His Royal Prize (13 page)

She nodded and the ball came careening toward her again across the very green lawn. She caught it, dropped it and kicked it to Caro.

“I got it.”

“You cheated,” Gemma said. “You can’t use your hands! I’ve seen five-year-olds with better skills than you.”

Amelia smiled at her. “I’m not very athletic.”

“No, you’re not,” Geoff said. “But I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”

His words warmed her. For a few minutes, she had that floating feeling that came when everything was right in her world. Though she felt accepted by Geoff’s mother and sisters and finally admitted to herself that she loved him, she knew that things weren’t resolved between them. Geoff was keeping something from her. And she knew that it had to be something big, because he’d tried to talk to her twice and each time he’d been pulled away she saw a look in his eyes that told her time was running out.

A
melia sat on the balcony watching the sun set over the city of Bath while Geoff was downstairs dealing with business. Malcolm’s attorney had mysteriously arrived ten minutes after his family had left. She knew Edmond through Cecelia, but the man barely even glanced at her when he arrived. Geoff looked angry, so she’d excused herself before he could ask her to.

She was tired, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. She really felt like the weekend had changed her perspective on life. Louisa had been a breath of fresh air and a solid example that loving and losing didn’t mean giving up on life. The woman might avoid the spotlight, but she vibrated with a joie de vivre that Amelia hoped she still had when she was in her fifties.

She’d brought the pitcher of Pimms mixed with fizzy lemonade and cut-up fruit out on the balcony with her.
She was reclining on one of the solid wood loungers with a thick, red-striped cushion and a soft down pillow at the top.

She was a little chilly as the sun set but wrapped a cashmere scarf around her shoulders. The lights of the city started to come on and she thought that she could be happy in this quiet, small town.

Though Bath wasn’t a tiny little burg, it was removed from the hustle and bustle of London and though she knew there were paparazzi in the area since many Hollywood celebrities had houses here, they seemed to steer clear of Geoff’s estate.

“Sorry about that,” Geoff said, stepping out onto the balcony. “I wasn’t expecting that to take as long as it did.” He looked strange, as though his mind were still on whatever business he’d been discussing.

“I didn’t mind sitting here. I was enjoying the quiet tonight.”

“Was it too loud today with everyone?”

“Not at all. I really like your family. They are exactly what I always dreamed I’d have when I was visiting someone else’s house. For a few moments today, it felt like your family was mine, too.”

“I loved sharing my family with you.”

“Thank you, Geoff.” She waited for him to continue, but he was quiet. She was tempted to ask him what he’d been about to tell her earlier, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Geoff sat down on her lounger by her legs, facing her. He lifted her legs over his lap.

“Amelia, we have a good thing. I only know that right now this is working and I don’t want it to end.”

“Neither do I. You have become important to me. I’m not sure how that happened because I vowed to myself that you weren’t going to get the better of me.”

Geoff smiled down at her and it was easy for her to see the caring in his eyes. She felt lit from within when he looked at her like that.

“I think I’ve had the very best of you,” he said.

“You have,” she said as he leaned in to kiss her.

“We’d better pack up and get going. I have a pretty busy week,” Geoff said.

Her mellow feeling started to wane. She knew this was just the reality of two very busy people getting together. She had her life and he had his.

“I guess I should get my things together,” she said, starting to rise. He stopped her, and her breath caught.

“Amelia?”

“Yes?” she said.

“Will you live with me?” he asked.

Live with him?
She wasn’t sure she was ready for that. But at the same time she was entranced with the idea. She wanted to spend more time with him and this might be the right move. Except that she wasn’t sure.

“Can I think about it for a few days?”

“What’s to think about, Amelia?”

“I’m just not sure. I’m not trying to be difficult,” she said.

He leaned in closer to her. “What are you afraid of?”

“Needing you,” she said.

“You’ll have me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“For now,” she said, studying his expression.

“If I made you a promise, would you believe me?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she admitted quietly.

“Let’s give it a try. We’ll spend a few nights at each other’s places first and see what happens.”

She wanted to say yes, realizing that if she were going to let fear motivate her, then she wasn’t going to have a very good life.

“Okay. But you’ll have to stay with me. I have my dog.”

He let out a laugh, and for a moment the concern behind his eyes vanished. “No problem. Do you want to set up specific days?”

