Книга - Prince Baby

Prince Baby
SUSAN MEIER


Subject: DON'T PANIC ABOUT THE BABY! To: ty…bryant@bryantdevelopment…comFrom: seth…bryant@bryantdevelopment…comYes, the rumor that Princess Lucy Santos of Xavier Island went into labor moments after showing up on my doorstep is true. 'Fortunately, I've convinced Lucy to stay with me until we can resolve where baby Owen will be raised. Don't be concerned about Lucy and my past because that lust is all behind us. At least, I think it is. I'll do anything to ensure my son is raised as a normal boy–not a future king. Of course, making Lucy my wife so that we could be a normal family would just be +cing on the cake….







“I had hoped to help with Owen last night, but I never heard him cry.”

Seth Bryant turned from the kitchen counter and caught his ex-wife’s gaze. “I can’t believe he slept through the night.”

“He didn’t.” Lucy smiled at Seth as if she knew some great secret, which unfortunately triggered about eight powerful memories of when she’d given him that same smile—all of them sexual—and more than Seth’s chest tightened this time.

The one thing his buddies hadn’t factored into all of their instructions to prove to Lucy that he could be a good dad was that Seth had to be around Lucy. He hadn’t ever been around this woman for a full twenty-four hours without making love to her….


Dear Reader,

To me, September is the cruelest month. One minute it feels like just another glorious summer day. And then almost overnight the days become shorter and life just hits. It’s no different for this month’s heroes and heroines. Because they all get their own very special “September moment” when they discover a secret that will change their lives forever!

Judy Christenberry once again heads up this month with The Texan’s Tiny Dilemma (#1782)—the next installment in her LONE STAR BRIDES miniseries. A handsome accountant must suddenly figure out how to factor love into the equation when a one-night stand results in twins. Seth Bryant gets his wake-up call when a very pregnant princess shows up on his doorstep in Prince Baby (#1783), which continues Susan Meier’s BRYANT BABY BONANZA. Jill Limber assures us that The Sheriff Wins a Wife (#1784) in the continuing BLOSSOM COUNTY FAIR continuity, but how will this lawman react to the news that he’s still married to a woman who left town eight years ago! Holly Jacobs rounds out the month with her next PERRY SQUARE: THE ROYAL INVASION! title. In Once Upon a King (#1785), baby seems to come before love and marriage for a future king.

And be sure to watch for more great romances next month when bestselling author Myrna Mackenzie launches our new SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE miniseries.

Happy reading,

Ann Leslie Tuttle

Associate Senior Editor




Prince Baby

Susan Meier


Bryant Baby Bonaza




www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)




Books by Susan Meier


Silhouette Romance

Stand-in Mom #1022

Temporarily Hers #1109

Wife in Training #1184

Merry Christmas, Daddy #1192

* (#litres_trial_promo)In Care of the Sheriff #1283

* (#litres_trial_promo)Guess What? We’re Married! #1338

Husband from 9 to 5 #1354

* (#litres_trial_promo)The Rancher and the Heiress #1374

† (#litres_trial_promo)The Baby Bequest #1420

† (#litres_trial_promo)Bringing up Babies #1427

† (#litres_trial_promo)Oh, Babies! #1433

His Expectant Neighbor #1468

Hunter’s Vow #1487

Cinderella and the CEO

#1498Marrying Money #1519

The Boss’s Urgent Proposal #1566

Married Right Away #1579

Married in the Morning #1601

** (#litres_trial_promo)Baby on Board #1639

** (#litres_trial_promo)The Tycoon’s Double Trouble #1650

** (#litres_trial_promo)The Nanny Solution #1662

Love, Your Secret Admirer #1684

Twice a Princess #1758

†† (#litres_trial_promo)Baby before Business #1774

†† (#litres_trial_promo)Prince Baby #1783

Silhouette Desire

Take the Risk #567




SUSAN MEIER


is one of eleven children, and though she’s yet to write a book about a big family, many of her books explore the dynamics of “unusual” family situations, such as large work “families,” bosses who behave like overprotective fathers, or “sister” bonds created between friends. Because she has more than twenty nieces and nephews, children also are always popping up in her stories. Many of the funny scenes in her books are based on experiences raising her own children or interacting with her nieces and nephews.

She was born and raised in western Pennsylvania and continues to live in Pennsylvania.




Contents


Chapter One (#u5bcee211-2b91-53d5-8521-1d22fab500b8)

Chapter Two (#uc15a263d-64f6-5efe-9516-2435420001f0)

Chapter Three (#ube60a9c7-eb2a-537b-b80f-c7e84339f6fb)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)




Chapter One


Roaring thunder from a severe mid-September storm shook the windows of Seth Bryant’s enormous two-story brown brick house in Porter, Arkansas, but that didn’t prevent him from hearing the scream coming from his driveway. He bounced from his tall-back black leather chair and bounded out of his office, running up the slim corridor that led to the entryway.

When he reached the front window, he lifted the curtain, peering out into the darkness. In the muted glow of the lamp by his door, he saw Lucy Santos—Princess Lucy Santos—standing on his front stoop, and his look of concern shifted into a look of shock. He couldn’t stop the painful thud that seized his heart. Even wet and windblown she was beautiful. Her dark hair had been tucked under a navy-blue rain hat that matched the huge navy-blue raincoat she wore, but he could see her long, shapely legs. That easily conjured a vivid picture of what the rest of her looked like. Naked. In his bed.

Cursing himself for being an idiot, he dropped the curtain and strode to the hall closet where he extracted his shotgun. Lucy might appear to be alone, but he knew better. Undoubtedly, two bodyguards lurked in the shadows, and even if she somehow had managed to escape them for the night, her chauffeur, Tony, a guy about half the size of a travel trailer, would be with her.

Seth cocked the gun. There was no way in hell she was getting into his house—his life. He didn’t even want her on the same planet with him!

Aiming the shotgun with his left hand, he opened the door with his right. Shirtless and barefoot, dressed only in threadbare jeans, and pointing a weapon, he knew he probably looked like her royal bodyguards’ worst nightmare. A crass commoner with a firearm. He smiled. It was too bad King Dad wasn’t here to see this.

“What do you want?”

“Seth!” Lucy said his name like a gasp, then—as if she didn’t see he had a loaded gun—she fell against him.

He caught her with his free arm but not before her cheek pressed into his bare chest. Shivers of joy ricocheted through him, but he gritted his teeth and squelched them. She’d brought him more pain than joy, and ultimately more anger than pain. He didn’t want anything to do with this woman.

He nearly shoved her away from him. Then her weight and the shape of the body that collapsed against him caused him to realize that her raincoat was huge because she was pregnant!

“Oh, this is rich!” he said, just barely keeping his voice from becoming a shout, though he silently savored his anger. He had earned it. She had disposed of their marriage with a quick, easy annulment. Now it appeared she’d hidden her pregnancy from him. He had every reason in the world to be furious.

He didn’t intend to let her see she still had the power to move him, not even to anger, so he softened his tone. “You’re pregnant! You…Princess!” he said the title like a curse, because to him it now was.

Rain sparkled on her smooth, pale skin. Gazing up at him with dark eyes that glistened, she drew a quick, shallow breath and said only, “Help.”

