Page 5 of Baby Daddy Protector

“Yes.” I smoothed my hands down my skirts, and he pushed away from the wall. We continued on. “So, unless you know of a website for royals dating, I’m pretty well out of luck.”

He scrunched his nose. “Isn’t there some kind of network between you guys, a way for you all to communicate with each other?”

“Royals ’R Us?”

“No.” He laughed. “Or…maybe? I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about a predicament like yours before. You’re sure there’s no other way for you to keep the crown of Prylea under your control instead of your cousin’s?”

“I’m sure. I’ve spent the last year searching.” I sniffed. “If only I knew an eligible guy, someone trustworthy and strong, who would be willing to marry me for a year and then quietly divorce after the kingdom was settled.”

“Is that allowed?” Z asked. “Divorcing when you’re a royal, I mean.”

“There’s no law against it. But for me to hold on to the throne—at least as regent—I’d have to produce a male heir first.”

“Oh. Right. Then you’d be the Queen Mother?”

“Yes, and I’d rule in my child’s stead until he turned eighteen. The parliament wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.” I did my best to hide the sadness that swelled inside me from such a clinical explanation of what should have been a joyful act. The concerned look Z gave me said I’d done a poor job of it. “I want to get married and have children someday, I do. But all the political intrigue surrounding it now makes it feel more like an obligation than a special part of life.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again, stopping at the next corner which led back down the hall to my father’s room. We lingered in the shadows. “I wish I knew someone for the job.”

“Me too.” I gave him a rueful smile. “Don’t suppose you’d be up for the offer, would you?”

I felt as shocked as he looked by my words. I’d not meant to say that out loud, but now that it was out there, I couldn’t help thinking that it wasn’t such a bad idea. He was strong. He was trustworthy. And I knew for sure that he was single, because no family men were hired on as security at the palace out of fear that their private lives could be used against them in a crisis.

“Me?” His voice creaked out, several octaves higher than usual, and I bit back a grin. I’d obviously shaken him. It couldn’t have been clearer that the answer was no. It was just as well, really. Parliament would’ve had a field day if we’d returned to Prylea engaged. “I’m not really the marrying type, your highness.” He backed away slowly, his hands in the air. “We barely know each other. I’m your bodyguard. I don’t want kids at all right now. I don’t think—”

“Calm down.” I chuckled and walked past him into the well-lit hallway toward my father’s room. “It was just an idea. But you can help me find a suitable mate, yes? Screen them for me and dig into their backgrounds.” The idea of marrying had taken hold in my head during our conversation. It was the only way I had left to prevent my cousin from taking the throne. The elevators dinged in the distance, and my father’s physician walked out. I met Z’s gaze. “Think about it. I need to speak with the doctor now. Let me know what you decide later.”

FOUR

“About your earlier request, your highness. I can’t. I’m sorry,” Z said. We were standing in the foyer of my DC townhome, and it was well past midnight. The news from the doctors had been just as dismal as I’d expected. We’d be lucky to get my father home to Prylea alive, let alone keep him on the throne for any length of time.

“I’m sorry, too.” I shrugged out of his tux jacket and handed it back to him, my spirits slumping along with my shoulders. I wasn’t a quitter, though, and I forced myself to rally.

“Forgive me, your highness,” Z’s tone grew concerned. “But as your bodyguard, I have to say it really isn’t safe for someone of your position to randomly date men to try and find a proper mate.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” I balanced a hand against the wall to slip off my sandals. The cool hardwood was a blessed relief against my aching toes. “But what else am I supposed to do? Sit by and watch while my cousin takes over the country? I don’t think so.” With my designer shoes dangling from my fingers, I marched down the hall toward the kitchen. The silk of my gown whispered softly in my wake. “If I could, I’d pop into a clinic for a quick IVF or see about adoption, but Prylea’s antiquated laws don’t allow for that. I have to conceive the child, and I have to be married when he’s born. Otherwise, it wouldn’t matter if I had a son—he wouldn’t be considered legitimate. Pardon my French, but I’m royally screwed.”