“Not if you’re going to laugh at me.”

“I’m not, I swear. Monday, Wednesday and Friday?”

“Next weekend I’m scheduled to fly to Paris to speak at a conference.”

“I’ll check my schedule. If I’m free I’ll come to Paris with you. Unless you’d rather be alone.”

“No, I’d love to have you with me,” she said.

Planning for the future made her feel like they were a real couple. She was scared to trust in that but she decided that for right now, she was going to. There was no other solution that was going to work.

She was already in love with Geoff. Now she’d be able to figure out if she could live with him. She’d just have to trust that whatever was bothering him would come out sooner or later. If he was asking to live with her, then it probably had nothing to do with her, she told herself.

Geoff wasn’t the kind of man who liked to leave loose ends and “living” with Amelia felt like a loose end. He had met with both her and Auggie earlier in the day and he’d wanted to make their arrangement official, but she’d been cool and businesslike, probably because her board didn’t want to see any untoward behavior from her.

Edmond had left another warning message on his voice mail and frankly, Geoff was sick of the older gentleman. There was no contest in his mind between Amelia and Everest Air. He’d always pick Amelia.

Edmond had not been too pleased with that but Geoff didn’t back down and he knew the profit he was increasing at the airline had helped to sway the older gentleman. Geoff wasn’t Malcolm and Amelia hadn’t made him lose interest in his business. It had in fact made him even more determined to succeed so that their joint venture would be profitable and help her out as well.

His secretary reminded him that he had the fund-raising dinner that night with Mary Werner. He called Mary to confirm that they were still on and then called Amelia to let her know he’d be home late.

“This is Amelia,” she said by way of greeting.

“It’s Geoff.”

“Hey there, sexy.”

“Hello back,” he said. “I have to attend the breast cancer function tonight, so I’m going to get to your place late.”

He heard the sound of rustling papers on her end. “I think I have something…yes, a dinner party. Do you want me to stop by the event on my way home? We are
one of the corporate sponsors of the event—Munroe Foundation, I mean.”

“No, that’s fine. I’ll just look forward to seeing you when I’m home.”

“That will be better. Then I can have you all to myself,” she said.

“I like the sound of that,” Geoff replied.

“Do you?” she asked.

“Yes, I do. I am going to like seeing you almost every day,” he admitted.

“I’ll be home by ten.”

“I’ll try to get there then as well.”

“That’s my other line. I have to go.” She hung up before he could say another word.

When he picked Mary up at her place for their evening, he wished he were picking up Amelia instead. As he rang her bell, he thought he saw someone behind him, but when he glanced up and down the street, he saw nothing.

“Hello, Geoff,” Mary said when she opened the door to her Notting Hill town house. She looked nice in her pink dress. He leaned in to give her a kiss and thought he heard a click behind him. When he turned around, all he saw was a man walking his dog at the end of the street.

He shook his head. He was getting paranoid because of the photographers who always followed Amelia around. “Are you ready to go?”

“Let me grab my purse,” she said.

A few minutes later they were seated in his Audi, driving toward the event, which was being held at the Munroe Hotel. He pulled up and tossed his keys to the
valet. Then he gave Mary his arm as they walked into the hotel. There was a red carpet leading to the ballroom and lots of people taking pictures as they entered.

“Thank you for escorting me tonight, Geoff.”

“No problem. This event is important.”

Mary nodded. “This is one of your mother’s causes, isn’t it?”

“I think it is every woman’s cause. Since I have a mother and two sisters, it is important to me.”

Mary smiled over at him. “Shall we get a drink and hit the dance floor?”

Geoff didn’t want to hold any woman other than Amelia, but one dance with Mary didn’t seem like it was too much to ask.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“To this song?” she said with a bit of surprise in her voice. The song was Pink’s “Who Knew.”

“I’m not much of a fast dancer,” Mary said.

“Let’s give it a try. I bet you’ll be pretty good at it,” he said, realizing that with Mary she just needed some gentle encouragement.

She gave him an excited grin and stood up. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

They hit the dance floor as the music changed to another upbeat number, this one by Steph Cordo, an act his half brother Henry was producing for Everest Records. They danced to her song, and at the end they transitioned into the new John Mayer song.