The distress in her voice caused Seth to forget their fight and to remember that a scream had brought him to his front door. Her scream.

He glanced outside to confirm that she was without her bodyguards and he saw that she’d driven the little red Chevy she sometimes used to sneak out when she wanted privacy.

He peered at her pain-filled face. “Lucy?”

“I think I’m in labor.”

“Oh, my God.” Before Seth could prevent it, a protective instinct rose up in him. As quickly as he could, he carefully leaned his shotgun against the wall, scooped Lucy into his arms and carried her across the pale tile floor of his entryway, through the dining room and into the living room where he deposited her on his white sofa.

“Not here!” Lucy groaned. “This is your living room!” Her eyes bore into his. “If I’m really in labor, we’ll ruin your sofa!”

Seth scowled and he set her down anyway. Damned princess! “Even in pain, you’re worried about possessions.”

“I’m not worried about possessions! I’m being practical. You used to like that about me.” She blew her breath out in three quick puffs, then ran her trembling fingers over her forehead. “The contraction is over.”

Realizing her problem wasn’t life-threatening, Seth tamped down his panic and allowed his anger to return. Still, he didn’t let any emotion to filter into his tone when he said, “While I call an ambulance, maybe you would like to explain what you’re doing here.”

Lucy drew a quiet breath. “Okay.” Her voice shook. Her eyes stayed downcast. “I left Xavier Island when I realized I was pregnant. I needed to finish the mansion in Miami, but I also wanted time alone to decide what to do. In the end I couldn’t keep your baby from you.”

Seth snorted in disbelief as he picked up the receiver of the portable phone on the end table by the sofa. Eight months ago, she’d let her father’s representative end their marriage. Now she expected him to think she considered his feelings? His interests?

“Yeah. Sure. I believe that. I also have some swampland that would make a perfect retreat for your dad. Lots of alligators.”

“Seth,” she implored, grabbing his hand. “I know things ended badly between us.” She caught his gaze. “You also have a right to be skeptical. I wasn’t going to tell you about the baby because I thought it best that we never see each other again, but…”

She broke off with a gasp, then groaned loudly.

Seth’s knees turned to rubber again. “Lucy! Do not have this baby on my sofa!”

She squeezed his hand. “Seth, something is wrong. Everything’s happening too fast…I’m not even due for four weeks! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have risked this long trip!”

“I think your doctor may have miscalculated your due date.”

She closed her eyes and, between pants of air, she said, “That would mean I got pregnant the first night we made love…Aghghghgh!”

Ignoring the vivid images that assailed him when he thought of the heart-stopping passion that had propelled him and Lucy to the bed of his Miami hotel room before they’d even had their first date, Seth punched 911 on the phone’s keypad. When the dispatcher answered, he said, “I have a woman in my house who is in labor.”

“How far apart are her contractions?” the dispatcher calmly asked.

Seth faced Lucy. “How far apart are your contractions?”

Lucy panted a few times before she said, “I had one pain when I got out of the car. One when you opened the door. And now the pain is back. It hasn’t even been a minute. It’s almost like the contractions don’t stop!” She drew a quick breath then groaned again.

Seth said, “There doesn’t seem to be any time in between the pains.”

“Hold on, sir, while I fix your location…” Obviously tracing his address from his phone number, the cool, calm and collected dispatcher said, “I have you listed as Johnson Road. You’re not very far…”

Seth glanced at Lucy. When he saw she was gasping for breath, he said, “Just get someone here!”

“Sir, an ambulance is on its way. Stay on the line and I’ll guide you through…”

Lucy cried out in pain. Seth squeezed her hand. “Hold on, Lucy. An ambulance is on the way.”

“I can’t hold on.” She moaned in agony. “Oh, God!”

Seth fell to his knees beside the sofa. “Operator, things are not going well here.”

“Relax, sir, and tell me what’s happening.”

Before Seth could answer, Lucy said, “I’m going to have this baby right now!” She slid down on his sofa, with her feet flat on the cushion and her knees raised. Every inch of her shook, as if she’d been standing in the cold for hours. Her raincoat crackled and crunched from the nearly violent movement.

Seth said, “Operator, she just said she’s going to have this baby right now, and I believe her. I have two neighbors who are volunteer firemen.” He knew the volunteer firemen had paramedic training because he had considered joining the department himself. “So I think I’m going to hang up and see if I can get one of them to come over.”

He disconnected the call, and, phone in hand, ran to his office to get the number of the two brothers who lived down the street. Once he found it, he dialed quickly, then began running to the living room again.

“Mark,” he said when the older of the two brothers answered on the third ring. “This is Seth Bryant. I don’t have time to explain, but my ex-wife is having a baby in my living room. I need you right now! And I do mean right now!”

Without giving Mark a chance to answer, Seth clicked off the call and raced to the sofa again. Lucy lay groaning and Seth dropped the phone and started undoing the closures of her coat. “Let’s get this off.”

She nodded and he nimbly pushed the raincoat from her shoulders. When he began to ease it from beneath her, she caught his hand. “Don’t! Leave it for damage control.”

Seth laughed, but the laughter was more from nerves than humor. “Okay. Good thought.”

Lucy groaned again, digging her fingers into the edge of the sofa.

“Hang in there,” he said, straightening her coat beneath her. “Everything’s going to be okay. I called my neighbors who are paramedics.”

Lucy said, “Okay,” then panted a few breaths. Seth noticed that she hadn’t stopped squeezing the cushion and knew that what she had said was true. There was no time between the contractions.

“Mark and his brother live three houses down,” he said soothingly. “Nine chances out of ten they only have to jump into their shoes before they can jog up here. Any second now my doorbell will ring…”

She groaned again. Her knuckles whitened as she squeezed the sofa cushion more tightly. “Seth, I can feel the baby coming out.”

Not giving himself time to think, Seth reached under her skirt to remove her underpants. He heard the doorbell and prayed it was Mark. “In here,” he called, knowing he couldn’t leave Lucy to answer the door. But the wind howled, drowning out his voice.

He positioned himself between Lucy’s knees. “In here!” he yelled. “Come in!”

When he didn’t hear the sound of his front door opening he shouted, “In here!” as the child pushed free. Quickly, easily, the baby slid from Lucy and landed in Seth’s hands.

He just barely caught it. “Oh, my God!”

Mark and Ray ran into the room. Ray laughed. “Looks like we’re here just in time.”

Seth glanced down at the baby. His baby. His son.

A prince.

“Oh, my God.”

Seth watched the paramedics roll Lucy and the baby out of his house, down the sidewalk and to the driveway where the ambulance awaited. As they guided the gurney into the brightly lit vehicle, Seth closed his front door and started walking upstairs to get a shirt and shoes so he could join them at the hospital, but he had a quick second thought.

When he entered his bedroom, he grabbed the cell phone he had left on the cherrywood dresser with his wallet and change and dialed the home number for his personal attorney. As Pete Hauser’s phone rang, Seth walked to the window and pulled back the sheer curtain and saw the ambulance speed away in the rainy night.

“Pete?” he said. “This is Seth Bryant.”

“Seth? What are you doing calling at—” he paused and Seth assumed he’d glanced at a clock “—eleven-o’clock on a Friday night!”

