Page 33 of The Prodigal Prince

He didn’t press, but stood there, simply watching her.

She didn’t speak right away, but he could see her turn the idea over and over in her head. She’d surely spent years loathing him so finding out there had been a very good reason for all of it had to make her reconsider some things.

“If you didn’t know the truth about your heritage...” She paused. “About your biology, what would you have done when I told you I was pregnant?”

He rested his elbows behind him on the top of the balustrade, his turn to think it over. “I don’t know. Not what I’d do now. I was young, self-involved, and really not a terribly nice person most of the time. I could turn on the charm.”

Fiona’s face flushed a bit as a slow grin crossed his face, the one that had attracted more than one woman.

“I still can,” he went on. “But that was outwardly. Inside, I wasn’t charming. I was a mess.” Thankfully not as much now as he’d been back then. “I probably wouldn’t have wanted a relationship, but might have tried it anyway. I would have paid an appropriate amount of child support and want to be involved in my son’s life.” He shook his head, all traces of the smile gone. “But it wouldn’t have been idyllic like we’d both have wanted.” He stared at the ground. “We’d probably hate each other by now.”

He knew he made some good points. What kind of place had she been in back then? “You’re probably right,” she agreed. “It probably wouldn’t have been good for either one of us.”

“And now?” His future, in many ways, hinged on this answer.

“I don’t know.” She stared at her hands where they rested on the table, playing with the corner of the cloth napkin that had been in her lap. “Last night we proved we still have chemistry, so that’s clearly not a problem. We both know there’s a lot more to a relationship than chemistry.”

It was Mac’s turn to nod. “There is.”

“As for wanting to try a relationship...” She took a deep breath. “I think that depends in part on what your plans are. Are you staying here, full-time or close to it, permanently? Or are you going back to Serenity Landing?”

He’d known that would probably be the biggest sticking point to trying a relationship. “I don’t know yet. But if I do, can we make that work?”

“How? How would it work?” She pushed back from the table and walked toward him. She stopped a few feet away staring toward the rest of the world beyond. “I have a good life, one I love. I love my work, I adore the people I work with. I don’tneedthe money, but I don’t want to quit either.”

Mac twisted until he faced the same way she did leaving them close enough their shoulders almost touched. “I don’t know. The movies wouldn’t be a huge deal. You do two or three of them a year. They only take a couple of weeks, right?”

“About three, give or take. They’ve got it down to an art form.” She blew out a breath. “But what aboutSeating 4 Six? That takes a lot longer than three weeks at a time.”

“How long is it?” He should know these things, but clearly didn’t.

“It takes about a week per episode. We work on the episode for five days and shoot the evening of the fifth day in front of an audience. Sometimes scenes are shot on location during the rest of the week. Occasionally, we go to an actual event and it’s filmed there.”

“Like when they took all of the kids to that minor league baseball game?”

Fiona looked at him in surprise. “You watch the show?”

A chuckle escaped before he could stop it. “Yes. I watch the show, but I was at that game, too, as part of my security mission.”

A look flitted across her face but disappeared before he could identify it.

“So?” He didn’t want to push too hard, but would like to come up with some sort of plan, even if it was just to take it day by day. “Would you be my girlfriend?”

10

It had been years since Fiona had thought about calling herself someone’s girlfriend.

She certainly hadn’t expected to hear the question from Mac.

“I don’t know.” She gave the only honest answer she could. Turning toward the palace, she leaned backwards next to Mac, her elbows resting on the balustrade. “I’m not ready to take that step, but another date? Spending time together? I think that is something I would like.”

“That’s a good start. Maybe a date outside of the palace?”

Fiona turned that thought over in her mind. “Not yet. I’d prefer not to go public with our potential relationship until we have a better idea of what it’s going to look like and how we feel.”

He nodded. “So until we figure this out, we don’t define our relationship except as one of exploration.”

“I think that’s the best plan for now.” None of it seemed real to Fiona yet. Even the insanity in San Majoria seemed far away, like a dream. Being in the palace, not hating Mac like she had for years, considering a relationship... it was overwhelming. She couldn’t take it a few steps further to figure out what their living arrangements might be if they decided they had a future together. Not yet.

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