Page 13 of Incognito (Royally Reckless #1)

13

“ S o, you won’t eat with me, but you’ll let me buy you a drink?”

Natasha cradled her wine glass, swirling the full-bodied shiraz and staring into its ruby depths. No answers to her confusion there, considering she’d been wondering the same thing since she’d entered the Lobby Bar a few minutes ago with Dante.

“I usually have a nightcap before I go to bed,” she said, knowing her steaming mug of hot chocolate complete with two pink marshmallows in the comfort of her room didn’t compare to sharing a smooth red with a sexy prince in the hotel’s bar.

“Really?”

He quirked an eyebrow, no doubt at the thought of her quaffing wine by herself before bed. Hmm… not the image she wanted to portray.

“I’m a cocoa addict,” she admitted, joining in his laughter and ruining her sophisticated act. “But this is great,” she added, lifting her glass in his direction, feeling gauche and unworldly compared with his polish.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he said, fixing her with the type of stare she imagined he used on wayward inferiors.

“Maybe I didn’t want to bruise your ego completely, so I softened the blow of refusing dinner by sharing a wine with you?”

His startled expression had her hiding a grin behind her wine glass. She doubted his royal highness received many knock-backs, let alone had his ego bruised too often.

In reality, she refused his dinner invitation because it seemed too intimate. Her relentless attraction to him was hard enough to control without sitting across from him at a cosy table for hours, giving him the opportunity to captivate her with his natural charm.

Dante made her feel like a woman and then some, the monstrous cultural gap between them disappearing when he stared at her like every word she uttered was a riveting soliloquy. Worse, he made her forget every logical reason why she was with him—to work—and that scared her beyond belief.

He shook his head, smiling. “You’re still not answering me.”

Uh-oh, looked like she couldn’t evade his astuteness. She could try flirting, which she was hopeless at, or she could give vague answers and look more of a fool in the process.

Or she could take the only way out she knew and be upfront.

“Honestly? I feel out of my depth around you.”

His smile disappeared, and a frown grooved his brow. “How so?”

Natasha sighed, hating her bluntness at times. How could she articulate the way Dante made her feel when she barely knew herself?

“I’m not sure. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve socialised outside of work and I’m not so good at it anymore.”

“Have I made you feel inferior in some way? Is that the problem?”

“No.”

“Would you like some time to think about that?”

Natasha chuckled. “You’re not like that. In fact, apart from the odd fancy word or two, you’re nothing like what I imagined royalty to be.”

He didn’t have an Italian accent but she guessed that’s because he went to an exclusive boarding school in England and spent most of his schooling life there, as his profile on the royal website said. He didn’t have a posh accent either, despite mingling with the upper echelons of society. Also, his laid-back attitude surprised her and he didn’t use power like she assumed he would.

Unlike Clay, who’d thought nothing of belittling waiters or valets when it suited. Prick.

“Then what’s the problem?” Dante asked. “It was only dinner.”

Easy for him to say. But maybe she had overreacted in her quick dismissal of his invitation. It wasn’t like he’d asked her to spend the night with him.

Uh-oh. She didn’t want to think about what spending the night with a guy like Dante would entail. If being around him had her flustered, imagining those sorts of scenarios could push her over the edge.

“Dinner seems more… casual. So far, every time we’ve met it’s for business, and I want to keep it that way.”

“Understandable, but dinner can be business-like.”

By the glint in his too-blue eyes and the sexy smile playing about his mouth, the last thing she would be concentrating on was business if staring at him over a dinner table.

Natasha twirled a strand of hair around her finger, wishing she’d never opened her big mouth in the first place. “Can we change the subject, please?”

He hesitated, before nodding. “I’ve never met a woman so honest before. It’s refreshing.”

It’s self-sabotaging, she thought, knowing she must look like a backward hick to a refined man of the world like him. For goodness sake, he’d issued a simple dinner invitation and she’d acted like an uptight prude.

She wished she could flirt, have fun, and then wave bon voyage to Dante at the end of his stay. But she’d never been frivolous and her bitter experience with Clay had ruined her impulsivity.

Sure, Dante was gorgeous and suave and nothing like she expected, but she couldn’t do casual relationships. It just wasn’t her.

“You don’t appreciate me talking so openly?”

“Like you, I find it refreshing. I’m not used to it.” Clay had been a duplicitous creep and she hated her foolishness in believing every word his lying mouth had uttered.

“You have been hurt.”

He pronounced it like a royal decree and she wavered for a second, torn between unburdening herself and running screaming from the bar.

She really shouldn’t drink wine on an empty stomach; it gave her crazy ideas, like pouring her heart out to a good listener like Dante. Perhaps she could move on one day and learn to trust again.

Though trust a prince with the looks of a model and the glib lines of a playboy? She’d do better trusting a snake.