Seth winced. “You were already in bed, weren’t you?”

“Of course I was! Tomorrow might be Saturday, but I still have clients.”

Seth winced again. “Sorry, but I have a big problem.”

“What’s up?” Pete asked, instantly alert at the mention of trouble.

“I have a son.”

“What?”

Seth took a quick breath. “Let me start at the beginning. Remember that I told you I had been married, but you didn’t need to worry because the marriage had been annulled and neither one of us wanted alimony or a settlement?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I was wrong when I said we didn’t need to worry. My ex-wife’s dad is a king…”

“Seth, is this one of your jokes?”

“No joke. The bottom line is that our marriage was annulled because Lucy was promised to someone else in a trade agreement…”

“Seth!”

“I’m serious, Pete. Hear me out. She was betrothed to someone when she was a child, and that’s a commitment as binding as a marriage in her country. So when her father found out about our marriage he told her our marriage wasn’t valid. She went to Xavier Island to straighten things out, but she never came back. Her father’s representative came to my door one day with the annulment papers I told you about that essentially said the marriage never happened. But tonight she showed up at my door and she was in labor. She actually had the baby on my sofa. But that’s not the point. The point is she’s an honest-to-God princess. Ty and I might have a bit of cash, but I’m guessing we can’t compete with these people.”

“You’re afraid she’s going to take the baby and you’ll never see him again?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, here’s what you do. Whatever it takes, you get her to stay in this country while I research the law and locate your best grounds for custody.”

“While you’re researching, Pete, keep in mind that my son is the first grandchild of the only child of a king.”

Seth’s lawyer gasped. “He’s an heir to a throne?”

“I’m guessing. I don’t know much about royalty and monarchies. I couldn’t tell you who gets to rule and who just waves from the carriage in parades. But I do know that Lucy is an only child, and I suspect that a baby’s being firstborn—to an only child—means something.”

“Okay. I’ll hit the books. You keep your princess here. In Arkansas, if possible.”

“It’s called a spontaneous delivery,” the emergency room doctor said, slapping Seth on the back. “Next baby, you’ll be ready.”

“There isn’t going to be a next baby,” Seth mumbled as the doctor pushed open the curtain, walked out of the cubicle and disappeared when the drape fell closed behind him.

Rubbing his hand across the back of his neck, Seth faced Lucy. “So, the doctor wants you to stay overnight.”

Lucy nodded and Seth watched her, working to control the myriad of emotions tumbling through him. He understood what Pete was saying about keeping Lucy in Porter, but what Pete didn’t realize was that Seth was irresistibly attracted to this woman. They hadn’t even left his hotel room on their first date. Hell, they hadn’t even said hello. The day they’d met on the construction site for her father’s Miami mansion, they had fought the sexual connection that sizzled between them for eight long hours. So, when she’d arrived at his hotel room to meet him for their dinner date, she’d fallen into his arms and he’d carried her to bed.

With the exception of time at the construction site, they’d spent the first two weeks of their acquaintance in bed. But that was good because that was how he’d talked himself out of thinking he was in love with her. He simply convinced himself it had only been lust and the thrill of spontaneity that had propelled him and Lucy to Vegas where they were married after only knowing each other a few short weeks.

Blaming their marriage on uncontrollable sexual chemistry made everything easy to understand and justify, but now she’d had his child. And all kinds of crazy emotions bubbled through Seth. He might not love her, but he was absolutely, positively back to being solidly in lust with her. Except now lust was peppered with appreciation for the staggeringly beautiful woman who had given him a son.

He was in deep trouble.

He took a quick breath and reminded himself that Lucy had also married him when she had been betrothed to someone else. She had rushed home when her father discovered their hasty wedding and that had been the end of their relationship. She hadn’t taken Seth’s calls, wouldn’t see him when he’d traveled to her father’s island. Her father had sent the messenger who’d told him their marriage had been annulled. So, yes, looking at her beautiful dark eyes, perfect pink complexion and sinfully rich black hair, he couldn’t deny that he was sexually attracted to her. What man wouldn’t be? Having watched the birth of his son, he also couldn’t deny a certain amount of respect and appreciation. But after the way she had treated him, he couldn’t love her. He wouldn’t love her. It would be emotional suicide.

“And they’ll have a room for you in a few minutes.”

She closed her eyes and murmured, “Thanks.”

“You’ll get the baby once you’re settled.”

“Good.”

Seth ran his hand along the back of his neck again. This was the reason their marriage had been a mistake. Physically, they were a perfect ten. But he couldn’t remember a time they’d ever really talked.

Still, able to communicate or not, they had a baby. And he refused to let the monarchy roll over his parental rights. Xavier Island might be a small country, only one island of several off the coast of Spain, but Lucy’s dad was a savvy leader who knew exactly what to do to keep his country one of the richest in the region. If King Alfredo wanted to, he could find a way to take Seth’s son away from him. So Seth had to be one step ahead of him. That was the important thing right now.

“So…what do we do now?”

“I’m going home.”

He was afraid of that. “Where, exactly, is home?” Realizing how hostile that sounded, Seth quickly amended it. He couldn’t afford to make her mad. Lord only knew what she would do, where she would go. She’d already proved that when she wanted to, she could disappear.

“When I met you, you lived in Miami, then when your dad summoned you, you left for Xavier Island. You said you’ve been in Miami for the past few months, but you were supposed to be marrying a prince. Did you marry him? Do you live in some other kingdom I’ve never heard of?”

“Though my betrothal nullified our marriage, the pregnancy broke the betrothal. The barristers called it an act of God.”

Seth snorted a laugh. “I’ll bet King Dad loved that.”

“When he discovered there was no sanction to the trade agreement tied to the betrothal, he didn’t care.”

Seth shook his head, unable to believe things like this still happened in a modern world. “Well, there you go. Marriage, babies, none of it matters as long as the trade agreement stays intact.”

“Seth, I know you’re mad,” Lucy softly said, “and I also don’t expect you to understand this, but not every country is as progressive as the United States and not every people is as independent. Some of us…”

“Your room is ready!” Popping through the canvas curtain, the nurse interrupted Lucy. She picked up Lucy’s chart and made a quick notation, then said, “The guy behind me is Tom. He’ll be the one taking you up.”

The tall orderly in the green scrubs offered a salute.

The female nurse turned to Seth. “You should go home. Not only is your wife going to need her sleep, but you’ve been through the wringer tonight, too.”

Hearing Lucy referred to as his wife sent a flood of overpowering emotion through Seth. He fought it by reminding himself that he and Lucy were absolutely one-hundred-percent wrong for each other and they had made a huge mistake in getting married. But the feelings wouldn’t go away. He wanted to take her hand and whisper his gratitude. He wanted to kiss her forehead. He wanted to jump with joy and he couldn’t believe he had to control himself. He wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to keep it all inside.

Still, he had to. Lucy was a princess and he might not be a pauper, but he was a commoner. They had to decide custody and visitation before she returned to Xavier. But Seth’s lawyer needed to research the law. Seth had to buy him time.

He glanced at Lucy. “Do you want me to go home?” he asked politely.

“I am tired. But there are a few things we need to discuss.”

