Page 18 of Royally Promoted

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his mother sit up and prepare herself for the formality of entertaining a stranger.

Under normal circumstances, would she have been alarmed at the thought of them sharing the palace? Probably not. A secretary would pose no problem because, in his mother’s eyes, Lucy was so far down the pecking order socially that she wouldn’t contemplate her son being attracted to her.

Even more so now, because he had informed both his parents that, in view of changed circumstances, he was willing to wed a suitable bride. It had been one of those rare occasions when he had actually witnessed his mother reveal what was going through her head and he’d been amused at the pleased satisfaction on her face.

He stifled a grin now and wondered whether more genuine emotion might be revealed on her face when she met Lucy who, guaranteed, was probably going to be nothing like any girl she’d met before.

He sat back in the plush, velvet and highly uncomfortably erect chair and waited for his secretary to be shown in.

Standing outside, Lucy adjusted her dress.

She’d spent the past few days doing her best to contain her naturally sunny disposition. She’d met quite a number of the people who worked in various capacities for the sprawling set of Al-Rashid companies.

Actually, for the first time in her life, she’d felt a little tongue tied in Malik’s presence. Seeing him in his natural habitat had been...awe-inspiring. Of course, in London, he was the king of the jungle. He walked into a room and people fell silent. His youth was never seen as an impediment. If anything, it enhanced his status as someone formidable and gifted beyond his years. Since she’d been working for him, he had never, to her knowledge, lost money on any deal or misjudged the volatile money markets to his detriment. He issued orders and was obeyed without question.

Here...he walked into a room and people bowed. They were respectful not simply of his talent, business acumen and his crazy intelligence, they were respectful of his inherited status. He was of royal blood and what happened within his vast business concerns affected not just him but everyone in his kingdom.

Likewise, she had found herself taking a step back from being her usual effervescent self. She wasn’t awkward around him but she bit her tongue when she got the urge to say something that might get under his skin, even though he’d always laughed when she’d done that. She’d stopped saying whatever popped into her head, no longer safe in the knowledge that she wasn’t breaking any unspoken rules. Here, she felt she might be.

He hadn’t changed, and yet she felt that she was seeing a different side to him—the side to the man who would marry for duty.

She hadn’t asked him anything about the marriage plan and he’d said nothing. Were there women lined up for him? He was following in his parents’ footsteps.

As she fussed with her dress, she wondered what his mother would be like. Would she set the benchmark for what a suitable bride for her son might resemble?

In accordance with the nerve-racking dinner that awaited her, she had done her best to dress for the occasion. The dress was the most formal in her repertoire. It was long, with a pattern of small flowers, and the sleeves, also long, were softly flowing, as was the rest of the dress. Lucy had bought it because, when she did a fast circle in it, she felt wonderfully light, as though she was a butterfly about to spread its wings and flutter away.

Which was a great feeling, because she certainly wasn’t anything like a dainty butterfly in appearance. She breathed in deeply as the door was gently pushed open and a bowing Yusuf stepped aside to allow her to go past him.

The magnificent room into which she was shown brought her to an abrupt stop. It was richly decorated in blue and cream and the silk rug that covered most of the floor was absolutely enormous, the size of a football field. The palette of colours that adorned it was dizzyingly beautiful.

Lucy walked slowly inside and, for a few seconds, couldn’t resist casting her eyes around her as she admired the tapestry that hung on one of the walls, the vibrant, stylised paintings, the clusters of formal chairs and tables and then, at last...the woman looking at her in silence.

And sitting alongside her... Malik.

This wasn’t a Malik she immediately recognised because he was formally dressed in the robes of his country. Loose black-and-gold silk fell to his ankles as he stood. He moved towards her and her heartbeat sped up until she thought her heart would actually jump out of her chest.

Her eyes widened, and they widened even further as he leant into her and whispered devilishly, ‘Are you ready for me to make the introductions, Lucy, or should I see if I can find some smelling salts instead? Because you look as though you’re about to faint.’

‘Very funny.’ But her heart was all over the place.

‘It’s a little grander than where we’re currently staying.’

‘You could have warned me.’ Her eyes skittered beyond him to his mother, who was looking at them both with a guarded, unreadable expression.

She smiled a wavering smile.

‘No point.’ He straightened but his dark eyes were still amused. ‘I very much like the outfit, by the way,’ he murmured. ‘It makes a change from all those muted colours you’ve been wearing since you got here. I was beginning to wonder whether the Lucy I’ve become accustomed to had been replaced with a clone.’

‘I did bring lots of bright stuff. They’re just in my wardrobe waiting for the right moment to make their grand entrance.’

She felt colour steal into her cheeks. The compliment might have been a throwaway one, but it still somehow had the capacity to make her feel all hot and bothered. Upon which she broke away and walked towards the austere and stunningly beautiful woman sitting upright on one of the chairs.

It was a struggle not to falter. Normally an instinctively good judge of character, she had no idea what the older woman was thinking. Was that cool look concealing boredom, curiosity, disapproval? Maybe she was planning dinner menus for the month.

She wanted to glance back to Malik for moral support but she reminded herself that she was well able to stand on her own two feet. Her boisterous family had prepared her to have a voice and to use it without fear.

She also reminded herself that, however terrifying this beautiful woman was, she was also a woman who had just recently had to cope with the shock of her husband having a heart attack, and at an age that was still relatively young.

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