“Not hurt, as much as had my eyes opened,” she said. “The business world is tough and Telford Towers means a lot to me. I’ve invested my life in this place.”

Nice save. She’d brushed aside his personal take on her ramblings and turned it into a business one. Now she could take her foot out of her mouth and turn the next few minutes into a pleasurable exchange of light-hearted conversation rather than baring her soul and sending the prince running.

With the effort she put into making Telford Towers thrive, she’d never had the time to date, and it showed. Here she was, sharing a perfect shiraz with a gorgeous prince, and she was one step away from making an idiot of herself and blabbing her innermost thoughts.

“The business world is cutthroat,” he said. “And I can see why this hotel means so much to you.”

He raised his glass in the general direction of the mahogany woodwork and brass sconces, and she sighed in relief. He’d bought her brush-off.

“You have done a marvellous job here. I’m not surprised you agreed to my outlandish proposal if I can help you let the world know about this.”

She almost choked on her wine, clearing her throat with a few discreet coughs. If he only knew her real motivation…

“Being your personal assistant for a week isn’t so bad.”

“But vetting animals and jumping castles is,” he said, his smile crinkling the laugh lines around his eyes and adding to his charm. “I’m not sure what to expect.”

She relaxed, the wine warming her from the inside out while the easygoing camaraderie they shared surrounded her in a comforting cocoon. “In this business, I’m used to handling anything, so stick with me and you’ll be fine.”

“Does that mean you’ll protect me from rabid raccoons and scary clowns?”

“I’ll let you in on a secret.” Crooking her finger at him, she leaned forward. “We don’t have raccoons in Melbourne, let alone rabid ones. As for the clowns, they’re just adults playing dress-ups to earn a living. But rest assured, if Your Highness is in any danger from cute furry animals or entertainers with red noses and floppy feet, I’ll protect you.”

H joined in her laughter and she leaned back, the sting of tears taking her completely by surprise.

Tears? What the hell? She never cried. Not anymore. She’d shed enough to fill the Pacific Ocean when she discovered the truth behind Clay’s impulsive proposal, and later, over her mother’s death. Tears were wasted, futile, and draining.

She had more important things to worry about these days, like Telford Towers surviving.

If a glass of wine and some light-hearted conversation made her this maudlin, she’d never make a dating diva. Her impulsive decision to share a drink with Dante would definitely be her last if this was her reaction to momentary intimacy.

Forcing a hearty chuckle, she ignored the real reason behind her sudden self pity. She liked the warmth, the shared conversation, the time spent with Dante, and the thought that she would soon lose it saddened her more than she expected.

Silly, because she didn’t have to think beyond tomorrow, or next week. She could enjoy his company, maybe a dinner. With her confidence at an all-time low due to her screw-up with Clay resulting in the hotel being under threat, what better way to rebuild it than with a guy who looked like Dante paying her compliments?

Mistaking her downturn in mood, he said, “Forgive my lame attempts at humour. I’ll be fine with the animals, even imaginary raccoons, I promise.”

Natasha drained her glass and placed it on a coaster on the side table. “Your humour is fine, it’s this marvellous wine that has me rather tired and drifting off. I’m sorry for being such poor company.”

As if sensing her need for solitude, he placed his half-empty glass on the table and stood, extending a hand to help her up.

“I’m being insensitive. You’ve worked hard all day in the hotel and then I’ve made you work even harder with my business. Thank you for sharing the wine and your company, but it is time to say goodnight.”

She accepted his hand, her knees wobbling slightly as she stood, though that had nothing to do with the fine wine and everything to do with the finer prince’s welcoming touch.

“Thank you,” she said, matching his formality, her heart sinking at the yawning gap between them.

He may try to look the part of a bad-boy but when he spoke like that, he drew her attention to their differences and put her fanciful imagination firmly back in place. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Until then,” he murmured, the glint in his eyes implying he couldn’t wait.

For an insane second she thought he would raise her hand to his lips and kiss it. Instead, he gave it a gentle squeeze and released it, acute disappointment effectively dousing the alcohol in her system.

She managed a tremulous smile as they parted in the foyer, her stomach doing flips as she watched him enter the lift and send her a snappy salute.

Crazy. She had to be one hundred percent crazy for turning what could’ve been a pleasant evening into a tense mess.

She’d been so busy mulling over Dante’s intentions, wondering if he was toying with her, if there was more behind needing her help with his ‘family business’, to consider the situation rationally. A charming prince who cared about his nephew had asked for her help and all she did was second-guess him. What an idiot.

She could blame her edginess on her confidence being at an all-time low, but at what point did she stifle her inherent insecurities and start trusting again? She didn’t have to impress Dante, just lighten up a little and enjoy his company. No big deal.

With a new resoluteness, Natasha straightened and headed for her office, vowing to loosen up around Dante, starting tomorrow.