Crown Prince, Pregnant Bride

‘Good evening, Indigo,’ he said softly, and she fled.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_0d419a31-57a8-5760-90a7-ec2bc8117c56)

INDIGO WASN’T IN the breakfast room when Lorenzo came downstairs, the next morning. And when he casually mentioned her name, Gus just smiled. ‘She’s even more of a workaholic than you are. She’ll have been in her workroom since the crack of dawn.’

Lorenzo knew that he ought to be sensible and avoid Indigo. But the attraction from last night hadn’t gone away. So he couldn’t resist taking a detour to the kitchen, making her a mug of coffee and wandering casually into her workroom. Just to say hello, he told himself. There couldn’t be any harm in that. Could there?

Today Indigo was back to wearing shapeless clothes and having her hair pinned back, and she was also wearing a pair of safety goggles. This had to be the most unsexy outfit in the world. And yet Lorenzo was aware of every drop of blood thrumming through his veins when she glanced up from her work and saw him.

‘I thought you might like this,’ he said, and handed her the mug. ‘Milk, no sugar.’

‘Thank you.’ She pushed the goggles up on top of her head. ‘How do you know how I like my coffee?’

‘I noticed yesterday at dinner,’ he said. He’d been taught from an early age to notice the details. ‘Do you need a hand with anything?’ It was a stupid question, and he knew it even as the words came out.

‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘but, apart from the fact that my work needs specialist training, I work with acids, flux, a hot soldering iron, sharp blades and glass—all things that could do serious damage to you.’

‘I guess so.’

‘Even if I didn’t have bad intentions towards you—and, just for the record if you happen to be wired and your security team’s listening, I don’t—there’s still the risk of an accident. My insurance company would have a hissy fit at the idea.’

He liked the fact that she’d clearly thought this through. Though it also surprised him that Indigo Moran had such a deeply conventional side, given the dress she’d worn last night. ‘And that bothers you? I thought you had a reputation for being a free spirit.’

‘Which isn’t the same as being reckless and stupid,’ she said. ‘What do you expect me to do—jump into a lake and pull you in with me?’

He laughed. ‘Point taken. No, I don’t think you’re stupid.’ He paused. ‘So can I watch you work, today?’ he asked.

She looked surprised. ‘Are you really interested in glass, are you being polite, or are you just bored and at a bit of a loose end?’

He liked her plain speaking. But either they could spend all day fencing, or he could come clean. Given how little time he had left here, he chose the latter option. ‘It’s an excuse to spend time with you. And I have a feeling it might be the same for you, too.’

She looked wary. ‘I’m not so sure that it’s a good idea.’

At least she hadn’t denied that she wanted to spend time with him. So he could be just as honest with her. ‘I know it isn’t a good idea,’ he said softly.

She said nothing, just looked even warier.

‘If I wasn’t who I am, would your answer be different?’

‘Probably,’ she admitted.

‘Do you have any idea how refreshing it was yesterday,’ he said, ‘to have someone backchat me and treat me like a normal person, for once?’

‘Poor little rich boy,’ she said, folding her arms and giving him a pointed look.

He grinned. ‘And you’re still doing it. I like you, Indigo. I think you like me. What’s the harm in two people getting to know each other?’

‘As you pointed out yesterday, you’re used to the paparazzi following you. You have a security team looking after you. You’re not just a normal person. If anyone wants to get to know you, or you want to get to know someone, then the whole world will know about it.’

‘This is a private house,’ he said.

‘Which is open to the public,’ she reminded him.

‘Who won’t be expecting to see me—they might think, oh, that man sitting by the table over there looks a bit like that Prince Lorenzo guy, but they’ll think no more than that.’

‘What if they do recognise you?’

‘They won’t,’ he said confidently. ‘It’s like when that famous violin player busked on the metro in Washington DC a few years ago, playing a Stradivarius. People weren’t expecting a famous musician to be busking on the metro with one of the most expensive instruments in the world, so they didn’t recognise him and hardly anyone stopped to listen to what he was playing. It’s all about context.’

‘You,’ she said, ‘are just used to getting your own way all the time.’

‘Not all the time.’

‘Did you get an A star in persistence lessons at prince school?’ she asked.

He laughed. ‘There isn’t such a thing as prince school. Besides, you know very well I went to the same school as Gus.’

‘In a different country, and when you were still very young,’ she said thoughtfully.

‘Not as young as you were when you went to boarding school—I was eleven.’ And how he’d missed his family. Thought it had been good practice for his stiff upper lip. ‘I know this is crazy,’ he said. ‘I just want to spend a bit of time with you. I have a free day, but I know you’re working, so maybe I could make myself useful. Kind of multi-tasking.’

She scoffed. ‘You’re telling me that a man can multi-task?’

‘Don’t be sexist.’ He grinned at her. ‘I learned how to multi-task at prince school.’

She laughed, then. ‘Says the man who claims that prince school doesn’t exist.’

‘They’re not formal lessons, exactly, but over the years I’ve been taught about the importance of diplomacy and how to...’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘I was going to say, how to handle people, but I think you might take that the wrong way.’

Her blush was gratifying. ‘Yes. I would.’

‘I don’t mean manhandle,’ he said softly. ‘That’s not who I am. I’m not expecting you to fall into my arms because I’m about to become the King of Melvante. But I can’t stop thinking about you. And I think it’s the same for you, too. That kiss, last night...’ He paused. ‘I don’t behave like that. I don’t usually act on impulse and I definitely don’t do insta-lust. I’m pretty sure you don’t, either.’

‘No.’ Again, she blushed. Telling him that maybe, just maybe, it was different with him.

‘It would be sensible if we just stayed out of each other’s way. But I can’t do that. Something about you...’ He blew out a breath. ‘OK. I’ll shut up and stop distracting you now.’

‘Maybe,’ she said quietly, ‘if you wear goggles, that’ll be enough to disguise you. And you need to wear goggles anyway if you’re going to be on this side of the rope. I don’t want you to get a glass splinter or dust in your eye. And you need gloves, too, if you’re going to work with me.’ She reached under her table and rummaged around in a box. ‘Try these.’

They fitted perfectly. Which was a sign, of sorts, he thought. ‘They’re fine.’

‘OK.’ She handed him a pair of protective glasses, and he put them on.

‘What do you need me to do?’ he asked.

‘Help me clean the lead cames. That’d be easy to teach you.’

‘I’d like that,’ he said. It was so far away from his normal life that it really was like having a rest.