Page 39 of Prince She Shouldn't Crave
He smiled.
‘It’s easy. I know where the palace stores are. It wasn’t hard to get supplies. The flowers are from my terrace outside. I have a small kitchenette area if I ever want a snack without calling the chef late at night.’
‘It’s thoughtful. Beautiful…’ Romantic, even though this wasn’t a romance.
‘But it’s not as beautiful as you,’ he said, sliding his arms around her waist. Kissing her gently this time. Long, deep and slow. She closed her eyes, relishing the attention. The care he’d taken. How would she live without this when it ended? All she’d expected was mind-altering passion. This was something else entirely.
Gabe finally pulled away and all Lena wanted to do was grab him and drag him right down again.
‘We need to stop or we’ll never get to eat. Come to the table,’ he said, leading her over and pulling out her chair as she sat. He then went to a sideboard, opened it, and retrieved a small plate.
‘The food’s a little simple tonight. I said I was hungry so they’d give me more, but asked for something light that I could snack on. I hope there’s something here that suits. Help yourself.’
He kept the smaller plate for himself and gave her the gold-embossed royal dinner service and cutlery. There were curedmeats, cheeses, small salads, pickles, then a little cooked food. Potato rösti, some sausages. Bread with pats of butter, embossed with the royal seal. She helped herself, her stomach growling.
‘Next time I shouldn’t leave you so long. Would you like wine?’
She nodded, biting into a crispy rösti. It was a little cool but still delicious. Gabe uncorked and opened the wine. Poured the pale fluid into her glass and his own before raising it.
‘To subterfuge.’
Lena raised her glass, touching it to his. ‘To secret passageways.’
She took a sip of the crisp, fresh wine. Trying to ignore the niggle in the back of her mind that this was not where she saw her life leading. She didn’t want to ruin tonight, not after the effort Gabe had gone to. Tomorrow she could give this strange feeling more thought. Instead, she’d savour the delicious food. The sight of Gabe, relaxed. Happy in front of her. Lena changed the subject, to safer ground.
‘It seems one of the men who played football with you must have sold a picture of you to the press.’
Gabe’s eyebrows raised. ‘Good on him, if he can get some money for it. Which one was it?’
She reached into the pocket of her dress, pulled out her phone. Showed him. To her shame she’d screenshotted it. It was the moment Gabe had winked at her. He’d seemed so alive, full of movement and passion.
The look on his face…as if he’d just rediscovered himself.
She showed him.
‘That’s hardly interesting.’
‘The press are applauding your new look, an image makeover.’
‘Yet nothing’s changed at all. I didn’t even have to wear a mohair coat to achieve it.’
Somethinghadchanged though. Them. She ignored the bruised kind of feeling his comment inflicted. It’s all part of how they were together. Flirtatious. Fun. Not serious. With a definite ‘use by’ date, even though the end date hadn’t really been specified. Though what would it be like to bechosenfor once. Enthusiastically. Openly…
They were thoughts for another time, when the possibilities were real. Not this glorious fantasy.
‘You’ll never let me live that coat down.’
He shook his head. ‘Probably not, no.’
‘It was only to show you possibilities. Anyway, here you are, almost casual.’ She waved her hand in his general direction. ‘You’re not even wearing a tie. What would the King and Queen’s private secretary say?’
‘I don’t give a damn about him,’ he growled, almost feral. A delicious shiver ran through her at the sound. ‘I only care what you think.’
Gabe fixed her with his pale blue gaze. Once she’d thought it frigid. Now she couldn’t miss the heat shimmering from the depths of him. He was like a frozen lake. Cool on top, with a whole world teeming underneath the icy surface.
She placed her phone on the table. As she did, a message came in from her brother. Lena’s heart rate spiked.
‘You’re frowning.’
