The Princess's Christmas Baby Read online

  ‘Don’t do that, Giada.’ His tone was sharp.

  She whipped round to look at him. ‘What?’

  ‘Don’t put yourself down. We all did stupid things when we were young.’

  ‘Oh, Captain Sensible, I saw you at that Medics Ball ten years ago. You were the epitome of good manners and here you are now looking after a princess in the nicest, safest way possible. There isn’t even wine for us to get silly on. I can’t imagine you doing anything you’d regret.’

  ‘I’ve done plenty.’

  ‘Oh?’ It looked like the captain was about to share.

  He shook his head. Maybe not.

  She turned onto her belly, brushing his arm, gooseflesh rising at that fleeting skin-to-skin contact. It was strange, but this secluded magical place felt deeply intimate. ‘Come on, Lucas. What do you regret? I bet it wasn’t barfing down the side of an A-list film star’s yacht in front of the world’s media at the Naples Film Festival?’

  His eyebrows rose. ‘No. But I did see those pictures.’

  ‘Ugh.’ She shuddered at the memory. ‘You and everyone else. Nothing can be as bad as that, right? Come on, what do you regret?’

  He shrugged, opened his mouth then closed it again. There was something, but he clearly wasn’t going to bare his soul to a relative stranger. Then he said, ‘Entering a chilli-eating contest. It was for charity but even so...that was definitely not a good idea. Especially when you have work the next morning.’ He snagged her gaze and she had the feeling he was on the edge of a smile.

  What was he holding back?

  She laughed, bewitched by the different hues in his irises—amber, gold and green. ‘Can’t say I’m a chilli fan.’

  ‘And you should probably stay that way. But I couldn’t back down because it was being streamed live on the internet for people to watch and pay however much they thought my pain was worth. You’re not allowed to drink water or anything to help cool your mouth. I had tears running down my face, lips on fire, with a couple of thousand people enjoying my pain in real time. Your brother was the worst, egging me on from the sidelines.’

  He almost smiled as he talked but didn’t quite manage it. Giada breathed out, realising she’d been waiting to see the glow of joy or happiness or just plain fun emanating from him. But, even though he’d lightened up, she couldn’t describe him as relaxed.

  ‘I never even heard about that.’ Though it was hardly surprising given she and Dom didn’t always share details of their days or even weeks sometimes.

  ‘Trust me, it wasn’t pretty. I had my one taste of fame and I hated it. Honestly, Giada, I don’t know how you can live under the glare of such scrutiny.’

  She shrugged. ‘I’d like to say I’m never in embarrassing situations, but that wouldn’t be true. You do get used to the cameras.’

  ‘I would never get used to them.’

  A cool breeze fanned over her, making her shiver, and Lucas seemed to notice because he wrapped her towel more tightly around her shoulders. The action was so tender it made her heart catch.

  He turned onto his belly then too, and somehow he was closer than before. She wasn’t sure he realised it but she did. She could see the little hairs on his arms, the elongated biceps as he stretched for his glass.

  This was crazy. Why was she noticing these things? Sure, she knew the power of attraction, the way two people could click, the way chemicals could align into hot sex. And the way the buzz disappeared just as quickly afterwards. Hell, she’d had her fair share of casual flings but never had her awareness hormones been on such high alert as now. She was very aware of Lucas Beaufort.

  She stretched out on the rug, letting the last of the sun’s rays warm her limbs. She looked at the tiny beach area in front of his amazing duck-egg-blue craftsman-style house. The sky was streaked with reds and oranges as the sun sank. And there was no one else but them. ‘I like it here. It feels as if no one is watching.’

  ‘I thought you liked to be watched.’ Again the raised eyebrow. ‘Don’t you want to take some selfies and post them on the internet to let everyone know what you’re up to? The unspoilt beach that will inevitably become spoiled once everyone’s visited it. Pictures or it hasn’t happened, right?’

  ‘Like you don’t know.’

  He popped an olive into his mouth and chewed. ‘I’m at work for more hours in the day than I care to think about. I don’t have time to do social media but lots of people do. That’s okay. I believe yours is quite popular.’

