Prince Baby (Silhouette Romance)

by Susan Meier

  “Evening, Seth. Nice weather, huh?”

  “Great weather.”

  “If you asked me, it’s freezing,” Audrey said, then tugged on Duke’s arm. “We’ll see you inside.”

  Now, this was a lie. “Okay.”

  Audrey and Duke walked up to the entryway of the metal prefabricated building purchased and erected by Bryant Development, opened the door and stepped inside. Seth stayed where he was, contemplating the state of confusion of his life and suddenly knowing with absolute certainty that he was at fault for at least half of it. He knew he was also to blame for Cooper leaving. He also had to accept the blame for seducing a princess. But it wasn’t his fault that Owen would be a king who wouldn’t have a childhood if Seth didn’t fight for at least some rights. Maybe he should have thought about that eleven months ago in Miami. But he hadn’t. And neither had Lucy.

  “What are you doing?”

  Lucy’s surprised voice preceded her as she scurried down the sidewalk to Seth.

  He tried to look casual, as if he took walks like this all the time. “I wanted some fresh air.”

  She peeked up at him, then laughed. “So you walked to the fire hall?”

  “No, I just walked. It was a coincidence that I stopped at the fire hall,” he began, but he paused. He’d reached his one lie quota when he told Duke he’d see him inside. For the rest of this night, he had to tell the truth. “Actually, I felt bad about what happened between us.”

  “Seth, there’s no reason…”

  He stopped her by putting his hand on her forearm. “Lucy, I’m a real stubborn, bossy guy. If you don’t believe that, you can just ask my brother Cooper if we ever find him. Ty might have been the one who got into the screaming match with Cooper over Anita, Ty’s unfaithful fiancée. But what nobody knows is that after Cooper stormed up to his room, I sneaked in behind him and told him to leave.”

  “What?”

  “I told my brother to leave. The way I saw it, Ty and I did okay, except Cooper was always screwing things up.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  Seth blew his breath out on a long sigh. “In the grand scheme of things when it comes to handling situations that require some tact and diplomacy, I’m worthless.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “No, Lucy, that’s the truth. That’s why I have to be super careful about how I handle this situation with us. I screwed up my brother’s life. I don’t want to royally mess up Owen’s.” He peered at her. “No pun or insult intended.”

  She gave him a confused look. “None taken.”

  “I know the end result of making a mistake. I was upset when you left me. Brokenhearted when I realized it really was the end. But nothing hurts, nothing haunts, like when you ruin somebody else’s life like I did with my brother because I was looking out for myself.”

  “Seth, don’t! What were you…fifteen years old?”

  “I was fifteen when my parents died. I was twenty when I told Cooper to leave. I knew what I was doing. I was clearing the way for me and Ty to work without Cooper’s constant arguing. Ty and I knew exactly where we wanted our company to go and Cooper never agreed. Everything with Cooper was a struggle. I look back now and realize he was only a typical rebel. But because we were running a company, everything he said and did held us back. I got rid of him so our company could explode. And it did—at Cooper’s expense.”

  Lucy blew her breath out on a sigh. “Seth, I understand, and I even agree to an extent. You probably did do everything you did for selfish reasons. But twenty-year-olds are selfish. That’s part of growing up. And Cooper could have come home anytime he wanted. While you were gone, Madelyn told me that Ty once found him and offered him his share of the company, but he refused it. This isn’t your burden anymore.”

  “Maybe not,” Seth quietly agreed. “But it was my lesson. I deserted my brother. I will not desert my son.”

  Obviously noting her shiver, Seth said, “You’re cold. You better get back inside.”

  “No. I think I’ve had enough of Porter’s nightlife. I’d like to go home to my son.” She paused, then casually added, “Are you going home?”

  He glanced at the fire hall door, then shook his head as if he couldn’t believe he was standing there. “Yeah.”

  “Can I walk with you?”

  He shrugged. “Sure.”

  They turned and began the short trek up Main Street. “You know, you’re very, very hard on yourself about your brother.”

