Page 17 of Pregnant In The King's Palace

‘I’m not a breakfast person.’ She tossed her head and glared at an over-curious group of spectators heading towards them. ‘Besides, the Cordovas no longer sell horses to Thallasia.’

‘So I’ve noticed,’ he drawled. ‘And I want that embargo lifted.’

‘Then you need to speak with my father.’

‘And I will. With your permission.’ He seemed intent on walking them far from the spectator crowd. ‘Did I mention the part about you coming to Thallasia and using your horse-breeding expertise for my benefit?’

‘Isn’t Alessandro still with you?’ She knew for a fact he was. Over the years the old horseman had stayed in regular contact with her father about the progress of the foals she’d left behind.

‘He is, and I’m sure he’d appreciate your input.’

In her experience, men who considered themselves experts in their field rarely appreciated any input. And then there was the whole ‘I told you so’ element of meeting the old horsemaster again after so thoroughly ignoring his advice to stay away from Valentine all those years ago. She still felt a healthy dose of shame for the way she’d jeopardised the man’s career, and time hadn’t lessened it. ‘The point being that if Alessandro wants advice about the Cordova bloodlines in his care, all he has to do is pick up the phone and call my father.’ Just because her father would sell no more horses to Valentine, didn’t mean he wasn’t still fully invested in the care of the horses he’d already parted with. ‘You don’t need me staying under your roof for that.’

‘Then consider this offer my way of saying I want to see you again, and, given that I can’t come to you, I’m quite prepared to pay you to come to me.’

‘You want a mistress. For a month.’ Was that his goal?

‘No.’

Then she didn’t understand. The horse shifted restlessly beneath her hand. Time to turn around and make their way back to the stables.

‘Is it so hard to believe that I want to get to know you all over again, slowly and with no commitment on either side beyond a certain willingness to see where it leads?’ His eyes were guarded, his stride relaxed. Jodhpurs did amazing things to his thighs and the thin sheen of sweat on his forearms brought corded muscles and veins into strong relief. He set her senses aflame just as easily today as he had last night, there was no denying it. Always had. Probably always would. And if anyone had made her feel half the attraction she felt for him, she might not have been nearly so willing to listen to his offer, but no one ever had.

‘You know my limitations,’ he muttered. ‘No children, no need to marry. That’s me. And if you’re not interested, say so now and that will be the end of it.’

They kept walking. Angelique tried to find her voice, her pride, something to shake her from her stupor, but silence ruled. Silence and a world of what if.

‘Offer for the horse, by all means,’ she said finally. ‘My father might indulge you if you’re persuasive enough. I couldn’t say.’ She smiled lopsidedly. ‘Safe to say I find you attractive. That hasn’t changed. But I don’t want some made-up job that takes me away from my real work, and I won’t put my life on hold for you. What I am prepared to do is try and find a way to make our lives intersect more.’

‘Angelique, if you’re expecting me to travel, the planning and security alone—’

‘Stop. Hear me out.’ She knew who he was. She didn’t expect miracles. ‘My family has been looking to buy or lease horse-training facilities in Liesendaach. We’ve not looked towards Thallasia, but maybe we could. And then we could see to unfinished business. Slake our thirst, and, when that’s done, I’ll still have a career I love and a fulfilling life to be going on with that doesn’t include you. You do not monopolise my time. When it comes to your royal duties, you’re on your own. And when this...’ she gestured between them ‘...this unfinished sexual attraction between us has run its course we finish it.’

‘Just like that?’

‘No, not just like that.’ She could see the split now and it would be messy and altogether too public and everyone would say I told you so, and she would be that woman—the one who kept coming back for more punishment and humiliation at the hands of a man who did not deserve her love. ‘I have one more demand of you and it’s to do with what happens once our time has run its course.’

‘You seem so very sure it will.’

‘Aren’t you?’ How could he possibly think otherwise? ‘I know my reputation probably can’t get any worse, but when we walk away, I want your respect. If someone I don’t even know condemns me in public so be it, but you—you who know me and are about to know my friends and family—I want your word that you won’t badmouth me to them. You do what you failed to do before, and that’s stand up for my honour and my right to enter and exit a relationship with dignity, and without being called a conniving whore.’

He looked shell-shocked. Maybe because her words had come from a place of such deep hurt and she’d spoken them openly.

Maybe she fully expected him to turn and walk away and relieve her of the burden of willingly entering into such a foolish agreement with him. But he didn’t go, and she couldn’t breathe.

‘I’m sorry.’ She barely heard his raspy words. ‘I owe you an apology, not just for the fallout and loss of reputation you endured, but for compromising you in the first place. I should have known better. But I’m not that man any more and I will never allow anyone to speak ill of you in my presence. You have my word.’

An apology. Years too late and just as anguished and heartfelt as she could have ever imagined.

She had no idea what to say next. ‘How much land do you need?’ Fortunately for her, he turned to more practical matters.

‘Three to five hundred acres, plus stables for at least thirty horses, and a house for me to live in.’

‘What kind of house?’

‘Nothing fancy.’

‘What kind of price?’ he asked.

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