Z trailed behind me, leaning one shoulder against the wall of the large, open-style, chef’s kitchen while I plopped down on a stool at the center granite island. Somewhere on the way back to the townhouse, he’d loosened his bowtie, which now hung undone around his neck. The top few buttons of his white shirt were open too, revealing a tantalizing hint of tanned throat. And he’d rolled up his cuffs, revealing sinewy, strong forearms, sprinkled lightly with golden hair. Gah! Even the man’s arms were sexy. It wasn’t fair.

I sighed. “I mean, I’m no supermodel, but c’mon. I’m not a total toad either, right? I’m clean and smart and relatively attractive. Surely there’s someone out there who’d want to be with me, help me out, and then quietly walk away without trying to take over everything.”

“Your highness—” Z pushed away from the wall and started toward me, but I held up a hand, cutting him off.

“No. Hear me out, please. And stop calling me ‘your highness’ every time you disagree with me. It makes me feel weird, especially when it’s just the two of us. Call me Esme, like you did before. Or Es. That was my nickname at school. Please.” I exhaled slowly and crossed my arms, determined not to let this setback stop me. “My father’s dying, sooner rather than later, and my options are dwindling. You said no to helping me conceive a child, and I respect that. But I do ask that you please reconsider helping me screen potential candidates. As the head of my personal security team, I’d think it would fall under ‘other duties as assigned,’ anyway. Besides, any man I choose will be intimately involved in my life, at least until the baby is born. I’d expect an enterprising guy like you, looking to get ahead in his chosen field, to be all over the opportunity to weed out the bad actors.” I narrowed my gaze, not missing the flicker of interest in his blue eyes. “So, since you refused to marry and impregnate me, I’m thinking my next best option is to find a suitable candidate at the upcoming state dinner. I’ve already texted the organizer to send me a copy of the guest list.”

Z gave me a strange look. “You’re going to troll for a husband/sperm donor at an official state dinner?”

I snorted. I’d opened the door to candor with my “royally screwed” remark, so I could hardly blink at his frank words now. They were true after all. My poor mother, God rest her soul, would be rolling in her grave if she knew what her precious daughter was planning. “Yes, that’s exactly my intention. I can test the waters a bit, get a feel for who I have chemistry with and who I don’t. I’m not as familiar with DC society as I am with the courtiers back home, so that’s where you’ll come in. You can screen the available men ahead of time, run background checks and all that. Help me select the baby daddy, so to speak. Sound acceptable?”

He was quiet for so long that I feared he might just run screaming from the townhouse. Finally, Z took a deep breath and joined me at the island, taking a seat on the next stool over from mine. His expression was deadly serious now, his blue eyes dark and wary. “This sounds way too risky to me, your…” He coughed to cover his mistake. “Sorry, Es. I mean, I understand the thinking behind it, but are you sure there’s no other way? I just really don’t want to have any part of arranging to match you with some complete stranger. No background check I could do between now and the dinner could make that safe. You’d be giving this guy power over you, and that’s a dangerous position to be in. Dangerous for both of us if I’m taking part in putting you there. I’ve had troubles with favors like this coming back to bite me in the ass. I swore to never let that happen again.”

“That’s a risk I’ll have to take. The risk to my country is far greater if I do nothing,” I stated firmly.

Z scrubbed a hand over his face, his jaw shadowed with dark stubble now. “What about an ex-boyfriend? Someone you trust who might be willing to help you out?”

“No.” I stared down at my bare toes. “I never really dated that much in college. I was too busy with my studies. And the few guys I did go out with only wanted to be with me for my political connections. That’s not the kind of man I want fathering my child.”

“Seriously?” Z gave me a flat look. “Because it sounds to me like that’s the angle you’re exploiting to get what you want now. You don’t really think you’ll find someone who doesn’t care about politics at a state dinner, do you? Besides, what difference does it make if the guy has political goals? You can get him to sign a prenup saying that he won’t have any authority over your kid or over the throne, right?”

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