Kathryn Jensen - The Secret Prince

He didn’t answer.

She let out a long breath, feeling strangely better for the release of emotions. She thought more clearly now about her past choices.

Over the years, she’d had a few male friends—mostly kept at arm’s length with no physical relationship involved. A few she’d slept with, but only after first being sure they lacked all desire to settle down and start a family, then guaranteeing she couldn’t become pregnant with them. She had stayed on the Pill during those limited months in a relationship and, because she’d never given her heart, she hadn’t regretted when they’d moved on to other women. The last breakup had been heart-wrenching, though. Sam had been a good person and she’d grown intensely fond of him. His only crime was that he’d changed his mind. He had decided he wanted to be a husband and father instead of a boyfriend.

In the year since then Elly had let no one into her life. But sitting beside her now was a man who was as much temptation as any woman could handle. More than she could, she feared. Instinctively, she gauged the level of her reaction to him, and knew that the passion centered in the core of her being was new and real and strong. He had touched something in her no other man before him had been capable of, although they’d known each other only hours.

“What about you?” she asked quickly. “Why aren’t you married?” A tiny part of her hoped that his answer would be an echo of her own. I don’t want kids.

“I suppose at first I was too involved with other facets of my life,” he admitted. “The marines—that didn’t seem a time for settling down. I was stationed all over the place. Then I went to college on the GI Bill and earned my degree. After that I needed time to start my business. I’ve always wanted a family, but now that it seems the right time, the right woman doesn’t seem to be around.”

She cringed inside. Well, there it was. He was looking for a life-mate, a mother for his unborn children. And I am definitely not her, she thought with an irrational twinge of sadness. Yet Elly was still profoundly attracted to him. He set off tickly sensations in parts of her body she had forgotten existed.

Dan squeezed her softly around the shoulders and she looked up into his concerned gaze. “Feeling better?”

“Yes,” she admitted half-heartedly. “I’ll be fine. Thank you for lending your shoulder.” She patted the damp fabric of his blazer.

He glanced back at his own seat across the aisle. Madge had repositioned herself, lifting her legs to rest them across his cushion. Like many of the other passengers, she was asleep.

“Mind if I stay here for a while?”

Elly nodded. “No problem. She’ll need her strength when we get to Elbia.”

They talked through most of the night, keeping the conversation light. It was as if they both understood that much of what they’d already shared was too personal for people who had just met. But somehow, Elly thought, it had been the right time to speak of such things.

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