Page 33 of Summer on the Ranch (Royally Wed #1)

When he parked, she slipped out of the cab and hurried into the store.

He stared after her. They had to talk, he reminded himself.

One of them had to be willing to say it first. Mitch decided he was going to be the one.

As soon as she got back, he was going to flat out tell her that he loved her and then let her take it from there.

He wasn’t a prince, he wasn’t sure he was anything close to a prince of a man, but he knew that no one could care about Alex the way he did.

There had to be a way to make it work between them.

He didn’t want to face a lifetime of a cold, empty bed.

She returned in a matter of minutes. When she slid in beside him, she clutched the plastic bag to her chest. ‘‘I have to tell you something.’’ She wasn’t looking at him. Instead she stared straight ahead.

‘‘What?’’

‘‘My parents are flying out to meet you.’’

A rock hit the pit of his stomach. Mitch wondered if this was how Alex had felt when he’d made his announcement last night. ‘‘Okay. When do they arrive?’’

‘‘I don’t know. It’s supposed to be a surprise, but Laura took pity on me this morning and phoned to tell me.’’

‘‘So we’ll have both sets of parents to deal with. That will be interesting. I’ve never met a king before.’’ He had to swallow hard. ‘‘Betty will be thrilled to be cooking for more royalty.’’

‘‘There’s more,’’ Alex said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

‘‘I’m sorry, Mitch.’’ She reached into the bag and pulled out a tabloid.

A picture of them dancing together filled the front page.

The caption above read ‘‘The Princess and the Cowboy. Royalty Finds Love in the American West.’’

He swore.

‘‘My thoughts exactly. Every tabloid out has a similar headline. I’m really sorry. I didn’t think this would happen when I invited you to the fund-raiser. If I had, I wouldn’t have bothered you.’’

He didn’t know what to say. All his life he’d lived just like everyone else, going about his business without worrying that the rest of the world would intrude.

But this was different. He studied the color photograph.

Alex looked incredibly beautiful, and he had to admit they looked good together.

But this was his personal life on display.

‘‘You’re angry,’’ she said.

‘‘I’m in shock. There’s a difference.’’

‘‘You’re not happy about it.’’

‘‘Of course not. Who would be?’’

She sighed. ‘‘I’m sorry.’’

He tossed down the paper. ‘‘Stop saying that. It’s not your fault. You can’t control what those jackals do.’’

‘‘I know, but…’’

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. ‘‘Don’t sweat it, princess. We’ll be fine.’’

‘‘Will we? I worry about that. I worry about so many things.’’

‘‘Leave the worrying to me. I have bigger shoulders so I can carry a bigger load. Okay, let’s see what the other headlines say.’’

He reached for her plastic bag. It slipped easily out of her hands, but then she made a grab for it. ‘‘No!’’ she cried.

Mitch was so startled he released it, but it was too late.

The slick material draped across her lap, and slowly the contents slipped onto the cab floor.

There were three more tabloids and a white box.

He stared at the box, at the words printed on the side, then he looked at Alex. Her cheeks flamed with color.

He thought about the times they’d been careless— no, that he’d been careless because he’d wanted her so much. He thought about her wanting to talk. He returned his gaze to the home pregnancy test. ‘‘You’re pregnant,’’ he said.

She stared at him helplessly. ‘‘That’s what we’re going to find out.’’

* * *

The next morning they both looked at the plus sign on the stick. Alex didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. For a moment she wished she were the fainting kind. A few minutes of oblivion would be very nice right now.

‘‘Well, I’ll be,’’ Mitch said.

She felt her eyes fill up with tears. Until that moment she hadn’t realized she’d been hoping for a more positive response from him. Yes, this was a complication neither of them expected, but it wasn’t as if it was her fault. She walked into his bedroom and sat on the bed.

‘‘You should have been more careful,’’ she said, blinking away the tears. ‘‘You were the experienced one.’’

‘‘Thanks for the news flash.’’ He came after her, stopping less than two feet in front of her. ‘‘But it’s not real helpful right now.’’

‘‘But making love without protection was irresponsible. You can’t be that way.’’

‘‘I’m not usually. Things got out of hand for both of us. You’re a very sexy woman and I wanted you. I won’t apologize for that.’’

‘‘Fine. Make it my fault.’’ She knew she was snapping at him for no reason, but she couldn’t help it. Everything was so out of control. How had this all happened? How were they going to fix it? And why wasn’t Mitch taking her in his arms and telling her that it was going to be all right?

‘‘What’s wrong with you?’’ He stared down at her. ‘‘Alex, you’re not making any sense. If you want to say it’s my fault, then it’s my fault, but that doesn’t deal with the problem.’’

