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Walking past the white sofas in the sitting room, he reminded himself that another man engaged to a gorgeous woman would find much better ways to take advantage of the situation, but he sought only help with cuff links. He was insane.
He knocked on her door.
“Yes.”
“It’s me, Dom.” He sucked in a breath, suddenly feeling like a teenager trying to ask a girl to a dance. Idiocy. He cleared his throat and strengthened his voice. “The cuff links I’m wearing were gifts from the ambassador we’re dining with tonight. They’d been in his family for a century. The clasps stick.”
Before he could finish, her door opened. She stood before him in a pale blue satin dress. Sleeveless—strapless—it should have given him a delightful view, but she wore a little lace thing over it—sort of a jacket, but not quite long enough.
Her hair had been put up, but not in the grandma hairdo. It was more like a long, silky, braided ponytail with flowers woven through it.
She lifted her pretty face and smiled at him. “Heirlooms, huh?”
He said, “Yes,” but his voice came out rusty again. Except this time he knew why he was dumbstruck. She wore almost no makeup, yet she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever met.
“Let me see.”
He held out his arm and she examined the cuff links that he’d slid through the buttonholes but hadn’t locked. She took the first in her nimble fingers, her face pinching in concentration, and something warm and wonderful swished through him.
He told himself it was nothing but attraction, but when she finished closing and locking the cuff links, she glanced up and smiled at him, and he realized how nice she was. It was no wonder she was so good with the children of her high school. She was just plain sweet.
And he was a pampered ruler. Somebody so accustomed to getting his own way that he’d persuaded her to marry him. It was for the best, of course, but that was his pathology. Even if it hadn’t been the best for Ginny, if it had been the best for his country, he would have tossed her feelings aside and worked things to his benefit anyway.
The warm, fuzzy feeling she inspired shifted into cold, hard steel. Because that’s who he really was, and even as much of a bastard as he could be, he didn’t want to hurt her.
Not after she was doing so much for him.
* * *
Dom and Ginny left their apartment at ten to seven. He was the picture of kingly gorgeousness in his black tux.
When she told him that, he cast a sideways glance at her. “Thank you. You look lovely, too.”
Not twenty minutes before they had shared a happy moment over his cuff links. Now he was cool and distant? It didn’t make any sense.
They walked to the elevator, which opened as soon as they arrived. Neither spoke as they stepped inside and Dom pushed the button for the second floor.
A guest of the palace, Ginny’s mom was invited to join them for dinner, and she waited for them in the second-floor lobby beside the elevator.
When they stepped out, she hugged Ginny. “Very pretty.”
Ginny displayed her newfound curtsy skills. “Thanks. Your outfit is gorgeous, too.”
Rose smoothed her hand along the soft beige satin. The king had offered the services of their clothier, and her pragmatic mom hadn’t had a qualm about using them. She had the tailor whip up a simple satin skirt and sequined top that sort of looked like a tank top. She’d swept her yellow and pink hair into a neat French twist. She looked simple, but elegant. More elegant than Ginny had ever seen her.
As Dom guided them in the direction of the king’s quarters, Rose whispered, “I could get used to this.”
Ginny’s eyes widened in horror. She had no idea why Dom had suddenly become distant, but hearing her mom say she could get used to luxury wouldn’t help things.
“Do not say that!”
“I was kidding! It’s stuffy here.” She glanced around at the paintings on the elegant walls. “Almost like a really fancy prison.”
Though Dominic hadn’t appeared to have been listening, he turned and said, “Protocols and security are necessary.”
“For protection and respect,” Ginny quickly told her mom, wanting Dom to see her mom hadn’t meant any harm. She simply wasn’t up to speed on the lives of royalty. “If somebody’s going to rule a country in a part of the world that isn’t always stable, they need to command respect.”
Dominic gave her a look of approval that helped alleviate the sense that she’d somehow caused his bad mood.
But her mom waved a hand. “Give me the good old-fashioned life of a commoner any day of the week.”
Ginny smiled nervously, as Dom shook his head. He’d been so cute when he’d come to her suite, asking for help with his cuff links. Now a world of distance seemed to be lodged between them. She wouldn’t tell him, but it had been nice to have a chance to touch him. And there was nothing more intimate than fixing a guy’s cuff links or his bow tie—as a wife would.