“And you can’t discuss them tomorrow?” the nurse demanded.

“No. Please give Seth my room number.”

The royally-proper-yet-still-sweet way Lucy gave the command sent Seth’s heart on a roller-coaster ride. That was what had first attracted him about her. She was the wicked combination of sexy and sweet. So sweet, she made him believe there really was goodness in the world. And so sexy he forgot his own name when he was with her.

The nurse sighed and faced Seth. “Her room is four-seventeen. But don’t come up right away. We’ll need about ten minutes to get her settled.”

Seth nodded and left. He headed straight for the nursery, glad to have a few minutes to gather his wits. He stared through the glass wall as nurses fussed over the little boy he’d brought into the world. Having conceived a child seemed unreal. Being the owner of the first hands to touch him, seeing him take his first shaky breaths, those were miracles.

He also had an overwhelming sense of gratitude to Lucy for having given him a son. But that emotion was what bothered him. He wanted desperately to hug her, to thank her, to promise her the moon. And it was stupid. He didn’t want her in his life anymore, and frankly, she didn’t want him in her life, either.

Hell, he wasn’t even sure she’d ever wanted him in her life. They’d known each other a little over a month. She had probably awakened one morning completely appalled by what she had done and had grabbed the opportunity to end their marriage when her father had summoned her. Actually, she could have been so appalled that she called her dad to get her out of her mistake. For all Seth knew, she could have been the brains behind the annulment.

Still, he understood what Pete was telling him. If he let Lucy go, especially if she took their child to another country where her father was king, Seth might never see his son again.

He waited ten minutes as the nurse had asked, then knocked before entering Lucy’s room. He made the mistake of allowing his eyes to meet hers. He saw the warmth and softness in her pretty brown eyes and felt the attraction, the passion. All the wonderful things they’d once shared.

Damn!

He reminded himself to fight the feelings and reminded himself that even if he were fool enough to get involved with her, she didn’t want to be involved with him. They were a bad combination. She had apparently seen that first. And when she’d run home to daddy, the king had disposed of Seth as if he were a scarred two-by-four.

That sobered him.

“I was hoping you would stay in Porter for a week or two so we could hammer out a visitation agreement.”

Lucy played with the cover on her bed. “Seth, there are a few things I need to tell you…”

“I hope one of those things isn’t that I don’t have any rights.”

She shook her head. “No. You are the baby’s father. You have all the usual rights. In fact, I would like to name our son after your father. Owen.”

The gesture surprised Seth so much he nearly had to sit. “Why?”

She smiled. “I think it’s appropriate. One of the few things I remember you telling me in our short time together was how much you had loved your dad and how much you had missed him after he died. You told me your brother Ty had worked very hard to make up for the loss, but you always felt it.”

Well, if that didn’t shoot a bunch of holes into his theory that they hadn’t really talked, Seth didn’t know what did. Still, when push came to shove, she’d regretted their marriage and dumped him. Even if they had talked, they really didn’t know each other. And even if they spent time getting to know each other that wouldn’t change the fact that they weren’t getting back together. He now thoroughly mistrusted monarchies and she would be an idiot to give up her throne for him.

Hell, who was he kidding? She just plain wouldn’t give up her royal status for him.

Fortified by the truth of that, he caught her gaze again. She smiled slightly, honestly. And he felt the pull of attraction again.

Damn!

“I don’t know what to say,” he said, bringing his thoughts back to her kind gesture.

“Don’t say anything. Owen is your son, too.”

He took a breath, praying for strength in dealing with this woman who was drawing him under her spell again.

“Unfortunately, any visitation agreement that you and I create will have to be approved by my father’s barrister,” she said, sending him crashing back to reality.

“I don’t see why,” Seth said as anger spiked through him. He wasn’t upset about the fact that Lucy wanted a lawyer to represent her; he simply didn’t like the counsel she had chosen. Her father’s barrister. The royal lawyer. The one who looked out for the rights of the monarchy first. Not even Lucy. The monarchy. “Why don’t you just hire an attorney here?”

“Because that’s not how it’s done in Xavier.”

“Well, honey, you’re not in Xavier right now.”

“I’m aware of that. However, you seem to be missing the big picture. Your son isn’t just your son. He isn’t even simply my son. He is Xavier’s next king. And Xavier has a say in what goes on in his life.”

Seth stared at her. “Are you kidding me? You’re telling me that some guys in long black robes, probably wearing powdered wigs, are going to dictate how I raise my son?”

“Not dictate,” Lucy insisted. “But they will participate in things like his baptism, where he will also be consecrated as Xavier’s next sovereign.”

“Is that anything like selling your soul to the devil?”

“Seth, please. It’s a ceremony. There will be approximately ten or twelve ceremonies Owen will be required to attend. Until his coronation, when he will live in Xavier.”

Seth combed his fingers through his hair, mad at himself for getting angry with her, but knowing he’d panicked because the last royal decree of her country’s sovereign had destroyed their marriage and God only knew what the monarchy would do to an innocent little boy destined to be king.

Seth suddenly realized that controlling himself around Xavier’s beautiful princess wasn’t the only challenge he faced. He also had to fight for Owen’s rights. If he didn’t do something, there would be no Little League for his son, no mountain adventures, no cabins, cars, dates…Hell, his son might not even go to high school! Who knew what school a future king would have to attend.

Somehow or another, over the next few weeks Seth had to figure out a way to keep Owen in America.

Because if he didn’t, Owen Bryant would end up like his princess mother, controlled by the wishes and whims of her country. And that was the real bottom line. That was what had hurt Seth the most. When Lucy was told she couldn’t get married because she was already betrothed, she hadn’t fought to get out of the betrothal. She’d simply left him.

That was why he could never lose an inch of his heart to this woman again.




Chapter Two


“I thought you were taking me to a hotel,” Lucy Santos said quietly, as she glanced at Seth’s brown brick house. Seated in the back of his SUV with her son who was sleeping soundly in his infant car seat, she caught Seth’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

Seth tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I brought you here because I think it’s smarter for you to stay with me than to get a hotel room.”

Smarter? Lucy almost laughed as she considered the man she’d decided to marry in less time than she typically spent choosing a gown for one of her father’s formal affairs. This morning Seth wore a pale green Polo shirt that brought out the green of his eyes, khaki trousers and brown loafers. But when she had arrived at his door the night before, he’d been wearing only jeans that hung low on his lean hips and she’d collapsed against his naked chest. At the time, she’d been in too much pain to register a reaction to his smooth, warm skin. But right now, she couldn’t stop picturing the hard muscles of his torso, or remembering how nice it was to fall against the security of his strong body and realizing with sudden clarity why she’d married him after knowing him only two short weeks.

Tall and sexily slim, with sandy brown hair and unusual pale green eyes, Seth Bryant was gorgeous. But he was also a little rough around the edges. When she had met him and his older brother Ty at the site proposed for her father’s Miami mansion, Seth hadn’t known she was a princess, the daughter of the king building the magnificent home. Because she was an architect, he had assumed she was simply the project manager.

It was so nice to be treated normally that even though they’d fought over a few contract details, she hadn’t told him she was a princess until after he’d invited her to dinner. Seth was bold, intelligent, and just rebellious enough to make her feel decadent. To a woman who had been sheltered most of her life, being with him was like living an adventure. They hadn’t even known each other twelve hours before they had fallen into bed.

