Free Royal Affair by Laurie Paige

feeling,” he told her.
    â€œYou felt sorry for the babies,” she told him softly but firmly.
    As if she knew him better than he knew himself! He grimaced. “Children don’t have choices,” he said with an edge of bitterness he couldn’t hide. “Adults hold all the cards.”
    â€œWhat was your home life like?”
    â€œWhich part do you mean? The alcoholic mother? Or the father who abandoned us?”
    â€œOh, Everett, I’m so sorry,” she murmured, a stricken expression on her face.
    â€œThat was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter now.”
    â€œIt does. It hurts forever.”
    He didn’t argue. Instead he thought of the babies he’d seen in the nursery and the two whose identity he now knew.
    Those kids needed care, lots of it, and the Stork knew people who needed babies to complete their lives. Taking them from the nursery would be a snap and a service to all involved. He would make money. The kids would have good homes. As was often said, all’s well that ends well.

Five
    I vy sat on the patio and glared at Max. He didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention. He was reading the Portland newspaper— her newspaper—as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
    But then, why would he? Kings commanded; others jumped to do their bidding. Chuck Curland had left fast enough when Max had indicated he wanted to be alone with Ivy.
    Not that she wanted to be alone with him.
    She stared off into space. Since her patio apartment was at the end of the building, she had a clear vista in three directions. The creek, golf course and the hill with the medical complex was to the south.
    In the western sky, the last pink and golden tints of the sunset faded as twilight deepened behind the coastal mountain range. Almost due east, Mt. Hood rose to a majestic 11,235 feet, its top swathed in clouds.
    Today was still Saturday. Incredible. It seemed a month at the very least since she’d gotten up, visited the babies at the hospital, had lunch with Katie, did some work at her home computer, then had gone for a jog at which time she’d nearly been hit by a golf ball, come face-to-face with Max and gone down in a faint, the first of her entire life.
    After they’d returned from the hospital, Max had urged her to lie on the sofa and rest. She’d done so, hoping it would make him leave. Instead he’d checked the refrigerator, then asked his friend to bring them a gallon of milk and several selections of fruit. Once he had the items and Chuck had again departed, Max had prepared omelettes for their dinner along with bowls of fresh fruit salad.
    â€œIf your countrymen could see you now,” she’d mocked.
    He’d merely given her an amused glance. “My father believed in keeping me on a strict allowance during my university days. Chuck was on scholarship. We decided we could save a lot of money by cooking for ourselves. Then we found out we had to learn to cook.”
    A vivid picture leaped into Ivy’s mind. Max holding a match to the pan and lighting the sauce in whichthe cherries bubbled, then spooning the flaming concoction over the dish of ice cream. She and Max gazing into each other’s eyes as they ate the delicious dessert. His kiss when they were finished. His hands roaming over her in passionate delight, touching her in ways no other ever had. The heated plea-sure they had shared…
    A deeply felt sigh escaped her.
    Max—she couldn’t think of him as Prince Max—perused her over the top of the paper, then laid it aside. His dark, probing gaze ran over her. “Why the sigh? What are you thinking?” he asked, suddenly leaning close and gazing into her eyes. “Ah, that night.”
    â€œNo,” she choked out, but the flaming of her cheeks gave her away.
    His face hardened. “A child came of that night of passion. When were you going to tell me?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œYou