Kitabı oku: «The Doctor Takes a Princess / Pregnant with the Prince's Child», sayfa 5

Chapter Five

She would figure it out, Bridget thought as she surreptitiously glanced at the diamond-encrusted watch that had belonged to her grandmother. Two minutes to go and she was supposed to be introduced to the crowd within the next moment.

“As we continue to introduce our honored guests, we’d like to present Her Highness, Princess Bridget Devereaux of the country of Chantaine.”

Bridget stood and smiled and waved to the applauding crowd. She hadn’t known she was a table head, but it wasn’t unusual for event organizers to put her in the spotlight given the chance. Because of her title, she was a source of curiosity and interest.

Spotting Ryder leaning against the back wall as he pointed to his watch, she quickly squeezed her hand together and flashed her five fingers, indicating she needed more time. Then she sank into her seat.

Robert leaned toward her. “I was cheated out of my dance. We need to hit the floor again.”

“I wish I could, but my ankle is hurting,” she said.

Robert scowled. “Maybe because of the man who cut in on our dance.”

She lifted her shoulders. “Perhaps it’s the long day catching up with me.”

“You’re too generous. We could try a slow dance,” he said in a low voice.

“Oh no, I couldn’t hurt your feet that way,” she said. “But I would like to freshen up. Please excuse me,” she said and rose, wondering why she was going to such extremes to meet Ryder when she was supposed to be concentrating on making an appearance.

Her heart was slamming against her rib cage as she tried to take a sideways route through the tables along the perimeter of the room. With every step, part of her chanted This is crazy—this is crazy. But she kept on walking, so she must indeed be crazy. She stepped into the foyer and glanced around the area.

Something snagged her hand. She glanced over her shoulder and spotted Ryder as he pulled her with him down a hallway. “Where are we—”

“Trust me,” he said and pulled her toward the first door they came upon. It was an empty dark room with a stack of chairs pushed against a wall.

“What are we doing?” she asked, breathlessly clinging to him.

“Hell if I know,” he said, sliding his hands through her hair and tilting her head toward his. “I feel like a car with no brakes headed straight for you.”

“So, we’re both crazy,” she said.

“Looks that way,” he said and lowered his mouth to hers.

Her knees turned to water and she clung to him. His strength made her feel alive despite how tired she felt from her long day of travel. Shocked at his effect on her, she loved the sensation of his hard chest against her breasts. She wanted to feel his naked skin against hers. She growled, unable to get close enough.

He swore under his breath as his hands roamed over her waist and up to the sides of her breasts. “I can’t get enough of you,” he muttered and took her mouth in a deep kiss again.

She felt dizzy with a want and need she denied on a regular basis. It was as if she was suffering from a more delicious version of altitude sickness. His mouth against hers made her hotter with every stroke of his tongue. More than anything, she wanted to feel him against her.

“Ryder,” she whispered, tugging at his tie and dropping her mouth to his neck.

He gave a groan of arousal. “Come home with me. Now,” he said, squeezing her derriere with one hand and clasping her breast with the other.

Too tempted for words, she felt the tug and pull of duty and courtesy over her own needs. Bloody hell, why couldn’t she just this once be selfish, irresponsible and rude? A sound of complete frustration bubbled from her throat. Because she just couldn’t. She was in the States on official business from Chantaine and she’d been assigned to represent a cause important to her and her people.

“I can’t,” she finally managed. “It would just be wrong and rude and it’s not just about me. I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“I don’t know what it is about you, but you make me want to be more reckless than I’ve ever been in my life. More reckless than flying down Deadman’s Hill on my bicycle with no hands when I was ten.”

Bridget felt the same way, but she was holding on by the barest thread of self-restraint. Suddenly the door whooshed open and closed, sending her heart into her throat. Her head cleared enough to realize this situation could provide the press with an opportunity to paint her family in a bad light.

She held her breath, waiting for a voice, but none sounded.

