Affairs of State(58)
“Is it really?” He helped her out of the car. “I’ve been meaning to eat here for ages.”
“It’s probably hard to get a table without a reservation.” She remembered one tense afternoon of scrambling to book a room for an important client’s dinner there.
He leaned in and whispered. “Not when you’re a prince.”
She chuckled. “Oh yes, I forgot about that.”
“Welcome to Talesin, Your Highness.” The imperious maître d’ nodded and gestured warmly. “A table for two?”
“Thank you.” Simon shot her an amused smile. “See what I mean?”
She arched a brow. “Don’t get cocky.”
“I’ll do my best.”
The maître d’ led them through the main dining room and out onto a shady patio with a view over the river.
“Ariella.” The now-familiar voice made her turn to find the president standing behind her.
“Oh, hello. How nice to see you.” She felt a surge of panic. “Simon, this is President Morrow, my…my father. And this is Simon Worth.” Should she have used the word prince? She hadn’t researched the correct way to address him. Luckily, being Simon, he wasn’t likely to mind.
Ted Morrow smiled at Simon. “Would you both do me the honor of joining me in my private dining room?”
“I… We…” She glanced at Simon.
“I suspect we’d be delighted.” Simon glanced at her, a question in his eyes.
“Yes. Yes, we would.” She swallowed. Simon and her father, the president? An odd nagging feeling suggested that this was a little too much of a coincidence.
They followed the president back inside the building through a doorway that led into a bright room with tall windows and elegant furnishings that were a mix of eighteenth century and modernist Italian design. The professional side of her brain wondered if it could be rented out for special occasions, while the personal side of her brain wondered what the heck they would talk about.
The restaurant’s most trusted staff waited on them hand and foot, recommending dishes and bringing bottles of wine. She learned that the president had a policy of only drinking American wine, and it made her like him more, considering the other options that must be available in the White House cellars alone. She managed to refuse the wine by saying she didn’t drink during the day, but the moment did serve as a reminder that there was a fourth person in the room—her unborn child. And Simon’s unborn child. Ted Morrow’s grandchild. Her whole life seemed like an elaborate spider web that kept expanding to encompass more of the people around her.
Simon kept the conversation going with easy banter about traveling and the parts of America that he hadn’t seen yet but wanted to. Ariella was constantly amazed by how naturally he could talk to anyone. No doubt it was the chief requirement of his role in the royal family and if she were his boss she’d give him a raise. She’d actually started to relax by the time they finished their delicious appetizers and three gleaming steaks arrived, accompanied by mounds of fresh vegetables. Even her shaky pregnancy appetite felt revived by the sight.
“This is turning out to be the most extraordinary year of my life by quite a long way,” said her father, after a pause while they all chewed their meals. “I thought last year with the run-up to the elections would be hard to beat, but it has been, and hands down. And the best thing of all has been learning that I have a beautiful daughter.”
He gazed at her with such warmth that she felt emotion swell in her chest. “It does seem like a wonderful thing now that the media frenzy is dying down and we can finally get to know each other.”
“And if the press hadn’t found you, I might never have seen Ellie again. I had no idea she’d moved to Ireland, and if it wasn’t for this whole brouhaha, she might never have come back to the States.”
“I think she’s considering moving back here for good.”
He smiled. “I know. And she told me that the two of you are becoming close.”
Ariella blanched. Ellie hadn’t told him the secret of her pregnancy, had she? No. She knew her mother would never do that. She’d kept her own secrets for so long she could be trusted. Suddenly she hated herself for the subterfuge, but she knew it was too soon to tell anyone. At least until she and Simon had a few things figured out. “We are just getting to know each other but already she’s becoming one of my favorite people on earth. I’m trying to convince her to stay in the D.C. area for now, so she we can all try to make up for lost time.”