Prince Baby (Silhouette Romance)

by Susan Meier

  So he couldn’t like her. And he also couldn’t spend time with her until he regained some perspective.

  “I…um…came back to see if the friend you have here helping with Owen could drive me back to the office.”

  Her brow wrinkled. “I thought you drove to work this morning.”

  “I did, but Ty drove us to the diner, and we had a sort of disagreement and I left. So now I need a ride back.”

  She turned toward the kitchen. “There’s no one helping me right now, but I can drive you.”

  “You can?” he asked, following her.

  “Sure.” She pirouetted to face him, and the smile she gave him could have lit the darkest night. “Madelyn drove me to my six-week checkup yesterday and I’m doing great. Besides, your building isn’t far, right? So it’s not like I’ll get lost.”

  Seth shook his head. “No. That’s okay. I’ll just walk.”

  “Seth!” she said, giving him an exasperated look. “What’s the matter with you?”

  Seth sighed. He didn’t really want to be alone with her but he knew it would do him no good to argue. Plus, the office was a mile away. They would only be alone a few minutes before she dropped him off at his office and he could be away from her again.

  “And what are you going to do with Owen while we’re gone?”

  “He’s going with us. After Mildred taught me how to work the car seat, we left it installed. So it’s all set up in the Chevy.”

  “Okay,” Seth agreed.

  Upstairs, Lucy slipped into the bathroom while Seth rolled Owen into a warmer sleeper and then slid him into a baby sack. When Lucy emerged with her hair out of the ponytail and combed stylishly around her face, and wearing clean jeans and an expensive-looking sweater, he laughed.

  Carrying Owen, he led her out of the bedroom and into the hall. “Lucy, this is Porter. You’re not going to see anyone important.”

  “I happen to think everybody who lives here is important,” she said, as she jogged down the steps behind him. “Besides, no woman ever wants to go anywhere looking like yesterday’s laundry.”

  Seth rolled his eyes heavenward. “I suppose not.”

  They walked to her car in silence. Seth buckled Owen into his heavily padded green plaid car seat, as Lucy slid onto the passenger’s side of the front seat. When Seth sat behind the steering wheel, Lucy handed him the keys and turned to face Owen in the back seat.

  “Ready, Owen?” Lucy asked.

  Owen said nothing, but Seth laughed. “You act as if he’s never done this before, but if I remember correctly he’s been to the pediatrician and was also out with you yesterday to your doctor’s appointment. So this is at least his third car ride.”

  “Yeah, but he wasn’t really aware of his surroundings the first two times. Today, he’ll pay attention.”

  Seth laughed, making the two left turns that took him to Main Street. From there, it was a straight shot to Bryant Development. “Right.”

  Lucy playfully slapped his arm. “He’s never going to do anything if you don’t encourage him and think positive!”

  “And I say he should be allowed to do things at his own pace.” Which, Seth suddenly saw, was actually their major disagreement. She would put Owen on the fast track to being king, while Seth wanted their son to have a life. Or, at the very least, a childhood. Still, this wasn’t the time to argue. The way the plan was forming in Seth’s head, he would cook duck on Saturday and make a dessert that would have her falling at his feet. Then as she ate her delicious meal, he would drop hints that if she left her son with him in Porter, the town that had already proved it would embrace Owen with open arms, he could easily raise Owen at least through his childhood. And she could visit him. At his house or anywhere she chose to take Owen. Her visits wouldn’t be restricted the way Seth’s would be. But that was what he would do on Saturday. He didn’t want to get into that discussion now.

  “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” he asked as he turned her car into the Bryant Development lot.

  “I’m fine.” She paused and smiled sheepishly. “Actually, I’m great. Like I said. The doctor pronounced me back to normal yesterday.”

  Seth pulled her car to a stop at the main entrance and flipped off his seat belt. Before he could exit the vehicle, however, she touched his arm.

  “Really, Seth. It’s so great that you trust me. Being with you, I have the kind of life that I never, ever dreamed I could have.”

