His Pregnant Royal Bride. Amy Ruttan

       PROLOGUE

      “THAT HAS TO be the most monotonous lecturer that I’ve ever had the displeasure to listen to,” Shay teased as she took a sip of her pineapple cocktail. She glanced over shyly at Dr. Dante Affini, who was attending the same conference on trauma simulation as her in Honolulu. She felt as if she was talking too loudly, which was something she always did in the presence of a man she found utterly attractive. And Dr. Dante Affini was all that and more. Just a few days with him and she was a lost woman. Add in the tropical setting and drinks...

      It was a perfect paradise.

      Shay had intended to throw herself completely into her work, as she always did, but on the first day of the conference she’d bumped into Italian surgeon Dr. Dante Affini looking perplexed. He hadn’t known where to go and she’d helped him.

      Since she’d let him know that she was attending the same presentations as him, they’d been inseparable. She didn’t mind in the least. Dante was handsome, charming, intelligent and single.

      She bit her lip, blood heating her cheeks. What was she doing? She didn’t get involved with doctors, but with Dante it was hard not to.

      He didn’t look down his nose at her for being a nurse practitioner. Usually at these kind of conferences the nurses stuck together and the physicians stuck together. Except Dante seemed to be the exception. He’d turned down golfing, dinners and drinks with the other surgeons to accompany her. They’d attended the same lectures and seemed to agree on the same approaches to medicine.

      Now the conference was winding up and it had been Dante’s idea to get drinks.

      She knew she shouldn’t have accepted his invitation. It was not something she was used to doing, but this was sort of a work vacation and for once, Shay thought, why not?

      Dante was charming, sexy, and she’d been so busy with her work for the last couple of years that maybe it was the perfect time to kick back and have some fun.

      “Sì, that was most terrible.” He shuddered and took a drink of his pineapple juice, then turned around, his dark eyes flickering out over the water. “It is a beautiful night.”

      Shay nodded. “The breeze is nice. It was sweltering in that room.”

      “Yes, it was most unpleasant.” He waved his hand in a sweeping arc. “This, however, is paradise.”

      And he wasn’t wrong. The sun was setting, like molten gold against the turquoise water. Palm trees swayed gently in the breeze and the sky was darkening. Soon it would be full of stars as the hotel where the conference was being held was off the beaten track. It was on the North Shore and there wasn’t much else around it. No city, no noise and no distractions. It was heavenly.

      “I wish I had more time to explore,” Shay said wistfully. “I never traveled much until I joined the United World Wide Health Association, but that’s for work and I don’t get a lot of downtime on assignments. It’s all about the work.”

      Dante shook his head. “That is no way to live life.”

      “Maybe not, but I love what I do.”

      He smiled at her, that charming, sexy, crooked smile she was getting used to seeing every day. She was going to miss it when the conference was over.

      “Of course, who am I to talk about living life, cara? My main focus is also my work.”

      “See, then why harass me?” she teased.

      “Still, when you take an assignment somewhere, you must have time off.”

      Shay shrugged. “A little bit, but lately my assignments have been to mainly Third World countries after they’ve suffered a natural disaster and it really isn’t safe to wander away from base camp to take in the sights.”

      Dante grinned. “Did I mention how incredibly brave you are, cara? I admire that about you.”

      Warmth flooded her cheeks. She could listen to Dante talk all night. He had such a dreamy Italian accent but spoke English so fluently.

      “I just do my job,” Shay said, brushing off the compliment, because she was proud of the work she did. It was a way to honor her mother, who should be alive still, if it weren’t for Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. The ill-effects of a poisoned house had prematurely taken the life of her mother, in the end.

      It was at that moment that Shay knew what direction she had to take her life.

      She’d worked hard to get where she was.

      Now her job was to train other nurses and first responders by using simulation, so that they could go into the war zones, the disaster areas, and save lives, because that was all that mattered.

      Saving lives.

      “You do more than that, cara. I see it—you care about people and that’s what makes you special.” That smile disappeared and he fiddled with the straw in his drink. “Not everyone cares so much about others.”

      She was glad that the sun was setting, so that he couldn’t see the blush he was causing.

      Dante affected her in a way no man had in a long time. She was nervous around him. Giddy.

      If she were anywhere else, she’d distance herself from him, but because she’d never see him again she figured it was okay to engage in harmless flirtation.

      In a fantasy.

      Not that anything would happen between the two of them.

      Says who?

      “Thank you,” she finally said, trying to shake out the naughty thoughts suddenly traipsing across her mind.

      “So let’s do something about your lack of exploring,” Dante said, setting down his empty glass on the bar. “Come.”

      “What?” she asked, confused.

      “Look, it’s our last night in paradise. Let’s walk down to the beach and take a walk through the waves, follow the shore. It’s a beautiful night.”

      “I don’t know...”

      What’re you waiting for?

      She glanced up at Dante, who stood in front of her, those dark eyes twinkling in the waning sunlight, the breeze making his short mop of ebony curls stir. His white cotton shirt billowed, so she could see the outline of his hard, muscular chest. His bronzed skin glowing in the waning light and, of course, that lopsided smile.

      “What about the luau? Aren’t we supposed to go there and network? You’ve traveled so far to attend this, don’t you want to mingle?”

      He snorted. “I have done enough networking to last a lifetime. For once I’ve no desire to talk about medicine. Tonight is a beautiful night. Let’s go.”

      Go.

      “Okay,” Shay said, not needing any more convincing. She finished her drink and set her empty glass down on the bar and took his hand. It was strong and she was surprised how easily her hand slipped into his. She hoped he didn’t notice that her nails were much too short, that her palms were rough from the hard physical work. She envied well-manicured nails, perfectly coifed hair, women who had time for makeup and clothes that weren’t torn, stained or scrubs.

      Only Dante didn’t seem to care.

      She couldn’t believe that he’d chosen to spend all his free time with her this week.

      A