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Another flight of stairs

This tiave in to the temptation to look She would never know But there was the faintest flush on her porcelain cheeks as she waited for him to walk into her office

The top floor was clearly her private space and very different from the dark and sensual decor of the club downstairs This roo the floorboards A large desk dominated the room A laptop sat open on it, paper files spread beside it A filing cabinet was behind the desk, while a couple of chairs sat at angles in front of it But Antonio reh which he could see a sured it was safe to assume there was a bed in there too Tension hit This had been a mistake And Antonio couldn’t afford any mistakes

Bella stared Crown Prince Antonio De Santis had accepted her challenge and was standing in her sal politeness But it see to inspect her business—obscenely early, nae her and dressed like that

She’d recognised him the second he’d pulled back the hood of his sweatshirt but he looked nothing like the austere Crown Prince she’d seen on screens and in azines That man was tall and broad-shouldered, with not a hair out of place and alht-blue suit Perfect for the reserved, always polite but distant Prince

The man in front of her now hadn’t shaved His hair wasith the old sweatshirt, track pants and trainers he earing And the edge she’d glimpsed in his eyes? She never would have expected that Nor would she have expected to feel breathless and hot in his company Not so hyper-aware

She never felt that around any guy

‘You’ll find everything is in there’ She opened the file and turned it so he could read it, reading it upside down herself She wanted hile piece of paper and be satisfied and leave as soon as possible She wasn’t going doithout a fight She’d prove to all her doubters that she could e this club She’d prove it to him

So never htly too loose and with no bra beneath, because she couldn’t be eed two hours’ sleep because she had so much to do The club had been open only a week and, while it looked proo before it could be declared a success and she could sell up and start up the business of her heart

But he didn’t say anything about the paperwork She glanced up and caught hiain

She was used to ht? They all thought they knew everything there was to know about her But the ice in thiselse It burned

He stood silent Guarded Judging

She’d not expected that from San Felipe’s broken, beloved Prince Wasn’t he supposed to hide a wounded heart? Wasn’t he supposed to be kind and benevolent under the weight of all that duty?

Everyone knew his story His ‘One True Love’ had tragically died of cancer barely two months after his coronation and the accident that had claimed the lives of both his parents He’d not been linked to another woirlfriend And, according to the glossy s, the nation believed only the love of a pure and perfect wo him happiness

That wo at her like that

Forbidding Disapproving

Thrown off balance, she felt goaded into provoking a reaction from him Beneath the fifty feet of ice he hid behind, it had to be there—emotion of some kind

She should have been intimidated She should have remained polite She should have respected the power he held But she was too tired And too hurt

‘Why are you staring at ?’ She stepped out from her desk ‘Should I have curtseyed as you walked in?’ She lifted her chin at his utter iet on my knees before you?’