”

  Eve raised a brow at that, knowing exactly why he was going to London.

  After her upsetting scene with Sebastian four weeks ago all she had wanted was to get away. She needed some distance between them so that she could decide what to do next. But she had no idea where to go that he wouldn’t find her. Benoit had suggested Thibaud. She had been reluctant to go, knowing that her grandfather had ambitions of making her a queen and thus enabling his career.

  When she had arrived she had been glad that she did. Her grandfather had been in the process of convincing everyone that she was going to marry Jean-Pierre. In fact several European newspapers were already saying that it was a done deal. Eve had been able to set Warren Travers straight, and in the process had actually become good friends with the new king.

  Jean-Pierre was quite a guy. He had taken over after his father had stepped down the year before, but he was already making changes within his island kingdom. He ruled with a firm hand, but also a fair one. His people loved him. Eve had confided in him about her pregnancy the week before, and she was glad she had. He encouraged her to talk about it. Assured her that he would support her through whatever choices she made about her future.

  As she began to get to know Jean-Pierre she found out that he had recently been spending time in London. Soon she started to put pieces of the puzzle together and when she had seen the end result she had been unable to contain her hysterical laughter.

  It seemed that the world was really quite small after all. For Jean-Pierre was actually the man in Quinn’s life. Or rather he had been. When Quinn had found out about his supposed engagement she had ended things between them. He had not made things easier, what with not getting in touch with Quinn when the story had first hit the stands.

  Eve had nearly ripped his head off when she had found out that little tidbit of information. How dare he make her beloved Quinn suffer like that? Quinn was special, and she deserved special treatment. That Jean-Pierre had acted abominably when he hadn’t returned her calls and texts. Of course Eve later found out that someone working for her grandfather had ‘misplaced’ Jean-Pierre’s cellphone.

  But by the time it had been recovered the damage was already done. Quinn refused to speak to him. And when Eve had tried to explain the situation, she had gotten an earful for her troubles. It seemed that the world knew that it was in fact Eve who was supposed to marry the new king of Thibaud. Quinn had torn into her stepsister like a wild thing.

  “How dare you do this to my brother?!” She had practically shouted at Eve over the phone. “Do you know how devastated he is right now? Do you even care? And as for that two timing bastard, you can have him.” The tirade went on for long minutes after, but just when Quinn had calmed down enough for Eve to try to explain her stepsister had simply hung up. When Eve had attempted to call back, she was sent to voicemail.

  That had been last week. But now that Jean-Pierre was less busy trying to undo the damage of Warren Travers and his devious plan to marry his granddaughter off to the king, he was finally free to go to London. Eve knew that her friend was missing Quinn. He had confided in her that he hoped to make Quinn his queen.

  “I have a better idea.” Eve pushed her half eaten toast away.

  Jean-Pierre’s mocha eyes lit up and he grinned as she continued to explain what her plan was. “Are you sure it will work?” He asked when she was finished.

  Eve shrugged. “Fairly sure. Want to risk it?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Chapter 16

  Garth arrived on Thibaud two days later. He was beyond angry with Eve for not having kept in touch with him, not to mention letting him know beforehand what was going on. But when she sat him down and explained what was going on he calmed down and quickly agreed to help her and Jean-Pierre out.

  A few times her stepfather tried to bring up the subject of Sebastian, but Eve didn’t want to talk about him. She still hadn’t been able to reach a decision about the man who was the father of her child, but she knew that she didn’t want any outside influence when making her decisions.

  Cameron and Ami arrived soon afterwards. They didn’t have a clue as to what was going on, but were glad to take a break from planning their wedding. The couple was so happy together that Eve sometimes felt awkward in their company. She felt envy for what they had, and wished that she could have the same kind of happiness with Sebastian.

  Early Saturday morning Eve was busy helping with decorating of the Palace gardens when she heard the angry clicking of heels on the stones of the veranda. She raised her head and smiled at her stepsister as she came into view. “Finally.” She murmured and started toward her.

  Quinn glared down at her. With the heels of her boots adding to her already considerable height she towered over Eve. “How could you?” She whispered.

  Eve wrapped her arms around Quinn’s narrow waist. Quinn resisted, but Eve just gave her a warm smile. “I’m so glad to see you.” She murmured. “I love you.”

  Quinn’s bottom lip trembled. “I love you too.” She mumbled. “But…You are breaking my heart. How can you marry him, knowing that I love…Loved him?”

  Eve raised a brow. “Who told you I was marrying him?” She asked gently.

  “Daddy. He said that I had to come be a part of Jean-Pierre’s wedding.” She scrubbed at her tear stained cheeks. “And…and…”

  Eve put her hand over her friend and stepsister’s mouth to hush her wobbly words. “But did he say that I was marrying Jean-Pierre?”

  Quinn frowned, seeming to think about that. “No…” She shook her head after a moment. “But…”

  Eve grinned. “Come on. Let’s get you dressed. We haven’t much time.” She tugged the confused woman into the palace. “You need a shower and then your hair has to be done.”

  Quinn was quiet all through the next hour. There was a crew o
f stylists waiting to glam her up. Eve watched while she finished getting ready herself. Quinn’s caramel hair was piled up on her head, and pinned into place with diamond hairclips. Her makeup made her face look hauntingly beautiful.

  Finally the stylists stepped back and Eve stepped forward with Quinn’s dress. As Eve helped her step into it the tears began to fall. “This isn’t real.” She whispered. “I’m dreaming.”

  Eve simply grinned and did up the many buttons on the back of the wedding dress. After the last one was in place Eve pulled out the necklace that Jean-Pierre had given her for Quinn to wear. “These were Jean-Pierre’s mothers. His father gave them to her on their wedding day, and now they belong to you.” The pearls hugged her neck, while a diamond hung low just above her breasts.

  Quinn turned to face her, tears glistening in her eyes. “I…This is a dream, right?”

  Eve took a tissue and dabbed at the tears on Quinn’s cheek, fixing her makeup as she did so. “This is a dream come to life.” She told the older woman. “This is your wedding day.”

  “But…” Her chin trembled. “He is marrying you.”

  “No. That was never going to happen, Quinn. My grandfather tried to manipulate it into happening, but it was never something that was going to be a reality. Jean-Pierre loves you and would never settle for anything less than you as his wife.”

  “Really?” She whispered.

  “You have a choice to make; right here, right now. Do you want to marry Jean-Pierre? If so, then I will take you to him. But if you don’t…”

  Quinn shook her head. “No, take me to him. Now! Please.”

  --

  Hours later, while everyone was enjoying the reception, Eve danced with the groom. Quinn was dancing with her father, seeming to radiate happiness. She couldn’t stop smiling, and every time Eve met her stepsister’s eyes she mouthed “Thank you”.

  Jean-Pierre’s father was talking with Cameron, while Ami seemed caught up in a conversation with Jean-Pierre’s cousins. The only one not happy there was Warren Travers, who had been invited, but only out of reluctance. The old man was still Ambassador—for the moment. His dreams of being on Jean-Pierre’s counsel were long gone. The man couldn’t be trusted with his ambitions so high. Jean-Pierre had given him until the end of the summer to resign, to go out with some dignity as a show of respect for Eve. But truly, Eve could have cared less. She had only ever been a pawn to the old man.