The Duchess Diaries. Merline Lovelace

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СКАЧАТЬ her was how deep the disappointment went. She’d been so busy she hadn’t had time to dwell on the confused feelings Jack Mason stirred in her. Except at night, when she dropped into bed exhausted and exhilarated and wishing she had someone to share the moments of her day with. Or when her body reminded her that she wasn’t its sole inhabitant anymore. Or when she happened to spot a tall, tanned male across the room or on the street or in the subway.

      “Don’t be stupid,” she muttered as she signed form after form. “He’s making the world safer for our embassy people. That has to take precedence.”

      She was concentrating so fiercely on the clipboard in her hand that she didn’t hear the door to the reception area open.

      “Good, I’m not late.”

      The relieved exclamation brought her head up with a jerk.

      “Jack! I thought... Vickers said...”

      Of all the idiotic times to get teary-eyed! How could she handle every crisis at work with a cheerful smile and turn into such a weepy wimp around this man? She had to jump off this emotional roller coaster.

      “Vickers told me what he said.” Grinning, he dropped into the chair beside hers. “He also told me what you said.”

      “Yes, well, you shouldn’t piss off a preggo. The results aren’t pretty.”

      “I’ll remember that.”

      Guilt wormed through the simple, hedonistic pleasure of looking at his handsome face. She let the clipboard drop to her lap and made a wry face.

      “You shouldn’t have come. Vickers said you had a top-level conference going on all week.”

      “We wrapped up the last of the key issues this morning. All that’s left is to approve the report once it gets drafted. I can do that by secure email. Which means,” he said as he took the clipboard and flipped through the forms, “I don’t have to fly back to D.C. right away. Here, you forgot to sign this one.”

      She scribbled her signature and tried not to read too much into his casual comment about extending his trip up from D.C. Didn’t work. When he tacked on an equally casual invitation, her heart gave a little bump.

      “If you don’t have plans, I thought I might take you and the duchess to dinner tonight.”

      “Oh, I can’t. I’m working a fiftieth anniversary party. I had to sneak out for this appointment.”

      “How about tomorrow?”

      The bump was bigger this time. “Are you staying over that long?”

      “Actually, I told Dale to clear the entire weekend.”

      “Ha! Bet he loved that.”

      “He’s not so bad, Gina. You two just got off on the wrong foot.”

      “Wrong foot, wrong knee, wrong hip and elbow. How long has he worked for you, anyway?”

      “Five years.”

      “And no one’s ever told you he’s officious or condescending?”

      “No.”

      “It has to be me, then.” Grimacing, she rolled out the reason she suspected might be behind his aide’s less-than-enthusiastic response to her call. “Or the fact that the paparazzi will have a field day when they hear you knocked me up.”

      “They probably will,” he replied, not quite suppressing a wince. “But when they do, you might want to use a different phrase to describe the circumstances.”

      “Really? What phrase do you suggest I use, Mr. Ambassador?”

      He must have seen the chasm yawning at his feet. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to come across as such a pompous jerk.”

      The apology soothed Gina’s ruffled feathers enough for her to acknowledge his point. “I’m sorry, too. I know the pregnancy will cause you some embarrassment. I’ll try not to add to it.”

      “The only embarrassing aspect to this whole situation is that I can’t convince the beautiful and very stubborn mother of my child to marry me.”

      She wanted to believe him, but she wasn’t that naive. She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before voicing the worry that had nagged her since Switzerland.

      “Tell me the truth, Jack. Is this going to impact your career?”

      “No.”

      “Maybe not at the State Department, but what about afterward? I read somewhere that certain powerful PACs think you have a good shot at the presidency in the not-too-distant future.”

      “Gina, listen to me.” He curled a knuckle under her chin and tipped her face to make sure he had her complete attention. “We met, we were attracted to each other, we spent some time together. Since neither of us were then, or are now, otherwise committed, the only ones impacted by the result of that meeting are you, me and our baby.”

      “Wow,” she breathed. “That was some speech, Mr. Ambassador. Those PACs may be right. You should make a bid for the Oval Office. You’d get my vote.”

      He feathered the side of her jaw with his thumb. “I’d rather get your signature on a marriage license.”

      Maybe...maybe she was being blind and pigheaded and all wrong about this marriage thing. So he didn’t love her? He wanted her, and God knew she wanted him. Couldn’t their child be the bridge to something more?

      The thought made her cringe inside. What kind of mother would pile her hopes and dreams on a baby’s tiny shoulders?

      “We’ve had this discussion.” Shrugging, she pulled away from his touch. “Let’s not get into it again.”

      Surprise darkened his brown eyes, followed by a touch of what could have been either disappointment or irritation. Before Gina could decide which, a nurse in pink-and-blue scrubs decorated with storks delivering bundles of joy popped into the waiting room.

      “Ms. St. Sebastian?”

      “Right here.”

      “If you’ll come with me, I’ll get your height and weight and show you to an exam room.”

      Gina pushed out her chair. Jack rose with her. The nurse stopped him with a friendly smile. “Please wait here, Mr. St. Sebastian. I’ll come get you in a few minutes.”

      The look on his face was more than enough to disperse Gina’s glum thoughts. Choking back a laugh, she floated after the nurse. When Jack joined her in the exam room five minutes later, she was wearing a blue paper gown tied loosely in the front and a fat grin.

      “I set her straight on the names.”

      “Uh-huh.”

      “Come on,” she teased. “You have to admit it was funny.”

      The only thing in Jack’s mind at the moment was not something he could admit. СКАЧАТЬ