“It’s okay,” he said as if he understood without her saying a word. “Whoever opened the door must have glanced inside and not spotted us. I’ll leave first, then you wait a minute or two before you leave. I’ll warn you if it looks like there’s a crowd waiting for you.”

She paused, then nodded slowly.

Ryder gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze and kissed her quickly, then walked toward the door. Bridget stood frozen to the floor for several breaths and gave herself a quick shake. She moved to the door and listened, but the door was too thick. She couldn’t hear anything. Counting to a hundred, she cracked open the door and peeked outside. No crowd. No photogs. Relief coursed through her and she stepped outside.

“Your Highness, I was worried about you,” Robert said from behind her.

Her stomach muscles tightened and she quickly turned. “Robert, how kind of you.”

“What were you doing in there?” he asked.

“My sense of direction is dismal,” she said. “I went right when I should have turned left. Thank you for coming to my rescue. Now I can return to our table.”

He slid his hand behind her waist and she automatically stiffened, but he seemed to ignore her response. “We can leave, if you like. I could take you to my condo….”

“Again, you’re being kind, but we’re here for an important cause.” “Afterward—”

“It’s been a full day for me flying from Chicago. I appreciate your understanding that I’ll be desperate to finally retire,” she said. One of her advisers had instructed her that one should speak to another person as if they possessed good qualities … even if they didn’t.

“Another time, then,” Robert said, clearly disappointed.

Bridget gave a noncommittal smile, careful not to offer any false hope.

When Bridget didn’t hear from Ryder for three days, she began to get peeved. Actually, she was peeved after day one. He’d behaved like he was starving for her and couldn’t wait another moment, then didn’t call. She considered calling him at least a dozen times, but her busy schedule aided her in her restraint.

On Tuesday, however, she was scheduled to meet with a preventative adult health specialist in preparation for a video she would be filming with the doctor as a public service announcement for Chantaine.

Afterward, she meandered down the hall past his office. She noticed Ryder wasn’t there, but his assistant was. Bridget gave in to temptation and stepped into the office. “Hello. I was wondering if Dr. McCall is in today.”

The assistant sighed. “Dr. McCall is making rounds and seeing interns, but he may need to leave early for family reasons. May I take a message?”

“Not necessary,” she demurred, but wondered what those family reasons were. “Are the twins okay?” she couldn’t help asking.

The assistant nodded. “I think so. It’s the nanny—” The phone rang. “Excuse me.”

The nanny! The nanny she’d selected for Ryder and the boys had been as perfect as humanly possible. Perhaps more perfect. What could have possibly happened? Resisting the urge to grill the assistant about her, she forced herself to walk away. Her fingers itched to call him, but she didn’t. It would be rude to interrupt his appointments with patients or the residents.

Bothered, bothered, bothered, she stalked through the hallway. The pediatric department head saw her and stopped in front of her, smiling. “Your Highness, what a pleasure to see you.”

“Thank you, Doctor. How are you?” she said more than asked.

“Great. Would you like to get together for dinner?” he asked.

“I would, but I must confess my immediate schedule is quite demanding. Perhaps some other time,” she said.

“I’ll keep asking,” he said and gave her a charming smile that didn’t move her one iota.

Brooding, she walked down the hall and out of the hospital to the limo that awaited her. A text would be less intrusive, she decided, and sent a message. Two minutes later, she received a response. Nanny had emergency appendectomy. Juggling with backup.

WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME? she texted in return.

Her phone rang one moment later and she answered. “Hello.”

“It’s been crazy. I’ve even had to ask Marshall for help.”

“Why didn’t you ask me?” she demanded.

“You told me your schedule was picking up. I figured you wouldn’t have time,” he said.

True, she thought, but she was still bothered. “You still should have called me.”

“You’re a busy princess. What could you have done?” he asked.

Good question. She closed her eyes. “I could have rearranged my schedule so I could help you.”

