Crown Prince's Bought Bride

She shrugged. ‘It wasn’t so bad.’ The hours had been a long slog, but they’d made her forget the bleakness of her existence. The free meals had helped too.

He leaned closer, bringing his heady scent deeper into her orbit. ‘Tell me you’re not harbouring notions of returning there at some point in the future?’ he rasped with a definite bite.

‘What do you care?’

‘That place was beneath you,’ he breathed.

‘Careful, Your Highness, or you’ll get a nosebleed up there in your high and mighty castle.’

‘You’re far too exquisite to be working in a place like that.’

A flare of pink rushed into her cheeks. ‘You can’t say things like that,’ she said, aware that a few heads were turning their way.

Without warning he reached out, brushed a finger down her heated cheek. ‘Why not? It’s true.’

She knew the wisest choice would be to pull away, but every cell in her body wanted to lean closer into his touch, prolong that wicked thrill flowing through her bloodstream. ‘Still, no one goes around talking like that.’

‘Then I’m terribly lucky not to be no one,’ he said.

‘God, do you hear yourself? You sound—’

‘Arrogant? Conceited? If it conveys my message that I prefer your silky skin to be perfumed with expensive scents rather than recycled cooking oil, then so be it.’

The melting sensation in her belly was saved from spreading to encompass her whole body by a discreet tap on a microphone.

With almost enervating relief she jerked back into her seat, her fingers clenched tight in her lap. After a moment Remi relaxed too, directing his attention to the podium.

Ignoring the chaotic emotions churning inside her, she redirected her thoughts to what he’d said earlier about her dropping out of university.

Just how much of her past had Remi dug into? She bit the inside of her lip. If he carried on it would only be a matter of time before he uncovered the truth about her father.

She waited until the speech was over and the guests had resumed their conversation before she turned to him. ‘I thought you were going to stop digging into my past now that I’ve agreed to your little circus?’ she whispered.

His eyes pierced hers, holding her captive. ‘That information was in my preliminary report. Why did you drop out?’ he asked again.

‘Why are you interested?’

His gaze swept down to her lips and lingered. ‘I think perhaps we should extend the parameters of our agreement.’

Heavy, charged heat bloomed in her belly. She grew intensely aware that she wasn’t sitting very far back in her seat, that only a sparse inch of space separated them. The velvety firmness of his lips was tantalisingly close. One slight move and she could brush her mouth against his.

‘Extend them...how?’ she managed, aware that her voice had grown embarrassingly husky.

‘The bare bones of your history will do.’

Disappointment lanced through her, almost making her gasp. When she had it under reasonable control, she answered. ‘You already have that—whereas I know next to nothing about you. For instance, why is everyone here surprised that you brought a date with you?’

She was close enough to see the chill in his eyes before he abruptly drew back from her. ‘Probably because I haven’t been seen in public with a woman in two years,’ he rasped.

Mild shock fizzed through her. Remi Montegova wasn’t a man who’d lack for female attention. She would bet her last tenner on it. ‘May I ask why?’

The look he slanted her was filled with scepticism. ‘You expect me to believe you don’t know?’

Her breath caught at his frosted tone. ‘Know what?’

‘It’s been almost twenty-four hours since we first met. Most people would’ve satisfied their curiosity about me by now.’

Maddie wasn’t about to admit her disturbingly rabid interest in him. ‘I don’t own a laptop, Your Highness, nor do I bother with social media any more. Also, I’ve been busy dealing with other things today. So, no, I haven’t had time to research you.’