To Kiss a King (Kings of California #11)(42)
Author: Maureen Child

“Henrik!” The king’s shout went unanswered as the duke scuttled out the door to disappear. Probably forever.

“What is going on here? I could hear the shouts all the way to the garden.” The queen looked from one face to the next, her silent, accusatory stare demanding answers.

“Garrett King claims Alexis is pregnant with his child,” the king managed to say through gritted teeth.

“And I was just about to beat him to a pulp,” Christopher said helpfully.

“In your dreams,” Garrett muttered, never taking his eyes off Alex.

“Well, it’s a lie,” she snapped. “I’m not pregnant.”

No one was listening. The princes were arguing among themselves, the queen and the king were locked into battle and Alex was looking at Garrett through furious eyes. When she turned to leave, he bolted across the room, grabbed her hand and tugged her into the hall, away from her arguing family.

“Don’t,” she said, pulling her hand free. Looking up at him, she said, “You don’t belong here, Garrett. Go home.”

“No.”

“You had your choice, and you made it. Now it’s time we both live with it.”

He grabbed her again, holding on to her shoulders half worried that she’d run if he let her go. It could take him weeks to find her again in this place. “Why did you return the package I sent you?”

“Because what we had is over. Now please, just go.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured and pulled her in close. Wrapping his arms around her, to hold on tight when she started to squirm, Garrett kissed her. He poured everything he’d been feeling for the last two weeks into that kiss. The longing. The pain. The regret. The joy at being with her again. For the first time in too damn long, he felt whole. As if the puzzle pieces of his life had fallen into place.

Her tongue tangled with his, her breath slid into his lungs and her heartbeat clamored in time with his own. Everything was right. He just had to convince her that he was a changed man.

Finally, he broke the kiss, stared down into those amazing eyes of hers and said, “Alex, I don’t give a damn about your crown. I don’t care that you’re a princess. Don’t care that our worlds are so different. I’ll convince your father to let us be together. We can make it work, Alex. We will make it work.”

“Garrett…” She sighed, and said, “I want to believe you. But you made yourself perfectly clear before. You didn’t want me in California. So why now? What’s changed?”

“Me,” he told her, lifting his hands to cup her face. His thumbs moved over her cheekbones and just the feel of her soft, smooth skin beneath his eased the pain that had been tearing at him for what seemed forever. “I’ve changed. And I did want you in California, Alex. I always wanted you. From the first time I saw you in Disneyland, I wanted you. I was just too busy looking for trouble to see what I’d already found.”

She shook her head, and Garrett’s heart stopped briefly. But a King never backed away from a challenge. Especially one that meant more to him than his life.

“Alex, I know now what’s really important.” God, he had to make her believe him. Those eyes of hers were so deep, so rich with emotion, with love. Seeing it gave him enough hope to continue. To tell her everything he wanted her to know.

And he still hadn’t even said the most important thing. “I love you. I love you, Alex, Princess Alexis Morgan Wells. I really do.”

Her breath caught and a single tear rolled from the corner of her eye. He caught it with his thumb as if it were precious. Sunlight speared in from an overhead window and lay on her beautiful hair, now tightly controlled in a twist on top of her head.

“I love your laugh.” His gaze moved over her and then he reached up to tug a few pins loose, letting her hair fall down around her shoulders. “And I love your hair, all wild and tangled. I love the way you find something beautiful in everything. I love your clever brain and your smart-ass mouth. I love that you’re willing to call me out when you think I’m being an idiot.”

Her lips quirked.

“And I love that you want to help women in need and I’d like to be a part of that.”

She took a sharp breath.

“I want to be with you, Alex. Always. I want to build a life with you. In California and Cadria.”

“How—”

“I’m opening a branch of King Security right here in Cadria. We’ll be the European division.”

“Garrett—” She shook her head sadly. “You’re not used to this kind of life. I’m followed by reporters and photographers. We wouldn’t be able to just buy a house in town and move in. We would have to live here in a wing of the palace. You’d hate that, you know you would.”

He laughed shortly. “First off, you forget. I’m one of the Kings of California. We’ve got paparazzi following us all the damn time looking for a story. I’m used to life in a fishbowl. It’s not always pretty, but if you want to badly enough, you can carve out a private life.”

“But—”

“And it doesn’t matter where we live, Alex,” he said, “as long as we’re together.” He gave a glance around the wide hallway, with its priceless art hanging on the walls and the gleam of marble shining up at them. “I could learn to love the palace.”

She laughed, and God, it sounded like music to him.

“I’ll miss good Thai food at one in the morning, but if the craving gets bad, I’ll have Griffin send me some on a King Jet.”

“Oh, Garrett,” she said on a chuckle.

“It’ll work, Princess,” he said quickly, giving her a quick kiss as if to seal a promise. “We’ll blend our lives and build one together that will suit both of us.”

Alex’s breath caught in her chest. Everything she had ever dreamed of was right here, in front of her. All she had to do was reach out and take it. Returning the package he had sent her hadn’t been easy, but she’d hoped that he would come to her, repeating family history. Now, here he was and Alex was half afraid to believe in it.

“I love you, Alex,” he said softly. “Marry me. Love me back.”

She sighed and lifted both arms to wrap them around his neck. “I do love you, Garrett King.”

“Thank God,” he said on a laugh, dropping his forehead to hers. “When you returned the necklace…”