Silence followed. “You would do that?”

She bit her lip. “Yes.”

“I didn’t think of that.”

“Clearly,” she said.

He chuckled. “In that case, can you come over tomorrow afternoon? My part-time nanny needs a break.”

“I’ll confirm by five o’clock tonight,” she said. “I have to make a few calls.”

“Impressive,” he said. “I bet your reschedules are going to be disappointed. Too bad,” he said without a trace of sympathy.

She laughed. “I’ll call you later,” she said and they hung up and her heart felt ten times lighter.

The following afternoon, Bridget relieved the backup nanny while the twins were sleeping. From previous experience, she knew her moments of silence were numbered. She used the time to prepare bottles and snacks for the boys.

Sure enough, the first cry sounded. She raced upstairs and opened the door. Travis was sitting up in his crib wearing a frowny face.

“Hello, sweet boy,” she whispered.

He paused mid-wail and stared at her wide-eyed.

“Hi,” she whispered and smiled.

Travis smiled and lifted his fingers to his mouth.

Bridget changed his diaper. Seconds later, Tyler awakened and began to babble. Tyler was the happier baby. He was a bit more fearful, but when he woke up, he didn’t start crying immediately.

Bridget wound Travis’s mobile and turned her attention to Tyler. She took each baby downstairs ready to put them in their high chairs. Snacks, bottles, books, Baby Einstein and finally Ryder arrived carrying a bottle of wine.

“How’s everybody?” he asked, his gaze skimming over her and the boys, then back to her. “Did they wear you out?”

“Not too much yet,” she said. “It helps to have a plan.”

He nodded. “With alternatives. I ordered Italian, not pizza. It should be delivered soon.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“I’m hoping to lure you into staying the night,” he said.

“Ha, ha,” she said. “The trouble with luring me after an afternoon with the twins is that I’ll be comatose by nine o’clock at the latest. I talked to your part-time sitter and she told me Suzanne will be out for a few more days. Is that true?”

He nodded. “She had laparoscopic surgery, so her recovery should be much easier than if she’d had an open appendectomy.”

“Then I think the next step is to get a list of your backup sitters and inform them of the situation and make a schedule for the children’s care. So if you don’t mind giving me your names and contact information, I can try to get it straight tomorrow.”

He blinked at her in amazement. “You’re deceptively incredible,” he said. “You give this impression of being lighthearted and maybe a little superficial. Then you turn around and volunteer to take care of my boys, recruit doctors for your country and make countless appearances.”

“Oooh, I like that. Deceptively incredible,” she said, a bit embarrassed by his flattery. “Many of us are underestimated. It can be a hindrance and a benefit. I try to find the benefit.”

Ryder leaned toward her, studying her face. “Have you always been underestimated?”

She considered his question for a moment, then nodded. “I think so. I’m number four out of six and female, so I think I got lost in the mix. I’m not sure my father ever really knew my name, and my mother was beginning to realize that her marriage to my father was not going to be a fairy tale.”

“Why not?”

“You must swear to never repeat this,” she said.

“I swear, although I’m not sure anyone I know would be interested,” he said.

“True enough,” she said. “My father was a total philanderer. Heaven knows, my mother tried. I mean, six children? She was a true soldier, though, and gave him two sons. Bless her.”

“So what do you want for yourself?” he asked. “You don’t want the kind of marriage your parents had.”

“Who would?” she said and took a deep breath. “I haven’t thought a lot about it. Whenever Stefan has brought up the idea of my marrying someone, I just start laughing and don’t stop. Infuriates the blazes out of him,” she said, and smiled.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he said.

His eyes felt as if they bored a hole through her brain, and Bridget realized one of the reasons she was drawn to Ryder was because she couldn’t fool him. It was both a source of frustration and relief.

“I’m still figuring it out. For a long time, I’ve enjoyed the notion of being the eccentric princess who lives in Italy most of the year and always has an Italian boyfriend as her escort.”