So, no. She didn’t think it “smarter” for her to stay here rather than at a hotel, but their attraction to each other wasn’t the most important thing to consider in this situation. Before Lucy took Owen home to Xavier Island, she also needed to know how to care for him without the help of a nanny. Her own mother, Queen Marianna, had died unexpectedly when Lucy was six. Lucy had felt more empty than sad, as if she hadn’t really known her mother, and she refused to curse her son to that fate.

But if she didn’t know how to care of Owen before she returned to Xavier Island, her father would insist on around the clock nannies. Lucy knew she’d never get to mother Owen unless she learned everything she needed to know before she went home, and to do that she needed a block of time with her son completely to herself. And in Porter, Arkansas, she was totally on her own.

As long as she called her dad and let him know Owen had been born and she was fine, her dad wouldn’t panic and come looking for her. He might covertly station a bodyguard or two in Porter. But he wouldn’t show up at Seth’s door. He couldn’t leave Xavier because on Monday Xavier’s legislature went into session and there was no way he could cancel or postpone it without causing a stir.

They’d managed to keep Lucy’s pregnancy a secret by saying she was in Miami working on the mansion. But if the king canceled the legislative session, the curious media would follow him to Arkansas. They would discover not only Lucy and her baby, but also Seth—a man unprepared for a deluge of reporters with questions about their marriage and the baby he didn’t know he was having. Which meant a story her father’s people could very easily control on Xavier Island would become a circus.

So, for the sake of making the facts surrounding the conception of Xavier’s next king appear to be normal or even irrelevant, her father would attend the legislative session as if nothing were wrong. When the session was completed, he would travel to Arkansas and take Lucy and Owen back to Xavier Island with him, where his people would “spin” Owen’s conception and birth to a situation befitting a king. But that would be okay. By then, Seth and Lucy would have decided visitation, and Lucy would know how to care for Owen.

The question was, was it better to be alone in a hotel or in a house with someone who might be able to help her, but to whom she was also unreasonably attracted.

“How can you think my living with you is smarter than staying at a hotel?”

Seth turned on the front seat to face her. “You just had a baby. You shouldn’t be alone. You need someone at least hanging out with you to make sure everything really is okay.”

“Seth, the hotel staff would be a phone call away. Besides, I’m fine.”

“Well, how about this, then? This period that we’ve agreed to spend deciding my place in Owen’s life would be a good time for me to bond with him.”

Lucy frowned. That was a much better argument than Seth knew. This wasn’t merely a “good” opportunity to bond with his son. It might be the last such opportunity he would ever have. As the future sovereign of a small country, Owen would be living across an ocean. No matter how craftily Seth negotiated, Lucy couldn’t promise him he would see his child any more than a few times a year, and those times would be at the palace, not at Seth’s home. She had nearly told Seth that the night before at the hospital, but he looked so shell-shocked from the surprises he’d already experienced that she didn’t have the heart.

She glanced at Seth’s elegant house, beautifully detailed with black lanterns at the entryways and lining the stone walk to the front door. The two-story dwelling was big enough that she and Seth could probably live together for a few weeks without too many complications.

Particularly since Lucy wasn’t worried that Seth was trying to wiggle his way into her life again. When she’d left him, he had been furious that she had dropped everything because her father had summoned her and livid that her royal responsibilities and duties took precedence over anything in her life—even him. When he didn’t return her calls, it was only logical to assume he had regretted his decision to marry a royal. When he didn’t protest their annulment, she considered it proof he had concluded marrying her had been a mistake. It had hurt at first. Actually, it had darned near killed her. But, in the end, she understood that Seth finally comprehended what she had been trying to explain to him from the first day she’d met him—it was not easy to be a member of a monarchy. And soon his son would be as involved as Lucy was.

It didn’t seem fair to deprive Seth of this opportunity to get to know his son. Not when she could easily keep herself away from a man who had been glad to be rid of her, no matter how good-looking he was. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Seth said and pushed open his SUV door. “You get the baby. I’ll grab his luggage.”

Lucy carefully exited the SUV and reached in to unbuckle Owen and lift him from his protective infant seat. She nuzzled her nose against his velvet-soft face.

“Hello,” she whispered. She was so full of awe and delight that this baby was hers that she almost lost her breath. After spending her entire life virtually alone, she had someone with whom she was irrevocably bound. Someone who would love her. Someone she could love without reservation, without fear of loss. Cuddling Owen closer, she squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled his sweet baby scent.

When Owen pressed his nose against her cheek, she knew he recognized her, and the power of instinctive love overwhelmed her again, nearly bringing her to tears and reminding her of how profound the loss of her own mother was.

“Ready?”

She faced Seth, wondering how long he had been standing there, but deciding not to make an issue of whether he’d seen her interaction with Owen. Even if he’d watched the entire time, she knew Seth wasn’t looking at her as much as at the baby. Owen was his child and Seth was interested in him, not his baby’s mother.

“Yes. We’re ready.”

She followed Seth up the long stone walk to the front door, but as he unlocked it, a black SUV roared into his driveway. The man Lucy recognized from working with him as Seth’s brother Ty climbed out of the driver’s side. A red-haired woman jumped out of the passenger’s side. Clearly obsessed with getting to Seth, Ty didn’t wait for his companion. His long footsteps had him rounding the SUV and striding toward the walk as Seth directed Lucy to the house.

In the foyer, she noticed the elaborate design of the pale orange tile floor and the elegance of the crystal chandelier that she had missed the night before. Seth hadn’t had this house when they were married. But even if he had, they had decided to keep their wedding a secret until they figured out a way to explain it to her tyrannical dad. So Seth had never brought her to his hometown, let alone to his house.

“You have a lovely home.”

Seth gave her a sheepish look. “I had to hire a decorator.”

She laughed. “Really? A man who builds for a living had to hire a decorator?”

“I understand floor plans and designs and I can even approve or disapprove the details of an office building, mall or house, but I can’t actually choose fussy things or match colors. God forbid I should have to pick all the frilly stuff for a bedroom.”

Lucy stopped a smile. No, Seth wasn’t much for frilly things. When she thought of him in a bedroom, he wasn’t mulling over the decor. He was naked, on the bed, in a tumble of sheets and bedspread.

The picture that formed in Lucy’s head sent heat through her. She chastised herself for letting her thoughts go in that direction because she was absolutely, positively, through with this man. Nestling Owen closer, she glanced around, peering into the dining room, which was furnished with an oak table and hutch, and beyond that to the living room with hardwood floors and an elegant white sofa. “Your decorator did a beautiful job.”

“Thanks. I took the liberty of having a crib and a few other essentials sent over. I set them up in the master bedroom.”

An image of her and Seth on a bed with the baby between them appeared in her brain. Quick and perfect, the image filled her heart with the same kind of love she had just felt cuddling Owen. Her chest tightened and tingly warmth enveloped her. But on the heels of those feelings came pure panic. Not only did she not want to have these kinds of feelings for Seth again, but also his assumption that she would jump into bed with him was insulting!

