Christmas with the Prince

by Michelle Celmer

  If this was the way things would be from now on, she was in big trouble.

  “I think we need to talk,” Aaron told Liv as they walked through the kitchen to the basement door.

  “About what?” she asked and he shot her a what-do-you-think look. She frowned and said, “Oh, that.”

  “In the lab,” he said, “where we can have some privacy.” She nodded and followed him silently through the kitchen and down the stairs. She wasn’t wound nearly so tight as she’d been facing his family. She’d been so tense when he stepped into the dining room that he was hesitant to touch her for fear that she might shatter.

  She trailed him down the stairs and waited while he punched in the door code. When they were in the lab with the door closed, she turned to him and said, “I’ve decided that what happened last night can’t ever happen again.”

  So, she thought she would use the direct approach. That shouldn’t have surprised him. And he was sure she had what she considered a very logical reason for her decision.

  He folded his arms across his chest. “Is that so?”

  “I’m serious, Aaron.” She did look serious. “I talked to William last night.”

  An unexpected slam of disappointment and envy pegged him right in the gut.

  “You’ve made your decision, then?” he asked, knowing that if she’d said yes to the engagement, he would do everything in his power to talk her out of it. Not for himself of course, but for her sake.

  All right, maybe a little for himself.

  “I haven’t made a decision yet, but I told William that I’m still considering it. And until I accept or refuse his proposal, I don’t feel it’s right to…see anyone else.”

  He grinned. “See.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Why?”

  His question seemed to confuse her. “Why?”

  “You’re not engaged. Admittedly you’re not even dating him. So, logically, seeing me or anyone else wouldn’t technically be considered infidelity.”

  She frowned. “You’re splitting hairs.”

  “Not to mention that, if you really wanted to marry him, why would you need time to think about it? Wouldn’t you have said yes as soon as he asked?”

  She looked troubled, as though she realized he was right, but didn’t want to admit it. “It’s…complicated.”

  “And you think it will be less complicated after you’re married? You think he’ll miraculously change?”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “It doesn’t work that way, Liv. Problems don’t go away with the vows. The way I hear it, they usually get worse.”

  She expelled a frustrated breath. “Why do you even care? Or is this just your way of trying to get me in bed?”

  He grinned. “Love, if I wanted in your knickers, I’d have been there last night.”

  Her cheeks blushed bright pink.

  He took a few steps toward her. “I’m not going to insult your highly superior intelligence and say I don’t want to get you into bed. But more than that, I like you, Liv, and I don’t want to see you make a mistake.”

  “Ugh! Would you please stop saying that I’m making a mistake?”

  “Are you afraid you’re going to start believing me?”

  “You think that my sleeping with you wouldn’t be a mistake?”

  He knew now that she’d at least been thinking about it. Probably as much as he had. “No, I don’t. In fact, I think it would be beneficial to us both.”

  “Well, you’re not exactly biased, are you?” She collapsed in her chair and dropped her head in her hands. “I want to do the right thing, and you’re confusing me.”

  “How could anything I say confuse you? Either you want to marry him, or you don’t.”

  “I don’t know if I want to marry anyone right now!” she nearly shouted, looking shocked at her own words.

  Then why fret over it? “If you’re not ready to get married, tell him no.”

  She looked hopelessly confused and completely adorable. He could see that she wasn’t used to not having all the answers. For some reason it made him like her that much more.

  She gazed up at him, eyes clouded by confusion. “What if I don’t get another chance?”

  “To marry William?”

  “To marry anyone! I do want to get married someday and have a family.”

  “What’s stopping you?”

  “What if no one else ever asks?”

  That was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. She was an attractive, desirable woman that any man would be lucky to have. If she spent some time outside of her lab and living her life, she might already know that. Men would probably be fighting each other to win her hand.

  He knelt down in front of her chair, resting his hands on her knees. “Liv, trust me, someone will ask. Someone you want to marry. Someone you love.”

  She gazed into his eyes, looking so young and vulnerable and confused. What was it about her that made him want take her in his arms and just hold her? Soothe her fears and assure her that everything would be okay. But even if he’d wanted to, she didn’t give him the chance. Instead, she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

  Nine

  T hat guilty little voice inside Liv was shouting, Don’t do it, Liv! But by then it was already too late. Her arms were around Aaron’s neck and her lips were on his. She was kissing him again, and he was kissing her back. The feel of his mouth, the taste of him, was already as familiar as it was exciting and new. Maybe because she’d spent most of the night before reliving the first kiss and fantasizing what it would feel like to do it again. Now she knew. And it was even better than she remembered. Better than she could ever have imagined.

  Aaron cupped her face in his hands, stroking her cheeks, her throat, threading his fingers through her hair. She hooked her legs around his back, drawing him closer, clinging to him. She might have been embarrassed by her brazen behavior, but she felt too hot and needy with desire to care. She needed to feel him. She just plain needed him. Nothing in her life had ever felt this good, this…right. She hadn’t even known it was possible to feel this way. And she wanted more—wanted it all. Even though she wasn’t completely sure what it was yet. Was this just physical, or was there more to it?

