Page 8 of Prince She Shouldn’t Crave (Royal House of Halrovia #2)

Lena sat at an outdoor dining setting on a terrace, sipping a deliciously hot coffee as she overlooked the still, deep inkblot of Lake Morenberg in front of her.

The snow-capped Alps soaring behind, white peaks gleaming in the early morning sunshine.

They’d arrived in Lauritania’s capital the night before and she hadn’t had a real chance to admire the beauty of the landscape until now.

The home they were staying in was one of King Rafe’s former private residences.

An elegant, secure modern masterpiece with expanses of glass overlooking the water on one side of the house and, on the other, views into the old town and towering Morenberg Palace they’d be visiting today.

She felt as though she’d had a kind of breakthrough with Prince Gabriel, small though it was.

Their discussion over the real reasons why she’d been hired had given her more to work with.

She liked to think it was some evidence of a growing trust that he’d disclosed those things to her, sensitive as they were.

Giving her an insight into the true importance of her role. The challenge.

And that gave her ideas…

‘Good morning, Lena.’

She startled at the deep, low voice of her employer behind her. Almost spilling her drink all over herself. She placed the mug carefully on the table and stood to curtsey and address him properly. As she did, he waved her away.

‘Please. No formality, not here.’

He might have suggested no formality but even this morning he was dressed in suit trousers and a blue and white striped business shirt, which made his eyes seem even brighter.

Though his hair was still slightly damp from a shower.

Lena didn’t know why that realisation ignited something warm in her belly.

It was likely just the coffee. She’d make a cooler cup next time.

‘You talk about no formality yet here you are looking way too formal for this early in the morning.’

He took a long swig from the cup he held. ‘I had a video call.’

‘It’s very rude of someone to organise something so early, before caffeination,’ Lena said, sitting and taking another sip of her own delicious beverage.

‘It was with my father.’

Lena choked, almost spitting out the mouthful. She coughed a few times, her eyes watering. ‘My apologies, to His Majesty.’

‘He’s not here to see you, and…’ Gabriel tapped the side of his nose, looking amused ‘…I’ll never tell.’

She liked that. Someone seeing fit to protect her when no one really had.

Gabriel stood for a few more seconds, staring out at the view as if lost in his own thoughts.

A light breeze drifted over the terrace.

She caught a scent on that breeze. Something so enticing that she wanted to simply breathe in a lungful.

His aftershave, she guessed. Green, fresh, sweet, like she supposed the high alpine regions smelled.

Coming from sea level and an island, she wasn’t sure.

Then he pulled out a chair from the table and sat down.

Not exactly at the table itself, almost as though he was holding himself a little apart, when what he should be doing was trying to get closer to people.

Maybe he was an introvert and didn’t really want to be around too many people. If that was the case, there were more ways to communicate with the world than by speaking. And after the seeming thaw between them, Lena thought it was as good a time as any to raise it. To push a little.

‘Whilst I have you here…’

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow. ‘Am I suitably caffeinated for this conversation?’

‘I’ll leave that for you to decide. I’ve been thinking, and I have some ideas about engaging with younger people.’

His face was devoid of expression apart from that perfectly cocked eyebrow. It remained.

‘Please, enlighten me.’

Lena flicked through her phone. Pulled up a vision board she’d created. ‘You’re always in dark suits.’

‘There’s a problem with that?’

From her personal perspective, there was no problem at all.

He looked impossibly handsome. Frankly, he could wear suits every day as far as she was concerned, and she could die a happy woman.

Though why she was thinking like that she couldn’t really tell.

But she wouldn’t be doing her job if she didn’t suggest alternatives.

‘In the right circumstances, no.’

‘There’s rarely a wrong circumstance in my role.’

It was as if this man didn’t do anything that was fun any more. At. All.

‘What about if you were…? I don’t know. Judging a pet show at a local fair? With children bringing their favourite pet. And you had to pick the best one. Would a suit be right then?’

His eyes narrowed. He gave the slightest shake of his head. ‘There is never a time I’d be doing that.’

‘Well, maybe you should start. Everyone loves kittens and puppies, together with children. Totally relatable.’