‘‘Oh, so it’s a problem now, is it? Then let it be my problem. I’m sorry you know about the baby.’’

She started to stand up. He took her arm and held her in place. ‘‘What’s wrong with you?’’

‘‘Nothing.’’ But she couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t let him see her eyes and guess the truth.

Unfortunately Mitch knew her too well. ‘‘You’re scared,’’ he said, pulling her close. He wrapped his strong arms around her and held her tight. ‘‘You don’t know what to do and that terrifies you.’’

‘‘I’m perfectly fine,’’ she lied.

He kissed the top of her head. ‘‘Darlin’, we’re going to get through this together.’’

‘‘But this isn’t how I planned on getting pregnant.’’

‘‘It’s not how I planned on proposing to you, either, but here we are.’’

She raised her head and stared at him. Her heart stopped. Actually stopped. She heard it beat, then there was only silence. ‘‘You want to marry me?’’

A slow smile curved his perfect mouth. ‘‘Haven’t we already decided that you’re a hell of a catch? Given the way I feel about you, I’d be a fool to let you go.’’

She couldn’t believe it! ‘‘We’re getting married?’’

‘‘Who’s getting married?’’

Alex looked up and saw two couples standing in the doorway to the bedroom. She knew her own parents and recognized Mitch’s parents from the photos she’d seen in the family room.

Betty ducked around them. ‘‘Sorry,’’ she said with an apologetic shrug.

‘‘They arrived within minutes of each other. I tried to keep them busy in the living room, but you guys were kind of yelling at each other, and they just followed the voices.’’ She glanced at Alex’s father. ‘‘Is he really a king?’’

‘‘I am, madam,’’ King Phillip said, his bearing as regal as ever. He winked. ‘‘Pretty impressive, don’t you think?’’

With his white hair, neat beard and mustache, he looked like a Hollywood casting director’s dream for the role of elder statesman.

Normally Alex would be thrilled to see both him and her mother, but the realization that they had heard part or all of her argument with Mitch, not to mention the fact that she was pregnant, was too mortifying for words.

‘‘I can’t believe this,’’ Alex murmured.

‘‘You and me both.’’

A tall, pretty woman with a bit of gray in her short brown hair stepped forward. ‘‘You must be Princess Alexandra. I’m Cecilia, Mitch’s mother. You can call me Cissy. Everyone does.’’

Alex dug deep for courage and poise she wasn’t sure she had, then stepped free of Mitch’s sheltering arms. She shook hands with both Mitch’s parents. His father was a tall, handsome man who stood straight and had Mitch’s teasing smile.

‘‘So pleased to meet you,’’ Alex said. ‘‘Have you met my parents?’’

Her mother, Queen Gabriella, slipped her arm through Cissy’s as if they’d known each other for years. ‘‘We’ve already had the pleasure, my dear. While you and Mitch were busy…talking.’’

‘‘They’re obviously right for each other,’’ Cissy told Gabriella. ‘‘I knew it the minute I saw them together in that picture.’’

‘‘I agree,’’ the queen said. ‘‘I had about given up on her. I didn’t think she was ever going to fall in love. Your Mitch seems like a very good man. He’s done well with the ranch.’’

‘‘Of course he has,’’ Mitch’s father said. ‘‘Taught him everything he knows.’’

‘‘Robert, stop it,’’ Cissy said, lightly touching her husband’s arm.

King Phillip slapped Robert on the back. ‘‘I dare say you’ve hit the nail on the head. I’ve taken great pains to teach my children the right way and the wrong way. Any good father would, and I can see you’ve done well by your son. So, about the wedding.’’

Alex remembered watching a movie once in which the heroine was trapped behind a glass wall. She could talk or scream, but no one could hear her. That was how she felt this morning. Events were occurring around her, but she couldn’t seem to participate.

‘‘Yes,’’ Cissy said, eyeing her son. ‘‘They seem to have handled things in reverse order, which I can almost guarantee was Mitch’s fault.’’

Robert grinned. ‘‘That’s because he’s like his old man.’’

Cissy blushed. ‘‘Robert!’’

Mitch groaned. ‘‘I did not want to know that.’’

‘‘You think you two invented sex?’’ Robert asked testily. ‘‘I’ll have you know that after thirty-five years your mother and I—’’

‘‘Robert!’’ This time Cissy’s tone silenced her husband.

Gabriella gave the woman a knowing smile.

‘‘Phillip and I, as well. This is going to be a good match for our children. So let’s talk about the wedding. What about something extravagant? Lots of flowers and guests. A sit-down dinner. I’ve always wanted to plan something like that when Alexandra finally married.

’’ She paused. ‘‘I would suggest Wynborough, except the staff is already taxed by the gala celebration next year.’’