Page 26 of The Prince's Secret Twins

Tila chose another comfortable cardigan from the shelf that was stacked with sweaters in every color and fabric. This was becoming her uniform; a cardigan and leggings with a comfortable pair of slip on shoes. The outfit allowed her to move easily, pick up her tiny sons, sit on the floor with them and…and she needed to work.

Wow! Where had that thought come from? She hadn’t thought about work since that painful morning when she’d gone into labor.

For a moment, she stood in her dressing room, contemplating the idea of going back to work. Did she really want that? Was she ready to spend that much time away from her babies?

The answer came without hesitation. Yes. Yes, she definitely wanted to go back to work. Tila accepted that sheneeded the intellectual stimulation of her job. Tila designed websites and she hadn’t had time to check her email since the babies were born. She’d scheduled an “out of office” message so that her clients knew that she wasn’t available. But now, the thought of diving back into the creative and technical world of web building made her feel almost giddy with excitement.

Would she have any clients now that she was ready to get back to work?

“You okay?”

Tila jerked around to find Joran standing in the doorway to her dressing room. Thankfully, she’d finished dressing. But she wished that she’d lost the last ten pounds from her pregnancy.

Sliding hands down over her outer thighs self-consciously, she looked at the magnificent man who had made her scream his name last night. Would he ever come to love her the way she loved him?

“Tila?” he prompted.

Tila jumped, then shook her head. “What?”

“Are you okay?” he repeated.

Was she? No. Not really. Despite being surrounded by all of this previously unimaginable wealth and luxury, Tila was not okay. She should be okay. By everyone else’s standards, Tila should grab onto whatever crumbs Joran was willing to give her.

She rubbed her thumb over the snowflake diamond ring. He’d remembered her hope of seeing snow. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he had feelings for her that she just didn’t understand. Their relationship had been so intensely sexual before. But she’d never understood the man.

“I’m fine,” she told him, straightening her shoulders. “I’m perfectly fine.” Or she would be, Tila vowed. Eventually, she’d figure out if crumbs of affection were enough for her. Would they be able to build a future for themselves with whatever feelings he had for her?

She rubbed the ring again. She wanted to get back to work and…she wanted to know what made him smile, what made him laugh. She wanted to know what he hated about this life and what he loved.

She wanted to understand the man who had made her so happy before. Before sex got in the way of them knowing each other.

“I’m fine,” she assured him when he continued to look at her suspiciously. She was…but not really. She wasgoingto be fine. Somehow. Some way, she would figure out how to be fine.

Because she knew that she couldn’t live without Joran. Even if she didn’t want to be in a relationship with the man, they had two wonderful sons that they’d need to share with each other.

So, she’d have to figure out how to be fine with…him.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

Yes, she was starving. But instead of saying so, she shook her head. “I need to feed the boys,” she told him. “Why don’t you go on ahead and I’ll have breakfast later?”

He hesitated, but after a moment, he nodded. “Okay, but you will eat something later?”

Tila thought about those last ten pounds. She wanted to have her old body back. She wanted to drive him wild with desire like she used to. But she didn’t want him to know how she’d had to starve herself to get that body.

So instead, she smiled and nodded. “Of course,” she assured him.

He still looked doubtful and Tila desperately wanted to walk up to him and…she didn’t wait. If she was going to have the life she wanted, she needed to grasp it with both hands. So instead of waiting, she moved closer and put her hands on his chest. “Kiss me before you leave, Joran,” she whispered. “Give me something to remind me of you.”

He didn’t hold back. With a groan, Joran pulled her into his arms and kissed her. He was holding back, she would feel it in his touch, but Tila kissed him back, giving Joran all of the love she felt in her heart.

A moment later, he pulled back, breathing hard. Tila wondered if he might pull her clothes off and take her back to bed. She wanted that. If sex was all they had connecting them, she would deal with that.

Instead, the morning nanny stepped into the room with Laith in her arms. “I apologize for interrupting, Your Highness,” the woman said with a nervous smile, “but Prince Laith is demanding to be fed.”

Tila glanced up at Joran and nearly smirked at the irritation on his handsome features. “I’ll go take care of Laith,” she said. “Enjoy your meetings this morning.” Oooh, that was rotten of her, but Tila didn’t feel very kind today. She was confused and insecure, so a bit of rottenness was warranted.

Chapter 21

---