WELL, THIS WAS a mistake of epic proportions.
She was clearly a lot more shocked than she’d realised if she’d thought coming back here was a good idea. Giada walked into his house, took a deep breath of the rarefied air that was pure Lucas, and was immediately assailed by memories.
The corridor where they’d had sex because they just couldn’t wait to get to a bed or a couch. The kitchen where he’d prepared breakfast wearing nothing but a towel. The pool...oddio, that lap pool where they’d skinny-dipped in the moonlight after champagne and oysters. Magical. And afterwards they’d talked into the night about books, favourite films, everything and nothing.
God, it had only been for a weekend but it had felt so right.
And now, after his reaction about the baby news, everything felt wrong. Even she felt wrong-footed and yet it was him who’d had the mother of surprises. Or rather, the father...
She allowed herself a smile. He’d tried to hide his interest but she’d seen the way he’d looked at that blurry image. She just didn’t know what the next step was. Not for Lucas and herself or for her family. It felt as if she was juggling a lot of balls in the air and she wasn’t sure she would be able to catch any of them when they fell.
‘Guest room?’ she asked, knowing the answer but wanting to be sure. Things were awkward enough without more complications.
He was behind her, carrying her bags. She was so aware of him. Of the hitch in his breathing when her arm had brushed against his in the car. And the responding hitch in hers. The long slender fingers that had turned the steering wheel...fingers that had given her a lot of pleasure. The way his shirt strained across taut pec muscles she knew were honed from morning laps in the pool. That his arms were strong enough to hold her up as he’d entered her, pressing her against the bedroom wall, and, yes, in that pool.
Did he remember? And did he now feel as self-conscious as she did? As if they just couldn’t find the right words to clear the air and bring them full circle back to that wall. That pool.
She wondered how he’d have reacted to her if she hadn’t been pregnant. Would he be making moves on her? Would she be doing that to him? Would they have gone straight back to being lovers, feeding a renewed sexual hunger they couldn’t stop?
But...everything was different now.
As if he knew what she was thinking, he clarified, ‘Yes. I called and had the housekeeper make it up for you. Just down the hall. On the right.’
‘I remember.’ I remember everything, Captain Sensible. ‘I think I’ll grab a quick shower and change out of these clothes.’
‘Do you need help?’ He meant with her sling, she knew, and was being polite, not teasing or flirtatious.
‘I can manage. I’m going to run a bath, I think that would be a lot easier for me.’ It broke her heart the way they were being so respectfully well mannered around each other when she knew him so intimately. Knew how he tasted, what he looked like naked and sleeping. How his face lit up when he smiled. How she’d felt so safe enclosed in his arms. Oddio, she hadn’t realised just how much she’d missed him. And missed his smile. Damn, a smile from him would be a good start. But she didn’t have the energy to go searching for one right now.
Exhaustion tugged at every muscle in her body so she flopped down on the deliciously comfortable bed unable to summon any strength to remove her clothes, open her suitcase or...anything.
He nodded and put her bags on the floor. ‘Are you sure you’ll be okay?’
‘I think so.’ But her eyes were already closing.
‘Do not do anything with that arm, definitely no lifting. Call me if you need help. Pizza will be waiting for you when you’re ready.’ He closed the door as he left and she wondered just how much he didn’t want her to be here.
Not that she’d be here for long. Like her brother, she had some calls to make. She forced her eyes to snap back open and, using her good hand, she took her phone out of her bag and hit the call button for the first of many conversations she needed to have.
Lucas checked the time again. Giada had been in her room for over an hour and he wasn’t sure quite what to do next. The pizza had grown cold and he’d just reheated it, hoping the smell of freshly cooked dough would summon her downstairs. But no.
He knew she was tired but she needed to eat, not just for her strength but for the baby growing inside her. And there he was; already making space in his thoughts for this new life. How would it be when she wasn’t in the next room but thousands of miles away? How would he deal with the thoughts then?
He’d give her five more minutes. He slid the pizza from the pizza stone and onto a large plate on a tray.
Then he waited. Drummed his fingers on the kitchen counter. Three minutes.
Okay. Now.
He picked up the tray of food, walked to the guest room and, juggling the tray in one hand, gently tapped on the door.
No answer.
He pushed open the door and paused as he took her in, his heart stalling as lightness filled his veins. She was curled up on her side, wrapped in a fluffy white dressing-gown, fast asleep. Her hair was damp and curling in tendrils on the pillow. Her breathing came in little gasps, not snores but almost, and the sound was so cute and funny he held in a laugh. This was the Royal Princess of Isola Verde. Softly snoring in a guest room in his Seattle home.
