Before Poppy could respond to that a woman dressed in smart black trousers and a shirt knocked on an adjoining door that led into a vast dressing room and said, ‘Your things are unpacked. Will you be dining in this evening?’
Caius looked at Poppy and raised a brow in question. Poppy realised she felt a bit weary after the journey and because they weren’t exactly getting much sleep at night. She said, ‘I’m a little tired and the twenty-week scan is early tomorrow. I might stay in, but you should go out if you like?’
Poppy figured Caius must be chomping at the bit to get back to his social scene, no matter what he’d said about ‘twenty per cent’. But he said to the woman, ‘We’ll both be in for the evening, if you can let chef know, please.’
‘Certainly.’ The woman left.
Poppy took her hand from Caius’s. For some reason she felt a little on edge. As if Caius choosing to stay in was more unsettling than if he’d gone out. ‘Don’t feel like you have to babysit me, Caius. If you want to go out, it’s no problem, really.’
‘And equally, it’s no problem to stay in. Unless you’d prefer to be alone?’
This was said lightly but Poppy could sense an undertone of something, something that almost made her feel a little guilty for suggesting she might not want to spend the evening with Caius. She shook her head. ‘No, of course not… I just…’
‘You just expect me to want to go clubbing at the first opportunity.’
‘I…maybe,’ Poppy admitted, feeling a little foolish now. She had to concede that it had been weeks, months, since Caius had graced a tabloid with his antics. Was she trying to push him back to some kind of safe distance because the truth was that she’d never expected him to become embedded—literally—in her life so easily?
Because she’d never expected to want to spend time with him?Because she’d never expected to need him.
‘In fact…’ Caius reached for her now, hands on her thickening waist, and tugged her towards him ‘…I feel a little tired too, maybe we should both take a nap before dinner.’
Poppy felt like groaning at the inevitable way her body lit up for Caius, like an instrument, vibrating in his presence. But then his mouth was on hers and the spectacular backdrop of Manhattan and everything else—all the concerns in her head—fell away as she allowed Caius to transport them both away from thinking about anything.
The following morning the trip to the medical clinic was short. Poppy had felt shy since seeing Caius at breakfast on the terrace outside the kitchen. Making love yesterday afternoon into evening…there’d been an edge of desperation to it, almost as if both of them were freaked out that this insatiable desire wasn’t waning. It was getting stronger.
‘OK?’
Poppy glanced at Caius in the back of the SUV and then couldn’t look away. He was simply gorgeous. In a white shirt and dark trousers. Hair thick and just this side of acceptable messy. Beard short and hugging his hard jaw. Mouth sculpted and—
She looked away before he realised she was staring at him like a groupie, and admitted, ‘Just a bit apprehensive, I guess. I haven’t had a scan since the very first one.’ Truth be told, Caius was an all too effective distraction from any concerns she might have about the pregnancy.
He took her hand and she looked at him. He said, ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine.’
Poppy’s insides swooped dangerously. Caius Mansur de Roche, one of the world’s most notorious playboys, holding her hand and reassuring her? Not to mention marrying her to make their unborn child legitimate and then endearing himself to the people of Valdere by being charming and respectful?
Everyone seemed to have formed a crush on their new king consort, from the grooms at the stable who’d watched, slack-jawed, as Caius had insisted on washing his and Poppy’s horses and mucking out the stables, to the students at Valdere’s university who’d asked him to come in and talk about his career in finance.
Not to mention the people in the smaller villages in the mountains who couldn’t recall the last time they’d had a visit from a king. Poppy’s father certainly hadn’t been bothered visiting beyond Valdere City, so she’d made it a priority to do regular visits after his death, but her novelty factor had faded considerably next to Caius, when he’d accompanied her on the latest trip.
Out of the bubble of the wedding and honeymoon and here against the backdrop of New York, it was even more stark just how surprising Caius was. And how much Poppy feared she was in danger of forgetting to protect herself.
She pulled her hand free. ‘I’m sure you’re right.’
He frowned at her minutely but then the driver was saying, ‘We’re here, Your Highnesses.’
Within minutes they were in a room in the clinic with the efficient consultant and Poppy was on a bed with her top pulled up to expose her expanding belly. The consultant had put gel on her belly and the lights were turned down so they could see the monitor better.
‘Ready?’
Poppy nodded. Caius said, ‘Yes, thank you.’
The doctor pressed the wand into Poppy’s belly and moved it around. It took a minute but then the rapid sound of the baby’s heartbeat filled the room and an unmistakable grainy image of a foetus came onto the screen. A hand lifted as if it was waving and the doctor said with a smile, ‘The baby is waving at you.’
And then, ‘All looks healthy and exactly as it should be. Do you want to know the sex?’
Poppy was still reeling to see the baby and hear that all was well. She looked up at Caius, who was staring at the screen with wide eyes and—it was hard to know in this dim light, but it looked as if he’d gone pale. ‘Caius?’
He dragged his gaze to hers. She said, ‘Do we want to know the sex?’
