For the first time he’d stared up at the night sky and not felt the pull to be up there in space. The only pull he’d felt was to the woman in his arms, and he’d rolled her onto her back and made love to her again.
More and more it played on his mind... How was she going to cope with palace life? She’d lived there briefly, but that had been there for a specific purpose, not as a member of the household. She would need time to settle in and then, once they were married in a few weeks, her royal duties would begin.
His good memories from the beach evaporated as he recalled her startled face that morning, when they’d lingered over breakfast. Toby had disappeared into the kitchen to badger the chef into making more flapjacks for him and he’d given her the résumés of the staff he was recommending she interview after the Gala.
She’d looked at him blankly.
‘Your private staff,’ he’d explained. ‘You’ll need staff to manage your diary, to do research for you for when we meet with ambassadors and business people. You’ll need someone to help with your wardrobe—my grandmother and my mother both had a personal seamstress to make their clothes—and you’ll need a private secretary to manage all of them...’
By the time he’d stopped talking she’d looked quite faint. The reality of palace life was clearly not something she was prepared for.
He threw his pen at the wall and swore.
How much guilt could one man carry?
* * *
It was late when he returned to the villa. A few members of staff were still up, but Jo and Toby had both gone to bed.
He found Toby fast asleep, lying spread out like a starfish. Theseus padded quietly to him and pulled the covers which had been thrown off back over him, before placing a kiss on his forehead.
With his guts playing havoc inside him, he went into Jo’s room, closing the door behind him.
She was sitting up in bed, reading.
‘I thought you’d be asleep,’ he said.
‘So did I.’
He sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to bury a hand in her hair. She shuffled closer and wrapped her arms around him.
‘How are things going with the Gala?’ she asked softly.
‘Like a well-oiled machine. Apart from the soloist Talos found to play our grandmother’s final composition...’
‘What’s wrong with her?’
‘Turns out she suffers from severe stage fright.’
‘Ah—is that why they’ve been spending so much time together?’
The suggestive tone in her voice made him laugh. He raised one eyebrow. ‘Talos says he’s helping her...’
With that, they both rolled back onto the bed, smothering their sniggers so as not to wake Toby across the hall. Their laughter quickly turned into passion as Jo’s hungry lips found his and her robe fell open to showcase her unashamed nakedness...
* * *
Time sped away in whirl of sunshine until suddenly it was the eve of the Gala.
Where had the time gone? Jo wondered in amazement.
Theseus had spent the day at the palace and arrived back so late she was dozing off when he slipped into the dark bedroom.
‘All done?’ she asked, raising her head.
He turned the light on at a low setting. ‘All done. The books are en route as we speak.’
A problem with the printers had kept him at the palace long into the night. All week he’d had to work late. The pace had been relentless. She’d found herself missing him, constantly checking her watch and waiting for the time when he would come back to the villa.
‘Have you slept?’ he asked, unbuttoning his shirt.
‘A little.’ She sat up, hugging the sheets to her. ‘I think there’s too much going on in my brain for me to switch off properly.’
‘Nervous?’
‘Terrified.’
Tomorrow she would meet the King. When the Gala was all over he would be informed about Toby. Their lives would change irrevocably.
‘Don’t be.’
She sighed. That was easy for him to say.
‘I spoke to Giles earlier.’
‘How was he?’
‘Busy.’ He slid his trousers off. ‘He said to pass on his congratulations for your part in the book.’
She smiled wistfully.
‘You never told me you got the job with him by working for free.’
She shrugged. ‘I was desperate. I’d had to give up the job I’d originally had lined up in London...’
‘Why?’
‘I suffered from a condition commonly known as acute morning sickness. I was sick pretty much all the time. I could hardly get out of bed, never mind move to London and start a new job. I ended up being hospitalised for a month. By the time I’d recovered, when I was just over four months pregnant, the job had been given to someone else.’