  “Lucy, don’t…”

  She smiled prettily. “Don’t what? Don’t tell you that I appreciate being allowed to stand on my own two feet? Most men would love hearing that.”

  “I’m not most men.”

  “Yeah, I know. You cook. You run a company. And you’re the most sexy guy on the face of the earth. And you still let me be me.” She bent across the seat and gave him a quick, smacking kiss on the lips. “Thanks.”

  Seth knew she only intended to give him the quick kiss, but sitting this close, their chemistry hummed between them, along with too many unspoken longings. Unable to control himself, he slid his hand behind her neck and pulled her forward again so he could bring her mouth to his and give her the kind of kiss he’d yearned to give her the night before.

  He pressed his lips to hers, then urged her mouth open with a nudge from his tongue. She didn’t protest or hesitate. She opened her mouth, slid her arms around his neck and snuggled against him as she had when they had been married.

  Liquid fire danced through Seth’s blood. Flames of desire licked at his nerve endings. He deepened the kiss, she nestled herself more tightly against him and every coherent thought Seth had vanished. Lucy was beautiful and smart and the mother of his child; right at this minute, he wanted nothing more in his life than to make love to her.

  But when he slid his palm along the underside of her breast, her sigh brought him back to reality. He couldn’t make love to her. Letting his hormones rule was how they had gotten into this mess in the first place and he couldn’t afford to have the mess get any worse. Too much was at stake. He might risk the pain of another inevitable breakup, but he couldn’t risk Owen’s future.

  He pulled away. “Drive slowly and carefully and call me when you get home so I can stop worrying.”

  Looking up at him with round brown eyes that glistened with desire, Lucy said, “I’m a big girl, Seth. I can take care of myself.”

  Seth nodded, then pushed open the car door. He didn’t disagree that Lucy could take care of herself. The problem was that her father—or her country—wouldn’t let her.

  Traveling home the day before, he had called Pete Hauser. After six weeks of digging into Xavier’s laws, Pete firmly believed that if they couldn’t get jurisdiction in Arkansas, Seth wouldn’t be fighting Lucy for custody; he would be fighting an entire darned country.

  Chapter Seven

  Lucy wasn’t in the mood for company when Madelyn and her mother arrived at Seth’s kitchen door after she had returned from dropping off Seth. Madelyn wore a navy-blue suit, indicating she was probably taking her lunch break from work, and had brought Sabrina in her baby carrier. Penney wore the official “outfit” of most Porter residents—jeans and a sweatshirt.

  “Hi!” Lucy greeted, striving to be cheerful, but she couldn’t seem to focus on anything but the fact that the kiss Seth gave her in the car was more like the kisses they’d shared in Miami. Yet, it had been different, too. In Miami, Seth had kissed her until neither one of them could think. Today, he’d stopped. He’d also gotten angry with himself for kissing her. It was obvious from the way he’d slammed the car door.

  She had been absolutely thrilled that he’d kissed her. She thought the spontaneity of it proved they had deep feelings for each other and she’d let herself go and enjoyed every blissful second of being close to Seth again. She’d returned his kisses like a woman greedy for affection and would have melted if he’d told her he loved her. Heck, she would have melted if he told her he liked her.

  Instead, he’d gott
en angry with himself.

  “Hey,” Madelyn said, bringing Lucy back to the present. “We heard you and Seth formed some kind of truce last night.”

  Lucy hadn’t expected that to stay a secret long. Not because the ladies were gossips, but because they considered themselves part of her team and teams kept members informed. She also didn’t mind talking about this part of her relationship with Seth. These women were her friends. They were the people who were helping to assure Lucy she could care for Owen. She just hoped the discussion didn’t trip over into things she didn’t understand. Like a man who got angry with himself for kissing her.

  “We didn’t really call a truce. We formed a team,” she said, closing the kitchen door behind her guests. “There’s fresh coffee.”

  Madelyn set Sabrina’s baby carrier on one of the chairs by the table and then pulled Sabrina out of it and into her arms.

  Penney walked to the coffeepot. “We want details.”

