A Royal Amnesia Scandal

He shook his head. “No. I had my hands on your bare stomach and I was so happy. Nervous, but excited.”

“I’ve never been pregnant,” she told him softly. “Do you think maybe you’re just thinking ahead?”

Kate glanced away, unable to look him in the eyes and see him struggle with this entire situation. Why couldn’t this be real? He’d told her more than once that he loved her, but that was just what he thought he was supposed to say...wasn’t it? Still, what if he was speaking from his heart? What if that fall had actually pulled out his true feelings? But even if she stood a chance with the man she’d fallen in love with, Kate had lied and deceived him. He would never forgive her.

She just wanted today, just one more night with him. She was being selfish, yes, but she couldn’t let go just yet. Not when everything right at this moment was beautiful and perfect.

“Do you want children?” he asked. “I assume we’ve discussed this.”

Kate pushed herself off the door frame and smoothed her hair back from her face. “I do want kids. It’s always been my dream to have a husband who loves me and a houseful of children.”

He offered her a wide, sexy smile. “We will have the most beautiful children.”

Oh, when he said things like that she wanted to get swept away and believe every word. Yet again, Luc had been weaved so tightly into this web of lies she’d inadvertently created. Her heart had been in the right place. She only hoped Luc saw that once all was said and done.

“I think any child with the Silva genes would be beautiful,” she countered. “Even though you’re an only child, your father has a long line of exotic beauties on his side. Your mother is a natural beauty, as well.”

Luc tossed his sheet aside and came to his feet. Padding across the floor wearing only a tattoo and a grin, he kept his gaze on hers.

“As much as I’d love to work on those babies, I think I’d like to do something that will help get my memory back sooner rather than later.”

Kate forced her gaze up... Well, she made it to his chest and figured that was a good compromise. “What’s that?”

“Maybe we should tackle that work schedule you’d mentioned.” His smile kicked up higher on one side of that kissable mouth. “You know, before we got sidetracked with being naked.”

Kate laughed. “Yes. Work. That’s where we need to focus.”

Finally. Something they could do that actually needed to be done. She could breathe a bit now.

“I’ll go get my laptop,” she told him. “I’ve got a spreadsheet there of your tentative schedule, and I have a speech written out for you that you need to look over.”

As she started to walk by, he reached out, snaking an arm around her waist. “You write my speeches?”

“For the past year I have.”

His eyes roamed over her face, settled on her lips, then came back up to meet her gaze. “You really are perfect for me.”

Kate swallowed. “Better put some clothes on. You can’t work in your birthday suit.”

His laughter followed her from the room, mocking her. She wasn’t perfect for him. She wanted to be. Oh, mercy, how she wanted to be. She’d give him everything, but this dream romance was about to come to an end. His memories were coming back a little each day. Time was not on her side.

Maybe by focusing on work, he’d start to piece more things together. Perhaps then she wouldn’t have to worry about saying anything. Honestly, she didn’t know what scenario would be worse, her telling him the truth or him figuring it out on his own.

Was she a coward for not wanting to tell him? Absolutely. Not only did she not want to see that hurt—and quite possibly hatred—in his eyes, she didn’t want that confrontation. There were no right words to say, no good way to come out and tell him he’d been living a complete lie for these past few days.

The end result would be the same, though, no matter how he found out. He would be disgusted with her. Suddenly, losing her job, or even her parents’ positions, wasn’t the main problem. After this time away from their ordinary lives, she couldn’t imagine life without Luc.

And every bit of this scenario made her seem foolish, selfish and desperate.

When had she become that woman? When had she become the woman Luc had actually been engaged to? Because Kate was no better than his lying, scheming ex.

* * *

Luc glanced over Kate’s shoulder as she sat in a patio chair with her laptop on the mosaic-tiled table. They’d opted to work outside to enjoy the bright sunshine and soft ocean breeze.

Resting his hands on the back of the chair, Luc leaned in to read over the tentative spreadsheet, but he was finding it impossible to focus. Kate’s floral scent kept hitting him with each passing drift of wind.

“I can move these engagements around,” Kate told him, pointing to the two green lines on the screen. “Both appointments are flexible. I scheduled them like this because I thought it would save time.”