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…”
“Don’t you worry about what they think. Sometimes they need a little convincing but believe me, I have years of experience in that department.”
“I don’t want things to move too fast.”
“I know. I’ve been telling myself to slow down. Sometimes I’m like a steam locomotive in motion, but I’m putting the brakes on, I promise you.” He was running late for his meeting. “When I get to Washington, we’ll do everything so slow it will be downright kinky.” He glanced about, suddenly remembering he was in a public street.
She chuckled, but again, it wasn’t her usual enthusiastic laugh. She must be getting cold feet now that they were apart. Which only made him more impatient to get there and warm them up for her.
“I’ve got a board meeting for UNICEF, so I have to go, but I’ll talk to you soon,” he said after a pause.
“Great. Thanks for calling.” She sounded a bit like she couldn’t wait to hang up. He was tempted to call her on it, then reminded himself not to be pushy.
“You’re more than welcome.” Telling her he loved her would be waaaay too much pressure, even if he was convinced it might be true. That could wait for a more intimate moment, preferably one where no one but Ariella was in earshot.
* * *
Ariella hung up the phone with her gut churning. In the last three days since Scarlet had planted the idea in her mind,