  “Nah, you’ve only heard my side of the story. I’m sure if you heard his, you’d think differently.”

  “I disagree. I know better than to believe you would deliberately be so cold. You might have asked your brother to leave. But it was in the heat of the moment. You’re a good person, Seth.” She hooked her arm with Seth’s and leaned close to his warmth as they continued toward his street.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  They walked in silence to the turn that would take them the final distance to Seth’s home. But when they were within a few feet of his driveway, Lucy said, “I’m also very glad you’re my son’s father.” She smiled to herself because it was true. “If we train him right, Owen will make a wonderful king. He will bring about the changes my country needs. If you think about it, having you for a dad is part of that training.”

  “Why? Because you think Xavier needs a stubborn, bossy king?”

  “Xavier already has a stubborn, bossy monarch. What we need is a king who thinks beyond the borders. Having an American father will do that for Owen.”

  “I guess.”

  They reached the stone walk and headed for the front door. “You’re also the only person I trust to take on my dad.”

  Seth opened the front door and motioned for her to go inside. “Right. We’re two bossy, stubborn people, so I guess we will be an even match in a fight.”

  She laughed. “You’re not as stubborn or as bossy as you think. But your stubbornness isn’t the point. You’re a good match for my dad because you’re a future-thinker, while my dad is entrenched in the past.”

  Seth laughed. “You are quite a sweet talker.”

  Walking down the stairs Mildred said, “What are you two doing home? It’s not even eight o’clock yet!” Because she was empty-handed, Lucy assumed she had just put Owen to bed for the night.

  “The party was lovely,” Lucy said. “And I was having a good time, but I suddenly had the urge to see my son.”

  Mildred stared at her. “The only time you’ve spent away from Owen was when Madelyn held him while you were at your six-week checkup! Go back to the party!”

  Lucy laughed. “No. I’m home now,” she said, and suddenly had the odd sense that it was true. She was home. And she was with the man she loved, but she had no idea how she was going to keep him.

  Lucy’s words resonated through Seth for the next few minutes as he watched his wife haggle with an exasperated Mildred, who finally left in a huff. He and Lucy might not ever get to share their lives but they most certainly knew each other, and tonight she had been the friend to him that he needed.

  He followed her up the steps and to the master bedroom where they both walked to the crib.

  “Isn’t he gorgeous?”

  Seth sighed. “He’s handsome, Lucy. Never gorgeous. I have a feeling this is one thing your dad and I will agree on.”

  Lucy smiled and, in the muted light of a small lamp by the bed, Seth could see the curve of her full lips, the sparkle in her eyes. No one had ever appealed to him the way she did. And as much as he’d tried to deny it when she first returned, nobody had ever been as good a friend to him, either. No wonder he had married her without a moment’s hesitation. He wanted her so badly, for so many reasons, that on a subconscious level he probably knew that if he thought too long about possibilities and consequences, he wouldn’t ever marry her.

  But even jumping into the relationship without thought hadn’t worked. All they’d ended up
doing was making things worse. Her dad had hurt them. They’d spent months aching with loneliness. Now they were finally together again and it was beginning to seem foolish to deny himself the pleasure he could have with the woman he wanted so desperately.

  She walked away form the crib, her gown swishing noisily. “I think I’m going to get out of this dress now.”

  He didn’t say a word.

  She laughed. “Seth, you have to leave.”

  “Not really.”

  “What? You’re going to watch me strip?”

  He swallowed.

  “Seth?”

  When he didn’t answer she walked over to him. Instantly, automatically, he ran his hands from her shoulders to her wrists and caught her fingers.

  She looked up at him, her eyes shining with desire and stood on her tiptoes to brush her lips against his. Need thundered through him and he swallowed but she smiled, again pushing up on her tiptoes to brush her lips across his.