The robe had fallen open around her breasts, baring a nipple. Creamy brown, darker than he remembered, but he knew pregnancy could change a woman’s body in many ways. She was definitely fuller, rounder. He winced as his gaze slid over the raw stripe of bruising across her chest. But his eyes didn’t linger there, instead trying to glimpse her belly through the tied robe.
Hot damn. What was he doing? Ogling her?
Okay. The pizza could wait. He needed to get the hell out of here.
Reluctantly dragging his eyes away from her beautiful form, he tiptoed backwards, banged into the door, clattering the plate on the tray against the glass of sparkling water. Damn.
‘Lucas?’ She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
‘Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you, but I thought you might be hungry.’
‘Oh, the pizza? Yes. Actually, I’m starving.’
‘D’you want to eat here? Or in the kitchen?’
‘Here, please. I’m too tired to get off this bed. Is that okay?’ She was being so polite.
‘Totally fine.’ He put the tray on the bed and helped her to shuffle up and recline against the pillows, making sure to elevate her sore arm. ‘I hope you’re ambidextrous.’
‘What?’ She noticed her robe had fallen open and hurriedly tugged it across her chest and tied it more tightly, but not before she caught his gaze. She knew he’d been looking. Her eyes heated, just for a second, and his whole body responded in kind.
No matter what their problems, the physical attraction was definitely still there, front and centre, if his trouser tent was anything to go by. He tried to think of mundane things such as folding laundry and the principles of asepsis as he sat down on the bed and handed her a plate. ‘I hope you can eat pizza with your left hand.’
‘It’s going to be a challenge,’ she admitted with a grimace. ‘But trust me, I’m so hungry I’ll manage one way or another. Any news on Papa?’
‘Nothing yet. But I can assure you, if there was any news, good or bad, Dom would call immediately. My guess is that he’s still in Theatre or Recovery.’
‘Okay. Well, while we wait I may as well eat.’ She picked up a piece of pizza with her left hand and, twisting her palm at a very odd angle, hooked her fingers around it. The end of the slice drooped and she dipped her head quickly to catch the dripping oil and cheese with her mouth. She ate with gusto. ‘Ta-da!’
‘Messy, but ten out of ten for effort.’ He thought about offering to feed her, but knew that was a step beyond where they were right now.
But when she’d finished eating, he did grab a napkin, take hold of her oily hand and wipe it for her. As he did so her body seemed to relax and she smiled as she watched him. ‘Thank you, Lucas. You’re such a gentleman.’
‘I just didn’t want to get pizza oil on my fancy bedding.’ He winked.
She laughed. ‘No. You wanted to help me. Admit it.’
‘Yes. I did. But I don’t want to be overbearing.’ Generally happy to be in his own company, he wasn’t used to blurting out his feelings, but in this case it was important for them both to know where they stood. Their child was too important for ambiguity. ‘The truth is, Giada, I’m not sure where we go from here.’
‘Neither am I.’ Her shoulders dipped, but she looked relieved they were actually talking. ‘But you could start by calling me Gigi. Like you used to.’
‘But that’s a family nickname. I’m not family.’
‘You called me that before.’
‘Yes, when we were...’ How should he put it?
‘Playing?’ Her eyes slid up to meet his and for the first time since they’d met earlier this afternoon he felt as if the barriers were starting to shift. She breathed out and shook her head. ‘This is very difficult, sì?’
He nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘You don’t want a baby.’
‘I didn’t. Now? It’s sinking in.’ But he didn’t want to give her the wrong impression that they were going to walk off into the sunset together. That was, if he was even worthy of being accepted into the Royal family as some sort of...what? What exactly would he be to them? A complication? An error of judgement? Always on the outside. ‘But it makes everything awkward between Dom and myself, too.’
‘He’ll get over it.’
‘I don’t think you understand how a man feels about protecting his little sister. I’ve broken unspoken vows. He’ll kill me. What did you say the punishment was? Beheading?’ He was only half joking but his relationship with Dom would be irrevocably changed and strained by this and that thought was like a low blow in his gut.
He lifted the tray from the bed and put it on the dressing table then sat down next to her again. She crossed her legs, tucking her heels under her knees. ‘We are both adults, Lucas. We can do what we like. Besides, my brother hasn’t been home for ten years. I can’t remember him ever wanting to protect me.’
‘He does, of course he does. One of the reasons he stayed here was to protect you from the fallout of him arguing with your Papa.’
