Page 50 of Redemption of a Prince

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that what you call earlier? Being a gentleman?”

“What do you call it?”

Picking up her spoon, she focused on her soup. “Making promises you’re not able to keep?”

Not exactly the answer he was expecting, but he did understand it. “What if I want to keep those promises?”

Nikki still didn’t look at him. “You want to marry me?”

“I’m open to the idea, but it’s been a long time since we’ve been a couple. I think we should date for a while before I propose, but that would be my plan.” He didn’t stop looking at her, though her eyes remained on her food.

“You mean that? You’re not just saying it?” Were those tears on her cheeks again?

He sobered. “I would never lead you on, Nik. I wanted to marry you fourteen years ago. Not right away, but, back then, I fully expected we’d be celebrating our ten-year wedding anniversary about now.”

After a moment of reflection, she took a breath and looked up. “Then maybe it would be okay to give us another shot.”

Zeke wanted to jump up and down, to twirl her around and kiss her again, but he managed to keep his cool. “I’m glad.”

“What does dating a Crown Prince look like? Going to the symphony and a food truck?”

Huh? “What are you talking about? I rarely attend the symphony. The last time I did was with Gen who was here for a few days with her husband.”

A look of confusion crossed Nikki’s face. “Gen? Who’s Gen?”

“Princess Genevieve of Eyjania. Her husband is a travel writer. He was off doing something travel writer-ish. She wanted to dress up and do something fancy. I escorted a visiting dignitary to the symphony. She insisted we stop for something called chili dogs on the way home. That was the night I saw you across the street when we were leaving.”

“All I saw was you with an elegant blonde woman. I stopped checking the tabloids a long time ago. I didn’t want to know if they suspected anything about us or the baby.”

“They never did. No one ever questioned the official story, not that I heard of, anyway. I don’t think there were any stories connecting us as a couple. The media has always done fairly well at leaving us alone as minors. They rarely talk about Lydia outside of her birthday and the occasional public appearance.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“I’ve never been officially linked romantically to anyone,” he went on. “Which has led to a myriad of stories about the fact I’ve never been officially, romantically linked to anyone. I just smile and say when it’s the right person and the right time, they’ll find out.”

“Why not just say you haven’t found the right person yet?” She pushed her nearly empty bowl away from her.

Zeke reached out and took her hand again. “Because I’ve always believed that I found her. The timing just wasn’t right for us all those years ago.”

He stood, not letting go of her hand, and helped her to her feet. Using the forefinger of his free hand he brushed the hair off her face.

“Thank you for giving me a second chance at our second chance.” He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, not much more than a brush of his lips against hers. “This time I want to make it forever.”

“I do, too.” The look in her dark blue eyes told him how serious she was.

“Then why don’t we clean up dinner and watch a movie together on the lounge? I’ll rebuild the fire, and we can sit a lot closer than we did last time.” He waggled his eyebrows. “All the while knowing that I am a perfect gentleman as my station requires.”

She snorted as she laughed. “That sounds perfect.”

Together they worked to clean up dinner and put the rest away in the refrigerator. Even though the kitchen had an automatic dishwasher, Nikki insisted they needed to wash them by hand. She washed and rinsed while he dried and put away. A few of the bigger ones, he left turned upside down on towels to air dry.

Back in the living area, Zeke stirred the fire, grateful it didn’t take much to reignite the new logs. He turned off all of the lights except for the ones on the Christmas tree. Nikki picked up a blanket while he found the remotes for the television and other devices.

Once he was seated on the lounge, his feet stretched out on the ottoman in front of him, Nikki snuggled into his side. She pulled her blanket over her shoulders while he tossed a different one over his legs.

“What do you want to watch? A Christmas movie?”

“We are celebrating Christmas in July, so it makes sense.”

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