by Ella Brooke
“Hello,” she chirruped. “I’m Vanessa Johnson, head baker here. What can I help you with?”
“Oh, I know who you are.” He touched his tie with one gloved hand, looking uncomfortable. “I’m Arlon Agosti, Duke of the Beltre region of Rusteria, and third in line to the throne.”
“Ah. I heard about some of that.” Vanessa came out from behind the counter. “Are you looking for James? He’ll be back in a little bit.”
“I was indeed, but I’ll settle for you.” Arlon tugged on the hem of his gloves. “The reality of the matter is that Prince James has responsibilities, and he cannot be spending all of his time with a woman he barely knows.”
“Good thing he’s known me for over five years then,” Vanessa said with a smile.
Arlon frowned and looked at her as though he didn’t believe her. “How would you have met the prince of Rusteria?”
“I met him on a park bench when he was living in New York,” Vanessa said honestly. “I was sitting there doing reading for class, and he sat down, seeming frustrated, and I offered to take him somewhere to get his mind off of things. I didn’t know who he was. Even when our papers cover news about your country, it isn’t really on my radar.”
Arlon flinched at that. Let him stew in his unimportance, third in line for a throne most Americans hadn’t heard of, either from lack of geographical skills or complete disinterest.
“We got ice cream,” she continued, “and we dated. Until his uncle made a play for the throne, and he was taken back home pretty abruptly. We’re just catching up now.”
Now Vanessa was very glad she hadn’t acted on any of her baser impulses while they were in the park or in public restaurants. James had warned that people might be taking pictures. She hadn’t seen any of them, but she hadn’t actually bothered to look.
“Be that as it may, he will be returning to Rusteria very soon,” Arlon insisted.
“After the concert?”
“Directly,” he said sharply.
James had suggested he had leeway on this, but it sounded like his family was pressuring him to come home as soon as possible. Probably because of her.
“I’m not sure why you needed to give this message to me. It seems like you’d be giving James’s schedule to him,” she said.
“You need to know that you’re going to have to stop seeing him. It isn’t appropriate. It’s a scandal. The prince dating some unmarried woman with a child.” Arlon’s eyes averted slightly at the word “unmarried.” What was going on in Rusteria if they couldn’t handle an unmarried woman?
Not wanting to share more information than she had to, Vanessa pressed her lips into a line and gave a curt nod. “Message received, Mr. Agosti. Now, if you’d like to wait, you can have a cupcake on the house, and maybe some coffee. I have work to do.”
“I’d rather not.” Arlon’s eyes scanned the walls. They were a bit weathered, like many places in New York, but the shop wasn’t unclean.
“Your loss,” Vanessa snipped, before returning to the back.
She stormed straight to the walk-in cooler and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. Counting as she did so, she took in deep breaths and let them out slowly. That smug, pompous ass. James had been too soft in describing him. Vanessa stared at the rows and rows of mini-cupcakes, a day’s work alongside the other orders, from another pushy asshole in her life. And every time, she had to swallow her pride and smile and be the better person.
It galled her sometimes. Normally, she let it go, but on days like today, when there were enough people exercising their power over her, Vanessa really had the urge to hit something.
Chapter Eight
James
The preschool was blazoned with primary colors, pictures, and three chalkboards. James blinked at this assault on his retinas and glanced around the room full of small children playing on the floor.
“Hello, there!” said a woman in a long dress and sandals. She looked just a bit younger than Vanessa. Probably “Miss Mary”, the teacher. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here for Jonah. They already checked me at the front of the school. Vanessa called to let you know I’d be picking Jonah up today. I’m James.”
“Good to meet you, James.” Miss Mary gestured to the multicolored rug where Jonah was on his knees with three other kids. “He should be ready to go, but don’t forget his jacket.”
James tried not to react to that advice. It was cold outside. Why wouldn’t he get Jonah’s jacket? Whether it was because he was new, or potentially the dad, Miss Mary didn’t have a high opinion of his capacity to pick up a child.
“Hello, Jonah,” James said, as he knelt down to Jonah.
“Hi, Jamie,” Jonah said. He stood, picking up the sheet he’d been coloring. “Where’s Mommy?”
“She got busy at the bakery, so I’m going to take you to her, okay?”
Jonah frowned and pushed his lower lip out. He clutched the sheet with both hands and looked uncertainly toward Miss Mary.
“Can I see your drawing?” James asked gently.
Jonah held it up for him.
“This is beautiful.” He had no idea what he was looking at.
“That’s Feathers!”
“Oh, he’s a chicken.” James nodded.
“No! He’s a dinosaur.”
James frowned. “I don’t think dinosaurs had feathers.”
“Some did! We learned about it!”
James reached for Jonah’s hand. “Well, you’ll just have to explain it to me on the way back to the bakery. We didn’t learn about that when I was in school, and I’m afraid I’m not up to date on dinosaur science.”
Jonah had started off quite shy, but the more he talked about the different kinds of dinosaurs, the calmer he seemed. He was excited by the inside of the Lexus, and James introduced him to Lorenzo.
“Is he your friend?” Jonah asked.
