Page 94 of Tabloid Princess

I giggled as he grabbed me, angling us to fall back on the sofa. His hands slipped along my spine, his mouth seeking mine as he held me tight across his chest.

I must be dreaming. It was the only logical thought I had.

“So I’m trying to work out ways to spend more time with you, without the tabloids announcing our impending nuptials and while still protecting your Daisy protocol.”

“Impending nuptials?”

“I’m engaged to a different woman every week. Didn’t you know?” He lifted a dark eyebrow.

“You’re a lucky guy. Some of them are quite beautiful.”

He grinned, his hand tugging on the back of my head so he could kiss my mouth again. “You’ve blinded me to everyone else.”

I wanted to believe his broad statement, but my reality sensor flickered into action.

“And talking about your Daisy Protocol.”

“We weren’t.”

“Oh, we are now. So, I was thinking, I should probably meet her.”

I almost leapt out of his arms. “Are you insane? She’s obsessed with princesses and all things Disney.”

“I’m told I’m a close Flynn Rider.”

I burst out a snort of a laugh. “You’ve watched Rapunzel?”

“All the greats. I have to brush off my prince skills somehow.” He pulled me back down onto his hard body. His lips traced up my neck warming that pit in my belly again. The monster gave a little dance, maybe it sensed the crumbling of my defences. Maybe it just knew what he did to me. Some of his skills needed no brushing off.

“Anyway.” I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. “You can’t meet her. Not just because of that, but because if this didn’t work out it would hurt.”

He lifted that damn eyebrow again. “Yesterday, I told you I’d go to the block for you, but you’re still writing me off.”

I remembered how I’d felt at that table, how I still felt now in his arms and I knew I’d go with him. I’d woken this morning with the conviction just as strong as it had been in the moment. It hadn’t been the champagne leading my thoughts, or the romantic—albeit gruesome—setting.

But just because I’d go, didn’t mean I’d take my most treasured possession with me.

“It’s too soon, Oliver. We don’t even know each other yet.”

“And how long will it take you to get to know me?”

“Why are you pressing this?” I pushed out of his hold.

His gaze held mine, startlingly intense. “Because I know how things go in my world. This story won’t stay quiet for long. Then it will be everywhere, and we will no longer be two people who possibly like each other a bit too much. We will be public property, and I want to make sure that your daughter, who I know I’m going to love, trusts who I am.”

I stared at him aghast. “Those are big words, Oliver, for someone who doesn’t know me all that well.”

“You opened my eyes, Leia. So, my statements are big because I’m seeing things I’ve never considered before, possibilities I’d never considered.”

“What are they?” I whispered.

He pulled me back and I couldn’t resist. “Happiness.”

“But I’m not a single package. I come with a child. You can’t gloss over that fact.”

I shivered as his hands ran along my spine. “I’m aware of the package.” He closed the matter, his face telling me my arguments about sanity and propriety wouldn’t get me anywhere. “So I ask again, how long will it take?”

“Take what?” My tongue tingled with dryness.