Lynne Marshall - Spellbound By The Single Dad

His eyes tracked the action, then he speared his hands through his hair. “Jenna,” he said, groaning and stepping further away. “We can’t do that again.”

“I know,” she whispered, trying to remember the reasons why. The job. She couldn’t jeopardize the job and Meg’s home.

Furrows appeared across his forehead, as if he was trying to force his brain to work. “Kissing an employee,” he paused, swallowed, “is a breach of Hawke’s Blooms’ sexual harassment policy.” His voice was a monotone, as if he was merely reciting the policy, while his eyes were still on fire.

“I don’t work for Hawke’s Blooms,” she pointed out, then winced. What was she doing arguing a point she agreed with? They couldn’t do it again. Shouldn’t have done it in the first place. It was madness.

“No, but the principle is the same.” He rubbed a hand down his face. “You have a right to a workplace free of inappropriate advances.”

The guilt on his face tore at her heart. “Liam, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it should happen again either, but just to put your mind at ease...you didn’t pressure me. It was mutual.” She’d been dreaming of his kiss for too long to deny it.

“Mutual?” he asked, eyes pained. “I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse.”

She sighed, knowing what he meant. Resisting him would be so much harder now she knew he was thinking the same forbidden thoughts. She circled her throat with both hands as she willed her brain to kick into action. “Thing is, I can’t start something right now anyway. Not with my life in such disarray.”

He frowned. “What’s in disarray? You have a job and a home. You and Meg seem relatively settled.”

The blood in her veins froze. Had she given herself away? She silently cursed. This was the problem with letting your guard down—once it was down, there was no self-protection. No filter to protect your secrets. Thankfully, Liam seemed curious but not suspicious.

“You’re right,” she said as breezily as she could manage. “We are. I meant that I’ll be returning to Larsland at some point, so starting something with you or anyone—it couldn’t go anywhere.”

“Well, at least we’re in agreement,” he said, ruefully.

She bent to pick up his shirt, needing to escape before she changed her mind. “I need a shower. I’ll take this down to Katherine—”

“No, I’ve got it,” he said, his voice low. He reached for the shirt and for a long moment, they both held the fabric, connected through it. She could feel the air pulse with the heat between them.

Then she quickly dropped her end. And fled.

Seven

“Princess Jensine?” said the voice on the other end of the line.

Jenna settled back into the sofa and held her cell phone closer to her ear. “Hi, Kristen. Yes, it’s me,” she said in her native language. “Can you talk?”

“Hang on.” There was a pause and a muffled noise. The time difference and Kristen’s shift work always made these calls to her friend in the royal security patrol difficult to plan, but they were the only way her family knew she was all right.

“Okay, I’m back,” Kristen said.

Jenna tucked her feet underneath her, looking forward to a conversation in her mother tongue. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, but never mind that. How are you?”

“I’m good. We’re good. This new job has been great—it has everything I need.” Although it also had something she didn’t need—an inconvenient attraction to her boss. An image of Liam rose in her mind: the way he’d looked two nights ago after he’d kissed her, his breathing heavy, chest bare, eyes brimming with desire. Jenna’s skin suddenly felt warm.

“I’m glad to hear it,” her friend said. “Any news on when you’ll be coming back?”

Jenna’s stomach dipped. She’d have to go back, but her parents wouldn’t necessarily be pleased by her return. They’d definitely be angrier than they were with her now when they found out she’d had a baby out of wedlock. She’d been brought up to remember one golden rule: duty before all else. Duty before fun, duty before friends, duty before personal dreams, duty before everything.

And after they’d recovered from their personal disappointment, the focus would shift to how to protect the monarchy. In days gone by, they would have put Meg up for adoption or quickly married Jenna off to a husband willing to overlook her indiscretion and fudged the dates on official documents. With the advent of the internet, it was much harder to hide indiscretions unless she went completely underground, as she’d done. And she’d never consent to giving up Meg.

She just needed to find a solution that suited everyone.

“Not yet,” she said, wincing at how inadequate that sounded.

“Your mother is becoming more insistent in her questioning when I give her your updates.”

Jenna’s heart hurt. When she’d first left, she hadn’t considered how many people would be affected by her plan. “I’m so sorry to have put you in this position, Kristen.”

The other woman blew out a breath. “I don’t regret helping you, but I can’t hold your parents off forever. So far they’ve respected your request for privacy, but I think that won’t last too much longer. I wouldn’t be surprised if your father is already planning to have someone in the Patrol track you down.”

“Oh.” Seeing them again and telling them everything would be hard enough, but being confronted by surprise, when she didn’t have her thoughts in order, would be so much worse.

“You’ll have to reveal the secret sometime,” Kristen said.

“I know.” And, despite knowing how disappointed her parents would be in her, she still longed to hear her mother’s voice, to see her father’s face.

“What can I tell them this week?” Kristen asked, breaking into Jenna’s thoughts.

“Tell them...” What exactly? She chewed on her lip. That she was scared she was falling for the wrong man? That she wished she was a normal woman who could simply fall in love and not have to consider her duty in every situation, even when she was AWOL? “Tell them I’m fine,” she said wearily.

“You know they won’t be satisfied with that.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s the best I can do.” Without a doubt she was going to have to find a way to fix the situation she’d caused, and soon. “Kristen, I’m sorry again—”

“Don’t worry about it. I can handle this. It’s no worse than that day when we were eight and you pushed me into the mud. My mother was furious I’d ruined my dress before the party.”

Jenna laughed at the memory. “I was such a brat, even if you had just called my ringlets stupid. But you never told anyone it was me.”

“That’s not my way,” Kristen said in her trademark matter-of-fact tone.

A ball of emotion welled up in Jenna’s throat. “I miss you.”

“Then come home.” Jenna sensed an exasperated smile in Kristen’s voice.

“I will,” she promised, hoping to heaven that was true. “I just don’t know when.”

* * *

Liam walked through the back door and paused. Jenna was on her cell phone talking in her native language. The accent was light and musical, and without realizing it at first, he was smiling. The language suited her. Made him want to hear her whisper those musical words near his ear, to kiss the mouth that sang its sentences, to run his fingers through her blond hair as she spoke. He adjusted his collar, which was suddenly too tight.

Jenna looked up and saw him, and her face fell in unmistakable guilt. He stilled. Why? She was using her own phone, and he didn’t doubt Bonnie was sleeping or taken care of or she wouldn’t be relaxed and chatting. What else could she feel guilty about?