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“What if I agreed to stay in Linnaea? Signed some sort of custody agreement?”
“That does not resolve the issue of legitimacy as it pertains to our child’s claim to the throne. Nor,” he added as he turned back to face her, “does it solve the problem of the scandal that will rock this country, not to mention Europe, at the news that the future king’s illicit liaison with his secretary produced an illegitimate child.”
Sparks practically crackled in the air around her as she stood, her hands balled into fists.
“Executive assistant.”
“What?”
“I’mnota secretary,” she ground out. “I’m an executive assistant.”
He stalked toward her, savoring the infusion of color in her cheeks, the crackling blue flames in her eyes as she held her ground.
“You type up documents. You answer calls. You manage my schedule.” A slow, cocky smile spread across his face. “Sounds like a secretary to me.”
She gave him an answering smile, sharp and full of fight. “Is it common practice for you to make love to yoursecretarieson top of your desk?”
The barb found its mark as his anger swelled. He’d been so damned foolish. But, he resolved as he took another step that brought him within inches of her, he would make it right.
“You’re the first. Although I wouldn’t call that lovemaking.”
One brow shot up. “Oh?”
He leaned in, inhaling the rosy, orange scent tinged with a hint of something woodsy that had become imprinted on his skin that fateful night. The smell of the fresh rose arrangement in the formal dining room had sparked memories of how smooth the skin of her thighs had felt as he’d lifted her onto the desk. A bite of an orange had him reliving the sensation of her lips parting for him, welcoming him into the sweet, hot heat of her mouth as she’d moaned every time he’d thrust into her body.
Their night together may have been impulsive and reckless. But as much as he should regret it, he couldn’t. Not when it had felt so damn good.
“That was wild sex. Next time will be different.”
She swallowed hard. Her tongue darted out, touching her lower lip in an unconscious gesture as her eyes locked on his.
“You can’t seduce me into marrying you, Alaric.”
“I’m not. But good sex would be a bonus to our arrangement.”
A small laugh escaped as she looked down. He put one finger under her chin and gently but firmly tilted her face back up. At first, he’d wondered if there was something about him preventing Clara from saying yes. But it seemed like her resistance was rooted in something else, something from her past.
“What did Miles do to cause this aversion to marriage?”
The spell broke. The fire disappeared from Clara’s eyes as she stepped back, replaced by the flinty hardness she usually exhibited when dealing with everything from an angry ambassador to a reporter caught infiltrating the palace.
“This has nothing to do with Miles, or my former marriage.”
“Then what?”
No answer. She just stared at him with that unyielding gaze. It was ridiculous to feel hurt that she wouldn’t confide in him, not when he himself loathed sharing any piece of himself beyond what the public saw.
But it did hurt. He had shared a part of himself that night in the gym, when he’d continued to batter the bag and let Clara see him without a shred of dignity as he’d let his emotions show in every punch, every blow.
Now, when the stakes were much higher than a simple holiday dinner gone wrong, when she was pregnant withhischild, she was holding back from him and making what should have been a cut-and-dried situation tangled and messy.
“Keep your secrets, then, Clara. But if you truly think that you’ll be raising our child on your own without my involvement, depriving him or her of his rightful inheritance, then you’re not the woman I thought you were.”
She flinched. A low blow, he knew, but an accurate one. How could she not see that her plan to be a single mother was a foolish one? Even dangerous when one factored in the threats that royals and dignitaries faced in the world today? She was not a stupid woman. What on earth was possessing her to reject his offer?
“You only want to marry me because you don’t want people thinking you’re like your father.”
His body went cold. Judging by the draining of the color from her face, she knew she’d hit her mark with stinging accuracy.