Eyes wide, she spun to face him. “Seth! You don’t think I’m sleeping with you! Because of my betrothal, we weren’t ever really married. I can’t…You shouldn’t…”

“Don’t worry, Princess. All that’s behind us. I’m giving you the biggest room so you’ll be more comfortable and so you’ll have more privacy. I’ll sleep in a guest room.”

Relief poured through Lucy but before she could apologize for the assumption or thank Seth for the courtesy, Ty stepped into the open door of the foyer. Like Seth, he wore plain trousers and a short-sleeved Polo shirt, but the similarities stopped there. Seth had pale green eyes and sandy brown hair, while Ty had black hair and eyes so dark they could sometimes be described as black.

Ty said, “Hello, Lucy,” then turned to Seth. “You’re in trouble.”

Seth said, “Hello, Ty.”

“I didn’t even know you and Lucy were dating! You can’t imagine how shocked I was this morning when my future mother-in-law called me to tell me that her sources at the hospital noticed that my brother had a baby the night before!”

Lucy stifled a laugh at the exasperated expression on Ty’s face, but Seth sighed. “Ty, Lucy is my ex-wife.”

Lucy watched Ty’s perfectly chiseled jaw fall. “Ex-wife? You married a princess!”

“Don’t worry. There’s no impact on Bryant Development…”

“No impact! If I remember correctly, we lost a ten-million-dollar contract.”

“Yeah, well, that was all we lost. The marriage wasn’t valid because Lucy was promised to someone else, so she wasn’t free to make that commitment. It’s as if it never happened.”

Ty stared at Seth. “How can you say it’s as if it never happened? You had a baby!”

“We did believe we were married for two weeks.”

“You’re in bigger trouble with Madelyn!”

Madelyn?

Lucy’s chest tightened again, but this time it was from jealousy. Telling herself she wasn’t jealous, only looking out for the interest of her baby by being curious about the people who would be around Owen for the next few weeks, Lucy eased the tightness with a soft, inconspicuous breath and glanced at her former husband. “Madelyn?”

“Ty’s fiancée. The woman who’s probably coming up the walk right now.”

“And the head of public relations for Bryant Development,” Ty reminded his brother. “How the hell is she going to spin this to make you look sane?”

“She’s not. My private life is my private life. I don’t see any reason this has to be ‘spun’ for anybody.”

Ty sighed, then raked his fingers through his dark hair, as the red-haired woman entered the foyer. Lucy realized Madelyn had taken longer than Ty because she had retrieved a six- or seven-month-old baby. Wearing pink bib overalls and tiny tennis shoes, the little blond girl with the toothless grin was adorable.

“Madelyn Gentry,” Seth said to Ty’s fiancée as the baby she held merrily slapped her cheek, “this is my ex-wife, Lucy Santos.”

Madelyn caught the little girl’s hand, as if suddenly realizing she needed her full mental capacity. “Ex-wife?”

“Here we go again,” Seth said, sighing.

But baby Owen made a mewling sound and he nestled more deeply against Lucy’s breast. She glanced down to be sure everything was okay, and when she looked up, both Madelyn and Ty were staring indulgently at the tiny little boy.

Lucy smiled, proud of her gorgeous new son. “Would you like to hold Owen?”

Ty’s eyes widened comically and he shrunk back. “I’m just getting accustomed to Sabrina.”

“Your baby?” Lucy said, inclining her head in the direction of the little girl Madelyn held.

“Actually Ty got custody of Sabrina when his cousin and his wife were killed in a boating accident. So he’s still learning the ropes,” Madelyn explained, gently handing the little girl to Ty. “But I’m dying to hold Owen.”

Lucy gave the baby to Madelyn as Seth said, “Let’s go in the kitchen so I can make some coffee.”

Ty and Madelyn followed Seth down the short hall by the hand-carved oak stairway, and Lucy followed them. She wasn’t entirely sure she should be in on this discussion and as she reached the huge apple-green kitchen with the light wood cabinets, she decided she should take the baby from Madelyn and bow out.

Unfortunately, Ty was already talking. “And getting back to the gossip mill that squealed on you. You can expect Captain Bunny to be here any minute now.”

Lucy glanced at Madelyn. “Captain Bunny?”

Madelyn clicked her tongue in disgust. “Ty calls my mother Captain Bunny because my dad is retired military, but my mother more or less runs the show in my house. So since my dad was a sergeant, Ty gave my mother a few ranks up and made her a captain. She seems to like that Ty recognizes she’s in charge. The nickname is probably going to stick.”

Lucy laughed. “Ty, I don’t remember you being funny when I met you to discuss the terms of the mansion contract.”

“I wasn’t, but I’m changing.”

He cast a loving glance at Madelyn and Lucy’s heart squeezed with envy. She’d always known there was something missing from her relationship with Seth. This was it. She had loved that she and Seth were so physically attracted that they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, but in the month they were together, there had been no private jokes. No intimate glances. No closeness.

She stopped her thoughts. The very fact that she and Seth never got “close” was another proof that they were not meant to be together.

From the counter where he was pouring water into a coffeemaker, Seth said, “Ty, if you still have the list of prospective nannies you interviewed, I’d love to see it.”

But Lucy shook her head. “I don’t want my baby raised by nannies. I want to care for him. Besides, I thought the whole purpose of us being here was for you to have time with your son.”

Busy adding the filter to his coffeemaker, Seth laughed. “Lucy, I might want to spend time with Owen, but I don’t know how to care for a baby and I don’t think it’s something they taught in princess school.”

She stiffened at the slight. She might be a princess, but she was a woman and she had all the normal motherly instincts.

“A woman who lived down the hall from me in Miami had a new baby,” Lucy said, ignoring the insult to focus on the problem at hand. “When I realized I was pregnant, I asked if I could watch what she did and she let me. She taught me how to hold the baby, how to change a diaper, how to burp him. Then a nurse went over the basics again this morning at the hospital. Plus, I’ve read all the baby books. After a little practice, I’ll be fine.”

Ty shook his head. “Sorry, Lucy, but I’m afraid I have to side with my brother on this one. Your neighbor might have taught you lots of things, but you’re going to discover there are hundreds of details she couldn’t possibly have covered.”

“Yeah, Lucy,” Seth agreed. “Ty has had Sabrina since June. It’s taken me three months just to get accustomed to holding her.”

Lucy understood that she didn’t know every little thing about baby care. She also knew a nanny could certainly be very helpful. But a professional caregiver would also step in every time Owen cried and Lucy wouldn’t have the opportunity she needed to learn to handle him by herself.

“I’m a quick study.”

“So am I,” Ty said. “Yet I had a hell of a time. Right, Madelyn?”

“Only because you didn’t want to learn.” Madelyn faced Lucy. “I think Owen needs a diaper change. You do have spare diapers, right?”

“We have the things we got from the hospital.”

“Great. Let’s go change his diaper,” Madelyn said, nodding for Lucy to follow her out of the kitchen. “I’ll take inventory of what you have, so I can shop for whatever is missing.”

“That would be wonderful,” Lucy said, as Madelyn guided her into the hall and then up the oak stairway. “Seth said he set up everything for Owen in the master bedroom.”