“Not exactly,” James said.
“Is he your boyfriend?”
Lorenzo laughed. “Not in a million years.”
“Rude,” James said, with false indignation.
“I work for James. I drive him places and give him back up if someone wants to fight,” Lorenzo explained.
“You shouldn’t fight. You should use your words,” Jonah advised.
“That’s very smart,” James said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Part of James had been nervous that maybe he and Jonah wouldn’t get along without Vanessa there as a mediator. He’d been worried for nothing, though. Jonah was very easy-going and friendly, and no more excitable or squirmy than James’s niece and nephew, who were seven and nine respectively. Actually, his nephew, Phillip, was a lot more rambunctious, and a little spoiled sometimes. Maybe Phillip could learn better behavior from Jonah.
When they arrived at the bakery, James made sure that Jonah held his hand on the way across the street. Things seemed to be slow inside, so it was surprising that Vanessa was still in the back. Normally, towards the end of the day, she’d be out with her employees, drinking some water and chatting amiably. She must still have been busy with those orders.
James waved at Anisa.
“Hey there, little man!” she said to Jonah.
“Hi, ‘Nisa!”
James headed for the backroom door, but Anisa shook her head rapidly.
“You should really wait. She’s in a mood.”
“What? What happened in the hour I was gone?” James asked.
“Some d-bag in a suit came by and pissed her off.”
James considered that for a moment before heading to the back regardless of Anisa’s warning.
“I have a visitor for our little work-o-holic!” James sang.
Vanessa looked up from the large mug of coffee in her hands. When she spotted Jonah, she forced a smile. “Hey, sweetie-face. C’mere.”
She held out an arm, and he ran up to her for a hug. She let out a sigh and said quietly, “Your cousin Arlon dropped by. I think he’d like to talk to you.�
�
James closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up at the ceiling in annoyance. “I cannot believe he would come bother you at work.”
“Having met him, I can imagine that quite well.”
“Don’t worry about him. I’ll take care of it.”
“Okay,” she almost whispered. It was odd for her to be drinking coffee this late. It had been a rough day for her, however.
“Did anything else happen?”
“No, he was enough.” Vanessa stood and gave Jonah’s shoulder a squeeze. “How about we go out for pizza?”
“Pizza! On a Monday?” Jonah squealed excitedly.
“Yep, pizza on a Monday. Do you want to come?” she asked James.
“Always.”
It was starting to be a habit, the two of them sitting together and talking after Jonah was in bed. It had been a delight to watch him bounce on the seats in the restaurant, and he and Vanessa had sung along to one of the songs playing over the speaker system. But in the emotional undercurrent, he could tell that Vanessa was distracting herself.
“I think I’ll understand if you have to go back to Rusteria after the concert. Arlon said that was the plan,” she said, pouring the wine.
“That’s not the case. He and Mother want me to, but there’s nothing pressing at home that means I have to go so soon.” James took the wine when she handed it to him, but didn’t drink. “Van, I do have some say in this.”
“You have responsibilities. And you’ll have to go back sooner or later.”
“I also have a private jet. I can come back.”
She lifted her eyes and looked at him. Her expression was naked and open. He’d hurt her again just by being here, and he hadn’t even left yet.
“Then come right back. We’ll be here.”
James touched her chin and kissed her tenderly. She was trembling slightly, and he set their drinks aside and pulled her closer. She swallowed hard, and he looked into her eyes. She was still uncertain, but he could see how hard she was trying. It couldn’t be easy to have faith after how hard they’d struggled here, after having Arlon come into her workplace out of the blue. James would have to make sure it was clear to his family that they weren’t to get involved in this matter.
God, he was going to have to tell them about Jonah.
Vanessa’s eyes were growing wet and alarmed. James hugged her to him tightly.
“Van, baby, I promise you I won’t leave again without saying anything. I have options now. No matter what, I’ll take care of the two of you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she objected.
“We can discuss the level you’re comfortable with, but I’m not just going to leave you here without me, while my family members and paparazzi follow you around,” James argued.
Vanessa rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m glad we got to reconnect anyway.”
“We still have time.” James paused. “I want you to come to the concert with me. I think you’ll enjoy it, and you’ll get to hear some music composed by people in my country.”
“It’s Friday? And then you leave next week?”
“Arlon doesn’t outrank me. I have some choice. Let’s just take a beat here, and we’ll think it through.”
Vanessa squeezed him. “I would like to come to the concert. I need to find a sitter, though.”
“We’ll figure everything out. I swear to you, we will.”
James wished he could stay the night. He very much wanted that. But he couldn’t fast-forward their relationship just because they had obstacles. Vanessa was pushing herself as much as she could, certainly, and she’d already let him into her life more than he’d expected.
As Lorenzo drove him back to his hotel, James called Arlon and left a stern message on his voicemail. He called Marcus’s secretary next, but of course, it was too early there, and no one could be reached. He left another message, a little more politely this time:
“This is James. I need a conference with the king as soon as possible. Though I doubt very much that King Marcus has approved of this, our cousin Arlon approached the woman I am seeing and gave her vague threats about our relationship. I have no intention of ending things with her, for reasons I will explain to the king when we speak, and I will not have Vanessa harassed. Thank you.”
