But Corina’s reasoning had weak spots. What if she’d signed right away? Then what would Stephen have done? Or what if she were remarried or engaged?
Okay, good questions. She shoved her hair away from her face. The tiara came off smoothly once she arrived at the Manor, and it waited in its box for Adelaide.
He probably already knew she wasn’t married or in a relationship. “You’re not exactly hiding.”
Corina pressed her hand over her heart, smiling. His words said annulment but his actions said, “I love you.”
A laugh bubbled in her chest. Stephen didn’t want those papers signed any more than she did.
However, proving that provided a set of complications.
For now, she’d have to trust her husband. And whatever intention the Lord of all had on his own heart when he told her to “love well.”
Corina propped one knee on the window seat and leaned against the sill. Brighton was her home away from home. Cathedral City, her city. The sapphire shores of Brighton Kingdom made a beautiful contrast to her Georgia red-clay roots.
For the rest of her time here, she’d help Stephen remember how good they were together. Their love was full of possibilities. Forget wars and disappointments, annulment papers and wounds of the heart. She had to hang on to her man, play the full four quarters, make her own goal line stance.
Corina set her hand on her hip where his rested, and she felt the heat of his touch. Though when he dropped her off last night, he was rather out of sorts and mentioned nothing of seeing her again.
Lord, are you praying for me? You have to show me the way.
Rain clouds darkened the dawn, and the first hint of a morning shower pattered against the pane as Corina loosened the corset strings of her heart and breathed in each tender emotion she held for her husband.
Her musings were interrupted by the hard ring of her phone. Gigi’s ringtone.
“Well, how was it?”
“Wonderful.” Corina lowered her phone and cleared her throat. There was too much emotion in her voice.
“Wonderful?” Gigi echoed, hard and concrete. “Are we talking about the movie premier or something else?”
Corina ran her hand through her hair. Wake up, wake up. Focus. “Of course the movie premier. It’s late at home. Are you waiting for first editions of the European papers to be posted to the Internet?”
“You know I always do. So, you were just referencing the premier? For a moment it sounded like you were talking about a kiss.”
“A kiss? Who kissed someone?” Corina sobered. No way could Gigi know about the roundabout. “I, however, was talking about the premier. It was wonderful.” She put some of thebreathback in her speech. “It was a night of movie stars, evening gowns, champagne. Clive Boston.”
“And royal princes?”
“Yes, right, of course Prince Stephen was there for the family.”
“Tell me, how’d you end up in his limousine? Wearing a tiara, no less?”
“Someone loaned it to me. You saw a picture? In which paper?”
She laughed. “All of them. Where did the tiara come from?”
“A friend of mine, from here, loaned it to me.” Corina pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. Amateur. She should’ve remembered the morning papers. She’d been away from the news game too long and become naive about the world’s digital eye. Not to mention she’d been too distracted with Stephen to remember Gigi.
“TheLiberty Pressclaims you were his date.”
“Not exactly. We’re old friends from uni.” There, she’d clung to the party line.
“Is he the man who came to see you? That night in the parking lot?”
“Gigi, seriously, you’re still on that parking lot thing? Almost two weeks ago and in the dark of night? Please, it was nothing. Listen, it’s still early here. I just woke up. Can I call you—”
“You can run, but you can’t hide, darling.” Gigi’s snide laugh pierced every one of Corina’s love bubbles. “I know about your tweet to theMadeline & Hyacinth Live!show.”
