style="font-size:15px;"> “Um … well, I don’t … I mean not with you, but you have to know how to talk to women.”
“You think you know how to talk to women better than I do? How many women have you dated?”
She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “Zero, but I am a woman so I win.”
“This isn’t about tricking someone into marrying me because they want to be a princess and live in a castle and have their happily-ever-after. They can want a title, but they have to be worthy of it. They have to know what it means. They have to realize I’m a busy man and that love isn’t high on my list of priorities. It’s not even on the list of options. For that reason, I thought it was important I spelled it out.”
She looked out the window, her throat tightening. For one moment, just for a moment, she pictured Stavros without the obligations. What would it be like for him? If he could have been free to do what he wanted? If he could have had that wife and the children that he’d seen in his mind’s eye last night while they were talking? Would his expectations be different?
Would he have loved that wife? If he didn’t feel like a nation was dependent on his emotional strength, would he have given himself over to love? Would he have focused his fearsome loyalty on his family?
The thought of it, of what it would be like to be the woman on the receiving end of all that intensity, filled her with a kind of bone-deep longing.
Get a grip, Jess. Even if he was free, she wouldn’t be the woman for him. He had goals, dreams and desires that weren’t about his wife, or who she was, but what she could offer. And they were things she couldn’t offer. She knew all about trying to be perfect for someone when she fell so far short of it. She could never do it again.
“I respect that,” she said.
“Victoria.”
“What?”
“It’s Victoria. She’s the one I want to see again.” His voice didn’t hold any particular enthusiasm.
She felt like she’d been sucker punched. And she wasn’t sure why. “Did you … have a lightning-attraction thing?”
A muscle in his cheek jumped. “She’s lovely. More than that, I think she’s a bit … well, she seemed unemotional.” He didn’t sound too enthusiastic and she hated the small, ridiculous part of herself that liked that. The part that wanted Stavros to be dwelling on their kiss, and not on his attraction to another woman.
Even if that other woman was the one he might potentially marry.
“Victoria is … She’s very smart. And I’m certain she would do a lot of good as queen.” Victoria wasn’t just smart, she was brilliant. And, Stavros was right, a bit on the unemotional end of things. She was looking for an opportunity to better herself, and to make an impact on the world.
Jessica had been trying to talk Victoria into considering a few of her previous clients, but Victoria hadn’t been interested. Because she’d clearly been holding out for better. And had found it in Stavros.
Well, nice for some.
For you, too, she tried to remind herself, but herself wasn’t listening. Herself was sulking a little bit.
“Great, I’ll call down to the hotel later.”
“I’ll do it,” he said. “If you give me her room number.”
“Can’t,” she said, the word escaping before she could think better of it.
“Why?”
Her stomach tightened to a painful degree. “No sex, remember?”
“I’m not going to have sex with her, not at this point. I’m going to call and ask her to dinner.”
She cleared her throat, ignoring the little surge her heart had taken when he’d said the word sex. Because when he said it was so … evocative. Husky male tones wrapped in an exotic accent. It made her think of tangled limbs and heavy breathing and …
And what? Like she was some great sensual goddess? Like she would be able to enjoy being with him? Like he would enjoy being with her? Her throat ached and she couldn’t fathom the sudden onslaught of emotion. What was wrong with her?
“Yeah, I’ll call Amy and Cherry then and just let them know that … I’ll let them know they can return home.”
“At their leisure. They can stay in the city for a few more days if they wish. I’ll continue to pay their expenses for as long they remain here. An extended holiday doesn’t seem too unreasonable.”
“Ah, so you’ll ask Victoria out but I have to break it off with the other two?”
“As I said earlier, it’s just a job interview. And only one candidate can get hired, so to speak.”
“Right.” She leaned back in the chair and flexed her fingers, curling them into fists and letting her manicured nails dig into her palms.
There was no reason at all the thought of Stavros going on a date with Victoria should make her feel like she might be sick.
But it did. She couldn’t deny that it did.
She was seriously losing it.
“Well, if I don’t see you again before your date … break a leg.”
He smiled, but his eyes held a strange, unreadable expression. “I’ll see you. After at least.”
No. “See you then.”
THERE was nothing wrong with Victoria. She was beautiful, she was pleasant. Smart. She would make a wonderful queen. Over dinner she’d talked at great length concerning how passionate she was about charities, starting foundations and visiting hospitals.
She possessed all the qualities he required for a bride.
Yet as he thought of binding himself to her, he felt nothing. No matter how hard he tried. He felt like he was being suffocated. As if the weight of the crown would physically crush him.
Don’t think of marriage. Think of sex.
If he could find a connection with her on that level, then maybe nothing else would matter. If he could flirt and put them both at ease, put a wall between them, maybe the tightness in his throat would abate.
When the limo stopped in front of the hotel she looked at him from beneath her lashes, her open, friendly expression changing. Seduction, he decided, was her intent. Good. He knew the game. Often, he relished the game.
So, why didn’t he feel anything? Nothing. Not even the slightest twinge of interest in his stomach. When she cocked her head to the side and licked her lips, there was no answering tug in his groin. Indeed, there was no signal coming from south of his belt at all. It was as though that member of his body hadn’t registered her existence.
