Prince and Single Mom
Magic and Love 1
Morgan Ashbury
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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THE PRINCE AND THE SINGLE MOM
ISBN: 1-933563-10-9
First E-book Publication: September 2007
Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2007 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
For Jennifer
Magic and Love 1
MORGAN ASHBURY
Copyright © 2007
“And then the Prince married Cinderella…”
“And they all lived happily ever after! Grandma, I just love that story.”
Hannah Jones laughed softly, set the book down and scooped her granddaughter, Michelle, into a snuggly hug.
“I know you do, sweetheart. It’s your favorite story in the whole world.”
Michelle giggled, then let out a huge yawn. Hannah moved from where she’d been in bedtime-story-telling mode, leaning against the headboard, to sitting, facing the four-year-old. She fluffed the pillow and smoothed the blankets. From the corner of her eye she saw her son, Craig, standing by the open door of the room.
“Grandma, are there really fairy godmothers?”
Hannah didn’t hesitate, even knowing she would likely get a word or two from her son. He had become very much a man of the new century. Her firstborn was grounded—she believed a bit too deeply—in reality.
“Absolutely, there are fairy godmothers.”
“Daddy says if there
were
fairy godmothers, they would be on the All News Network.”
“Did he?” Hannah shot her son a smirk then turned her attention back to the child.
“The reason that most people don’t
see
fairy godmothers is that they don’t believe in them.”
“But if you believe in fairy godmothers, how come yours hasn’t come and brought you a handsome prince? I heard Daddy and Mommy talking about how you’d been treated worse than a maid your
whole
life.”
Hannah nearly laughed aloud. Craig had gone from looking condescendingly superior to looking as if he wanted a hole to crawl into. She could imagine the things he and his wife would talk about when they thought there were no little ears listening.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m a granny. Much too old for a handsome prince.” She knew her forty-eight years seemed a lot to the little girl. She believed she would hear agreement in the next words.
“I think you’re even more beautiful than Cinderella.” Michelle declared.
Hannah swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Well, thank you, Michelle. I think you’re beautiful, too.”
Hannah kissed her on the forehead. “You have wonderful dreams, now.”
“I’m going to dream that you marry a handsome prince so that I can come and visit you in the palace.”
“You should dream that
you
marry the handsome prince instead,” Hannah chided.
“Oh Grandma! I’m too young to get married!”
Hannah placed another kiss on Michelle’s forehead, then left the room. Mother and son walked together downstairs, heading back to the dining room. She’d come for dinner, but it was nearly time for her to return to her own home.
“Sorry about that.”
Hannah laughed. “I know you think my life was nothing but drudgery while you kids were growing up, honey, but it wasn’t that bad.”
“I loved Dad. But that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t see his flaws.” Craig stopped and turned to her. “Why did you stay married to him?”
“Because I took vows. If your father had lived, I’d still be married to him. And I got three wonderful children and four terrific grandchildren out of the deal. A bargain, as far as I’m concerned. Especially when I get to read bedtime stories. Where are the boys?”
“Richard and John are watching a movie in the den. They have another half-hour till their bedtimes, and don’t need fairy tales, thank you very much.”
“Now, that is a shame.” Hannah watched her son’s face and knew she was in for a bit of a lecture.
“Really, Mom, I wish you wouldn’t encourage her by telling her lies.”
“I beg your pardon? What lie did I tell her?”
“About there being fairy godmothers.”
“That would only be a lie if I didn’t believe in them.”
“Oh, come on, Mother.”
They’d reached the dining room, but moved on through to the kitchen. There, Pamela, Craig’s wife, had brewed a pot of tea. Hannah walked over to the cupboard and brought down three mugs as Craig went to the fridge and got out the milk.
“You can’t stand here and tell me you actually believe in fairy godmothers,” Craig continued.
“Uh oh,” Pam said.
Hannah sent a wink to her daughter-in-law then looked at her often-too-serious son. She knew that a part of his demeanor had come as a direct result of his childhood. Jordan, her late husband, had been cavalier, to say the least, in providing for the children. Hannah had always worked hard to earn a paycheck and was left to do everything herself at home in the evenings, too. As soon as Craig was old enough to notice such things, he began to help her by doing as many chores as he could. She should have made sure he’d stayed a child a little bit longer.
“I believe in miracles. And I believe in magic. So, I guess that means I believe in fairy godmothers, too. And so should Michelle, my dear. Childhood is the time for magic and wonder, don’t you think? Seems to me the world would be a whole lot better place if everyone believed a little more in magic and wonder.”
