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No! She couldn’t let her thoughts wander like that.
They reached her door, and he turned her to him. “Madeline…”
“We need to restructure the fake dating idea,” she said, cutting him off.
“Oh?” He arched a brow. “I see. You want to make it real.”
His gaze traveled over her face, settling on her lips for far too long before his eyes lifted to meet hers again. Madeline was short of breath from a simple look. She couldn’t ‘make it real.’ Was he in earnest?
“Nolan, please.” She caught a breath and backed away from his embrace, running into the door. “I’m on assignment here, and you’re not …”
“Not what?”
How could she tell him he wasn’t ready to move on, as if she knew his thoughts? All she knew was she had to take this slow. She knew little about serious dating or long-term love. She’d been deserted by her husband. Some, mostly her parents, thought she should’ve moved on. But she’d been focused on Chad and her career, and she’d never found a man she was interested in pursuing more than a few dates with.
Until now.
“Let’s focus on proving you have no association with Naomi,” she said. “Let’s not get distracted or forget my purpose here.”
He looked injured—the confident king of Augustine. Injured.
Finally, he nodded.
“Thank you.” Madeline pushed down the handle and started to slide into the room.
“Madeline.” His hand on her arm stopped her and made her long to rewind and try again. Yes, she wanted to make it real! How could she not?
She moistened her lips. “Yes?”
His gaze focused on her lips, and then his blue eyes grew determined as they met hers. “We have to keep up the dating farce unless you want to tell everyone why you’re really here.”
She sucked in a breath and admitted, “The prime minister thought it was a good idea when I emailed him last night. If the media finds out I’m here as a member of parliament on an emissary mission, it might cause a mess. I guess the fake dating is the lesser of two evils.”
He studied her. She could easily see he didn’t like her terminology. “Please meet me in the family living area for breakfast.”
“How soon?” She had no idea how to tell him no. She needed to practice in the mirror, pray for strength, remember how awful it had been when Bradford ditched her and Chad had cried himself to sleep for months. Chad was a strong, self-sufficient man now, but she worried she’d cry herself to sleep when Nolan moved on.
“As long as you need, Madeline.”
She quivered at those words and the look that accompanied them. It seemed he was saying he’d wait for her as long as she needed. He would take it slow?
“I’ll be there in half an hour,” she said.
He nodded.
Madeline slipped into her room, closing the door behind her. Leaning against it, she wondered what she was doing. The king seemed to be interested in her, invested even.
If she couldn’t reciprocate, was she ruining her chance at love with that unreal man, or was she saving herself from another heartbreak, a loss of her independence, and a whole load of responsibility?
Chapter Six
Nolan’s stomach churned as he showered and dressed in a gray suit. The royal stylist Arianna filled his closets with the perfect clothing for each season. This suit was much lighter fabric, and the white button-down underneath was short-sleeved.
And you’re not … And you’re not … Those words rolled around in his mind. He had no idea what Madeline had meant. He wasn’t the right one for her? He wasn’t the man she was looking for? Why did he even go there?
Nolan had been king for thirty years. He couldn’t rule a flourishing kingdom and especially navigate through all the havoc of last year and pain of losing his wife without being confident, decisive, and never second-guessing himself.
Madeline not responding to his flirtations had knocked his confidence out at the knees. How could he get her to fall for him? She and Kiera getting along so well last night had felt like a green flag.
