His faint smile turned into a full-fledged grin. ‘Not even close. On Monday you’ll be working up a sweat.’
‘Didn’t anyone ever tell you that women glow?’
‘Then on Monday you’ll be fluorescent.’
‘What a thought.’ She shook her head and refolded a T-shirt. ‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’ she said, without rancor. Something about Ben’s blatant enthusiasm was almost catching.
‘I’m looking forward to starting the camp,’ Ben admitted. ‘Getting out on the pitch.’
‘You said you played yourself?’
‘A long time ago.’
‘Most millionaires would just throw a pile of money at a charity,’ Natalia said thoughtfully, ‘not get as involved as you do.’
For a second Ben looked almost trapped by her question, as if she’d asked something embarrassingly personal. Perhaps she had. Then he shrugged and said, ‘I like to be out there, actually playing. Coaching. It’s fun for me.’
‘Now, fun is not a word I’d associate with you.’
He slid her a sudden, sideways grin that ignited her senses. ‘You don’t know me well enough to say that, Princess.’
‘Oh, really?’
‘Really. And wait until I get you out onto the pitch. We’re both going to have a lot of fun.’
She grimaced. ‘That sounds like a threat.’
‘Consider it a promise,’ he told her, and she arched her eyebrows.
Was he flirting? It felt like flirting.
‘If we’re going to have so much of your kind of fun on the pitch,’ she said, ‘perhaps we should have my kind of fun before.’ As soon as she spoke the words, she realized how provocative they sounded—almost as if she were propositioning him. Still she smiled in challenge, refused to avert her gaze as Ben stared at her speculatively, one shoulder propped against the doorway of his office.
‘That sounds…intriguing.’
Natalia’s heart rate kicked up a notch. Didn’t it just. ‘How about a deal?’ she suggested. ‘I’ll experience your kind of fun at camp, and you have to experience my kind of fun this weekend. Going out,’ she clarified quickly, and felt herself blush as she considered what he might have thought she meant.
‘Out where?’
‘I get to pick. It’ll be a surprise.’
‘And why should I do this?’ Ben inquired in a silky voice. ‘I don’t need to make a deal, princess. You’re already here because I convinced your father.’
‘Do it,’ Natalia told him, ‘because you want to.’ Ben’s gaze blazed into her own and distantly she wondered what on earth she was doing, daring him like this. Wanting him like this. And he knew it. And maybe even wanted her too. It was crazy, scary, and yet she couldn’t keep herself from it, from him, like a child playing with matches. Someone was going to get burned.
‘All right,’ Ben said softly. ‘When?’
‘Tomorrow.’
‘Where?’
Natalia drew a steadying breath. How had this even happened? How had they got to this place? ‘You can pick me up at the palazzo at noon.’
Ben was still gazing at her, his expression narrowed and assessing, and Natalia had the strange feeling that he was as surprised as she was that he’d agreed. That they were going out…tomorrow. Finally he nodded, and Natalia managed an insouciant smile despite the thud of her heart and the sickness of her palms. ‘Wear something nice. And don’t expect to be home until late.’
‘Sounds like you’ve already got a plan.’
‘Maybe.’ She didn’t, not really, not beyond showing Ben what fun could really mean. And it had nothing to do with football pitches. For a second, she dizzily imagined just how much fun the two of them could have. And then swallowed audibly.
Ben’s gaze still rested on her, considering, heavy, and once more Natalia wondered just what on earth she was doing. Risking. Then, without another word, the tension still tautening the air between them, he turned and went into the office.