She spread the fingers of her good hand and ran them through her almost dry hair, teasing out the curls into gentle waves. ‘Papa does a good line in arguing, sì. I do love him, but he can be hard to live with. He has expectations and standards that I constantly fail.’
‘Never.’
‘I’ve been in the gossip pages for half my life and rarely for a good reason. As you can imagine, he’s not a big fan of that.’
‘You were forced to grow up in the spotlight. At some point you were going to stuff up.’
‘Thank you for understanding.’ She threw him a look of gratitude. ‘He hasn’t forgiven me for the things I did in the past. It feels as if he’s just waiting for me to drop the ball again and drag the family into yet another scandal.’ She cupped her belly with her palm. ‘Looks like he’s right about that. But I’m having this baby and I’m proud I’m going to be a mother.’
Pride? He hadn’t thought about that particular emotion yet; he was still reeling from finding out he was going to be a father. What kind of father was he going to be? Distant, like his father had been and continued to be? No. There was no way he’d have a part of him out there in the world and not want to watch it grow up, be involved somehow.
‘Sounds like neither of us exactly has a blueprint for happy families,’ he said, choosing not to embellish that with his own sorry familial experiences. ‘Which makes getting things right so important. I’m guessing your father doesn’t know about the baby?’
‘What? No! Not yet. He’s had enough to deal with, with a brain tumour and surgery later in the month. And now...well he’s very sick. I have to wait.’
‘You are going to tell him, though? And Dom? You can’t just get bigger—’
She laughed. ‘Don’t panic, Captain Sensible. I am going to tell them, of course. But you and I need a plan first. I’m assuming you’d want parental rights?’
‘Ah, you make it sound so affirming and fluffy.’ He bit back irritation, still astounded that two hours ago he’d been totally oblivious that his world was about to be tipped upside down. ‘Yes, Giada. I want to be involved in my child’s life.’ Whatever happened, he would try to be a better father than the one he’d had.
‘How? How’s that going to work? I mean...’ She bit her lip, frowning as if this was a very hard puzzle. ‘What are your...um, intentions?’
‘I don’t understand.’ What was she asking? ‘Are you expecting...? Do we need to get married, is that what you want?’
‘What? Really?’ She blinked and then, surprisingly, laughed. ‘Lucas Beaufort, is this a proposal?’
‘Yes. Um. No. Not exactly.’ He wasn’t at all sure how he’d feel if she said yes.
‘Good, because it needs work. No. No, Lucas. I don’t need to marry you.’ She flicked her hand towards him. ‘This isn’t the Dark Ages. I am perfectly capable and financially secure enough to look after this baby on my own. And by the sound of it you hate the thought of it...’
He did. At least, he had. Now, he wasn’t so sure. And, hell, even though he’d had no intention of proposing or marrying her, the rejection stung.
‘It’s okay. We don’t need make any decisions yet; we have plenty of time to figure this out. You need to sleep. We can chat more tomorrow.’
‘Ah. About that...’ She pressed her lips together and looked down at her good hand. ‘The thing is... I’m going home tomorrow.’
‘What? You’ve only just got here.’
‘Someone from the family needs to be in Isola Verde. I’ve phoned my private secretary and she’s arranged for a flight...scheduled, unfortunately, but it’s all we can do at such short notice.’
‘Wait. You’ve done what?’ What the actual hell? He fought to keep his shock under control. Oh, she was full of surprises, Giada Baresi. ‘You just went ahead and arranged that without talking to me or Dom? What about...?’ He’d been going to say ‘us’, but there wasn’t any ‘us’. It was Princess Giada and Lucas Beaufort. Two separate people brought together by lust and now forced to be connected for the rest of their lives. ‘Is this how it’s going to be? You making all the decisions and informing me of them, and I get no say?’ He couldn’t live like that. ‘Damn it, Giada. I don’t want control, but I do deserve an equal say in things.’
‘My nation needs someone from the Royal family at home. Particularly when news breaks about Papa’s accident. Dom can’t go, can he? He’s got to be here with our father and do his job. So it has to be me. Unfortunately, you are having a child with a princess and I have duties to perform whether you—or I—like it or not.’
She sat up and he saw the regal jaw, the tilt of her chin, the resolution in her eyes. He reminded himself that this was the indomitable and independent Princess Giada Baresi who had grown up with all the trappings of wealth, privilege and responsibility despite the occasional tongue lashing from her father, not soft, sweet Gigi who’d giggled against his naked chest and had sighed his name when she’d come.
‘I am leaving tomorrow, Lucas. I have duties I have to attend to at home.’ She paused. Thought for a moment. There was a tease in her eyes as she said, ‘Is that okay with you?’
Well, at least she was listening.
