A Royal Mess/Her Knight to Remember by Jill Shalvis

Author:Jill Shalvis [Shalvis, Jill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Romance, Love Stories, Contemporary, Humorous fiction, Adult, Historical, Family & Relationships
ISBN: 9780373441518
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2002-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

13

“YOU LOVE ME,” Natalia repeated in a slow, careful voice she couldn’t believe was hers. So calm. So together. No one could possibly know she’d had to lock her knees together to keep from falling. If she didn’t shut her mouth, the next good wind would surely tip her right over.

“Yes.” Tim smiled rather disarmingly and glanced at their cheering audience. Well, Amelia and the bodyguards weren’t cheering, but everyone else was. “Look, do you think we could go inside to discuss this?”

“Most certainly not, young man.” Amelia shook her umbrella at him. “She wouldn’t be properly chaperoned.”

“Amelia, please.” Natalia smiled apologetically at Tim. “I’ve been with him all week.”

The uptight looking woman straightened to her considerable height and looked…more uptight. “What?”

“Not like that,” Natalia said quickly, and most definitely not meeting Tim’s gaze. “I’ve been working here. Cooking. Helping out. Oh, Amelia…” She hugged the woman again. “I loved it. Working for a wage. Earning my way—”

“You don’t need money.”

“I know, but—”

“Excuse me.” Tim waved a hand in front of them. “Hello? We were in the middle of something here.” To hell with the guards, he took Natalia’s shoulders in his hands and turned her to face him.

Natalia looked into his eyes and everything she’d ever dreamed of were in them. “You love me,” she repeated. “Me, the woman.”

“I love you, the woman. The one who makes me laugh. The woman who brightens up my day. The woman I want to be with when I’m old and gray and can’t find my horse.”

“But I can’t cook American food.”

“No, but there’s always chocolate bars and fast food. Natalia, be mine.”

“What about the princess thing?” She held her breath. At her side, Amelia made a move. Natalia held her back, afraid her beloved companion would close up her umbrella and beat Tim over the head with it before he answered. “Tim? You love me, the woman—but what about me, the princess?”

“She can come along, too.” He cupped her face in his big, warm hands, just the way she loved. “I want all of you, Natalia. The leather, the denim, even the blue lip gloss. I want every part of your life.” He glanced at the men in black. “But them. They won’t come along on the honeymoon, will they?”

Okay now she really couldn’t breathe. “Honeymoon?”

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, stroked her jaw. “Will you marry me? Make sure I don’t collect too many geriatric animals or eat too much chocolate?”

“I love your geriatric animals,” she said with tears in her voice. “But…”

“There’s a but?” He looked nervous now. “Amelia said no buts, remember?”

“I could never ask you to give up all this,” she whispered. “It means too much. And my home, my family, they mean a lot to me.”

“There has to be a way to compromise,” he said a bit desperately. “I could let Sally run this place half the time. Hell, she does it anyway—”

“Hey,” Sally said in protest.

Natalia gripped his wrist and stared up at him, truly stunned.

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