Prince and Single Mom Read Online Free Page B

against the railing of the paddock. Or rather, the little boy was leaning, verging on climbing up and over, and the woman simply stood there, her eyes scanning the area carefully. Watchful, he thought with approval. With her cub in a strange place, she was on alert.
    At that moment, he impulsively decided to give her something to be on alert about.
    Clicking his tongue at Francois, he led the horse to the pair at the railing. After assuring himself that she knew he’d really looked her over, he turned his attention to the little boy.
    “Can I go next, Mom, please ?”
    “There are other children waiting, Jamie. They should have their turns first.”
    Philip looked around. He’d thought there’d been other children waiting, too, but they all seemed to have taken themselves off to other activities.
    “It looks like you and Jamie have jumped to the head of the line.”
    He watched as wide-eyed, she looked around and saw the truth for herself.
    Philip crouched down and met Jamie eye to eye. “Hi Jamie. I’m Philip.”
    “Hi. How come that girl called you ‘Doctor’?”
    “Well, because I am one. So, your mom doesn’t have to worry about you coming into the paddock and riding Francois, here. All right, Mom?”
    When he looked up, her rueful expression told him she knew he’d boxed her in. He grinned, hoping she would take that as a sign that he hadn’t done so maliciously.
    “I guess it would be all right. I’ll be right here.”
    Philip pointed to the gate, and Jamie ran to it. As he slowly got to his feet, some inner demon had him wink at the woman. “Do not fear, madam. I am very experienced at giving a good ride.”

Chapter 3
 
     
    “Does someone need to hold your reins, too?”
    “Cherie, your hands look more than capable of the task.”
    Catharine blinked. Had that sexual innuendo come from her? And had he just implied what she thought he had?
    Before she could think of a better comeback, the man had turned and walked away.
    Catharine took another visual scan of the farm. She thought there had been other children lined up to ride when they’d approached the fence. Children abounded, certainly, but all seemed occupied elsewhere. Shrugging, she wondered if something in the food and water of this European country disagreed with her. She could have sworn the air had been…sparkly, earlier, too.
    She turned her attention to the man she’d heard the little girl call “doctor.” Lean, with sandy brown hair and twinkling blue eyes, Catharine had admired his gentle, friendly way with the child as he’d led the horse around the corral. She would have bet he had children of his own. Hell, he still might at that . Just because he’d flirted with her didn’t mean he wasn’t married. Men, in her limited experience, rarely concerned themselves with the vows they had spoken, or the promises they had made. In fact, with the possible exception of her eldest brother, she bet every last one of them was a lying, cheating, son-of-a-bitch. Likely Philip was no different.
    Catharine closed her eyes. At the oddest times, her emotions would sail back seven years, to when she’d been a naïve and needy fifteen-year-old girl. Seduced and then abandoned by that smooth-talking, well-healed William Corey, and then left to fend for herself and her baby, alone. She’d tried to control this migration of mood, and for the most part succeeded. She never knew what would trigger it. She really did know better than to paint every man with the same brush as that bastard who refused to acknowledge his own son. She knew better, but being human, it happened from time to time.
    “Wow. Philip must have said something really outrageous to make you that mad.”
    Catharine jolted, and turned to face the young woman who had spoken. “You startled me. I didn’t hear you come up.” And then the words the pretty redhead said came back to her. “Is he your husband?”
    The woman’s robust laughter had Catharine smiling. “Good Lord, no.