* * * *
High above the Jones house, on clouds that only the most faith-filled eye could see, two cherubic elderly sisters stopped their knitting, closed their eyes, and inhaled deeply.
“Did you feel that, sister?”
“I did. I surely did.”
“Oh, doesn’t it feel
wonderful
? It’s been so long since I’ve felt this much magic humming through my blood.”
“Oh my, it’s enough to make you blush, isn’t it? And so unexpected, too!”
“Quickly, Gwendolyn, the books!”
Each used a knitting needle as a magic wand, conjuring books to float in the air before them.
“Oh my,” Eugenia, the eldest of the pair, said as she perused her book. “I was going to say how nice it was to have someone over the age of five believe in us. She
certainly
is over five, isn’t she? Ah, well. Beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose.” She looked over to where her sister was using her knitting needle to flip through page after page in her book. “So, Gwendolyn, any handsome princes available?”
“Ahh, not exactly,” Gwendolyn replied. She stopped turning pages and read. “This could be promising. But honestly, sister, I have no idea whatsoever how to accomplish this in these modern times. Pumpkins and mice aside, it
is
a different world these days.”
“It is. Yes, it is indeed.” Eugenia vanished her own book, so she could turn her attention back to the one Gwendolyn floated over to her. “But not to worry. While you’ve been taking your weekly aerobics class, I’ve been watching television. And I know exactly what to do! Well, look at this.” She smiled. “Do you know, we have much more magic than we need for just
one
happy-ever-after. And this is not only promising, it’s perfect. Look, one of them is already there. ”
“I was thinking that very same thing myself. Oh, Eugenia, it feels good to be needed again!”
“Yes, it does, doesn’t it? Now, we must not waste time. That poor woman isn’t getting any younger, you know.”
In a cloud of sparkles and rose petals, the two sisters, fairy godmothers both, vanished into thin air.
And so our tale begins. Once upon a time…
The man simply took her breath away.
His sleek, black hair graced lightly with silver shimmered in the lights. An aura of power, a sense of presence seemed to wrap around his shoulders, broad and strong. Towering over her five-foot-five, he looked a man in command of himself and his surroundings.
As their eyes met, time stood still. Everything around her faded, and it almost seemed as if she and this man were the only people on the planet. His eyes widened, and she thought he might say something to her. But then the maitre d’ spoke to him, and he turned away. Hannah wondered how the world could tilt on its axis and then right itself again so quickly. She’d heard that Mediterranean men oozed sex appeal but never imagined she’d have the chance to experience the phenomena.
She placed a hand on her belly that was tight with an unfamiliar sensation, but one she recognized, arousal. Her nipples had actually tingled for a moment, as if shouting, “Look at me.” Hannah wondered how her hormones could decide to awaken at this point in her life.
She was a grandmother, for heaven's sake! And here she was lusting after some stranger with her daughter on one side and her little, innocent grandson on the other.
“Mom?”
She turned and caught the worried expression on her daughter Catharine’s face.
“Sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to zone out on you.”
Oh, what the hell.
Lowering her voice so her grandson wouldn’t hear, she said, “But that man back there just robbed me of every thought in my head.”
From the slowly blooming smile on her daughter’s face, she knew it had been the right thing to say. Catharine smiled too seldom these days.
“Oh, yeah? Which one?”
“The sinfully sexy one that just walked past us. No! God, don’t turn around and look. He might notice!”
“Mom, this is fantastic! You’re blushing. I’ve never seen you blush over a man before. Hey, if the opportunity presents, you should, you know, go for it.”
“Go for what, Grandma?”
Hannah felt her embarrassment deepen when her daughter winked. Flustered, she reached for Jamie’s hand. “Nothing, sweetheart. Let’s go see if we can get good seats for the magic show. It’s going to start in fifteen minutes.”
“I think it’s great that such a luxurious resort offers so many venues for families,” Hannah said, changing the subject. “There’ll be no end of things we can do together over the next two weeks.”
“In case I didn’t mention it, Mom, thanks for bringing Jamie and me with you.”
“Well, you did put up an admirable fight, honey. But I’m so glad you caved. And you’re very welcome. What fun would it have been to win this all-expenses paid trip to a Mediterranean resort if I couldn’t share?”
The contest win had come as a shock. Usually, Hannah never entered contests or drawings of any kind. She couldn’t even recall now why she’d filled out that entry form at the mall the week before Christmas. The ticket seller, she’d since decided, had missed her calling. Who would have thought such a sweet elderly lady could have such powers of persuasion?