Page 25 of The Prince's Secret Twins

She rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and reached for the conditioner, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist. Tila yelped, then spun around to find Joran surveying her nakedness, a serious expression in his eyes.

“I need to hurry,” she whispered, backing up because she knew that expression. And even if she hadn’t, the erection pressing against her belly would have clued her in.

The man never seemed to get enough sex!

Hmm…that wasn’t fair. In the past, she’d wanted him just as much. In fact, most of the time, Tila had been the one to initiate sex between them, always aware that he would have to leave too soon.

“Good morning,” he grumbled, sliding his hands down her arms. She was braced to reject him, so Tila was confused when he didn’t try to pull her into his arms. And the sparkling diamond ring he slipped onto her finger was even more confusing. “We’re engaged.” Then he stepped around her in the massive shower space and ducked his head under the warm spray.

“We’re…what?”

“Engaged,” he repeated, shaking his head to dislodge the water from his eyes. Without blinking, he reached for the shampoo, then handed her the conditioner.

Tila couldn’t take the bottle of expensive conditioner. She was too busy staring at the diamond ring. It wasn’t just a single solitaire. No, Joran had to be different! He had to go out of his way to find a ring that looked exactly like a snowflake. There was a large, center stone surrounded by dozens of smaller stones.

Snowflake. The man had found a ring in the shape of a snowflake. She remembered the night she’d snuggled in his arms out in her backyard. She’d started a fire in the small pit she’d built and they’d sipped wine and talked. She’d told him about her desire to see snow someday. He’d laughed and told her how cold it was, that the icy drops got under one’s clothing and felt like a knife against the skin. She’d said she didn’t care and that her dream home would be on a snow covered mountain somewhere.

He'd remembered that conversation. How the hell had he found a ring in the shape of a snowflake?

Looking up, she wasn’t aware of the tears in her eyes until he said, “If you don’t like it, I’ll find you something different. I can get you a more traditional solitaire.”

Immediately, Tila curled her fingers into a fist so that he couldn’t reclaim it. “I love it,” she whispered.

He smiled and bent down to kiss her. She lifted her face, kissing him back as if to seal their engagement. But he hadn’t actuallyaskedher to marry him. Wait. Yes, he had. No. Actually, he’d ordered her to marry him. She hadn’t had time to answer him.

She turned with a sigh, taking the conditioner. But for a long moment, she simply stood in the warm mist, clutching the bottle against her chest, her thoughts reeling with questions, flashbacks, memories, and…more questions.

“Tila?” Joran’s deep, worried voice interrupted her chaotic thoughts.

“I’m fine,” she replied, then squeezed some conditioner onto her hand and spread it through her hair. But she couldn’t seem to put her finger on what the problem was. Rinsing her hair, she stepped around Joran, trying not to touch him. Even a small brush of their bodies against each other might spark another round of sex. Tila needed to think and sex would muddle her thoughts.

“What are you doing today?” she asked.

She heard him sigh as she wrapped herself up in a large, fluffy towel.

“I have meetings with my generals this afternoon and I’m having dinner with them later.” He hesitated, looking down at her. “Would you…like to join us for dinner?” he asked.

Tila didn’t understand the hesitation in his voice. Was the pause because he didn’t want her to meet his generals? Or was it because he didn’t…? She wasn’t sure.

Deciding that she couldn’t back down, that she wanted to know more about this man and what he did, she turned to face him, clutching the towel around her. “Yes. I’d love to join you and the generals for dinner.” She added a tight smile, because she still couldn’t read his features. “What time?”

“We should be done with our meetings by six. So, drinks around then, and dinner after?”

Tila nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll make sure the evening nanny knows we’ll be unavailable during those hours.”

With that, she left the bathroom. She slipped into her own dressing room and stopped, not sure what she’d just agreed to. Dinner with generals? Of a foreign country?

Okay, so they weren’t really “foreign” since they were generals of Joran’s country. Since she lived in this gilded…prison? Cage? She didn’t feel trapped. In fact, other than her feelings for Joran, which were a boggle, she was really starting to relax. All of her meals were prepared for her, she was getting sleep while the nannies took care of her babies, plus Joran’s help, to ease the parenting burden. She never cleaned anything and all of their laundry was mysteriously taken away and returned cleaned and folded. So overall, Tila was pretty happy after the hellish few months after Laith and Rafi’s birth when she’d been doing it all on her own.

Still, she wanted…what?

She wanted Joran to love her. Even if it was a fraction of the emotions she felt for him, it would be enough.

But could he ever feel something more than just desire for her? She wanted him to love her, but was Joran capable of love? He hadn’t seemed to be overly concerned when he’d returned to her door almost a year after he’d abandoned her. There had been no communication with him during that time period. Nothing to explain his absence.

Granted, she hadn’t known then that he was the crown prince of the neighboring country. That was kind of a big issue, she supposed.

However, her tender, wounded heart didn’t agree. She now knew that she’d loved him a year ago which was why it had been extremely difficult to get through her pregnancy knowing that she’d never see him again. It had taken months to accept that Joran wasn’t coming back to her.

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