Page 25 of Prince She Shouldn't Crave
‘So,’ she said as they approached the car. ‘I took a video.’
‘Really.’ He didn’t know what he thought about that, only that he quite liked that she seemed to have enjoyed what she’d seen enough to video it.
‘As I said, it was…impressive.’ Her vivid blue eyes seemed to darken. ‘And given you said you trust me… I’d like to post it to your social media pages.’
His heart missed a beat. For a few seconds he had to think about how that made him feel. His football had been a loss. He’d tried to set it aside, even though in the end he still did some practice because he’d loved the game. Showing that side of him again? In many ways it left him exposed, reminding him of a time that was raw and painful. One he didn’t really want to talk about.
‘Do you want to go viral?’ Lena asked, perhaps sensing his hesitation for reasons even he couldn’t fully articulate. Yet, why not? It was what Lena had been employed for. She wanted to, and he believed in her judgement. She hadn’t been wrong yet.
‘Let’s do it.’
She smiled, and it was a glorious thing. Full of warmth and happiness. Her eyes dancing with excitement. Was it because she was doing her job and was happy to be doing it well? Or was it that he’d given herproofthat he trusted her? Gabe wasn’t sure, even though he enjoyed her smile. Took it as a precious gift bestowed upon him.
‘You’ve been working hard, and the results speak for themselves. Even my parents’ secretary seems happy.’ As if that were any yardstick. ‘I have the state dinner tonight so you can take the rest of the day off.’
‘Thank you, si— Gabriel.’
Gabe rarely second-guessed his decisions. Even though they’d failed him in the past, he’d honed his instincts on sharp and brutal experience and, now, they were invariably right. Still, hearing Lena say his name did something to him. It was like the sultriest music. It started a drumbeat of desire deep and low.
Perhaps he enjoyed the sound of his name from her mouth just a little too much.
CHAPTER SIX
Lena strolled throughthe dimly lit halls of the lake home, as she’d begun calling it. Today, she’d taken advantage of the time off Gabriel had given her. Exploring Lauritania’s antique markets in the old, walled part of town. Having a lovely dinner out with a couple people from work who had accompanied the royal tour; a personal protection officer who’d had the night off too, and Gabriel’s private secretary. They’d drunk a glass of champagne each, toasting the success of the trip, which was now drawing to a close. Eaten at a quaint little restaurant with red and white checked tablecloths, tea-light candles on the table, and delicious rustic food. After dinner she’d left them partying and planning to hit the clubs, whilst she’d returned home.
All the while, she had a prickling sensation of something missing. As if she shouldn’t be celebrating. Was it…guilt? She had so much to think about. Her mother’s situation. How to manage it on her current wage. Should she contact Albert at the Lauritanian palace and ask if Queen Lise was serious about a job? Everything about her revolted at the idea, even though it would be best for her family. But what about her? Shouldn’t she be able to do what she wanted, for once, without worrying about everyone else? She shouldn’t feel this way. Sheshouldhave been able to enjoy herself like any normal young woman. Gabriel had given her the night off.
Gabriel…
Shelikedsaying his name. Liked that he’d invited her to use it when in private. As if it was some secret between them. Lena knew she shouldn’t be reading too much into it but something about the moments between them recently had seemed special.
He was handsome, self-deprecating. Kind, and he cared. He trusted her and she found that, despite everything, she trusted him too. He’d be a wonderful king one day. And she began to wonder, had anyone ever told him that?Gabriel, you’ll make a great king. Lena only wished that the world could see it as she did. She felt the weight of her role, wanting to present him at his absolute best, because the public deserved to know him as she saw him. She’d do everything in her power to show them all.
It was like a fire lit inside her, that sense of protectiveness. But there was something more. Desire. A heat and need whenever she was around him that threatened to overwhelm her and burn away all common sense.
Dangerous, Lena. Dangerous.
There could never be anything between him. He was her employer, aprince. There was no risk of love here. She’d never much trusted the emotion anyhow, because look at how well it had gone for her mother. Spending a lifetime sharing a man, for what? But perhaps this was what made Gabriel the safest person of all, because she couldn’t expect anything from him. His position wouldn’t allow it, and that would protect them both.
She walked past his wing on the way to the kitchens to get a cup of hot chocolate before bed. Hesitated. Stopped. Turned around as if drawn. Her feet carrying her back along the path she’d just come, deeper into his section of the home. Wondering if he’d returned from the state dinner yet. How it had gone. Maybe he’d want to talk with someone about it?
As she approached his suite, Lena glimpsed a sliver of light under his door. She turned towards it, her feet seeming to carry her without much thought, just the sensation that she was beingpulled in his direction. An itch under her skin telling her she needed to do this. Before he’d left tonight, he’d looked tired. So very tired.
She supposed trying to shore up your allies and improve your unfairly falling reputation carried significant pressures, not to mention your own ambassador suggesting you marry when it was none of his damned business. She understood being buried under the weight of obligation after her father had died. When she’d realised her whole life would have to change. The fight to find another job, the recognition that she was responsible for her family and their future. Putting aside her own dreams. What would it be like, instead, to be responsible for acountry?
Maybe Gabriel would have preferred to come out to a simple dinner too. Sharing a glass of champagne and laughter in a little corner restaurant with no care.
Lena knocked. Waited. Listened, barely able to hear anything over the thudding heartbeat in her chest. Then one word.
‘Yes.’
She cracked open the door and continued down a short entrance hall towards the lounge area of his suite, following the dim light. She almost didn’t see him, standing still at the far end of the room. In a formal shirt, the top few buttons undone. Bow tie draped carelessly around his neck. His arm propped on the mantelpiece, almost negligently holding a tumbler of amber fluid. Head dropped. It looked as if the mantelpiece was the only thing holding him up. As if his glass was about to slip from his fingers.
A wiggling sensation started in her belly, like a flock of a thousand birds taking wing. One look at him took her breath away, because he was one of the most beautiful men she’d ever seen. Although tonight, he seemed…vulnerable. Standing there as if undone. She wanted to go to him, offer comfort, offer him everything.
Though, no matter how he looked right now, what she’d come to learn over her time working with him was that his restrained exterior wasn’t evidence of coldness. It was just he’d never been allowed to be himself, because his parents and courtiers wanted the best parts of him suppressed. The parts of him that people would relate to. His personality. His feelings.
Gabriel was no automaton. He was a man with passions who should have been allowed to show them.
