At His Majesty's Convenience / Her Little Secret, His Hidden Heir. Jennifer Lewis

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СКАЧАТЬ name is Andi Blake.”

      “Andi.” She said it softly. Then frowned again. “Is that short for something?”

      Jake froze. Was it? He had no idea. He didn’t remember ever calling her anything else, but it had been six long years since he’d seen her résumé and frankly he couldn’t remember the details. “Nope. Just Andi. It’s a pretty name.”

      He regretted the lame comment, something you might say to a six-year-old. But then he didn’t have experience in dealing with amnesiacs, so maybe it wasn’t all that inappropriate.

      “Oh.” She seemed to mull that over. She wiped her eyes. “At least I know my own name now.” Then she bit her lip. “Though it doesn’t sound at all familiar.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “What if my memory doesn’t come back?”

      “Don’t worry about that, I’m sure—” A knock on the door announced the arrival of the doctor, and Jake released a sigh of relief. “Please send him in.”

      Andi’s tearful trembling subsided as the doctor checked her over, peering into her eyes with a light, checking her pulse and breathing, and taking her temperature.

      As the local doctor, he’d been to the palace before and knew Andi. She showed no sign of recognizing or remembering him. His questions revealed that while she remembered general concepts, like how to tie a knot, she recalled nothing about her own life.

      “Andi, would you excuse us a moment?” The doctor ushered Jake out into the hallway. “Is she exhibiting mood changes?”

      “Big time. She’s not like herself at all. She seemed happy—silly even—when I first found her. Just now she was crying. I think the reality of what’s going on is setting in.”

      “Sounds like a pretty textbook case of temporary memory loss, if there is such a thing.” The older man snapped his briefcase closed. “Lots of emotion. Mood swings. Loss of long-term memory. I’ve never seen it before, myself, but in most cases the memory eventually starts to come back.”

      “When? How long will she be like this?”

      The doctor gave a Ruthenian shrug. “Could be days, could be weeks. There’s a slim possibility she won’t ever recall everything. She’s certainly had a good bump to her head, but no signs of concussion or other injury. Do you have any idea what happened?”

      Jake shook his head. “I found her out dancing on the lawn. I didn’t see anything happen at all.”

      “Make sure she gets plenty of sleep, and encourage her with questions to bring back her memory.” The doctor hoisted his bag onto his shoulder. “Call me anytime, of course.”

      “Thanks.” Jake frowned. “Can we keep this amnesia thing between us? I think Andi would be embarrassed if people knew what was going on. She’s a very private person.”

      The doctor’s brow furrowed even more than usual. “Of course.” Your Highness. The unspoken words hovered in the air. Jake sensed slight disapproval at his request for secrecy, but he knew the physician would honor it. “Please keep me posted on her progress.”

      Jake went back into his suite and locked the door. Andi was sitting on the sofa and her mood seemed to have brightened. Her tears were gone, and a smile hovered in her eyes as she looked up at him. “Will I live?”

      “Without a doubt. It’s late. How about some sleep?”

      “I’m not at all sleepy.” She draped herself over the sofa, eyes heavy-lidded with desire. “I’d rather play.”

      Jake’s eyes widened. Could this really be the same Andi he’d worked with all these years? It was shocking to imagine that this flirtatious person had been lurking inside her the whole time. Unless it was just a mood swing caused by her condition.

      She rose from the sofa and swept toward him, then threw her arms around his waist. “I do love you.”

      Gulp. Jake patted her cautiously on the back. This could last for days. Or weeks. Or longer.

      His skin tingled as her lips pressed against his cheek. “I’m so glad we’re together.” Her soft breath heated his skin as she breathed the words in his ear.

      And this was the woman who’d announced, only a few hours before, that she was leaving for good, that night.

      At least that was off the agenda for now.

      His phone rang and he tensed. What now? “Excuse me.” He extricated himself from her embrace and pulled it from his pocket.

      A glance at the number revealed the caller was Maxi. She’d formed a new habit of calling him at bizarre times like the crack of dawn or during his morning workout. This call in the wee hours was a new and even more unappealing attempt to monopolize his time.

      Still, maybe there was some kind of emergency.

      “Hi, Maxi.”

      “Jake, are you still awake?” Her breathy voice grated on his nerves.

      “I am now.” He glanced at Andi, who was twirling around the room doing the dance of the seven veils, or something. “What do you want?”

      “So impatient. I just wanted to chat. About you and me.”

      He shoved a hand through his hair. Maxi was definitely not The One. In fact she could be voted Least Likely to be Queen of Ruthenia, since she was firmly in his “keep your enemies closer” circle. He’d been drawing her in and inviting her confidence on purpose. Not because he loved her, or was even attracted to her. He’d found evidence that her family was involved in weapons dealing and possibly worse, but he didn’t have enough proof to do anything about it yet.

      None of the other girls dealt in arms or drugs, as far as he knew, but they were all empty-headed and silly. Right now he was more attracted to his own assistant than to any of Ruthenia’s pampered beauties.

      An idea crept into his brain.

      Since Andi seemed to assume they were a couple, why not make it a reality? He had to marry someone. He could announce to the press tomorrow that his chosen bride was his own assistant.

      A chill of sangfroid crept over him. Could he really arrange his own marriage so easily? Andi was agreeable, intelligent and practical, perfectly suited to life in the spotlight. She’d worked just outside it for years and knew the whole routine of palace life perfectly. Apart from her presumably humble origins—he really didn’t know anything about her origins, but since he’d never met her parents at a ball, he was guessing—she’d be the ideal royal wife.

      They’d known each other for years and he could simply announce that they’d been involved for a long time but kept their relationship secret.

      The announcement would send the long-fingernailed wolves away from his door for good. He and Andi could marry, produce an heir and a spare or two, and live a long, productive life in the service of the citizens of Ruthenia—wasn’t that what was really important?

      Andi had wandered into the bedroom and a quick glance revealed that she now lay sprawled on his bed.

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