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“Which means me living with you.” Nothing Konstantin had said implied he had any plans to try to take Mickey away from her, but she could not help worrying.
“Naturally. I would prefer as my wife, but yes, regardless. Whatever you feel about this truth, our son is a royal and he must be raised to his role. It will be better and easier for him if he lives that life 24/7.”
Why hadn’t she ever considered Mickey’s role within the royal family? Because after her confrontation with Queen Tiana, Emma had realized she was on her own with her son. Even before that, she never would have expected Konstantin to formally and publicly acknowledge him.
“Which means living with you.”
“Yes.”
While she had never expected him to take this step, part of her had been afraid Konstantin would try to take Mickey away from her. Emma had not trusted the Prince at all. Not after the restraining order and the Queen’s threats.
So, this idea of living with him had never occurred to her and Konstantin talked like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Emma had become convinced that she’d never really known Konstantin. That the man she’d fallen in love with did not actually exist.
The jury was still out on that one, but his every action right now pointed toward a man who had no plans to try to steal her son away. Even so. “I know you are used to getting what you want, but can’t you see you’re asking me to change my whole life for you?”
“For Mikhail,” Konstantin stressed. “After treating you as I did, I would never presume to ask you to change so much as your outfit for me.”
“What’s wrong with my outfit?” she demanded.
Her Prince blew out a frustrated breath. “Nothing is wrong with your clothes. They look fantastic on you as always.”
Darn it. She’d thought of him as hers. She had to nip that in the bud right now.
Only did she? asked an insidious voice in her mind, or was it her heart? He wanted to marry her. Wouldn’t that make him hers?
“Then why would you want me to change them?” she asked rather than let herself dwell on impossible thoughts.
If princes rolled their eyes, then Konstantin would have done so right then. She was sure of it.
His gorgeous lips twisted wryly. “I am not asking you to change them. Although, if I felt I had the right, I would point out that you might consider letting me buy you a designer wardrobe for public functions.”
“Why would I be attending public functions with you? We aren’t dating.”
“That is going to change.”
“What?” Why were they talking about dating now? Hadn’t they been discussing her moving into his Santa Fe mansion?
“We are going to date.”
“Not if I don’t want to.” Only she wasn’t entirely sure she didn’t want to.
No matter what Emma said, she could not ignore her son’s happiness and desire to live as a “real” family. Nor was she in the habit of lying to herself, which meant she was fully aware of how attracted to Prince Konstantin of Mirrus she still was.
In the past week, her view of Konstantin had changed.
Although she was still very hurt by how he’d cut her so ruthlessly from his life, she no longer held him responsible for the restraining order that had caused her so much grief.
Konstantin had gone in the opposite direction, taking on a load of guilt that he freely acknowledged.
Both situations served to give her a less jaundiced view of her Prince. Oh, darn it, she’d done it again.
“Why are you frowning?” Konstantin asked.
“You are not my prince,” she told him and herself.
His smile was sexy and devastating. “But I could be.”