“Good,” Madelyn said, walking down the upstairs corridor. “You should have the best room in the house.” She paused in front of the door and added, “I also knew we should get out of the kitchen before Ty bulldozed you into something you don’t want.”

Lucy laughed. “No one bulldozes me. Years of living with a king who is accustomed to everybody obeying him without question have taught me to handle just about anybody.”

“I was hoping you would say that,” Madelyn said. “But you’re still going to have your hands full holding your ground with Seth.” She glanced at Owen. “From the looks of things, you knew each other about nine months ago, and Seth has changed a lot since then. Don’t expect to be able to sweet-talk him into anything. If he really wants a nanny, you’re going to have a battle on your hands. And I haven’t seen him lose as much as an argument in at least eight weeks. Not even to Ty.”

Madelyn opened the door to the bedroom at the end of the hall. Stepping inside, Lucy gasped. Seth’s decorator had to be the most talented person on the face of the earth. Not only was the cherrywood furniture exquisite, but also the airy green geometric print bedspread and drapes managed to be elegant and masculine at the same time. Lucy could imagine that with his green eyes, Seth looked delicious tangled in the sheets, and she found herself wondering if his decorator had chosen this particular fabric and color scheme for that reason. She wondered if he’d slept with the woman, and quickly realized that the creator of this room might even be why Seth never came after her.

She fought the molten jealousy that rose in her by reminding herself that she couldn’t want a man who was totally wrong for her. Seth had deserted her. She’d actually had to debate whether he would even care to know she was pregnant! Worse, they disagreed about the nanny. Just like her father, Seth didn’t want to be a hands-on dad. He would foist the raising of his child off to a stranger.

“I’m glad Seth isn’t a pushover. Convincing Seth I don’t need a nanny will be good practice for arguing with my dad.”

Madelyn laughed. “All right. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I’m warned but I’m also very determined. My mother died when I was six, and because I was raised by nannies I never really knew her when she was alive. That will not happen with my son.”

Eyes warmed with compassion, Madelyn nodded and said, “Good for you.” Then she pulled off Owen’s diaper, tossed it in the pail beside the changing table and reached for another.

Lucy studied every move Madelyn made. Though she had plenty of diaper experience from her neighbor’s baby, and the nurse at the hospital had demonstrated even more basics, Lucy didn’t think it would hurt to watch Madelyn to see if she did anything different, anything unusual, anything Lucy should know. In fact, now that she was alone with her son, she was beginning to feel a bit panicked. She could burp, change a diaper and rock him to sleep…but what if something else happened? What if he got sick? What if he choked! Dear God! She didn’t know enough to be alone with this child!

Madelyn glanced over at her. “Are you okay?”

Lucy swallowed. “Sure.”

Madelyn studied Lucy for a second, then said very carefully, “In spite of what you told Seth and Ty, you really don’t know a whole heck of a lot about caring for a baby, do you?”

Fighting her panic because she didn’t want Madelyn to see it, Lucy shrugged. “I lived next door to somebody with a baby…”

“I know and the nurse at the hospital also showed you a lot of the basics,” Madelyn interrupted Lucy by finishing her sentence for her. “But, Lucy, Ty had a point. Things are going to come up that they didn’t cover.” She caught Lucy’s gaze and very kindly said, “You need some help.”

Lucy drew a breath. “Okay. You’re right. But I don’t want a nanny. I don’t want somebody who is going to step in before I can when Owen cries.” She drew another quick breath. “At the same time, I’m scared to death.”

Finished with the diaper, Madelyn slid Owen’s sleeper into place and began snapping the closures. “How long are you planning to stay?”

“In the U.S. or here at Seth’s house?”

“Here. With Seth.”

“I don’t know.” Lucy hedged, not wanting to explain that how long she stayed depended on how quickly her dad could close the legislative session. “Seth and I weren’t specific. We only agreed I would stay here while we talked about the visitation schedule. That would also assure that he has some time to get to know Owen.”

Madelyn lifted Owen from the changing table and cuddled him against her. “So, technically you could stay in this house indefinitely as long as you never come to terms on visitation?”

Confused, Lucy said, “I guess, but my father’s not going to let Owen live here forever and I don’t want to give Seth the wrong idea.”

“You won’t stay long enough to give Seth the wrong idea. Only long enough for his neighbors to teach you how to care for Owen.”

Lucy peered at Madelyn. “Seth’s neighbors?”

“The way I see this, you can’t let Seth know you can’t care for this baby or he’s going to get a nanny and then you probably won’t get the experience you’ll need to convince your dad you can care for Owen alone.”

Lucy nodded.

“But I can’t come here every day and help you. Seth would get suspicious.”

Lucy nodded again.

“But, every day while Seth is at Bryant Development, one of my mother’s friends could drop by under the guise of meeting the newest member of Seth’s family. And while she was here, she could give you baby lessons.”

Lucy pressed her hand to her chest. “It sounds perfect.”

“It’s close to perfect, but there is one potential glitch. To get the time you’ll need, you can’t have too much interaction with Seth or you’ll come to terms on visitation too quickly and the next thing you know you’ll be going home when you’re not ready.”

Lucy took a quick breath. “I can handle Seth.”

She’d stayed away for eight long months and she could most certainly keep her distance for a few days.

The second the kitchen door swung closed behind Madelyn and Lucy, Seth faced his older brother. “We have got to get a nanny. I don’t know a thing about caring for a baby.”

Ty shrugged. “I’ll send over my list.”

Seth shook his head. “It is not going to be that easy. Did you see the look on Lucy’s face when she said she didn’t want someone helping her care for Owen? She’ll fight tooth and nail before she’ll let me get a nanny, but I need a nanny if I’m going to get custody.”

“Custody? You’re going to try to wrestle custody from a king?”

“Not from a king. From Lucy. When I called Pete last night before I went to the hospital, I only wanted visitation. But this morning I called him again and told him I want out-and-out custody and he told me that meant I had to change the way I was looking at this. We can’t go at this from the perspective of Bryant Development against the monarchy. It’s just me and Lucy deciding what’s best for our son.”

“I don’t know, Seth…” Ty paused when there was a knock at Seth’s back door. “That’s probably Madelyn’s parents,” he said, grinning and shaking his head.

But when Seth pulled open the door, Pete Hauser stood on the threshold. Carrying about twenty extra pounds and going bald, Pete looked much older than his forty years.

“You have something already?” Seth asked, directing him into the kitchen.

“Not a precedent that gets you custody of your son,” Pete said. “But I had two legal assistants from the firm’s main office in Little Rock go online. They found virtually nothing on your princess or her country.”

“It’s a small island. I’m not surprised they found nothing—”

“I said virtually nothing.” He handed Seth some papers. “This is a printout of the interview with Princess Lucy of Xavier Island from Sophistication magazine’s Royal Issue. Did you know she didn’t like growing up as a princess?”

“No,” Seth said, slowly, embarrassed to admit in front of his older brother that he didn’t know much about his ex-wife.

“Read the article. She talks about being raised by nannies and missing things like close girlfriends because she was educated at the palace. She laughs about never getting sent to the principal’s office or having a chance to be a ‘bad girl,’ but if you read between the lines what she’s saying is that her childhood was hard. Maybe too hard. She may not want her son to live that life, and while she’s here you might be able to prove to her that with a ‘commoner’ for a father, Owen doesn’t have to.”

