Prince Baby. SUSAN MEIER
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Seth ran his hand along the back of his neck again. This was the reason their marriage had been a mistake. Physically, they were a perfect ten. But he couldn’t remember a time they’d ever really talked.
Still, able to communicate or not, they had a baby. And he refused to let the monarchy roll over his parental rights. Xavier Island might be a small country, only one island of several off the coast of Spain, but Lucy’s dad was a savvy leader who knew exactly what to do to keep his country one of the richest in the region. If King Alfredo wanted to, he could find a way to take Seth’s son away from him. So Seth had to be one step ahead of him. That was the important thing right now.
“So…what do we do now?”
“I’m going home.”
He was afraid of that. “Where, exactly, is home?” Realizing how hostile that sounded, Seth quickly amended it. He couldn’t afford to make her mad. Lord only knew what she would do, where she would go. She’d already proved that when she wanted to, she could disappear.
“When I met you, you lived in Miami, then when your dad summoned you, you left for Xavier Island. You said you’ve been in Miami for the past few months, but you were supposed to be marrying a prince. Did you marry him? Do you live in some other kingdom I’ve never heard of?”
“Though my betrothal nullified our marriage, the pregnancy broke the betrothal. The barristers called it an act of God.”
Seth snorted a laugh. “I’ll bet King Dad loved that.”
“When he discovered there was no sanction to the trade agreement tied to the betrothal, he didn’t care.”
Seth shook his head, unable to believe things like this still happened in a modern world. “Well, there you go. Marriage, babies, none of it matters as long as the trade agreement stays intact.”
“Seth, I know you’re mad,” Lucy softly said, “and I also don’t expect you to understand this, but not every country is as progressive as the United States and not every people is as independent. Some of us…”
“Your room is ready!” Popping through the canvas curtain, the nurse interrupted Lucy. She picked up Lucy’s chart and made a quick notation, then said, “The guy behind me is Tom. He’ll be the one taking you up.”
The tall orderly in the green scrubs offered a salute.
The female nurse turned to Seth. “You should go home. Not only is your wife going to need her sleep, but you’ve been through the wringer tonight, too.”
Hearing Lucy referred to as his wife sent a flood of overpowering emotion through Seth. He fought it by reminding himself that he and Lucy were absolutely one-hundred-percent wrong for each other and they had made a huge mistake in getting married. But the feelings wouldn’t go away. He wanted to take her hand and whisper his gratitude. He wanted to kiss her forehead. He wanted to jump with joy and he couldn’t believe he had to control himself. He wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to keep it all inside.
Still, he had to. Lucy was a princess and he might not be a pauper, but he was a commoner. They had to decide custody and visitation before she returned to Xavier. But Seth’s lawyer needed to research the law. Seth had to buy him time.
He glanced at Lucy. “Do you want me to go home?” he asked politely.
“I am tired. But there are a few things we need to discuss.”
“And you can’t discuss them tomorrow?” the nurse demanded.
“No. Please give Seth my room number.”
The royally-proper-yet-still-sweet way Lucy gave the command sent Seth’s heart on a roller-coaster ride. That was what had first attracted him about her. She was the wicked combination of sexy and sweet. So sweet, she made him believe there really was goodness in the world. And so sexy he forgot his own name when he was with her.
The nurse sighed and faced Seth. “Her room is four-seventeen. But don’t come up right away. We’ll need about ten minutes to get her settled.”
Seth nodded and left. He headed straight for the nursery, glad to have a few minutes to gather his wits. He stared through the glass wall as nurses fussed over the little boy he’d brought into the world. Having conceived a child seemed unreal. Being the owner of the first hands to touch him, seeing him take his first shaky breaths, those were miracles.
He also had an overwhelming sense of gratitude to Lucy for having given him a son. But that emotion was what bothered him. He wanted desperately to hug her, to thank her, to promise her the moon. And it was stupid. He didn’t want her in his life anymore, and frankly, she didn’t want him in her life, either.
Hell, he wasn’t even sure she’d ever wanted him in her life. They’d known each other a little over a month. She had probably awakened one morning completely appalled by what she had done and had grabbed the opportunity to end their marriage when her father had summoned her. Actually, she could have been so appalled that she called her dad to get her out of her mistake. For all Seth knew, she could have been the brains behind the annulment.
Still, he understood what Pete was telling him. If he let Lucy go, especially if she took their child to another country where her father was king, Seth might never see his son again.
He waited ten minutes as the nurse had asked, then knocked before entering Lucy’s room. He made the mistake of allowing his eyes to meet hers. He saw the warmth and softness in her pretty brown eyes and felt the attraction, the passion. All the wonderful things they’d once shared.
Damn!
He reminded himself to fight the feelings and reminded himself that even if he were fool enough to get involved with her, she didn’t want to be involved with him. They were a bad combination. She had apparently seen that first. And when she’d run home to daddy, the king had disposed of Seth as if he were a scarred two-by-four.
That sobered him.
“I was hoping you would stay in Porter for a week or two so we could hammer out a visitation agreement.”
Lucy played with the cover on her bed. “Seth, there are a few things I need to tell you…”
“I hope one of those things isn’t that I don’t have any rights.”
She shook her head. “No. You are the baby’s father. You have all the usual rights. In fact, I would like to name our son after your father. Owen.”
The gesture surprised Seth so much he nearly had to sit. “Why?”
She smiled. “I think it’s appropriate. One of the few things I remember you telling me in our short time together was how much you had loved your dad and how much you had missed him after he died. You told me your brother Ty had worked very hard to make up for the loss, but you always felt it.”
Well, if that didn’t shoot a bunch of holes into his theory that they hadn’t really talked, Seth didn’t know what did. Still, when push came to shove, she’d regretted their marriage and dumped him. Even if they had talked, they really didn’t know each other. And even if they spent time getting to know each other that wouldn’t change the fact that they weren’t getting back together. He now thoroughly mistrusted monarchies and she would be an idiot to give up her throne for him.
Hell, who was he kidding? She just plain wouldn’t give up her royal status for him.
Fortified by the truth of that, he caught her gaze again. She smiled slightly, honestly. And he felt the pull of attraction again.
Damn!
“I don’t know what to say,” he said, bringing his thoughts back to her kind gesture.
“Don’t say anything. Owen is your son, too.”
He took a breath, praying for strength in dealing with this woman who was drawing him under her spell again.
“Unfortunately, any visitation