“I think it’s just calleddatingin this century.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No. Dating can be casual. You even tried to pretend itwascasual, but there’s nothing casual about how we feel about each other.”
“Admitting we’re not casual is as good as you calling meyourprince,” he said with satisfaction.
“I do that?”
“You have, on very rare occasions.”
“I do think of you as mine.”
His expression was growing more and more deliciously predatory. “The possessiveness is entirely mutual.”
“Good to know.”
“We fit. Even though I am a billionaire prince who cannot take a full vacation, we fit.”
“Even though I cannot give you children?” she asked, old pain as close to the surface as it had ever been.
“If we want children, we can adopt, or use a surrogate. Or if you want the experience of carrying my child, we can use IVF with your sister’s egg, or, if she does not want to do that, with eggs donated to a fertility clinic.”
“You’ve thought a lot about this,” she said faintly, finding it hard to get a breath to speak. “Really a lot.”
“Naturally. I do not have to have children for the line. You need to accept that my place in the family means any children we might have would not carry high nobility titles, but if you want it, I would love to be a father.”
Tears burned Jenna’s eyes. “You would make a really good father.”
“I like to think so. You would be an ideal mother. Strong and a great role model for both our sons and daughters.”
“You sound like you want a lot of children. You do realize I’m thirty-five.”
“Women are having children later in life, but if you do not want to do that, it is not a deal breaker for me.”
“You would not resent me if I never wanted children at all?”
“No.Milaya moy, I wantyou. I think I need you.”
She nodded to herself. “Are you afraid of theL-word?”
“I...” He tugged at the collar of his silk dress shirt, his expression guarded. “I thought love was off the table.”
“Did you?” He had a rude awakening coming then.
“I thought you were perfect for me. I didn’t need to consider beyond that.”
That’s what he thought. Jenna did not agree, even a little. TheL-word would be spoken.
“I was perfect for you even if you did have a list of things you thought were wrong with me,” he added.
“Not you, your role as a prince.”
“I can give that up,” he said as casually as he might tell her the time. Only that was not a casual statement. Not at all. “I cannot change the billionaire thing, or that I am my father’s son, but I can abdicate my role as prince.”
Jenna felt like all the air had been squeezed out of her surroundings, which of course was impossible. But had he just offered to repudiate his role as a prince in the House of Merikov?