  ‘It was. The Princess Pages. The blog, the website and later ‘the gram’. She rolled onto her back and shuddered at the memories of the things she’d written; although they’d been heartfelt at the time, they’d also had a lot of shock factor. ‘That was a long time ago. And a very—how should I describe it?—successful way of expressing my anger and frustration and teenage angst, rather than using the platform for good. Papa was horrified and with good reason. But I’m twenty-eight, Lucas. It’s time to be an adult, sì? And that means focusing on others and not myself.’ She chose not to mention the real reason behind her sudden forced maturity and why she’d stopped being the Party Princess. ‘I’m opening a hospital for the people of Isola Verde.’

  ‘You’re building a hospital?’ Lucas looked impressed.

  ‘Not actually building—I have people to do that for me. But yes. It’s much needed. At the moment we have to go to Naples for anything more than a GP can handle. That’s difficult and dangerous if it’s an emergency. Our people need something on the island and I’m making it happen. It was a fight to find the right place, to raise the capital and get the backers. And to get Papa on board.’

  It had been a fight to get her father even remotely interested in the beginning because he hadn’t had any faith in her being able to achieve it, but she was proud at how much she’d done. ‘It opens in a couple of months.’

  Lucas held her gaze. A frown. Deep thinking. Then his gaze dipped to her mouth and slowly trailed down to her bikini top, where she just knew her nipples were cold and pebbled.

  As he met her gaze again something heated in his eyes that was surprising, even though it mirrored the way her body was reacting to him. Admiration. More. Interest. More.

  Sexual interest.

  And still he kept on looking and she looked right back. The stark rawness of need that suffused her body and prickled her skin made her mouth suddenly wet. It had been a long time since she’d been so intensely physically attracted to someone and it felt like a visceral awakening.

  He swallowed and she just knew he felt the connection too. ‘You’ve changed, Giada.’

  ‘I hope so.’ She picked up her glass. ‘I’ve put my...difficult past behind me but it’s going to take a while to forget the things I did and the people I hurt—my father, mainly, as he was the one embarrassed by every scandal. What’s the worst thing you ever did?’

  ‘Inhaled, probably.’ He winked and for the first time in the hours since she’d met him he actually smiled. ‘I am not prepared to divulge anything else.’

  She almost choked on her water. Not just at the lack of anything bad in his past but at the way his face completely changed with just the smallest of smiles. Relaxed, he was simply beautiful. His eyes lit up and his mouth... God, that mouth. What would it be like to kiss him?

  It was going to be a very long three days if every time she looked at Lucas she felt all turned on and achy. ‘Before this weekend is over I want to know all the dirt on you, Lucas Beaufort. Dom says the only thing you’ve ever committed to is being a bachelor.’

  ‘I’ve had my share of relationships. I just haven’t publicised them. Or had any that held my interest for long.’

  He was definitely single. Interesting. That made two of them...

  ‘Pick up any Isola Verde rag and you can read about every single sorry relationship I ever had. The stupidity of youth, right?’
r />   The corner of his mouth tipped. ‘You were young; people understand that.’

  ‘It took me a long time to grow up.’

  Lucas turned onto his side to face her, propped up on his elbow. ‘Growing up is overrated. I’ve been doing it for longer than I care to remember.’

  She imagined him as an earnest child, studying his books with that little frown over his eyes. Dom had said he’d met Lucas in a locker room at the hospital all screwed up in anger over some family argument. Her brother had talked him down and they’d been firm friends ever since, so he must be a good man. A sexy as hell man. But he was far too serious.

  She wanted to poke him or tickle him with a blade of grass to see if he’d laugh, but thought better of it. Hell, with any other guy she fancied she’d have just gone and done it. But with Lucas she wasn’t sure. She couldn’t read him, and that made him even more alluring. Instead of tickling him, she looked right into those eyes that were the same colour as her beloved Isola Verde hills. ‘So let’s pretend we’re kids again this weekend. Let’s play a little.’