  Of course not. What did she think, they were going to have some sort of relationship? She didn’t want that any more than he did. Her work was too important to her.

  That didn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun.

  She tugged the tail of his flannel from the waist of his jeans, but he grabbed her hands and broke the kiss, saying in a husky voice, “We can’t.”

  Shame burned her cheeks. Of course they couldn’t. Hadn’t she just told him that very same thing? What the hell had she been thinking? Why, the instant she was near him, did she seem to lose all concept of right and wrong?

  She jerked her hands free and rolled the chair backward, away from him. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. This isn’t like me at all.”

  He looked puzzled for a moment, then he grinned and said, “I don’t mean ever. I just meant that we can’t here. Any minute now Geoffrey is going to walk through that door with your coffee, not to mention the lab assistant who’s due here this morning.”

  “Oh, right,” she said, feeling, of all things, relieved. When what she should have felt was ashamed of herself, and regretful for once again betraying William. Although, as Aaron had pointed out, she and William weren’t technically a couple.

  You’re rationalizing, Liv. When there was absolutely nothing rational about this scenario. This was not the way the world was supposed to work. Brainy, orphaned scientists did not have flings with rich, handsome princes. No matter what the storybooks said.

  Nothing that felt this wonderful could possibly be good for her.

  “We can’t do this again,” she told him. “Ever.”

  Aaron sighed. “We’re back to that again?”
/>   “It’s wrong.”

  Aaron rose from his knees and tucked his shirt back in. “It felt pretty good to me.”

  “I’m serious, Aaron.”

  “Oh, I know you are.”

  So why didn’t he look as though he was taking her seriously? Why did she get the feeling he was just humoring her?

  “I have to get to work,” he said. “I’ll see you at dinner?”

  Was that a statement or a request? She could say no, but she suspected he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and that if she tried to skip it, he would come down to the lab and fetch her. At least with his family around he wouldn’t try anything physical with her. At least, she hoped he wouldn’t. She seriously doubted his family would approve of Aaron messing around with the hired help. Especially one who ranked so abysmally low in the social ladder.

  “Seven sharp,” she said.

  He leaned over and before she could stop him, he gave her a quick kiss—just a soft brush of his lips against hers, but it left her aching for more—then he walked to the door. As he opened it, he turned back to her and said, “Don’t forget about the poker game tonight.” Then he left, the door closing with a metallic click behind him.

  Ugh. She had forgotten all about that. But she already said she would play, so she doubted he would let her back out now.

  As much as she didn’t want to spend the evening with his family, she dreaded even more spending it alone with him.

  She turned to her desk, reaching for the pen she’d left beside her keyboard, but it wasn’t there. She searched all over the desk, under every paper and text. She even checked the floor, in case it had somehow rolled off the desk, but it wasn’t there. It was as if it had vanished into thin air.

  She got a new one from her backpack, and as she was leaning over she heard a noise behind her, from the vicinity of the door. She thought maybe it was Geoffrey with her coffee, or her lab assistant, but when she turned, there was no one there.

  And the damn door was open again.

  After breakfast Aaron pulled Chris aside and asked, “So, what did you think of Liv?”

  “Liv?”

  “Miss Montgomery.”

  Chris raised one brow. “We’re on a first-name basis, are we?”

  Aaron scowled a him. “I’m being serious.”

  Chris chuckled. “I’ll admit she’s not at all what I expected. She doesn’t look like a scientist and she’s much younger than I imagined. She does seem quite confident, though, if not a bit…unusual.”

  “Unusual?”

  “Not the typical royal guest.”

  Despite having thought that very same thing, Aaron felt protective of Liv. “What does that matter, so long as she gets the job done?”

  Chris grinned. “No need to get testy. I’m just making an observation.”

  “An observation of someone you know nothing about.” Knowing his siblings had the tendency to be more judgmental, Aaron wouldn’t tell them about Liv’s past. Not that he believed she had anything to be ashamed of—quite the contrary in fact—but the things she’d told him had been in confidence. If they wanted to know more about her, they would have to ask themselves—which he didn’t doubt they would.

  “If I didn’t know better, I might think you fancy her,” Chris said. “But we all know that you prefer your women with IQs in the double digits.”

  Even though he couldn’t exactly deny the accusation, Aaron glared at him. “By the way, I invited her to our poker game tonight.”

  Chris looked intrigued. “Really? She doesn’t strike me as the card-playing type.”

  Aaron wanted to ask, What type does she strike you as?, but he was afraid he might not like the answer he got. “Are you saying you don’t want her to play?”

  Chris shrugged. “It’s fine with me. The more the merrier.” He looked at his watch. “Is there anything else? I have a conference call in fifteen minutes.”

  “No, nothing else.”

  Chris started to turn away, then stopped and said, “I almost forgot to ask, have there been any new developments since I left?”

  Aaron didn’t have to ask Chris what he meant. It had been in the back of everyone’s minds for months now. The person who referred to himself as the Gingerbread Man. “No e-mails, no security breaches. Nothing. It’s as if he disappeared into thin air.”