  Lucy shrugged. “Seth came home unexpectedly late last night. Owen was screaming. I hadn’t called anyone for help because I was trying to calm him myself.” She smiled wryly. “I need to be able to care for him totally alone, or my father will declare me only partially suitable and I’ll find myself fighting a nanny for time with my own son.”

  Madelyn glanced at Lucy. “Doesn’t that bother you?”

  “Of course! That’s why I’m working to be able to care for Owen alone. I don’t want a nanny.”

  Madelyn shook her head. “No. Not the nanny thing. I’m talking about the fact that your dad isn’t just your dad. He’s your supreme commander or something.”

  Glad the subject had drifted away from Seth, Lucy said, “It used to bother me, but now I know I can’t change it so I’ve accepted it.”

  “It just seems so odd,” Madelyn said.s “You’re living like a normal person here, but I know you soon have to go back to a castle and be your dad’s obedient subject, willing to raise Xavier’s future king under the present king’s dictates.”

  Lucy knew exactly what Madelyn was saying. Raising Owen required that she give up her own life and now that Seth had kissed her twice, that loss wasn’t as simple as it had been only the day before.

  She knew that the opportunity to lead a normal life had been part of what had attracted her to Seth. She hadn’t precisely forgotten that her child would be heir to the throne. It was more that babies had seemed so far down the road that she’d honestly believed she would have a few years of being only Mrs. Seth Bryant before she would add mother of the future king to her roles.

  But with her and Seth, everything seemed to be on a fast track. Getting pregnant the first time they made love confirmed that. Long before she had a chance to really sample what a normal life could be like, she was committed to the monarchy again.

  Still, she didn’t mention that to Madelyn. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to worry that she would be unhappy when she and Owen returned to Xavier Island.

  So she smiled and waved a hand. “Miss Madelyn, are you forgetting that I’m royalty? There are servants who do my bidding. My country pays for my wardrobe. It’s not exactly a hardship to be a princess.”

  Madelyn and Penney laughed and Lucy skillfully shifted the discussion to new things she needed to learn about caring for Owen. But during the next hour, she watched her two friends. Not only were they smart and kind, living exactly the lives they wanted to live, but they also really were her friends. And they weren’t the only ones. Audrey was like her best friend, and Mildred, well, Mildred was becoming a surrogate mother.

  If she were free, Lucy knew she could have settled in this small town with Seth and been very, very happy. But she wasn’t free. She was a princess. She couldn’t live here forever, and she couldn’t imagine that Seth would want to leave.

  More than that, though, she didn’t know how Seth would handle living as a royal. Even if he could handle the pageantry and even the media, eventually he would realize that as her husband he would be required to be an obedient subject. She couldn’t see Seth bowing to anyone.

  When the clock struck two, Madelyn rose. “Well, my lunch is over. I’ve got to get back to work.” She faced Penney. “Can you take Sabrina to her nanny?”

  “I could, but I’d like to keep her with me for a while longer,” Penney said, taking the baby from Madelyn.

  “That’s fine,” Madelyn said as she slipped into her suit jacket. She kissed Sabrina’s cheek. “Mommy will see you at about five-thirty.” Sabrina cooed and Madelyn left.

  Envious of Madelyn’s freedom and the confidence she had in Ty’s love, Lucy stared after her as she left the kitchen, closing the door behind her.

  “She really does have the best of both worlds,” Penney commented, obviously reading Lucy’s thoughts from the expression on her face.

  Lucy smiled. “Yes, she does.”

  “And so could you,” Penney said, catching Lucy’s hand to get her attention. “The thing that strikes me with you and Seth is that you’re both looking at your situation as if it’s all or nothing. Has either of you ever thought about making a compromise?”

  Lucy shrugged. “The way I see it, there isn’t a compromise. I’m the mother of a future king. I must raise him according to the dictates of our monarchy. And I don’t know if Seth’s ever considered a compromise because we’ve only really talked once since I’ve been here and that was last night.”

  Penney frowned. “You don’t think that’s odd?”

  “No. He hasn’t been home much in the past five weeks.”