Seth glanced up sharply. “You think that if I play my cards right, she’ll give me custody?”

“Not forever, but maybe until Owen is fourteen or so. Her childhood was what she missed. She didn’t mind being royal once she got old enough to have a sense of responsibility.”

Seth snorted. “Oh, she has a sense of responsibilities, all right. King Dad snapped his fingers and she went running home.”

“That works in your favor, Seth,” Pete insisted. “She knows how committed Owen will have to be when he gets old enough to assume his royal duties. So you need to show her that you could give Owen the normal life she didn’t have in the only space of time in which he can have it. While he’s a child.”

Seth glanced over at Ty. “What do you think?”

“He may never join the family business, but at least we’ll keep him out of purple tights and a fur-trimmed velvet robe until he’s fourteen.”

Seth laughed, but Pete said, “And when he’s fourteen, we don’t have to give him up easily. We can still file for custody. The trick will be getting the time right now to convince the princess that Porter, Arkansas, is the best place for Owen to have a real childhood. And that means you can’t settle your visitation discussions until you’ve proved to Lucy that you will raise Owen in an absolutely normal environment.”

Seth snickered. “Right. I wouldn’t know a normal environment if it bit me in the butt. Once our parents died, Ty, Cooper and I lost our normal environment.”

Ty shrugged. “Compared to Lucy’s life, yours is normal.”

Pete said, “Ty’s right, Seth. Compared to her life, yours isn’t that odd. You might have money, and your house might be big, but it’s still in a quiet, safe small town where Princess Lucy’s son probably wouldn’t need a bodyguard.”

“She hates her bodyguards.”

“Exactly! So while she’s living here, all you have to do is show her Owen would have a very normal life if he lived with you.” He nodded toward the article in Seth’s hands. “And whatever you do, don’t even breathe the word nanny…”

“He already did,” Ty said, “and she shot him down.”

“Let the idea stay down, Seth. She talks in the article about not knowing her mother because she was raised by nannies, and I think that’s your key. She does not want this kid raised by a nanny. So you have to learn how to change a diaper, take your turn getting up with Owen at night, feed him when he cries. And when you’re not doing those things, make dinner, keep the house clean and do laundry.”

Seth’s eyes widened. “I have a maid…”

“Give her a paid leave.” Pete turned to the kitchen door. “Your assignment for the next few weeks is to pretend you are just an average guy in an average town, who will raise his son in an average home so he can be an average boy.”

“Great,” Seth said sarcastically. “Should be a piece of cake.”




Chapter Three


Five minutes after Madelyn and Lucy returned to the kitchen, Seth’s house began to fill with people eager to see the new baby. Seth was glad when Ty suggested they leave the noise and confusion and hide in the garage, but he was surprised when his older brother took Sabrina from Madelyn’s arms and also asked Madelyn’s dad to join them. It wasn’t until Ty returned from a side trip to his SUV with Sabrina’s diaper bag and spread a clean blanket on an empty worktable that everything came into focus for Seth.

“Penney might be the Gentry family strategist,” Ty explained, referring to his future mother-in-law. “But Ron was a sergeant and he knows all about boot camp and basic training. So he’s going to teach you how to care for a baby.”

Ron laughed. His once brown crew cut had grayed but he still had the muscular arms and chest of someone in the military. In under a half hour, using Sabrina as a model, he taught Seth enough baby-care basics that he could change a diaper, feed a bottle and burp with the best of them.

But Ron didn’t stop there. “If your objective is to demonstrate to Lucy that you can give your son a normal life,” Ron said, sounding as if he was briefing troops for a battle, not preparing a new dad for an encounter with the mother of his son, “then you have to prove that parenting is a natural fit for you. That means you’ve got to be involved with Owen’s care right from the get-go. So I suggest you take the baby from Lucy as soon as your company leaves. That will give Lucy a break and also prove you can slide into the role of dad as if you were born to it.”

Seth agreed, but even though Penney and Ron, and Ty and Madelyn and most of the morning guests left just after noon, a steady stream of visitors—women from one end of Porter to the other who came bearing gifts—never stopped. Seth didn’t get two minutes alone with Lucy or his son. Forget about generously caring for Owen to give Lucy a break. There were so many women ogling Seth’s baby that even Lucy didn’t get to hold Owen. That evening, a small crowd actually gathered to get the baby ready for bed. Seth was lucky he got to kiss his son good-night before they hustled him out of the room.

But Seth didn’t panic. If he wanted Owen to play in Little League, have friends, walk the streets of a town without fear or paparazzi, then he had to prove to Lucy that he could take very good, very normal care of their son. So he sneaked into the laundry room with his cell phone and called Ron.

“Here’s what you do,” Ron said after Seth explained why their original plan hadn’t worked. “Owen’s probably going to get up about ten times tonight. That doesn’t sound like good news except by then, all the company will be long gone and Lucy will be alone. So you’ll get your chance to prove yourself. You don’t want to look obvious by running into Lucy’s room the first time Owen cries, but I’ll bet she’ll be damn glad to see you at 2:00 a.m. Plus, taking your turn with the baby is a very gentlemanly thing to do. Not only will you give Lucy a break, but also you’ll show her that you intend to teach Owen to be a gentleman.”

Liking the two-birds-with-one-stone strategy, Seth stayed awake until Owen got up the first time, around midnight, to make sure he could hear the baby’s cries so he could take his turn. Confident Owen was loud enough to awaken him, Seth went to sleep. But in what seemed like only a matter of minutes, he felt the warmth of the sunlight streaming in between the slats of the lemon-yellow horizontal blinds on the windows of the spare bedroom he was using and he bounced out of bed.

It was morning! He’d slept through the night! He hadn’t heard Owen cry!

He scrubbed his hand down his face, then jumped into jeans and pulled on a T-shirt before he grabbed his cell phone to call Ron. He wasn’t a complete idiot, but with the exception of Sabrina, he’d never held a baby in his life. He’d also never dealt with a new mother. He could “guess” what his next move should be but he didn’t think he could afford the risk that he would say or do the wrong thing and alienate Lucy even before they’d spent twenty-four hours together. It was better to be safe than sorry.

When Ron answered, Seth simply said, “I never heard Owen cry.”

“Easy, there, big guy,” Ron said with a laugh. “Don’t panic. You still have plenty of opportunities to chip in and help out. Especially in the morning.”

“Yeah, right. The baby’s in Lucy’s bedroom. It’s one thing to go in in the middle of the night when the baby’s screaming and she’ll be glad to see me. It’s another to barge in in broad daylight.”

“That’s true, but you can turn the whole situation around if you bring her a cup of coffee. She’ll think you’re being a good host, but she can’t hold Owen and drink coffee, so you offer to take Owen and finish whatever she’s been doing, like feeding him or burping him or changing his diaper. And, voilà, you look like a natural at being a dad.”

Seth said, “Okay,” then disconnected the phone and scrambled down the hall. Unfortunately, even before he reached the middle of the back stairway that led to the kitchen, the scent of fresh coffee greeted him. Confused, he rushed down the remaining steps and found Lucy sitting at the table, holding Owen, as she flipped through the Sunday paper.





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