“Italian boyfriend,” he echoed, clearly not pleased.

“You have to agree, it’s the antithesis of my current life.”

“And I suspect this life wouldn’t include children,” he continued with a frown.

Feeling defensive, she bit her lip. “Admit it. The life you’d planned didn’t include children … at least for a long while, did it?”

He hesitated.

“Be honest. I was,” she said.

“No,” he finally admitted. “But not because I was in Italy with an Italian girlfriend.”

“No, you were planning to do something more important. A career in medicine. Perfectly noble and worthy, but it would be hard to make a child a priority when you have the kind of passion you do for your career. A child would be … inconvenient.”

He took a deep breath. “We choose our careers for many reasons. I wanted to feel like I had the power to help, to cure, to make a difference. It was more important for me to feel as if I were accomplishing those goals than building a family life.” He shrugged. “My family life sucked.”

“There you go,” she said in complete agreement. “My family life sucked, too. In fact, I wanted to get so far away from it that I wanted to move to a different country.”

He chuckled. “So how is it that Princess Bridget is changing diapers and taking care of my twins?”

Bridget resisted the urge to squirm. “I won’t lie. I once thought children were a lot of trouble and not for me, but then I got a couple of adorable nieces. I still thought I wouldn’t want to deal with them for more than a couple hours at most with the nanny at hand to change diapers, of course.” She bit her lip. “But it’s just so different when they’re looking at you with those big eyes, helpless and needing you…. And it would just feel so terribly wrong not to take care of them.”

“And how do I fit into it?” he asked, dipping his head toward her.

“You are just an annoying distraction,” she said in a mockingly dismissive whisper.

“Well, at least I’m distracting,” he said and lowered his mouth to hers.

Bridget felt herself melt into the leather upholstery. She inhaled his masculine scent and went dizzy with want. He was the one thing she’d never had but always wanted and couldn’t get enough of. How could that be? She’d been exposed to everything and every kind of person, hadn’t she?

But Ryder was different.

She drew his tongue deeper into her mouth and slid her arms around his neck. Unable to stop herself, she wiggled against him and moaned. He groaned in approval, which jacked her up even more.

From some corner of her mind, she heard a sound.

“Eh.”

Pushing it aside, she continued to kiss Ryder.

“Eh.”

Bridget frowned, wondering….

“Wahhhhhhh.”

She reluctantly tore her mouth from Ryder’s. “The babies,” she murmured breathlessly, glancing down at Travis as he tuned up. The baby had fallen on his side and he couldn’t get back up.

“Yeah, I know,” Ryder said. “I’m starting to understand the concept of unrequited l—”

“Longing,” she finished for him because she couldn’t deal with Ryder saying the four-letter L word. It wasn’t possible.

“Bet there’s a dirty diaper involved,” Ryder muttered as he tilted Travis upright.

“Could be,” she said and couldn’t bring herself to offer to change it. She covered her laugh by clearing her throat. “I wouldn’t want to deprive you of your fatherly duty.”

He gave her a slow, sexy grin. “I’ll just bet you wouldn’t.”

“It’s an important bonding activity,” she said, trying to remain serious, but a giggle escaped.

“Can’t hold it against you too much,” he said. “You’ve been here all afternoon.”

Bridget rose to try to collect herself. Her emotions were all over the place. Walking to the downstairs powder room, she closed the door behind her and splashed water against her cheeks and throat. Sanity, she desperately needed sanity.

The doorbell rang and she returned as Ryder tossed the diaper into the trash before he answered the door. He paid the delivery man and turned around, and Bridget felt her heart dip once, twice, three times…. Adrenaline rushed through her, and she tried to remember a charming, gorgeous Italian man who had affected her this way. When had any man affected her this way?

