His Majesty's Mistake

“Oh, excuse me,” Emmeline said, drawing up short. “I didn’t realize we had a guest.”

The man was as tall as Makin and just as broad through the shoulders. He had piercing blue eyes and a firm mouth above a hard, uncompromising chin. “My God,” he muttered. “Jacqueline.”

Goose bumps covered Emmeline’s arm. “What did you just say?”

“Unbelievable,” he said, taking a step toward her, his expression incredulous. “You look just like her.”

He was an American, with a Texas drawl. A real cowboy? “Who?” she whispered.

“Your mother.”

For a moment she couldn’t breathe. “You knew her?”

“Yes.”

“You know who I am?” she asked faintly.

“My other daughter.”

Emmeline’s legs buckled. She reached for a chair and sat down. “Other daughter?”

He nodded, brow furrowed, blue eyes darkening with emotion. “Hannah’s twin.”

“Hannah?” she choked.

“Hannah Smith. Your sister.”

Hannah was her sister? Her twin? Impossible. Impossible. “How … what …?” Emmeline shook her head, unable to get the words out.

“Princess Jacqueline had twins.” It was Makin who spoke. He’d quietly entered the living room a few moments earlier and moved to Emmeline’s side. “Two baby girls, and you were separated at birth. One baby went to Texas, and the other to your family in Brabant.”

Emmeline leaned forward, covered her mouth as she stared across the room to the American. “I can’t believe this …”

“I finally put it all together yesterday,” Makin said, his hand on her back. “I called Jack to confirm my suspicions. Once I told him what I knew, he got on the first flight he could for St. Thomas, and I brought him here.”

Emmeline couldn’t look away from the blond, weathered Texan with his boots and jeans. “You’re really my … father?”

Jack Smith nodded. “I had no idea there were two of you,” he said gruffly. “I can’t believe I didn’t get to raise both of you. I should have.”

Her eyes burned and she drew a quick breath. “What was she like? My mom?”

“Like you.” Jack’s voice deepened, roughened. “Smart. Kind. Funny. And the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life.”

Emmeline dashed away tears. “You loved her?”

“More than I can say.”

The three of them had dinner and they talked nonstop, Emmeline asking questions and Jack answering them with Makin just listening.

Now and then during dinner Emmeline would have to brush away tears and she’d look at Makin and discover him watching her and the expression on his face … the look in his eyes … it nearly broke her heart.

He didn’t just want her body. He didn’t just want sex. He wanted her.

He cared for her.

He might even love her.

Blinking back tears she turned her attention to her father who was telling her how he’d met her mother. Jacqueline had been on a goodwill tour of North America and Jack, a Texas Ranger, had been assigned to her security detail while visiting Texas.

“We fell in love somewhere between Austin and San Antonio. We made love just once. It was hurried and risky, but I loved her. I was crazy about her and had imagined appearing before her parents in Brabant and asking for her hand. But after she returned home, I never heard from Jacqueline again. I had no idea she was pregnant until one day a woman shows up on my ranch with an infant, tells me that Jacqueline has died and this is our daughter.”

“And this woman never told you there had been another baby?” Emmeline asked, leaning forward.

He shook his head. “No. Not a word, and I can assure you, that if I had known about you, Emmeline, I would have come for you. And no one, not even the King and Queen of Brabant, could have kept me from you.”

Emmeline glanced at Makin and then back to her father. “Does Hannah know about me? That I’m really her sister?”

Makin nodded. “She does now.”

“I want to see her.”

“She’s on the way,” Jack said. “She should be here in the morning.”

Later, after everyone had gone to bed and the house was dark and quiet, Emmeline turned to face Makin. “You really do love me,” she whispered. “I wasn’t sure before. I thought it was just sex you wanted, or maybe a woman like Hannah—”

“Oh, no, I definitely don’t want Hannah.” He put a finger to her lips when she opened her mouth to protest. “She is brilliant and your twin sister, but I don’t feel even a spark of attraction for her. Now you … I can’t keep my hands off you.”