Page 44 of Royally Promoted

‘I know you’re not,’ Lucy returned equably. ‘I know you’d never do that, but I don’t see any value in hanging around with nothing much to do once I’m back in London. It’s just not in my nature.’

‘We really don’t have to have this conversation at the moment. Do we?’

‘I can’t believe you’re saying that, Malik,’ Lucy said with a wry smile, ‘when you’re the guy who’s said more than once that only fools put off for tomorrow what has to be done today.’

‘Remind me to avoid sharing pearls of wisdom with you from now on,’ he drawled, lounging against the seat and looking so sinfully sexy that Lucy was very tempted to do just as asked and ditch the uncomfortable conversation in favour of shamelessly staring at him.

‘I won’t be around for you to share them with,’ she returned more sharply than she’d intended. ‘So...’

‘A week and a half, if I’m forced to put a timeline on it. As you know, the brunt of the work transferring responsibility to various other people within the company has gone better than expected, and thankfully my father has agreed to return on a limited basis because his recovery is going well, so any remaining transfers of duty can be handled by him.’

‘Less time than I thought. Fair enough.’ She breathed in thinly and forced a smile. ‘Maybe your father thinks that he might end up bored stiff if he decides to stay at home, pruning the roses and playing golf.’

Malik burst out laughing and looked at her with warm, dark appreciation.

She was flushed and her blonde hair curled over her shoulders, a tangle of vanilla that always gave her an untamed, raw sexiness he knew she wasn’t aware of. There’d been moments during the evening when he’d barely been able to restrain himself from cutting short the meal so that he could get her back to the palace and make love to her. He just had to think about the feel of her breasts in his hands and his pulses went into freefall.

He didn’t want to talk about her returning to London, even though it had been on his mind. Of course, everything she’d said had made perfect sense, and he should have been grateful that she was adopting such a pragmatic approach to a future that wasn’t going to conveniently disappear just because he wasn’t quite ready for it to overtake him. Not just yet. Not when he still burned for her.

Malik was accustomed to taking the lead when it came to ending relationships. This time, he’d found himself acquiescing to someone else’s common sense and he was finding that he had to grit his teeth through it. Was it selfish of him to want more of her? He had to remind himself that his life was now going down a different road, the only road he was prepared to go down.

He would marry a suitable woman. The time had come, and he would step up to the plate and do his duty without flinching.

Lucy was a ship passing in the night and, as they’d both admitted, what she wanted was out of reach with him, so all he could do was wish her well in her search for Mr Right.

It was annoying that a part of him was a little piqued at her easy acceptance of the situation. He was ashamed to think that that might just be his ego talking. The shoe was on the other foot and he didn’t like it.

‘I don’t think my father would recognise a golf club if I put one in front of him,’ Malik mused, feasting on her prettiness and feeling the stir of his body responding. He noted the way her eyes darkened as they tangled with his. When he lowered his gaze to her thighs, she blushed but didn’t look away. ‘Once upon a distant time, he used to be quite passable at polo.’

‘Really? Isn’t that said to be the sport of kings?’

‘Not kings in their sixties who are recuperating from heart problems.’

‘You can be pretty funny when you put your mind to it.’

‘I do my best.’

‘How will he spend all the free time he’ll be finding himself with?’

‘Both my parents do a considerable amount of charity work with various other countries and kingdoms in the area. They’re very much into promoting clean drinking water, irrigation and schooling for outposts that are located far from the cities.’

‘That’s amazing.’

‘Yes. Yes, it is.’

‘Will you and your wife...er...continue with that tradition?’

‘Lucy, I haven’t even met this so-called woman who will be entering my life. How on earth could I have had discussions with her about what she would or wouldn’t like to do?’

‘Just asking.’

‘This isn’t how I envisaged the evening ending up.’

‘That’s because when you’re with me all you think about is sex.’

‘That’s not true!’ Malik said in a low, outraged voice. ‘You and I have a hell of a lot more between us than just sex.’

‘Do we?’

---