“I caught you once, remember? But now that you mention swooning, I’m quite sure my simple kiss will prove disappointing. As you say, a kiss doesn’t have that much power.”
“I think we’ve talked about this for way too long.”
He drew her close. “Then shall we get on with it?”
“Very romantic, Prince. Did you hear that, Hercules?” The big horse stuck his nose over the top of his stall and glanced down the thoroughfare.
Enough chatter, then. John slipped his arm about her waist and bent toward her. She hooked her hands over his shoulders as their lips met.
At first it was a bit underwhelming. Then, there was nothing but her warm, soft lips and the fragrance of rain, hay, horses, and puppies. The perfume of her life. And he escaped into it.
Way off in some distant valleys of his soul, the sound of a breaking box echoed.
When they broke apart, their eyes met, and without a word or even a sigh, they fell into another kiss, breathing to the rhythm of the rain. They were the only two people on the earth. John felt it.
He didn’t register the sound of Hercules’s big hooves clopping against the stones until his giant nose rammed him from behind, knocking him out of the barn and into a warm, muddy puddle. Hercules, apparently, was having none of it.
Laughing, John hopped up and reached for Gemma, dragging her into the rain with him. He hugged her against his hip, kissing her as the rain slaked their skin clear through to their weary souls.
“I thought we needed sleep,” she said.
“We do.” He took her hand and led her under cover for another kiss. From the puppy stall, he thought he heard his phone beckoning. No bother, he’d answer later. “Where were we?”
“I knew I loved the rain,” Gemma said when their kisses began to fade. “We should, um, dry off.” She lifted the lid of the blue tub and handed him a stained, tattered terry cloth that smelled of laundry soap.
He dried off as she flipped over to towel her hair, and when she rose up, the shadows in her eyes had retreated. At least as far as he could see.
He took hold of her and rested his cheek against her wet hair. “I’ll remember this. Always.” Blast! That was his phone ringing. Not the ordinary ring of friends and family but an urgent tone. “Excuse me, Gemma.”
Answering his phone, he peered up to see Gunner standing in the barn, his phone in his hand, his expression somber. John tried but failed to stop the sinking sensation of bad news.
“Dad, hello,” he said.
“Come home, Son.” His voice crunched like gravel. “Mum’s collapsed.”
“I’ve been stalking IG accounts in America. I found this. It’s dark but isn’t that Prince John and the same woman he carried in his arms? Margot? Gina? @melissafarisreports. Can anyone confirm? I’ll be so desperate if he’s found love before I had a chance to go to the royal ball and sweep him off his feet. #Cinderellasyndrome”
— @ILoveTheRoyals on Instagram
“More and more I’m wondering the purpose of the Family. Why strap Prince John to a law of marriage in order to take his oath? The man is clearly mourning his wife. And really, Samm, I ask, isn’t the age of royal houses over?”
— Hamish Fickle ofThe Nightly Show with Samm Mann
“Hamish Fickle, MP from Midlands, continues to challenge the monarchy. His young RECO party held a rally on Haxton University’s Hax Square with thousands in attendance. ‘I think he’s the future,’ said law student Lindsay Harrell.”
— the News Leader
“Well, Stone, we’re not sure really. We’ve heard rumors the queen is in the Royal Louis Medical Center, but efforts to enter Her Majesty’s wing have been thwarted. As information is released, we’ll announce it here on theMorning Show. Also follow me on social media @melissafarisroyalreporter.”
— Stone Brubaker on the Morning Show
Chapter Sixteen
Gemma
How could a man she’d only known two weeks leave a hole in her heart? This was not supposed to happen. She blamed the puppies. They’d tenderized her, made her want to love, made her think of marriage and the whole silly white picket fence thing.
She’d hoped she’d get over those quirky, crushy feelings. But in the two weeks he’d been gone, she felt the same.
