The Scandalous Collection. Кейт Хьюит
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feeling the anger surge through him at the way she’d dismissed not just him, but something that was so important to him. Already she was turning away. ‘I’ll make you a wager,’ he told her in steely challenge, and she stilled.
‘A wager? I don’t gamble, Mr Jackson.’
‘Please, call me Ben.’ She smiled frostily and said nothing. He took a step closer to her. ‘This isn’t exactly a gamble, Your Highness. More a test of your mettle.’ Her expression turned stony, and Ben knew what he wanted. He could handle the princess’s theatrics, and even the publicity. Besides, with so much going on with the royal family, were the tabloids really going to jump on Princess Natalia for going to an office every day? And the thought of seeing her taken down a notch or two, or even learning something, was very attractive indeed.
As was she … For a second Ben questioned just why he was doing this. Then he thrust the thought aside, and dipped his head so he could inhale her surprising, citrusy scent, feel the feminine warmth of her only inches away. ‘I’ll bet,’ Ben whispered, ‘that I could convince your father to make you volunteer.’
She stiffened, half turned to face him, and if Ben had moved at all, their lips would have touched. He felt a jolt of lust, the depth and strength of his attraction surprising him, alarming him even. Too much. He could tell she wanted to take a step backwards, but she refused. She angled her head so she was looking up at him, and he could see the golden flecks in her eyes, a tiny mole at the corner of her mouth.
‘Convince my father? I hardly think so.’
‘Then you’ll take the bet?’
Natalia eyed him coldly, and he knew she was torn between proving herself and staying safe. As was he … Just what was he thinking, inviting Natalia into his office, his life? Yet as her lashes swept downwards, hiding any emotion revealed in her eyes, he realised he didn’t care. He wanted this.
‘I didn’t say that,’ she finally said.
‘Scared, Your Highness?’
Natalia drew herself up. ‘You take the most appalling liberties, Ben. And no, I’m not scared. I’m just not interested. And I highly doubt my father would so much as grant you an audience, much less listen to your argument.’
Her resistance just made him want to push more. ‘Then why not take the bet?’
‘Why should I?’
‘Of course. Something has to be in it for you.’
‘Is there something in it for me?’ she enquired sweetly. ‘Such as you printing a public apology to me for your rude behavior in every tabloid newspaper from here to London?’
He laughed softly. ‘What an odd thing to request. It’s not as if anyone has overheard our conversation.’
‘I’d still like to see you grovel.’
‘I bet you would.’
Her eyes flashed and attraction sparked between them again, threatening to ignite to flame. Ben knew Natalia could feel it. He certainly could. Should he let her off the hook, keep them both from getting burned? He’d wanted to keep a low profile on Santina, and being involved in any way with Natalia would surely put paid to that. Besides the princess was exactly the kind of woman he couldn’t stand. Yet still he said nothing, didn’t move.
‘You really are a betting man,’ Natalia finally drawled. She shrugged as if she hadn’t a care in the world. ‘All right, go ahead and attempt to convince my father. You won’t get very far. And if I win, and he refuses to grant your request …’ She paused, and Ben waited, adrenalin coursing through him as if he were on the football pitch. This certainly was an even match. He couldn’t wait to hear what she wanted from him. ‘Then you are mine to command for a day.’ Command …? Provocative images blazed through Ben’s mind. Natalia smiled. ‘Fair?’
‘And if I win?’ he murmured, his gaze heavy and intent on hers.
‘Then I volunteer,’ she answered with a shrug. ‘And you get to command me anyway.’
She spoke without innuendo, yet it was there anyway. Desire pulsed in his blood, fired through him. He could handle it, Ben told himself. He could handle her. ‘I look forward to it,’ he murmured, and put out his hand for her to shake. He wanted to touch her. ‘So we’re agreed?’
Defiantly Natalia took his hand, and Ben saw her react to the touch of his fingers enfolding hers, saw it in the flaring of her eyes, that little hitch of breath. Then she smiled as if she hadn’t a care in the world. ‘It’s a deal.’
‘WHAT?’ Natalia heard the outraged screech of her own voice echo against the walls of her father’s audience chamber. He did too, obviously, for he winced slightly even as he lifted a paper from an ornate end table and scanned it with seemingly little interest.
‘Please lower your voice, Natalia, and conduct yourself as a princess.’
Natalia nearly shook with disbelief—and anger. ‘And princesses,’ she asked, ‘spend their days coaching football for the ragtag children of—’
‘These children,’ King Eduardo reminded her coldly, ‘are the citizens of your country. You have a duty to them.’
‘A duty to teach them football?’ Natalia was quite sure her father and mother’s duty did not extend much beyond the palazzo walls, unless it was making a speech or giving a little royal wave.
King Eduardo sighed and dropped the paper, turning to Natalia as if she were really rather wearying. It had already irritated her that he’d called her to him in this audience chamber, an ancient and ornate room that was meant for commoners to present their petitions to their king, not conversations within the family. Standing in front of him, the royal throne decked out in gold leaf between them, she felt at a distinct disadvantage. Still, she hadn’t expected this.
‘Natalia, the truth of the matter is, I think volunteering could be beneficial for you—’
‘Beneficial—’
‘Let me speak,’ Eduardo said sharply, and Natalia, chastened, fell silent. She could not afford to anger her father now. ‘You have been running around for far too long, living an inappropriate and extravagant lifestyle. I was willing to overlook it because of your impending marriage to Prince Michel, but since he has broken the engagement—causing some significant humiliation to our family—I see that other measures need to be taken.’
Natalia bit her lip, hard, to keep from speaking. She knew she’d been pushing the boundaries of her parents’ acceptance with her partying. Of course, the tabloids exaggerated everything, but in her parents’ world frequenting a nightclub was already skirting the perimeter of propriety. Yet what was she supposed to do? She didn’t have a decent education, she couldn’t work and she didn’t fancy spending her days the way her mother did, dressing up for lunch, taking tea at a certain hour and waving at the masses from the balcony. And at least when she went out with a wilder crowd, she knew that was what the press would focus on. Nothing else.
‘In any case,’ her father continued, his tone utterly implacable, ‘it has come to my attention that a bit of positive publicity could be very good for you, as well as this family. When I consider Sophia—’
‘Sophia?’ Natalia repeated, unable to hold her tongue any longer. ‘What has Sophia done?’ Sophia never did anything wrong. The press loved her, and her father had announced her engagement to Prince Rodriguez last night at Alex and Allegra’s engagement party, to much acclaim. Unlike Natalia, Sophia was doing everything right. Wasn’t she?
‘Never mind,’ Eduardo said sharply. ‘The point is, I think your volunteering is an excellent idea, and I told Ben Jackson so. You