Far from it, Max wanted to say. If anyone was in danger it was him. One well-placed rejection, and his heart would shatter.
“That might be the first time anyone has ever ordered them to do anything,” she said once the others left the room.
“Thank you for backing me up.”
“The only reason I did was to avoid a scene.” Finally she turned away from the window to look at him. “Why are you here?”
Max opened, and then shut his mouth. He’d had an entire speech planned, but seeing her up close, the late-day light behind her forming a gray silhouette, all his impressive words failed him. The only thing he could come up with was “You left your suitcase.”
“I decided I didn’t need it. Is that why you flew halfway around the world? To return my luggage?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so.” She looked down as if just noticing her twitching hands and quickly clasped them tight. “So what did you want?”
Was there a note of expectation in her question? His quickening pulse said yes, but he refused to get his hopes up. “Are you still planning to marry Manolo?”
She answered with a haughty sniff before walking away. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
None of his business, but she hadn’t said yes.
He followed her into the next room, which turned out to be a lavishly decorated space containing a very large piano. Arianna was making a production out of straightening a pile of sheet music, a portrait of anger and sadness. He wondered what she would do if he rested his hands on her shoulders and cradled her close. “Why did you turn my proposal down?” he asked instead. “Why did you walk away?”
“Because...”
“‘Because’ isn’t an answer.” Why was he dragging this out? The words I love you were right on his tongue. All he needed to do was say them.
But he was still afraid. He needed to know this wasn’t one-sided. “Was it because you didn’t think I meant it?”
“No. I know you meant it.”
“Then...?”
“Because I didn’t want to be another one of your charity cases, that’s why!” Music scattered to the carpet as she whipped around. “I didn’t want to be someone you had to rescue. I wanted...”
“Wanted what?” Max asked, heart pounding.
She looked away again. “Nothing.”
There was no need for her to answer; he knew. He heard it in the way her voice cracked when she spoke. And with that confession, the last of fear’s grip on his heart disappeared.
Slowly, he reached out to brush the hair from her cheek. “You were never a charity case,” he told her. “Not for a second.”
“Of course I was. I was no different than Darius or Shirley or any of the others who crossed your path,” she said. But she leaned into his touch nonetheless, giving him the confidence to carry on.
“Do you remember the first time we shared a taxi? You said people do crazy things when they’re in love. Remember?”
“I remember.”
Her breath hitched. Closing his eyes, Max pressed a kiss to her temple. Being close to her again was like coming home after a long absence. “Does flying halfway around the world to stop a wedding count as crazy?” he whispered in her hair.
* * *
Arianna’s heart stopped. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? She was afraid to look him in the face, in case this was all a sick, terrible joke.
But here he was, holding her. His fingers tracing her jaw. Lifting her chin until she had no choice but to look into his eyes.
Which stared down at her with slate-blue sincerity. “I’m not rescuing you,” he whispered, his words hoarse with emotion. “You’re the one rescuing me. I need you in my life.”
Was he saying...?
“I love you, Arianna.”
They were the most beautiful four words she’d ever heard. Words she had hoped and wished for, but never thought she’d hear pass his lips. “I love you, too,” she whispered, and she kissed him with all the love she had in her heart. A deep, soul-searing kiss meant to say everything she couldn’t put into words.
It ended much too soon. She could have stayed that way forever, wrapped in his arms, but suddenly Max backed away, his eyes bright and unreadable.
“I’m not finished,” he said with a smile.
With that, he dropped to his knee. “Marry me, Arianna. Tell Manolo and your father and everyone else to go to blazes and marry me. I promise I will spend the rest of our lives making you and the baby happy.”
He already had. She was happier at this moment than she could ever remember. So happy, she couldn’t hold back the tears. “Yes,” she said, dropping to her knees and throwing her arms around his neck. “Yes, yes, yes.”
They clung to each other, laughing and crying at the same time. “I love you,” Max repeated over and over. “I love you.”
When they’d recovered, he brushed back the hair from her face. “I never thought to bring a ring.”
Arianna laughed. Later, she would tell him about dismissing Manolo and her talk with her father. What mattered now was that they were going to spend the rest of their life together. “It doesn’t matter,” she whispered against his lips. “I have you.”
EPILOGUE
MAX LIFTED TWO glasses of sparkling cider from the tray on the table, and handed one to his bride. “So what time does Babbo Natale show up?”
“I don’t know. I told you, Armando and I always fell asleep before his arrival.”
“In other words, this whole thing is an excuse to stay up all night.”
“Would you rather we fall asleep early?”
“Absolutely not. I can’t think of a better way to spend Christmas Eve than under a tree with you.” He clinked the rim of his glass against hers. “Merry Christmas, Your Highness.”
“That’s Mrs. Brown to you,” Arianna replied. She giggled as the carbonation danced over her tongue.
Officially, they were now to be referred to as Conte di Corinthia, Prince Maxwell, and Her Royal Highness Princess Arianna, but she liked plain old Mr. and Mrs. Max Brown. The names had a simple, sincere ring to them.
