The Duchess Diaries: The Diplomat's Pregnant Bride / Her Unforgettable Royal Lover / The Texan's Royal M.D.. Merline Lovelace

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ next few days flew by. Gina got caught up at work. During her spare hours she showed Zia and Dominic the best of New York. She also delighted in the slow unfurling of her grandmother’s memories. Prompted by her guests’ presence and their gentle probing, the duchess shared some of her past.

      She’d kept it locked inside her for so long that each anecdote was a revelation. Even now she would only share those memories that gave glimpses of a girl born into a wealthy, aristocratic family, one who’d grown up with all Europe as her playground. A fascinated Gina learned for the first time that her grandmother might have qualified as an Olympic equestrian at the age of fifteen had her family allowed her to compete. She’d retaliated for their adamant refusal by insisting she be allowed to study Greek and Roman history at Charles University in Prague.

      “Prague is such a romantic city,” the duchess mused to her audience of three over a dinner of Hungarian dishes prepared by Zia and Dominic as a small thank-you to their hostess.

      Candles flickered in tall silver holders. The remains of the meal had been cleared away but no one was in a hurry to leave the table. A Bohemian crystal decanter of pálinka sat within easy reach. Double-distilled and explosively potent, the apricot-flavored brandy had been a gift from Zia and Dom. The duchess and her guests sipped sparingly from balloon-shaped snifters. Gina was more than content with a goblet of diet cranberry juice and the dreamy expression on her grandmother’s face.

      “That’s where I first met the duke,” the duchess related with smile. “In Prague. There’d been talk off and on about a possible liaison between our families but nothing had come of it at that point.”

      “So what was he doing in Prague?” Gina asked.

      “He’d evidently decided it was time to take a wife, and came to find out if I was scandalously modern as the rumors said.”

      She took a sip of brandy and a faraway look came into her eyes.

      “When he walked into the café where my friends and I were having dinner, I didn’t know who he was at first. All I saw was this tall, impossibly handsome man with jet-black hair and the swarthy skin of his Magyar ancestors. Even then, he had such a presence. Every head in the café turned when he walked over to my table,” she murmured. “Then he bowed, introduced himself, and I was lost.”

      The duchess paused, drifting on her memories, and Gina’s gaze drifted to Dominic. His olive-toned skin and dark eyes indicted Magyar blood ran in his veins, too.

      A nomadic, cattle-herding tribe that swept into Europe from the Steppes, the Magyars were often depicted in art and literature as the early Hungarian equivalent of America’s Wild West cowboys. Gina was back in the 8th or 9th century, picturing Dominic riding fast and low in the saddle, when the intercom sounded.

      She returned to the present with a start. The buzz brought the duchess out of her reverie, as well. A small frown of annoyance creased her forehead.

      “I’ll get it,” Gina said.

      She crossed to the intercom’s wall unit and saw the flashing light signaling a call from the lobby. “Yes?”

      “It’s Jerome, Lady Eugenia. There’s a gentleman to see you. Mr. John Mason.”

      Jack! Surprise and pure, undiluted delight flooded her veins.

      “Send him up! Excuse me,” she said to the three interested parties at the table. “I need to get the door.”

      She rushed to the entryway and out into the hall, wishing she’d spiffed up a little more for this evening at home. Oh, well, at least she still fit into her skinny jeans. And her crab-apple-green stretchy T-shirt did accent her almost-nursing-mother boobs.

      When Jack stepped out of the elevator, Gina forgot all about her appearance and devoured his. Ohmanohmanohman! Hungarian cowboys had nothing on tall, tanned Virginians.

      The sight of him erased last weekend’s awkward moments. Her hurt and indignation over learning that his father had hired a P.I. evaporated. Ditto the poisonous little barbs planted by his obnoxious chief of staff. Double ditto the ache in her heart when she’d spotted the pictures of Catherine at his home. Like the duchess had so many years ago, all Gina needed to do was look at this man and know she was lost.

      “What are you doing here?”

      “Two reasons. One, I didn’t like the way our weekend ended. I’m still kicking myself for letting you leave with little more than a peck on the cheek.”

      “Oh. Well. I suppose we can correct that.”

      “You suppose right.”

      When he hooked her waist, she went into his arms eagerly, joyfully. He buried a hand in her hair and more than made up for any deficiencies in their parting.

      Gina could have stayed there forever. The feel and the taste and the scent of him wrapped around her like warm silk. She felt his heart beating under her spread palms, breathed in the heady mix of aftershave and male.

      When he raised his head, her heart was in her smile. “You said there were two reasons. What’s the second?”

      The pause was brief, hardly more than half a breath, but still noticeable.

      “I missed you.”

      “Was it that hard to say?” she teased.

      “You try it.”

      “I missed you.” It came so easily she added a little embellishment. “Bunches.”

      The murmur of voices inside the apartment snagged Jack’s attention. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

      “No, we finished dinner a while ago and are just sitting around the table talking. Come meet my cousins.”

      She led him to the dining room and had time to note widely varied reactions before she made the introductions. Zia’s first glimpse of the newcomer brought her elbows off the table and a look of instant interest to her face. As her eyes raked Jack over, a slow, feline smile curved her lips.

      Gina couldn’t help herself. She was bristling like a barnyard cat when she noticed Dominic’s expression. It was as shuttered as his sister’s was open. The duchess’s, on the other hand, was warm and welcoming.

      “Good evening, Ambassador. It’s good to see you again.”

      The title sent Zia’s brows soaring. Her gaze whipped from Jack to Gina and back again, while Dominic slowly pushed his chair back from the table and stood.

      “It’s good to see you, too, Duchess.” Jack crossed the dining room to take her hand. “I’m sorry to barge in like this.”

      “No need to apologize. Allow me to introduce my guests. They’re visiting from Hungary.”

      “So Gina told me.”

      “Anastazia, may I present Ambassador Jack Mason.”

      He was at his most urbane with the sultry brunette. A smile, a lift of her hand, a light kiss on the fingers.

      “You must call me Zia,” she purred. “And I will call you Jack, yes?”

СКАЧАТЬ