  “But even when he was home, you didn’t talk?”

  Lucy shook her head.

  “Why not? Really, Lucy, why haven’t you talked with Seth?”

  Lucy took a quiet breath. “I didn’t want to hurt him. Because we were being honest last night, I had to tell him that he’ll only see Owen if he flies to Xavier Island…”

  Penney gaped at her. “Are you kidding?”

  “No. I’m not sure of Owen’s duties, but I expect my father will insist he live on Xavier. But that’s only half the story. I explained the situation to Seth last night, but this morning he acted as if he hadn’t heard. But I’m beginning to see that’s his way of dealing with things. He pretends everything’s okay when he’s the most hurt.” She smiled sadly. “Seth is a nice guy. Actually, he’s a great guy. He doesn’t deserve what’s about to happen. In fact, he didn’t deserve anything that happened to him after he got involved with me.”

  “Then fix it!”

  “I can’t.”

  “I don’t believe that,” Penney said, settling Sabrina when she began to fuss.

  Lucy fiddled with her coffee spoon. “It’s true. And I think Seth recognizes it’s true. He’s pretending that nothing’s wrong because he knows there’s no way we can make this okay and no point in arguing.”

  “No point!” Penney said, suddenly irate. “You have a son!”

  “Exactly. If this were just about me and Seth, I could probably push and push and push until Seth admitted he wanted me again. But I’m part of something bigger than myself. I don’t have the luxury of freedoms that you and Madelyn take for granted. I wasn’t even at liberty to get married because I was betrothed.”

  “But you’re not betrothed now, right?”

  “No. Our pregnancy nullified the betrothal agreement.”

  Glancing at Owen, Penney tilted her head, thought for a few seconds, then said, “You know, Lucy, I’m not a lawyer or anything but don’t you notice something funny here?”

  “About what?”

  “Well, from Owen’s date of birth, it’s pretty clear you were pregnant before you were married, and you said your pregnancy nullified your betrothal, so doesn’t that mean your pregnancy nullified your betrothal before you got married?”

  Confused, Lucy said, “I don’t know. I guess…”

  Penney rose from her seat, taking fussy Sabrina with her. “If I were you, I think I’d call a lawyer. Somebody who knows your country’s laws. Be
tter yet, somebody who knows your monarchy. Because the way it looks to me, you and Seth are still married.”

  When Seth arrived home that evening, Lucy met him at the door. Wearing the form-fitting jeans and a simple red top she’d worn when he’d come home that afternoon after his argument at the diner with Ty, and with her thick dark hair hanging loose and free, she looked like every man’s fantasy come to life. And every instinct Seth possessed bounced to attention. After the way he’d kissed her before he’d gotten out of the car that afternoon, he fully expected her to kiss him hello.

  Instead, she took a quick breath and asked, “Are you starving?”

  He wasn’t sure what he would have done if she had kissed him. After all, he knew he’d confused her. He’d been in the process of explaining to her that there couldn’t be anything between them when she’d kissed him to thank him, and like a man totally unable to control his hormones, he’d kissed her.

  His self-preservation instincts had propelled him out of the car before he kissed her again…and probably again, and then God only knew what would have happened. But the bottom line was when the opportunity to kiss her had presented itself, he hadn’t been able to resist it.

  That meant he had to cover all his bases to ensure he didn’t make another wrong move. He peered at her. “I won’t faint away and die if we don’t eat this second, but I am hungry.”

  “I have a casserole in the oven that can wait and I’d like a few minutes to talk with you.”

  She wanted to talk. Great. The perfect opportunity to really stick his foot in his mouth.

  Or he could use this as a chance to stand firm in his decision not to get involved again.

  Better plan. Much better plan.

  He shrugged out of his suit coat and hung it on the newel of the foyer stairway. “Where’s Owen?”

  “Sleeping. And the baby monitor’s on.”

  “Okay. Let’s go to the den.” Realistically…what could happen in a den? Sure, it had a couch and a chair, but it also had walls lined with books. Boring books about building and development. Nothing would happen in his den.