‘What would have been nicer would have been a conversation that went along the lines of...“Hey, I’m thinking I should go home. There isn’t anyone else available and I think I need to be there to give some stability to the nation while the King and Crown Prince are out of the country. What do you think, Lucas?”’
‘To which I could have answered, “Sure thing. That sounds like a great plan. How can I help you? Remember, you only have one active hand so you’ll need extra support.”’ He paused to check his tone had been supportive rather than critical. ‘And you could have said, “I’ll be okay, Lucas, because I have people to help me, but thank you for offering.”’
But even though he’d hoped she’d receive his comments well, her eyebrows rose and she looked stunned. ‘You want me to ask permission before I do anything? Dio, you’re like my papa!’
‘I do not want you to ask for permission, I’d just like us to have a conversation. I’d like us to work together with this...new issue.’ He looked at her, saw the confusion and, yes, anger, clouding her eyes and he knew he was stepping over the line here. ‘You may well be a princess but, damn, in this house we’re just a man and a woman trying to make a future that will work for us both.’
‘I am always a princess, Lucas. That is something I cannot change.’
‘You have changed, Giada.’
‘You said that to me once before, Lucas, remember?’ She bristled, her back straightening, her mouth flattening into a tight line. ‘Only last time you said it with admiration and respect and now it just sounds bitter.’
‘I’m not bitter, I’m blindsided. I’m trying to work out what we do next but you’re always one step ahead of me, making your own decisions. I’m always playing catch-up. I just need a moment or two where we can talk civilly to each other.’ Which was laughable because he wasn’t sure how civil he could be when he wanted to kiss her again and again. She was volatile and aristocratic, fiery and unbending, but, hell, she was also sexy and surprising and beautiful.
Which, if he was honest, wasn’t helping him keep his head clear and logical.
She sighed. ‘Then come with me. We can talk on the plane. We can talk at the palace.’
‘What? Just drop everything and travel across the world? Duck out of my job at a moment’s notice? It’s not that easy to leave my colleagues one member of staff down. Plus, there’s an important charity event in a couple of weeks that I have to attend.’
‘More chilli eating?’ She threw at him with a look of scorn.
‘A ball to raise money to add a new wing to the children’s cancer ward at Seattle General. It’s important. I have a life here, Giada. I have things to do, roster commitments...’ He wasn’t sure if she even knew what that meant. ‘You have your own hospital project so you must know adequate staffing levels are always an issue. Never mind leaving Dom here to cope with your family’s problems on his own.’
‘He has Logan and all his ER staff around him. He can visit Papa’s bedside and talk to him. Wish him better. When our father wakes up they will need time together without me being there. Papa’s always better if I’m not around. And, besides, Dom’s been coping without us...’ she blinked and Lucas just knew she meant without me ‘...for long enough. I came here to tell you about the baby and that job is done. I need to go home.’
‘And what am I supposed to do?’ Follow her? Step back? If he did that he wasn’t sure how involved he’d be in his child’s life. He needed to make a stand now, from the beginning. Wow. His life had gone from busy yet simple to crowded and complicated in the blink of an eye. ‘I understand you need to go home. Is there any way I can convince you to stay just a little bit longer so we can talk things through?’
‘I have to go. I’m sorry, Lucas. I am needed. I have to be the voice of the family. You could come along later. When you have time?’
As far as he’d been concerned it would never be the right time to be a father, but he was faced with an impossible choice. Leave his job here, if only for a few days, or risk losing the first chance to make plans for a good life for his child. Time was the one thing he’d been deprived of with his own family and it was his biggest regret.
He looked at Giada. Her hair was a mess of crazy waves that stuck out at odd angles from where she’d lain on it. Her eyes were bruised with exhaustion. The slash of red across her sternum from the seatbelt was changing to purple and yellow and must hurt like hell every time she moved. Her arm was damaged and no doubt causing her a lot of pain. She needed to take some time to rest and heal but she was determined to do the right thing by the people who needed her.
She’d faced so much on her own over the years, having been left in Isola Verde without her mother or brother on side, and had risen above the hurt she’d felt from her father’s criticisms. Now she was facing a royal crisis and a pregnancy that was possibly not going to be well received. And still she was determined to overcome it all, on her own.
Well, he wasn’t going to let that happen.
Besides, he needed to put this child first and they needed to talk more. ‘Okay. I’ll make some calls and pack a bag.’
When he’d woken up this morning he’d been expecting a busy day in the ER. Not a seismic shift in his world and a sudden trip across the globe.
But if Giada Baresi was going to Isola Verde then he was going too.