It was apparent that Abe had meant every word he had said when he’d told her that Tilly was the one who mattered in the events that had played out between them.
He would do everything he could to ensure she had a stable and happy life. He was being true to his word thus far and Georgie didn’t see why that would change.
But was she more than just part of the package deal?
She hoped so because they continued to get along now that the ammunition had been put away.
And the sex...
She smiled now, thinking about it.
The air sizzled between them. They stepped into the bedroom at night and the heat between them was like a burning inferno. One touch from him and her body responded with scorching urgency.
Right now, at a little after six-thirty in the evening, she was waiting for him in one of the many sitting rooms, this one overlooking the very pool where she had enjoyed a couple of hours earlier with Tilly and Fatima.
She was in a loose-fitting flowered dress with short sleeves that swished to mid-calf. It was one of many new outfits that had been provided for her. A few she had been guided into buying—such as ornate gowns for formal occasions—but she had chosen the rest, along with an assortment of shoes and accessories.
She had drawn the line at jewellery.
‘I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing such priceless jewellery on an everyday basis,’ she had told Abe two days previously as all manner of rings and necklaces and earrings had been paraded in front of her on beds of purple velvet by the top jeweller in the country. He had been summoned to the palace and had shown his wares with a mixture of deference to the Crown Prince and pride in his vast knowledge of every single gem he had set in front of her for her inspection.
Afterwards, over dinner, Abe had looked at her, his dark eyes amused, and informed her that she was the first woman he had ever met who wasn’t interested in jewellery.
‘I do love jewellery,’ Georgie had responded, blushing when he had rubbed her shin with his bare foot under the table in between the courses that were being ferried out for them from the kitchens, ‘but I suppose I’m a little more accustomed to the cosmetic kind when it comes to sticking something on to go to the supermarket.’
‘There’s no supermarket shopping for you here,’ he’d pointed out.
‘And I miss that,’ she’d said sincerely. ‘I never thought I’d miss going to the supermarket, but I do.’
Surprisingly, he had nodded and looked at her thoughtfully. ‘I understand.’
‘Do you, Abe?’ Georgie had asked with genuine curiosity. ‘How can you say that when you’ve never been to a supermarket in your entire life?’
‘Ah, now that’s where you’re wrong. Don’t forget,’ he had murmured, skimming his foot along her shin just a tiny bit higher, knowing what her reaction would be, ‘that I did go to Cambridge University so I have had some experience of what the inside of a supermarket looks like.’
‘Are you sure you didn’t have one of your minders running those tedious errands for you?’ she had asked wryly, and he had burst out laughing.
‘Admittedly it was an irresistible temptation some of the time.’
‘I can’t believe how spoiled you were.’
‘My mother was very down to earth, despite her elevated standing,’ Abe had said pensively, in a one-off sharing of confidence, ‘I remember that about her, a necessity to instil discipline rather than an easy acceptance of what came with a life of privilege. Unfortunately, when she died, my father retreated into himself for a very long time. He emerged eventually but by then we were both changed irrevocably. I had grown up by myself and he...he substituted the more balanced approach to parenting that my mother had brought to the table with an abundance of material displays of affection. I think it was the only way he could think of handling me. He lacked the spirit to take over where my mother had left off and so, for some years, he replaced this with lavish spending on anything I wanted.’
‘That’s very sad, Abe. Losing the mother you clearly adored changed everything for both you and your father.’ Georgie could empathise; after all, she had also lost her own mother young. She understood why Abe was so keen to protect Tilly and why he felt he would always need to try his hardest to hold back from falling in love himself, as though to repress certain emotions had the power to prevent all hurt. She had been able to see in his expression that it was a time in his young life he was reluctant to dwell on, so she hadn’t been at all surprised when he had swiftly brought the topic back to a less emotional angle.
‘The minders came as part of the deal,’ he had added to lighten the tone. ‘Very restricting, hence I did actually take many an opportunity when I was older to venture into supermarkets whenever and wherever I could to purchase something and nothing.’
Georgie had burst out laughing because he could be so funny with an intelligent, dry wit that was pretty irresistible.
‘Maybe,’ she had mused, ‘having lost his wife, he was at pains to make sure he didn’t lose you as well, hence the bodyguards to protect you physically and the splurging out materially to try and keep you close. Maybe he thought that, having lost your mother, the last thing you needed might have been too much discipline.’
‘You could be right.’ His voice had been crisp, winding up the conversation, but he had not been able to hold back from saying, with sadness, ‘He could have tried just giving me his time and his companionship and his moral support though...’
He had swiftly moved on from there, back into his own comfort zone of physical contact and Georgie had tactfully not pressed him for any more information.
He was far too proud to have welcomed that approach but when he had opened up to her like that about his past her heart had nevertheless soared and wild hope for more than just ‘getting along well’with him had bloomed—even more so when he had also talked to her about his brief time in Ibiza, when he had, for the first time, tasted whatnormalitymust feel like for most people.
Then he had laughed and shrugged and his eyes had darkened and they had made it to the bedroom mysteriously with their clothes intact because she had never wanted him so badly before.
