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“Tell me about it,” she said.
“I will tonight. Why don’t you call me when you get off work? I’ll be waiting up for you.”
She liked the sound of that. She glanced around the coffeehouse and noticed a man watching her. He looked away as she spotted him. Weird.
“Okay. I’m working an early shift because Harry is worried that late nights aren’t good for me.”
“They probably aren’t. As a matter of fact, why don’t you quit your job there?”
“Why would I do that?” she asked. She’d be bored stiff if she had nothing to do, and her savings would only last her three months. Then she’d have to look for another job. Though she knew Harry would take her back.
“I don’t like the idea of you working late nights,” he said. “I can support you so you don’t have to work.”
She put both feet on the floor and leaned forward as a wave of annoyance swept over her. “I don’t need your money, Rafael. I’m not about to become your kept woman.”
“Slow down, Red. I just meant that if you are tired, I’d help you out. It’s nothing any man wouldn’t do for the woman carrying his baby.”
“That’s not true,” she said. Her own father had done a lot less. He’d just walked away and left her mom and her alone. “I guess you hit one of my triggers. I don’t do needy.”
“Hell, I know that. I don’t do overprotective usually, but with you I want to. I know that’s not what you want from me, so I’m keeping my distance,” he said.
“Yeah, right, you’re ‘keeping your distance’ because of your obligation to your family. You’re just as afraid of committing yourself to me as you are of committing yourself to the throne.”
There was silence on the line and she wondered if she’d gone too far. A part of her almost wished she had because then he’d just break it off with her and she’d know she was on her own.
These calls, this bond that was developing between them couldn’t last. She knew it and if Rafe was being honest he’d admit to it too. The way things stood, they couldn’t co-parent their child. Didn’t royal babies have nannies or something?
She was going to be a hands-on mom and every time she talked to Rafe she fell a little more for him, started to picture him as a hands-on dad.
“You’re right,” he said. “But I’m also not rushing back to your side because if I do I’m not sure what sort of reception I’ll get.”
“What sort do you want?” she asked. She had no idea how she’d act if he showed up on her doorstep, but frankly she imagined she’d be tempted to throw herself into his arms. And she had no idea how he’d react to that.
“You.”
She caught her breath. “You don’t have to keep this much distance between us, you know.”
“I know. But you are unpredictable and I’m not on solid ground right now. Just know I wouldn’t be calling you this often if you weren’t important to me.”
He didn’t have to keep quite as much distance as he was for her sake. But getting to know him this way was safer. That was one of the issues she kept pushing to the back of her mind. “Okay, sorry for overreacting. It’s just...a lot of things are changing in my body. You know how scary that is for a control freak like me?”
“I do. Red, that’s how I feel about this entire constitutional monarchy thing in Alma.”
She laughed. He was the only man she knew who’d compare being king to being pregnant. Mainly because he was the only man she knew who wasn’t afraid to admit that he had doubts. That he liked to control things. That he was human. He didn’t front with her and she knew that was one of the reasons she liked him.
“Okay, so about this late-night call. What do you say we use that video chat function? I miss seeing you,” she admitted.
“Finally. I thought you’d never admit to missing me.”
“I guess you’re not as smart as everyone gives you credit for being,” she said.
“Probably not,” he said. “But I’m not concerned with what anyone thinks about me but you.”
Those words made her heart beat a little faster and made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It wasn’t love. Not yet. But she knew if he kept calling her every day she was going to start really falling for him, and she was starting to struggle to remember why that was a bad idea.
* * *
After hanging up with Emily, Rafe left the royal palace in Del Sol and walked around the well-manicured gardens. As he walked, he had his iPod set to his Key West playlist, which was really his Emily playlist. But he knew better than to actually name it that—he didn’t want to leave any evidence of his affair for others to observe.