  He kissed her back, deeply, instinctively, letting his impulses rule. Her softness overwhelmed him as he skimmed his palms along her upper arms, but even more so when he allowed his hands to flow from her arms, around her torso to cup her bottom. His self-control plummeted to nonexistent and he marveled at that. He’d known enough women that he had to wonder how one woman could cause him to completely lose control. Because that’s exactly what was happening. As her warm mouth answered the caresses of his, he felt himself spiraling further and further away from the common sense and reason that had allowed him to keep his wits about himself around her.

  And closer and closer to the promise of heaven.

  He deepened the kiss even more, his tongue delving into the sweet recesses of her mouth as her arms came around his waist then anchored against his back, pulling him closer as she simultaneously pressed herself against him.

  He took them to the bed almost effortlessly, careful to land on the mattress himself, with Lucy on top. His fingers skimmed down the curve of her waist, kneaded her bottom and then raced up her sides again.

  He didn’t think she would stop him, so he wasn’t surprised when she began unbuttoning his shirt at the same time that he reached for the side zipper of her gown. With every unfastened closure he felt either the electric sensation of her nimble fingers across his chest or the smoothness of her exposed flesh.

  Still kissing, they touched and explored until they were topless, soft breast to hair-roughened chest. That’s when he flipped them, so that she was lying with her head on the pillow and he was beside her, one leg across her legs.

  He sipped at her breast and nipped his way to her tummy, but the huge skirt of her dress stopped him. She rose slightly and within seconds, her gown was gone. Without a word, she sat up and undid the catch of his jeans. Understanding her intention, he rolled off the bed, removed his pants and quickly rejoined her.

  He didn’t stop to think. He didn’t let her think. He simply made love to her the way he had been aching to do since the first morning he’d seen her at his kitchen table. When it was over, he rolled away from her and pulled her against him. With one arm braced behind his neck, he stared at the ceiling, and long before he was ready for it to happen, real life began to tumble into his thoughts. Owen. The monarchy. The fight he was undoubtedly about to have with the very woman who had just loved him so sweetly, so perfectly.

  He shifted to gaze down at her and saw the same look of recognition in her eyes that said her thoughts mirrored his own. A million things separated them. Tomorrow, they would be back to being enemies, but tonight was theirs. He bent his head and kissed her and started to make love to her again.

  Chapter Ten

  Seth awakened amid a tangle of sheets and pillows. He recognized the texture and knew he was in his own bed. But he didn’t recognize the scent his bedclothes now bore. They smelled like heaven. He opened his eyes slowly, savoring a happy feeling, positive that it must have come from a dream because he hadn’t slept in his own room for weeks. But when he realized he really was in his own bed, the events of the night before came flooding back, along with all the emotions.

  Lucy.

  She loved him. She hadn’t said the words, but she didn’t have to. She’d proved it by taking him to her bed, making love.

  Though he shouldn’t have been able to even close his eyes after that, he’d slept like a baby—as if this was where he belonged. Even Owen had slept through the night, content that his parents were in the same room.

  Seth ran his hand down his face and stifled a sigh, keeping his movements to a minimum because Lucy was still sleeping beside him. After all the fighting he’d done with the physical lust he had for her, he’d succumbed to the most simple emotion of all. Friendship. She was the best friend he’d ever had. It took the conversation about Cooper for him to remember that, but once he had he had been defenseless. Yet that didn’t change the fact that he couldn’t stay married to her.

  He had to get out of here.

  Sliding from beneath the warm sheet, he angled himself to rise from the bed, but a movement from Lucy distracted him and he glanced over at her. Her long dark hair looked amazing on his pale sage-colored pillow. The creamy flesh of the slope of her shoulder called to him and he ran his fingers over her gently.

  Touching her felt brand-new again, and he suddenly felt like Adam looking at Eve. His Eve even held an apple of sorts. But though Seth could happily give up paradise for Lucy, he couldn’t sacrifice it for Owen, and that’s what he would be doing. If he gave in and allowed himself the great grace of being her husband, Owen would suffer.

  Lucy unexpectedly opened her eyes. She smiled at him. “Good morning.”