Oh, heavens, she needed to get away from him. She felt like that superhero. What was his name? Superman. And Ryder was that substance guaranteed to weaken him. What was it? Started with a K …

“Smells good. Hope you like lasagna,” Ryder said.

“I can’t stay,” she said.

“What?” he asked, his brow furrowing.

“I can’t stay. I have work to do,” she said.

“What work?” he asked.

“Rescheduling my meetings and appearances. I also need to take care of the childcare arrangements for the twins.”

He walked slowly toward her, his gaze holding hers. She felt her stomach tumble with each of his steps. “You’re not leaving because you have work to do, are you?”

She lifted her chin. “I’m a royal. I always have work to do.”

He cupped her chin with his hand. “But the reason you’re leaving is not because of work, is it?”

Her breath hitched in her throat.

“You’re a chicken, aren’t you?” he said. “Princess Cluck Cluck.”

“That was rude,” she said.

“Cluck, cluck,” he said and pressed his mouth against hers.

After making the schedule for the twins’ care, Bridget paid her sister an overdue visit. Valentina had threatened to personally drag her away from Dallas if Bridget didn’t come to the ranch. Her sister burst down the steps to the porch as Bridget’s limo pulled into the drive.

“Thank goodness you’re finally here,” Tina said.

Bridget laughed as she embraced her sister. “You act like I’ve been gone for years.”

“I thought you would be spending far more time here, but you’ve been appearing at events, traveling to Chicago. And what’s this about you helping that physician with his twin babies? Haven’t you helped him enough?”

“It’s complicated,” Bridget said. “He’s had some childcare issues. I think they’re mostly resolved now.”

“Well, good. I think you’ve helped him quite enough. Now you can spend some time with me,” Tina said as she led Bridget into the house. “I have wonderful plans for us. Two aestheticians are coming to the ranch tomorrow to give massages and facials then we spend the afternoon at the lake.”

“Lake?” Bridget echoed. All she’d seen was dry land.

“It’s wonderful,” Tina reassured her. “The summer heat and humidity can get unbearable here. We have a pond with a swing, but we’re going to the lake because Zach got a new boat. Zach and one of his friends will be joining us tomorrow afternoon. Then we’ll have baby back ribs for dinner.”

Bridget’s antennae went up at the mention of Zach’s friend. “You’re not trying to set me up, are you?”

“Of course not. I just thought you’d enjoy some no-pressure male companionship. Troy is just a nice guy. He also happens to be good-looking and eligible. And if you two should hit it off, then you could live close to me and—” Tina paused and a guilty expression crossed her face. “Okay, it’s a little bit of a setup. But not too much,” she said quickly. “Troy and Zach are business associates, so we’ll have to drag them away from talk about the economy.”

Bridget’s mind automatically turned to Ryder. There was no reason for her to feel even vaguely committed to him. Her stomach tightened. What did that mean? she wondered. “I’m not really looking right now,” Bridget said.

“I know,” Tina said. “As soon as you take care of the doctor project, you’re off to Italy and part of that will include flirtations with any Italian man who grabs your fancy. But if someone here grabs your fancy …”

“Tina,” Bridget said in a warning voice.

“I hear you,” Tina said. “Let’s focus on your amazing niece.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ve missed the little sweetheart,” Bridget said as they walked into the kitchen.

“Missed her, but not me!” Tina said.

Bridget laughed. “I adore you. Why are you giving me such a hard time?”

Tina lifted her hand to Bridget’s face and looked deep into her gaze. “I don’t know. I worry about you. I wonder what’s going on inside you. You smile, you laugh, but there’s a darkness in your eyes.”

Bridget’s heart dipped at her sister’s sensitivity, then she deadpanned. “Maybe it’s my new eyeliner.”

Tina rolled her eyes. “You’re insufferable. I always said that about Stefan, but you’re the same, just in a different way.”

“I believe I’ve just been insulted,” Bridget said.

“You’ll get over it. Hildie made margaritas for us and she always makes doubles.”