wide red ribbon draped in front of the cave-like entrance.
The rest of the visit consisted of a tour through the new section. Each of the honored guests had two or three children assigned to them as they explored and discovered some of the delights hidden in the nooks and crannies of the building.
As they neared the end of the tour, Joshua found himself standing next to Lady Waterford as the children they were assigned played together on a dragon.
“This is fantastic,” she said looking around. “I wish I’d had a library like this as a child.”
“Me, too.” He glanced around. “I have a plan,” he said softly. “Meet me in my suite after we get back to the hotel. I have a proposition for you.”
He heard it how she must have. “Nothing inappropriate,” he rushed to reassure her. “I just think I have a way to help you with your father.” He’d made several phone calls earlier in the day to make the arrangements.
The four-year-old girl who had captured his attention for the last half an hour grabbed his hand and dragged him toward a reading nook. She handed him a book about a monkey and a man in yellow. He sat in one of round chairs as she climbed into his lap.
Three books later, her mother came to claim her.
The little girl stood in front of him and placed her hands on either side of his face. Her serious blue eyes stared at him for a long moment then she gave a very decisive nod. “You gonna be a good daddy.”
Before he could stop her, she planted a kiss on his cheek then skipped off with her mother.
Joss blinked away sudden tears. He managed to put on his happy face before anyone noticed, turning to one of the other children.
Two hours later, he stared out the window of his suite, waiting for Lady Waterford to arrive. He’d spent the rest of the time at the library trying not to dwell on the fact that he most likely would have been a father in six or seven months.
Here, alone for the moment, he wondered if the little girl was right. Would he make a good father when the time came?
“Your Royal Highness?”
Joss turned to see Lady Waterford standing there. When was the last time she’d addressed him so formally? Despite their lack of a relationship that passed the acquaintance phase, she never called him that.
“Hey.”
“You wanted to see me?”
Joss motioned to the chairs. “You don’t need to be so formal. We’ve known each other a long time. We’ve slept together twice.” He sighed as he took a seat across from her. “We were going to be parents together.”
“I know.”
“I thought a lot about what you said about your father, and I think I have a solution for you.”
“What’s that?”
“The solution you came up with?”
She tilted her head. “I came up with?”
“I made a few phone calls and called in a few favors. There’s a clerk waiting downstairs with a marriage license and the ability to marry us.”
Her blinks came more rapidly. “You want to get married?”
“Temporarily,” he conceded. “Like you said. It’ll get you out of your father’s house and emancipate you from any of his control.”
“How do we pull that off? It’ll be all over the front pages two weeks before your brother’s wedding.”
“We don’t tell anyone.” He looked at his hands. “I have an apartment in New Ancora. No one knows about it or my cheap car. Well, my security team knows about the apartment. They’ll know you’re there. You disappear for a while. You can stay there. I’ll come over when I can, so you’re not completely alone. I don’t know if I can be there every day, but I’ll try.”
“So I’ll live at your other apartment alone?”
“For now. After Gideon’s wedding passes and a bit of time goes by, we quietly dissolve the marriage and go our separate ways. If your father tries to come after you, we produce the paperwork and hope it never makes the news.”
Lady Waterford stared at him for a long minute. “You’re willing to do that?”
Joss slipped out of his chair and down onto one knee. “Lady Waterford, I don’t have a ring, and right now I can’t promise forever, but I can promise to try to get you out from under your father’s control. Will you marry me?”
6
Not exactly the proposal every girl dreamed of, but Minnie thought it just might be the one she needed.
“Sure.” She tried to play