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“I probably didn’t make things any easier for you,” Rafe admitted. “But you are a good man, Gabriel. I think you will make a very good king.”
“Truly?”
“Yes. Better than me.”
“No, I know you’re lying. I’m going to pretend you’re not. But I’m happy you have found someone.”
“Don’t be happy yet. She’s stubborn and ticked off. I think it’s going to take me a while to make her come around.”
Gabe smiled at him. “I’m confident you’re just the man to do that.”
Rafe was, too.
He wished Gabe luck with his royal predicament and left Miami without talking to anyone else. Traffic wasn’t too heavy in the midafternoon, but the drive was a long one and left Rafe time to think.
Deciding he wanted Emily was all well and good, but he knew he had his work cut out convincing her that she still wanted him.
* * *
Emily arrived in Key West just in time to shower and get dressed for work. It was a typical day in late June. There were too many tourists in town and she knew that she was cranky.
She started her shift with attitude. The first kid who presented her with a fake ID got it confiscated, then had a stern lecture from her before she had him escorted out of the bar.
The waitress and other bartender were all giving her a wide berth, which suited her. She didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to think. She simply wanted to forget everything that happened today, get through her shift and then get home.
Harry had looked at her once or twice and made as if he was going to come over and talk to her, but she shut him down with one hand in the air that told him she wasn’t ready to talk. Tonight she had no idea whether she would ever be ready to talk about Rafe and the baby or anything.
Tonight all she needed to worry about was mixing drinks and keeping the tourists happy. She didn’t even have to worry about reporters sniffing around anymore. Cara had told her this afternoon that another suspicious reporter had shown his face over at the coffee shop one more time. Cara and a few other locals had explained that he wasn’t welcome in Key West anymore and told him to get the hell out of town.
It made Emily feel really good to know that these people had her back. She was home. This was where she and her child would live the rest of their lives together.
They would be fine. She knew that they would. It didn’t matter that her heart was breaking right now. And that someday she might have to answer uncomfortable questions about where her baby’s father was.
For tonight she was doing what she was good at. Rafe had accused her of being too self-sufficient and now she knew she couldn’t deny it. She did get her guard up and isolate herself when things got uncomfortable.
Even when faced with love. But there was no way she was going to be the reason Rafael Montoro IV didn’t become king of Alma. His great-grandfather Rafael I had been king when the family fled. She knew how important it was to the people of Alma and to the Montoros that Rafe sit on the throne.
Another kid came up to the bar and she gave him a hard stare. He looked as though he was eighteen if he was a day. “Kid, think twice before you place your order.”
“What are you talking about, honey? I need a tube of LandShark for that table over there.”
“Let’s see your ID,” she said, ready to rip him a new one.
But he pulled out his real ID and it showed he was nineteen. Off by two years. “I can’t serve you beer, Alfred.”
“It’s for my dad and his buddies,” Alfred said. “Dad, you’re going to have to come over here.”
Alfred’s dad came over and got the beers and the rest of the night settled into a routine. This was going to be her life.
This was what she’d chosen. She could have been with Rafe wherever he was...but she’d chosen the safety of the only home she’d ever known over him. Not because she loved Key West so much but because it was safer to love a place than a man.
Key West wasn’t going to leave her.
Rafe could.
“Why don’t you take a break?” Harry said. “I’ve got some conch fritters on my desk and a nice fruit salad.”
It was really a nice gesture from Harry. His way of saying that he was there for her. She walked over to him and gave him a hug. He hugged her back.
“You okay, kiddo?”
“I screwed up.”
“Want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “I think I’ll start crying and maybe never stop.”
“Go eat your dinner. That will make you feel better.”
She went into Harry’s office and found not only dinner waiting but Rafe.
Her breath caught and her heart felt as if it skipped a beat. She wanted to believe he was here for her, but what man would give up a throne for a woman like her?
