Her Royal Husband by Cara Colter

sky, finally relaxed.
    “I had the cabana stocked with swimwear,” he said. “Do you think you’d like to try the water?”
    “Oh, no,” she said, too swiftly. He saw her gaze wistfully at the water before she looked away.
    “You love to swim,” he said. “That’s part of why I brought you here. I remember you in California. You were like a dolphin, cavorting in the waves.”
    “I’m surprised you remember.”
    “I remember everything about that summer,” he said with such intensity it took them both by surprise.
    “Is the water warm?” she said, changing the subject.
    “Like swimming in a bathtub. It’s nicest in the winter.” Would she be around to try it in the winter? He better not try to think that far ahead.
    “Why are you hesitating?” he asked gently.
    “Oh, you know. Bathing suits.”
    He was astounded. “You always looked beautiful in a bathing suit, Jordan.”
    “Not beautiful enough for you to stay with me,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “And I’ve had a baby. It makes a difference.”
    He felt sick at the realization how completely his leaving had shattered her. He felt sick that whatever they had once had, she no longer felt she could trust him with her imperfections. Once, she had been so confident she had flaunted them! Especially that sharp tongue of hers. He reached out and touched the side of her cheek, but she pulled away.
    “I should have written you,” he said softly. “I just thought it would be easier if the cut was clean and swift. Easier for you if you just thought I was a complete jerk and if you were angry at me.”
    “You succeeded. I think you’re a complete jerk, and I’m angry at you,” she said.
    “It’s one of those situations where I would have liked to be more like Dylan,” he said, “been able to think things through more clearly.”
    “Did he know about me?”
    “No. I mean he knew something had happened to me, but he didn’t know what.”
    “Were you ashamed of me? Is that why you didn’t tell him? You said he was your best friend, after all.”
    “Ashamed of you? My God, Jordan, no! I was ashamed of myself for not fighting my way back to you, for not saying screw Penwyck and oaths and honor. ButI was trying to protect you, too. If a whisper of what had happened between us ever got out, you would have been plagued by the press. And they can be cruel beyond words.”
    She stood up abruptly. He had the feeling she wanted to believe him and didn’t want to at the same time. “How about that swim?” she said. “The bathing suits are where? In that little green tent over there?”
    He nodded, and watched her walk away, the proud curve of her back, the easy grace of her stride.
    She turned back, almost as if she had known she would catch him watching. “Owen, don’t even look at me until I’m in the water.”
    He had shorts on underneath his slacks and he stripped as soon as she disappeared into the cabana, went and sat on the edge of the pool and dangled his feet in the water.
    Of course, he did look when she emerged. He had stocked a small cabana with bathing suits, hoping she would choose a two-piece one, but she hadn’t. She tiptoed out in one that was plain and black and far more sexy in its demureness than any of the bikinis could have been. Considering what they had once been to each other, she was endearingly shy, though he wished he knew what to do or say to wipe that remote you-can’t-touch-me look off her face.
    He did notice changes to her body. Her breasts were larger, her tummy had the slightest swell to it. But he thought the changes made her look fully and gloriously like a woman, not like the near-child she had been when they had first met.
    He also noticed her shoulders seemed pulled forward a bit. Did worry do that? Pressure? Or was she just self-conscious? She had always been a serious, intense girl, at first she had been awkward about her body. But oncehe had been able to coax a lighter side of her to