James shook his head and tapped the corner of his phone on his knee. He wished he’d called Arlon the moment Vanessa had mentioned his name. His cousin certainly wasn’t going to get a second opportunity to bother her.
When the phone chimed, he looked at it in puzzlement. He had a new text.
“From Arlon, of course. Coward,” he muttered irritably.
James opened the message, expecting some long-winded explanation of the day’s events. Instead, there was simply a picture attachment. He tilted his head back curiously staring at the message. What in the world would Arlon send him?
Then he clicked it, and Arlon’s meaning was clear. It was a picture of Vanessa, probably seven or eight months after James had left the city. She sat on the side of a school fountain with several friends around her, her belly round and swollen under a thin, striped t-shirt. His eyes drifted to the floppy-haired man sitting beside her, leaning over with his hand on her belly.
“Who the fuck is this?” he said to himself.
The jealously rose irrationally in his chest, and he had the urge to demand that Lorenzo turn around immediately, so he could show this picture to Vanessa. He also, simultaneously, wanted to find out where Arlon was staying and go wring his insufferable neck.
“Are you okay back there?” Lorenzo asked.
“Not remotely.”
“Um, do I need to drive to a hospital?”
“No,” James growled. “I am simply… very… angry.”
Lorenzo stopped at a light and turned around. “What is it?”
James started to refuse, but then he decided he needed a sane person to look at this and turned the phone around.
“Ummm… What am I looking at?”
“Vanessa with another man!”
“Weren’t you in Rusteria at that point, though?” Lorenzo squinted.
“A bit soon for her to have moved on!” James objected.
“Doesn’t look like it was that soon. Not from the size of her.”
James put his phone down and pointed ahead. “Eyes on the road.”
“You asked. Your Highness.”
“Knock it off.” James huffed and sunk back into the seat. “This is exactly what Arlon wants. He wants me to see that and start to wonder who that man is, and why he’s so close to her. He wants me to wonder… if Jonah is mine.”
“Without a timestamp on that picture, you can’t really tell much.” Lorenzo got back to driving, but he was also clearly sneaking glances through the rearview mirror. “And they weren’t making out or anything, anyway.”
“That’s… a good point.”
“Jesus. You’re really into her. I didn’t know what to think about how fast you two connected.” Lorenzo grinned. “Look, if you want to know something, I’d advise you two to just talk about it.”
“I will. We will. I want to cool down, though.” James bit his lip. “Vanessa is a good woman. I have to trust that. She’s not given me any reason not to.”
“I mean, maybe. She did tell you that the kid was your son.”
“You weren’t there that night. She never said that. I never pressed it because I wanted to be delicate about this, but… I just…”
Lorenzo clicked his tongue. “Well. There ya go.”
James nodded. “I’ll handle this. I’m not going to let Arlon of all people dictate how we progress in our relationship.”
Jealousy roiled inside him even as he said these words. He had to be the reasonable one, for both of them, but Arlon knew just what buttons to push. And even the thought that Jonah might be someone else’s stung him much harder than he’d thought possible.
Chapter Nine
Vanessa
Vanessa had tho
ught maybe she’d pushed her insecurities too far when James didn’t show up at the diner the next day. However, he called to tell her he had things he needed to wrap up, and he would see her later. True to his word, he came by towards the close of the day, and although he seemed a bit grumpy, the cloud over his head disappeared when she suggested he pick up Jonah again.
And that had been their week. He wasn’t at the bakery as much, but he was still around, and letting him take care of picking up and, once, dropping off Jonah seemed to do all of them good. It had occurred to her before that having someone with her in this parenting thing would make it all easier, but she hadn’t realized how big of an impact just handing off a few responsibilities would make.
Plus, James was getting more comfortable with Jonah, and that made Vanessa more comfortable with the two of them being together. It was a win-win, apart from the reality that James was going to leave soon.
She had to trust him. She had to try to believe he’d be back, and not when Jonah was ten. Stupid emotional wounds. She’d been through this when her father had left, and when her mother had died. It was like a tug of war between her mind and her heart as she struggled to fully heal from old pain. Focusing on the minutiae of her daily life helped, but that really just pushed off having to deal with why it hurt.
Come Saturday, Vanessa had found a sitter and gave Jonah a kiss goodbye and a promise to see him tomorrow. It would be late when she got back, and he’d be in bed by that time. He didn’t seem to mind at the moment, but she knew Marley would have her hands full when it came bedtime, so Vanessa had her phone fully charged.
Lorenzo picked her up to take her to James’s hotel, and she entered it feeling incredibly out of place. Even if his suite was sure to be the grandest in the building, she could tell this was the kind of hotel she could never afford to splurge on. She got that from the exquisite light fixtures in the lobby, and the fountain, and the soft, elegant lighting. She also got that from the way the woman at the desk looked at her when she entered. Vanessa had put on her best dress, but apparently thrift-chic wasn’t good enough here.