‘And what if a child’s pet is something other than a kitten or a puppy? A snake, for example. Or a tarantula. I don’t want to appear in any way relatable around those animals. I’d then wish to appear repellent.’

The sun had risen a bit higher in the sky, their little table now bathed in soft early sunlight. Lena’s cheeks heated. She wasn’t sure whether it was from the warmth of the sun or Prince’s Gabriel’s resistance to what seemed perfectly reasonable to her.

‘See, Your Highness, now I think you’re engaging in hyperbole.’

‘There’s a rule, never work with children or animals , for a good reason.’

‘You’re going to be King. If you rule out children and animals you’re kind of forsaking some of the best bits of your “role”, as you put it.’

‘I’m not forsaking them at all, they simply haven’t been in my repertoire. On the other hand, my sisters—’

‘Are no longer available.’

He took a slow, and what sounded like a long-suffering, breath. ‘You have a point to this conversation, I assume?’

‘You’re the one who took us offside with the talk of snakes and spiders.’

‘And now I’m guiding us right back onside. Please get on with it. I have another meeting in fifteen minutes.’

‘That’s what I’m trying to do. I think you should try for a look that injects a little more colour. Something more casual. To mix things up a bit. Take a look.’

She handed over her phone to show him some of the pictures she’d found whilst trawling popular menswear blogs and social media for the latest looks.

Before she’d started, she’d had no idea how much there was to learn about suits, and don’t get her started on collar gaps.

She had trouble looking at her employer now without analysing and admiring his impeccable tailoring.

The way he moved, and the way his clothes moved with him…

‘This—this—’ He waved his hand over the phone as if it in some way offended him, which didn’t bode well. ‘No.’

Okay, so maybe some of the examples were a little out there, but she did get them from a viral men’s fashion and workwear blogger who seemed to have real street cred.

‘I’m just trying to show you that even if you’re wearing a suit you can mix it up a bit.’

‘The suit is mustard. The coat appears…shaggy.’

‘But the look’s stylish, even with all the colour, and shagginess as you put it. Which isn’t really shaggy. It’s mohair. And extremely expensive.’

He reached out and put his half-empty coffee cup down on the tabletop with a little bit too solid a thump. ‘Cost does not equal taste.’

‘But colour. A little more casual. All I’m trying to show you is that you can still look extremely stylish and…and…princely. I’m sure that your valet would be able to sort something out.’

‘Pieter would resign if he thought I’d wear this. Or call a doctor to see if I was coming down with something.’

‘But you can’t wear suits all the time. What do you wear when you’re not working? When you’re in your apartments just being…you? When you’re…off the clock?’

His whole demeanour rankled. Sure, she needed the job, but she was also overwhelmed with the need to keep pushing, to get a hint of who he really was.

And all she could hear was a voice in her ear from her mother that a woman should be an oasis.

Still and deep. Welcoming. Somewhere that encouraged a man to stay .

Even though her mother had been calm and cool like an oasis, her father had never stayed for long. Always going back to his real family.

Being an oasis was clearly not all that it was cracked up to be.

His Highness’s eyes narrowed and once again she had the uncomfortable sensation of being skewered.

‘I am never “off the clock”, as you put it. I’m always available to help run the country. As for the rest, that’s walking into personal territory you do not have permission to tread.’

‘I understand, but you gave me a job. On probation if you recall. I want to make it something permanent. But I can only do that if you work with me a bit, or at least tell me what’s off-limits.’

‘I’ll ensure you have a list of off-limits topics by later this morning, so you can study it at leisure.’

He looked at his watch and Lena sensed that he wanted to go. Her and her darned mouth. She needed to stop arguing with the man and regroup. ‘I’m guessing that’s all to be said on that topic, Your Highness?’

‘Yes. You’re free to leave.’

So, she was being dismissed. Back to square one, then. She stood and curtseyed even though he’d told her not to, then turned and began to walk towards the door leading back inside.

‘Ms Rosetti?’

She turned and her breath snagged right in her throat. Once again, he was lit up by the sunshine that seemed to love him so much.

‘Sir?’

‘You haven’t impressed me yet.’