The Nanny Proposition(22)

“He was killed in action before I could tell him I was pregnant.” She seemed so small, so alone. He crossed to her sofa and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m sorry, Jenna.” Such ineffectual words, but he could offer her nothing else. She’d said she was in love with Meg’s father, which was so much worse than what had happened between Rebecca and him. He cast around for something to say. “I didn’t know Larsland was at war.”

She drew in an unsteady breath. “He was part of our contingent in a United Nations peacekeeping mission.”

He nodded. Of course. This would have been a much smoother conversation if he had caffeine in his system. “So you were pregnant and single,” he said, picking up the pertinent thread.

She shuddered. “Which is worse than it sounds. Larsland’s royal family has prided itself for many years on the lack of scandal. You’ve probably seen that some of the other European royal houses have made headlines, so our parents instilled in us that it was our role to stay above that. Be better than that. We were never to give the people of Larsland a reason to question the need for a monarch.”

Understandable but unnervingly hardhearted. “So they packed you off?”

She flinched, then tucked her hair behind her ears as if to cover for the reaction. “No, I left. I didn’t want to put them in the position of having to make a decision about what to do with me.”

“Hang on,” he said, pulling away so he could see her face more clearly. “They don’t know where you are?”

She winced. “Not exactly, no.”

He thought of Bonnie disappearing when she reached her twenties and his blood turned to ice. He shifted away a little and rubbed a hand down his face, now really wishing they had waited till morning for this.

Then another thought struck. Without the use of diplomatic channels between the two countries, it would be beyond difficult for her to be here. “How have you pulled this off? Living here under another name is not an easy thing to achieve.”

“I entered the country using my own passport, and since then, well, it’s probably better that you don’t know the details, so let’s just say I have friends in high places.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Friends who let a princess work as a housekeeper and a nanny?”

“It’s what I wanted.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I needed to be incognito for a time while I worked out what to do with my life.”

Incognito. His chest clenched tight. She’d been using him. Toying with him and his family, starting with Dylan, then Bonnie and him. She’d lied, like every other woman he’d been involved with. The difference was, he’d trusted Jenna—she even knew how he felt about lying—but it turned out she was no different. His stomach turned.

“You’ve been using me, my family, as cover.” Nothing since they’d met was what he’d thought. Their every interaction had been dishonest. She’d been playing him for a fool. “No one would suspect a nanny or a housekeeper,” he said, disgusted.

She raised an eyebrow. “If you remember, you offered me this job. Pushed quite hard to get me to take it.”

He shook his head, refusing to take that as an excuse. “You lied to me. I suspected you were hiding something, but I never imagined it would be on this scale.”

“I know. I’m so sorry, but surely you can see why I had to.” She reached out a hand to him but he didn’t take it, so she put it back in her lap.

“I can see why you had to lie to strangers, but to me? All this time, we’ve been living in a house together, and you’ve said nothing.” He strode to the glass wall of the conservatory, acutely aware of how vulnerable they were in here—it seemed no better than being out in the open. “Do you even realize the risk you put Bonnie in?”

“No one knew I was here,” she said, frowning.

“What if someone had found out? All it would take is one person who alerts the world’s media that a princess was hiding out in L.A. as a nanny. If the media had descended on my house, we would have had no warning to prepare, to have enough security in place.” The scene was almost too horrifying to contemplate. “You could have put Bonnie in the middle of a media frenzy.”

Her face paled. “I honestly didn’t think—don’t think—that’s a feasible risk.”

“But it’s possible,” he persisted.

Her shoulders slumped slightly. “I guess so.”

Liam felt so tense his muscles were vibrating. Tomorrow he’d meet with the head of security for the farm and work out an excuse to put in some extra safety measures. Even if Jenna left tonight, if the paparazzi ever figured out she’d once been here, this place would be crawling with the press. He’d never let Bonnie be a target.

“So what happens now?” he asked. “Do you want me to pretend to everyone that you’re a regular citizen while you keep working for me?”

She unfolded herself from the sofa, wandered over to a stand of ferns and rubbed a frond between her fingers. “I need to go home and sort this out.”

Something slid into place in his mind. “That’s why you said your life was in disarray when we first kissed.”

“Yes.” She squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them again she seemed about ten years older. “I was always going to have to return home, and once I do that, I have no idea what the future will hold for me and Meg. It’s not a time in my life when I can start a relationship.”

“Right.” He nodded once. The last thing he wanted was a relationship, either. Especially not with an incognito princess who’d been lying to him. “So you’re leaving,” he said, his voice flat.

“Not right away, unless you want me to.” She raised her hand to circle her throat. “I thought I’d wait till after the Midnight Lily’s launch, and I’ll help you interview new nannies. Once everything’s in place, I’ll go.”

He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “You know, this is not how I saw the rest of the night panning out.”

“Liam,” she said softly and waited till he looked at her. “I’m sorry.”

“Tell that to Bonnie when she’s crying for you after you leave.” He knew that was an unfair thing to say, but he wasn’t in the mood to be fair.

He pushed to his feet and headed back to his room.

* * *

Jenna didn’t see Liam again until the next night at dinner. He arrived late, and she didn’t blame him—if their positions were reversed, she’d have wanted time to process the bombshell she’d dropped last night, too.

“Good evening, Jenna,” he said, his tone and expression excruciatingly polite. Which meant they were back to the mask he wore with other people but he’d stopped putting on for her. The realization stung but didn’t surprise.

“Hello, Liam.” She tried to be bright to compensate. “Bonnie’s asleep, but she had a good day.”

Katherine came in with bowls of steaming minestrone and freshly baked bread on a tray. Liam thanked her, Jenna said the smell coming from the bowls was divine and Katherine left with a satisfied smile.

Liam broke off a piece of bread. “I checked on her before coming in here and she’s sleeping soundly. I had hoped to come in and get her and the carrier, but I was in meetings most of the day. Perhaps tomorrow you could ring Danielle when it’s a good time for Bonnie, and I’ll swing by and pick her up.”

“That would be great. I know Bonnie would enjoy it.” The mention of his PA reminded her of the meeting she’d had a few hours earlier. “Danielle came by this afternoon and we went over the plans for the Midnight Lily’s launch. It seems to be coming together nicely.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.” He put his spoon down and met her eyes squarely. “The reason you don’t want to attend is you’re worried about being caught in a photo, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she admitted, only just resisting the urge to fidget.

“What if we made it a masked event?” His voice was low, his gaze serious. “The Midnight Masque.”

She gaped. “You can’t make a change that big five days out from the event.”

“It’s not changing anything substantial,” he said, shrugging one shoulder. “More like adding something. And sending the update to people who’ve already been invited will serve as a reminder about the event itself. I talked to Danielle about the feasibility earlier and she thinks it could work. In fact, she said there’s a certain mystique to the flower already, so this will play up that element.”

A masked event? She could see it in her mind’s eye—guests wearing half-masks, the mystery, the glamour, the fun. They could bring their own or wear one that Hawke’s Blooms provided in midnight blue. It could work, and she’d be able to see the fruits of her labor firsthand. It was perfect.

Without thinking, she reached out and laid a hand over his forearm. “You’d do that? After everything that I—”

He glanced down at her hand, his eyes pained, and she quickly withdrew it. Then he let out a sigh. “Regardless of what’s occurred between us, this event wouldn’t be happening without you. You deserve to be there,” he said, his voice softening for the first time since he’d walked in the door.