“Yes, a slow dance,” Mary said giving him a very hopeful look.

“Okay, one dance,” he said.

She stepped closer to him and he put one hand on her
waist and held her hand in his other one. They danced well together, which surprised him. On the dance floor, he saw another side to Mary. After several songs, he paid her compliment.

“You should dance more often, Mary. It brings out another side to your personality.”

“You think so?”

“Definitely,” he said.

“Devonshire,” someone called. He glanced over to see a rather shabby-looking photographer with an expensive, professional camera around his neck.

The man snapped a picture of Geoff and Mary, and then disappeared into the crowd. Geoff went after him, but by the time he got through the crowd, the man was gone. This would be fodder for Edmond and Malcolm and the papers, but he’d handle it.

He tried to tell himself the photo was nothing and he wasn’t going to worry about it, but he feared that Amelia might see things differently. When he got back to the table, Mary was acting like a gracious hostess to the others there.

“I have to go,” he said.

“I understand. I’m going to stay a bit longer and I’ll catch a cab home,” Mary said.

He nodded and left the hotel, intent on getting to Amelia before any more damage was done.

Amelia was having a good night out. Bebe was a guest at Dominic Regenti’s dinner party as well, so she’d been hanging out with her friend, drinking lovely fruity cocktails and talking about Geoff all evening.

“He sent me flowers today at my office. Did I tell you that?”

“About a dozen times,” Bebe said.

“That was really sweet. They are the same flowers that are hanging from baskets on the streets of Bath. We walked all over the city and no one paid any attention to us. It was so nice,” Amelia said.

Bebe put her arm though Amelia’s and said, “I know, I know. It was an enchanted weekend, something that didn’t even feel real.”

“Am I babbling?” Amelia asked her friend.

“Only the slightest bit and I don’t mind at all. I think you are in love.”

“I think I am, too,” Amelia said.

Dominic sat down next to her. “You are what?”

Dominic was one of her dearest friends. His party was small and intimate—just her and Bebe, and Dominic and Lucinda, his wife. Dominic and Amelia had met years earlier at one of Amelia’s mother’s fashion shows. He was fifteen years older than Amelia, and he’d been there with one of his mistresses. That was aeons before he’d met Lucinda and settled down.

“Don’t say anything until I’m back in the room,” Lucinda called from the kitchen. She was bringing dessert into the sitting room.

Lucinda was a celebrity chef who had gotten her start working in Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen. On one of his early shows her charisma and beauty had been spotted by one of the producers and she’d been offered her own show. That was when Dominic had started courting her.

“Okay, here I am,” she said, carrying a tray with champagne Jell-O and whipped cream.

Dominic stood up, took the tray from his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Let me take that.”

“You guys are so sweet,” Amelia said.

“We are,” Lucinda agreed. “So what about your man? We want to hear about Geoff.”

“I’m not sure what to say. He’s…” She trailed off, realizing she didn’t know how to talk about him without revealing how she felt. Or sounding foolish. She was still afraid of being hurt.

“He sent her flowers at her office today. The same ones that were hanging in baskets in Bath,” Bebe said, “which is where they were this weekend.”

“He wanted to remind you of the time you spent together,” Lucinda said. “Why don’t you do that, Dominic?”

He tugged Lucinda down on his lap as she handed the last dessert out. “Because you are allergic to flowers, my love.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “That is right.”

“He also sent me a mask from Botswana, which is where we first met. He’d noticed that I’d admired it, I think,” Amelia said.

“That is good. What else does he notice?” Lucinda asked.

“Everything. When I’m with him, I feel like I’m the only woman on the planet.”

Dominic smiled at her and she saw that he was happy for her. “It’s about time you found a man like that. Why didn’t you bring him with you tonight?”

“He had a function to attend. He’s as busy as I am
but I think we are starting to merge our calendars and spend more time together.”

“That is the hard part,” Lucinda said. “Dominic travels a lot and that was a big struggle in the beginning of our relationship.”

“Yes, it was, because she was stubborn and wouldn’t quit her job to go with me.”

“I’m glad she didn’t. That was not nice of you to ask her to give up her career for you,” Bebe said.

“Hey, I offered her a lot of money to be my personal chef.”

“I hope you said no, Lucinda,” Bebe said.