  Chris looked relieved. “I hope that means it was a harmless prank, and we’ve heard the last of him.”

  “Or it could mean that he’s building up to something big.”

  His relief instantly turned to irritation. “Always the optimist.”

  Aaron grinned. “I like to think that I’m realistic. Whoever he was, he went through an awful lot of trouble breaching our security systems. All I’m saying is that we should keep on our toes.”

  “I’ll keep security on high alert, but at some point we’ll have to assume he’s given up.”

  “Call it a hunch,” Aaron said, “but I seriously doubt we’ve seen or heard the last of him.”

  In her life Liv had never met such an inquisitive group of people. It must run in the family because during dinner she was overwhelmed by endless questions from every side of the table. And like their brother, they seemed genuinely interested in her answers. They asked about her work and education mostly, and they were nothing if not thorough. By the end of the evening she felt picked over and prodded, much like one of the soil samples she’d studied that afternoon. It could have been worse. They could have completely ignored her and made her feel like an outsider.

  “See?” Aaron whispered as they walked to the game room to play cards. “That wasn’t so bad.”

  “Not too bad,” she admitted.

  As they took seats around the table, Geoffrey took drink orders while Prince Christian—Chris, as he’d asked her to address him—divvied out the chips.

  “We start with one hundred each,” Aaron told her. “I can front you the money.”

  She hadn’t realized they would play for real money. In college and grad school the stakes had been nickels and dimes, but one hundred euros wasn’t exactly out of her budget range. She’d checked the exchange rate before leaving the U.S. and one hundred euros would be equivalent to roughly one hundred thirty-one dollars, give or take.

  “I can cover it,” she told him.

  He regarded her curiously. “You’re sure?”

  Did he think she was that destitute? “Of course I’m sure.”

  He shrugged and said, “Okay.”

  She was rusty the first few hands, but then it all started to come back to her and she won the next few rounds. A bit unfairly, she would admit, even though it wasn’t exactly her fault. Besides, she was actually having fun.

  Louisa apparently didn’t play cards. She sat at the table with her dog, to her siblings’ obvious irritation, chatting.

  “Where are you from originally?” she asked Liv. She was definitely the friendlier of the twins. A glass-is-half-full kind of girl. And Liv used the term girl because Louisa had so sweet a disposition.

  “I’m from New York,” Liv told her.

  “Your family still lives there?” she asked.

  “Five card draw, nothing wild,” Chris announced, shooting Louisa a look as he shuffled the cards.

  “I don’t have family,” Liv said.

  “Everyone has some family,” Melissa said with the subtle twang of a Southern accent. Aaron had mentioned that she was born on Morgan Isle, the sister country of Thomas Isle, but had been raised in the U.S. in Louisiana.

  “None that I know of,” Liv told her. “I was abandoned as a small child and raised in foster homes.”

  “Abandoned?” Melissa repeated, her lower lip beginning to quiver and tears pooling in her eyes. “That’s so sad.”

  “Easy, emotio-girl,” Chris said, rubbing his wife’s shoulder. When the tears spilled over onto her cheeks, he put down the cards he’d been dealing, reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Neither he nor anyone else at the table ap
peared to find her sudden emotional meltdown unusual.

  Melissa sniffed and dabbed at her eyes.

  “You all right?” he asked, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

  She gave him a wobbly nod and a halfhearted smile.

  “You’ll have to excuse my wife,” Chris told Liv. “She’s a little emotional these days.”

  “Just a little,” Melissa said with a wry smile. “It’s these damn fertility drugs. I feel like I’m on an emotional roller coaster.”

  “They’re trying to get pregnant,” Aaron told Liv.

  “She’s a scientist, genius,” Anne said. “I’m sure she knows what fertility drugs are for.”

  Aaron ignored her.

  “I don’t know much about it myself, although I have a colleague who specializes in fertility on a genetic level,” Liv said. “I never realized how common it is for couples to have some fertility issues.”

  “We’re trying in vitro,” Melissa said, tucking the handkerchief in her lap while Chris finished dealing. “Our doctor wanted us to wait and try it naturally for six months, but I’m already in my midthirties and we want at least three children, so we opted for the intervention now.”

  “We do run the risk of multiples,” Chris said. “Even more so because obviously twins run in the family. But it’s a chance we’re willing to take.”

  It surprised Liv that they spoke so openly to a stranger about their personal medical issues, although she had found that, because she was a scientist, people assumed she possessed medical knowledge, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Unless the patient happened to be a plant.

  “I’ll open for ten,” Aaron said, tossing a chip in the pot, and everyone but Anne followed suit.

  She threw down her cards and said, “I fold.”

  “I can hardly wait to have a little niece or nephew to spoil. Or both!” Louisa gushed. “Do you want children, Olivia?”

  “Someday,” Liv said. After she’d had more time to develop her career, and of course she would prefer to be married first. Would William be that man? Would she settle out of fear that she would never get another chance? Or would she take a chance and maybe meet a man she loved, and who loved her back? One who looked at her with love and affection and pride, the way Chris looked at Melissa. Didn’t she deserve that, too?