Their Royal Baby Gift by Kandy Shepherd

Author:Kandy Shepherd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-08-09T21:11:40+00:00

* * *

Edward took a quick intake of breath at her bluntness. ‘But the baby might.’

His reply seemed to hit her with equal impact. ‘Yes,’ she said slowly. ‘A child has a right to know their father.’

‘And a father to know his child.’

Sitting near him on the edge of the bed, she looked listless and as pale as the white towel tucked somewhat precariously between her breasts. Of course her breasts had felt larger. Because she was pregnant. And having a tough time of it already. He was still reeling from the impact of her news.

He was going to be a father.

‘My child will grow up with me in London,’ she said. ‘You could play a role in their life. If not as their acknowledged father, as a...a trusted family friend or—’

Edward gave a snort somewhere between laughter and disbelief. ‘One thing that will become immediately apparent after the birth is that your child’s father is Asian. I might not be so easy to sweep under the carpet. There’d be questions asked about a friend who flies in from Singapore for visits.’

Sally smiled. ‘If our child takes after you, he or she is sure to be beautiful. I didn’t plan to get pregnant but...but I chose my baby’s father well.’

‘Thank you. I can say the same about you, lovely Sally.’ He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. She snuggled against him, warm and trusting in spite of her uncertainty of what faced her. He wanted to shield and protect her. But there could be battles ahead.

‘We don’t find ourselves in an easy situation, do we?’ he said.

‘That’s one way of putting it,’ she said.

‘Somehow I’ll find a way to make it work.’

‘Like royal families have been doing for ever, I should imagine,’ she said. ‘In the old days of our monarchy, a pregnant mistress would be married off to someone willing to give the child a name and sent off to live in the country.’

‘You’re not marrying anyone,’ he growled in a sudden surge of possessiveness. ‘And you’re not my mistress. If you were, the solution would be simple. I could revive the old custom of appointing an official mistress or consort.’

She broke away from his embrace. ‘What? Are you serious?’

‘In the old days of our monarchy it was common. But, to my knowledge, there hasn’t been an official mistress since the nineteen-twenties.’

‘Marry the Princess and have me as a mistress? You must be joking.’

‘Of course I am.’ He only wanted one wife. A wife to love and cherish. Besides, the King and Queen would forbid it. He almost laughed out loud at the thought of presenting the idea to his strait-laced father.

‘Good,’ she said. ‘I don’t need to be married or anyone’s mistress—official or otherwise. I can handle having the baby on my own.’

Before he had a chance to reply, his cell phone rang from where it sat on the side table. He let it ring out, but it rang again, and then again. ‘I’d better answer,’ he said, annoyed by the interruption.

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