The two of them were sequestered in their new private quarters at the palace, having been married exactly twelve hours. Tomorrow, Christmas Day, they would be officially presented to Corinthia as husband and wife. Tonight, however, was about them. Knowing the pomp and circumstance that awaited them, Arianna wanted their wedding night to last as long as possible. Apparently Max agreed because when she came up with the idea of staying awake for Babbo Natale, he enthusiastically agreed.
She curled closer to her husband, draping the sheer robe of her peignoir across their laps like a blanket. Nearby, next to the fireplace, a tree laden with white lights twinkled merrily. “I might be biased,” she said, “but as beautiful as that tree is, it is nothing compared to the one at the Fox Club. That might be the most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen.”
“Better than the one in Rockefeller Center?”
“Absolutely. You didn’t kiss me behind the one at Rockefeller Center.”
“Ah, good point, Mrs. Brown.” He bent his head over hers. “I can, however, kiss you under this one.”
“Mmm, as much as you want,” she replied. There would be a lifetime of kisses under Christmas trees. Not to mention children laughing and begging for their own late night Christmas Eves. This was but the first night of forever.
As she’d suspected, Manolo was far more interested in making royal connections than he was in being a father. Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise when he agreed to let Max adopt the child as his own. It also wasn’t a surprise that Max refused to let Father make Manolo sign away his parental rights. “Someday he might realize what an idiot he is,” he’d said.
P
erhaps, but Arianna suspected that would never happen. She and Max would raise the child—their child—in a home filled with family and love.
With a happy sigh, she thought of the smile on her father’s face as they said their vows. Who would have guessed that in risking his disappointment, she’d made him happier than ever? “Thank you for agreeing to have the wedding in Corinthia.”
“I’ve already told you, I didn’t care where we got married, so long as we did. Besides,” he said, nuzzling her neck, “watching Darius having to bow to your father and brother was totally worth it.”
“That was your favorite part of the ceremony?”
“Second favorite,” he said. “Hearing you say ‘I do’ was the best part.”
Arianna had to admit, that was her favorite part, too.
Her eyes were getting heavy. Apparently when it came to dragging out her wedding night, the spirit was willing, but the pregnant body was not. She nuzzled closer to Max, letting his scent lull her to sleep.
Suddenly, a rippling sensation traveled across her abdomen. Like bubbles. Instantly, she awoke and grabbed Max’s hand.
“What—?”
“Shh...” she said, placing his hand on her stomach. “Feel that?”
The ripple repeated.
His jaw dropped. “Is that...?”
“I think the baby is trying to wish us a merry Christmas.”
Nothing in the world would ever match the smile that split Max’s face. She wanted to weep with happiness at the joy that shone in his eyes. “Not the baby,” he said. “Our baby.”
Leaning over, he placed a kiss right above her belly button before returning to kiss her. “Merry Christmas, Princess.”
As far as she was concerned, it already was.
* * * * *
EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT
Crown Prince Armando enlists Rosa Lamberti to find him a suitable wife—but could a stolen kiss under the mistletoe lead to an unexpected Christmas wedding?
Read on for a sneak preview of
WINTER WEDDING FOR THE PRINCE
by Barbara Wallace
“Have you ever looked at an unfocused telescope only to turn the knob and make everything sharp and clear?” Armando asked.
Rosa nodded.
“That is what it was like for me, a few minutes ago. One moment I had all these sensations I couldn’t explain swirling inside me, then the next everything made sense. They were my soul coming back to life.”
“I don’t know what to think,” she said.
“Then don’t think,” he replied. “Just go with your heart.”
He made it sound easy. Just go with your heart. But what if your heart was frightened and confused? For all his talk of coming to life, he was essentially in the same place as before, unable or unwilling to give her a true emotional commitment.
On the other hand, her feelings wanted to override her common sense, so maybe they were even. As she watched him close the gap between them, she felt her heartbeat quicken to match her breath.
“You do know that we’re under the mistletoe yet again, don’t you?”
The sprig of berries had quite a knack for timing, didn’t it? Anticipation ran down her spine ceasing what little hold common sense still had. Armando was going kiss her and she was going to let him. She wanted to lose herself in his arms. Believe for a moment that his heart felt more than simple desire.
This time, when he wrapped his arm around her waist, she slid against him willingly, aligning her hips against his with a smile.
“Appears to be our fate,” she whispered. “Mistletoe, that is.”
“You’ll get no complaints from me.” She could hear her heart beating in her ears as his head dipped toward hers. “Merry Christmas, Rosa.”
“Mer…” His kiss swallowed the rest of her wish. Rosa didn’t care if she spoke another word again. She’d waited her whole life to be kissed like this. Fully and deeply, with a need she felt all the way down to her toes.
They were both breathless when the moment ended. With their foreheads resting against each other, she felt Armando smile against her lips. “Merry Christmas,” he whispered again.
Don’t miss
WINTER WEDDING FOR THE PRINCE by Barbara Wallace
Available December 2016
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Copyright ©2016 by Barbara Wallace
ISBN: 978-1-474-04181-2
CHRISTMAS BABY FOR THE PRINCESS
© 2016 Barbara Wallace
Published in Great Britain 2016
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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