  For the briefest of moments he looked like a child who’d been offered ice cream...and had then remembered he was allergic to dairy products. His gaze clashed with hers and she could tell he knew exactly what she was suggesting. ‘No, Giada.’

  ‘That’s it? No?’

  ‘No.’ He was determined, she could see. And yet...wavering. The way he looked at her mouth made her ache to kiss him. It wouldn’t take much, just breaching the gap between them. Not far at all...

  ‘What would you do if you could do anything at all?’ she asked him.

  He said nothing, just reached for a stray lock of her hair and let it run through his fingers. He contemplated her for a very long time. So long she’d almost forgotten what she’d asked him. Although the closeness, the heating of her skin and his scent mingling with the fresh cool air made her playful proposal very front and centre. It was there. They could grab it.

  And still they just stared at each other until she could finally read what was going through his mind just by the way his eyes reacted.

  Could they?

  Should they?

  Somehow they’d moved towards each other until they were touching. She felt the beat of his heart against her chest. The warm, soft breeze of his breath on her shoulder. His lips parted.

  He was so close. ‘Right now, Gigi, I want to kiss you.’

  Oh, wow. Her tummy fluttered. Her breasts ached. She put her hand to his chest, felt the soft skin under her fingertips, the hard muscle under that. Heard his sharp intake of breath at her touch. He ran his thumb over her mouth and she heard a whimper come from her throat.

  Then he drew back.

  What? No one ever refused her. Not like this.

  ‘Do it,’ she urged. Almost willing to beg.

  ‘No way.’

  This was one of those once-in-a-lifetime chances. Feeding a raw need that had sprung up from...from what? Serendipity? Magic? An electric charge between them so damned bright it could light up the whole of Seattle. ‘Do it, Lucas.’

  There was so much heat in his dark gaze. ‘No. One, you’re the Princess of Isola Verde and if we do anything and it gets out, we’ll both be toast. Two, I am ten years older than you. And, three, you’re my best friend’s sister.’

  ‘Ah, that famous bro code again. But does Dom actually need to know? Hell, he practically forced me on you this weekend.’

  ‘No, he didn’t. He had a clash in his timetable and he asked me to help. To help, Gigi. That’s a trust thing, okay? He would kill me if you and I stepped over a line.’

  ‘Like this?’ She wound her leg between his and aligned her body along his. God, he felt good. ‘How would he ever know? Would you tell him?’

  His eyes darkened. ‘Never.’

  ‘And neither would I.’ She leaned closer, his lips a millimetre away.

  ‘What’s the punishment for kissing the King’s daughter? Beheading?’ He finally laughed, and it was the best sound she’d ever heard. Deep and yet melodic. Freeing.

  She wanted to hear it again, wanted to make him smile, and she knew the best way to do that. Lost in him, she cupped his jaw. She could not stop this.

  She pressed her mouth to his. The electricity was off the scale. Shocking. Intense. Amazing. Dangerous.

  ‘It’s got to be worth losing your head over, right? Just once. Or...maybe twice? Just for the weekend. No one needs to know. And phooey to the age gap. Who cares?’ In truth, seducing an older, in-control man was a lot sexier than a younger hook-up. ‘We could just...play. Dio, I need that and you do too. You’re always so serious. Let’s have some fun.’ She saw the moment he made his decision. His eyes misted with the same need she felt.

  ‘Gigi.’ The way he said her name made heat pool deep in her belly. Then his mouth was on hers and he was laying her down on his private beach, her limbs warmed from the sun and liquid from desire.

  His kiss was as demanding and desperate as she felt. A kiss that stoked the deepest parts of her, making her press against him, feeling the hard ridge between them. Making her want more. All of him. Here. Now. Pure lust. Raw need.

  It was liberating to just be herself, Gigi Baresi, just a normal girl with a red-hot guy, making out on a beach.

  Her idea of heaven...

  CHAPTER ONE

  November

  IF EVER THERE was a time to play the royal card, it was now...

  But the need to keep everything under the radar about the accident: her father, the reason they were in the United States en route to Seattle General Hospital and about...she pressed her hand to her belly and closed her eyes...everything was paramount. Secrecy was key.