  Unable to stop himself, Seth bent down and kissed her soft lips before he whispered, “Good morning.”

  “Give me a second to brush my teeth and I could be persuaded to come back to bed.”

  Seth’s heart contracted painfully. “We can’t.” He gave her one last lingering look, taking in every detail of her face, her sleep-tousled hair, her pink skin, then forced himself out of bed.

  Lucy sat up. In the way of longtime lovers, she didn’t notice when the sheet fell exposing her breasts. “Seth?”

  Knowing he couldn’t lie, pretend or even skirt the issue, Seth simply said, “Lucy, last night didn’t change anything.” He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Damn it!” When one damn it didn’t sufficiently express his anger, he said it again. “Damn it!”

  She crawled across the bed and caught his hand, forcing him to face her. “Stop. I’m not asking you to commit to me. I’m only asking you to consider something Mildred’s been hinting at. She’s never come right out and said it, but lots of times she falls one step short of saying that maybe fate got us pregnant because we are meant to be together.”

  “I don’t believe in fate.”

  She shrugged. “With everything that’s happened this past year, there are days when I’m not sure what I believe in. But I do know that her suggestion does make a weird kind of sense and if we don’t at least try to figure it out before we make any decisions, we may be sorry.”

  Seth pulled his hand away from her and combed his fingers through his hair again. “I don’t see this situation as being a matter of either of us having a decision. This stopped being about you and me the minute Owen was born.”

  “You think it’s better for Owen that his parents live apart? That we have separate lives? That we eventually marry other people?”

  Though Seth had been careful not to let himself love this woman, the thought of her marrying someone else sent a surge of jealousy through him. He was so dangerously close to loving her that he knew this was the day he had to do something. Either commit or take the stand against commitment—maybe even move out of his own house while she lived here. The problem was, if he refused to commit, he might not have to move out. She could very well pack her bags and take his son. If he made her mad enough, he knew her father had the ways and means to keep him from Owen permanently. He would neve
r see his baby again. He wouldn’t see what Owen looked like as a child, a teenager or even an adult. He could pass him on the street and not know him.

  Right on cue, Owen stirred. The crib moved slightly, a tiny fist appeared from beneath a rose-petal-soft blanket and a slight cry issued.

  Seth turned to walk to the crib. “I’ll get him.”

  But Lucy was already closer. Gloriously naked, totally unconcerned, she walked to the baby’s bed shrugging into a silky robe. By the time she reached for Owen, the sash was tied.

  “Good morning, little one,” she cooed softly.

  Seth’s heart constricted again. If he spent another night with her, there would be no more decision to be made. He was, after all, only human. He couldn’t watch her lovingly care for his baby and share nights of passion without completely falling in love. He had to get the hell out of here. He reached for the jeans he had kicked off by the bed.

  “I’ll go see about breakfast.”

  She turned and smiled. Seth’s heart tumbled in his chest. “Okay,” she whispered, then nestled Owen one more time before she walked to the changing table. “Warm a bottle, will you? We’ll be down after I change his diaper.”

  The very normalcy of that froze Seth’s lungs and he couldn’t breathe. He could see hundreds of mornings exactly like this one. But as quickly as that picture formed, he also remembered standing in the construction trailer in Miami, hearing the knock on the door, seeing the receptionist invite the visitor in and feeling the weight of the papers on his hand as he was officially “served.” Recognizing the royal seal, he had invited the man into the private office in the back, and the barrister—her father at least had had the consideration of sending a barrister, not a messenger—had explained the betrothal, the fact that Lucy wasn’t able to commit and the annulment. For as happy as Lucy had made him last night and could make him this morning and maybe every morning for who knew how long, she had also been the person who had inflicted the greatest pain he’d ever known.

  He reminded himself that Lucy hadn’t actually instigated the behind-the-scenes events that had culminated in their annulment and reminded himself that she had instigated their lovemaking the night before because they were still married. He squeezed his eyes shut. Technically she was his, but she would never stop being a princess. And Seth would never ask her to.