Affairs of State(51)

“Barely a week ago. I couldn’t possibly be pregnant.”

“It only takes one time. And my mom said she started feeling symptoms right away. She took a test and it was positive less than two weeks later.”

“We used condoms.” Ariella’s nausea was getting worse. Scarlet was kidding, wasn’t she?

“Don’t they have a five percent failure rate?”

“What?” Her grip tightened on her unused spoon.

“That’s why most people use something else as well. Still, you’re probably not pregnant. You’ve had a lot on your plate.” Scarlet leaned back into the armchair and spooned some soup into her mouth. “Don’t worry about it.”

Ariella stared at the bowl of soup Scarlet had placed on the coffee table. There was no way she could eat that. There was also no way she could be pregnant.

No. Way. It simply wasn’t possible.

Was it?





Nine



Simon paused outside the building where his meeting was to take place and punched Ariella’s number into his phone. She was proving very elusive since she’d gone home to D.C. If he were more sensitive he might think she was trying to avoid him. The phone rang, and he leapt to his feet when he heard her tentative, “Hello.”

“How are you?” He managed not to ask where she’d been. Didn’t want to seem too oppressive.

“Um, fine. How are you?” She sounded oddly formal.

“I’d be a lot better if you were here.” He glanced around the busy London street. His imagination wanted to picture her darting along the pavement as she had been when he’d followed her on her secret assignation to meet her mother. “I can’t wait to see you next week.”

“Yeah.” Her voice was barely audible. “Me, either.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” The words shot into his ear so fast he almost jumped. “Great. Really busy with work. You know how it goes.”

“Absolutely.” There was so much he wanted to say to her but he knew now wasn’t the right time. He’d probably come on too strong already, and he was pretty sure that introducing her to his family had been a tactical error. He’d been so sure they’d be bowled over by her charms like he was that he couldn’t wait to get the introductions out of the way. Henry had been right. Poor Ariella. There was hardly anyone on earth who wasn’t intimidated by the queen, and Uncle Derek was a force of nature akin to a sinkhole. He should have introduced her to one or two family members on a one-on-one basis and let her get to know them before plunging her into their midst. “I did rather shove you into the middle of things here. I could tell you were a bit dazed by your visit.”

She laughed. “Was it that obvious? I was way out of my league.”

“You were fantastic. I’m sure they’ll adore you when they get to know you.” He’d caught a lot of flack for bringing her to such a public event with no warning. Pictures of the pair of them had been all over the papers for the next week and there’d been a lot of flapping about suitable relationships and time to settle down and stop playing the field.

He tried to ignore the naysayers. You couldn’t hold a sensible argument with fifteen hundred years of tradition so he’d learned to pick his battles and go about his business. If they wanted him to settle down, fine. But not with Sophia Alnwick. And if not her, then why not a fun, sexy, intelligent American girl? He generally preferred to just do stuff and explain it afterward, not get people all fired up over something that might not happen. “I can’t wait to see you.” Her face hovered in his mind all the time. He wished he could reach out and squeeze her. Traffic weaved along Regent Street in front of him, but time seemed to be standing still until he could see Ariella again.

“Me, neither.” She didn’t sound her usual self. Maybe she was in a room with other people, or rushing between appointments.

“I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.” For the first time she seemed to be speaking directly to him. “But I’m worried we’re getting into something that’s…too big.”

He froze. “That’s impossible.” Then he realized that he was pushing things along the way he tended to, and he tried to rein himself back. “We’re dating. That’s a perfectly normal thing for two healthy adults to do, don’t you think?”

“Well, yes, but…we’re both in the public eye. And your family, I don’t think they…”