  Which made the screeching sirens, the ambulances and code red alert all the more ironic. Gigi didn’t think her heart had stopped racing since the moment their car had skidded out of control on the ice. The concrete barrier looming up too fast. The impact. Her screams. Her dad’s pained moans. Then his silence.

  Her papa.

  No matter how difficult things had been between them or how much she’d wanted to escape her life, she had never wanted something like this to happen.

  ‘Another patient came in just before me. My father. He was in the car accident. Roberto Baresi?’ she asked the nurse who was examining the painful welt across Gigi’s chest. ‘Can you find out what’s happening with him? Is he okay? He was bleeding a lot and he...he was unconscious.’

  The nurse—‘Kat’ it said on her name badge—shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know, but he’s in good hands. I’ll find out more as soon as I can, and I promise I’ll let you know. Right now I need to focus on your injuries. Are you sure you have no tightness in your chest? There’s a nasty bruise blooming there. No abdominal pain?’

  Gigi took a deep breath and checked the way she felt. ‘No chest tightness.’

  Just blind panic. Her thoughts jumped from one thing to the next. And everything looked bad.

  Was now a good time to mention she was pregnant? Probably. But she had to wait. She didn’t want everyone knowing, least of all her brother—the head of this freaking emergency department! And word would definitely get to him. He would read her notes. He’d find out and who knew what would happen then. Her whole life would blow up. The whole nation of Isola Verde would catch fire with gossip and innuendo. Again.

  And it wasn’t fair to Lucas that everyone knew before he did.

  ‘Good. You had a lucky call there. That seatbelt probably saved your life.’ Kat nodded. ‘You said your wrist hurt. Can I have a look at that?’

  Gigi held out her arm for the nurse to prod and poke. ‘Ouch. Sì, that hurts. But it’s nothing. It’s fine.’

  ‘I don’t like the look of it. I’m worried it could be broken. I’ll get one of the doctors to order an X-ray for you.’

  ‘An X-ray? Oh, no. No
way.’ She couldn’t let that happen. She knew about the danger of X-rays and foetuses. Baby. It’s a baby. My baby.

  Our baby, she checked herself. What was he going to say when she told him? She’d been avoiding it for so long. Thirteen long weeks, to be precise. Gigi pulled herself together; she’d given the nurse such an over-the-top reaction to a sensible suggestion it would only raise more questions. ‘I mean... I’m sorry, but is it really necessary just for a bit of swelling? I don’t want to take up any more of your time and resources.’

  Kat nodded. ‘It’s the only way we can know for sure if it’s broken.’

  This was a nightmare. If she point blank refused the X-ray it’d be suspicious. Gigi tugged her hand from the nurse’s gentle grip. ‘I’m sorry to be a pain, but if anyone’s going to examine me it has to be Dr Lucas Beaufort. Is he around?’

  The nurse frowned. ‘He’s with another patient.’

  ‘I need to speak to him. Can you please tell him that Giada is here?’ She managed to control the wobble in her voice, but not the wobble in her lip. Hot damn. She could not cry here. ‘Now, please.’

  Before I self-combust.

  What about the baby? She wanted to yell. She wanted to demand a scan. To scream at everyone about the unfairness of all this. She wanted to rewind the clock until before they’d got into the car, before they’d arrived in the country. Before she’d spent the weekend with Lucas.

  Instead of screaming, she cloaked herself in full, royal, Isola Verdian fortitude. Remember who you are. You’re Princess Giada Francesca Vittoria Baresi. He might have been lying on a hospital gurney, but her father’s words would stay with her for ever.

  ‘Nurse Kat, I’d appreciate it if you could find Lucas as a matter of urgency.’

  ‘Of course.’ The nurse nodded and stood back. If she was taken aback by Gigi’s response then she hid it well under a mask of professionalism.

  Which made Gigi feel worse. Hell, she’d spent enough time getting Isola Verde’s new hospital ready to know the dedication and hard work the medics put into their jobs. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just need to speak to him.’