Santina's Scandalous Princess(4)

‘Never mind,' Eduardo said sharply. ‘The point is, I think your   volunteering is an excellent idea, and I told Ben Jackson so. You are to  start  on Tuesday.' He turned to face his daughter, his dark eyes  steely with  determination. ‘And do not think of defying me, Natalia,  or you will find  yourself without a penny, and an armed bodyguard  making sure you do as you are  told.'

Natalia swallowed. She was quite aware that her father's threat  was  real, unlike her own to Ben Jackson the other night. And the thought of   being penniless and virtually imprisoned did not appeal to her at  all. For a  blinding second she hated being a princess, hated its  restrictions and  regulations, the oppressive expectation of royal  duty, the secrets and shame she  was forced to hide.

‘Very well, Father,' she finally managed. ‘I will do my best to  be a credit to you and the Santina family.'

Her father waved his hand in obvious dismissal, and burning  with  frustration, Natalia swept out of the chamber. She stood in the opulent   front hallway of the palazzo, half a dozen liveried guards flanking  the various  arched doorways. She could not volunteer for Ben   Jackson. The thought filled her with a panicky fear that she couldn't  bear to  feel. Too much was out of her control. Too many  possibilities of being  humiliated, exposed-and by Ben Jackson,  smirking in  triumph.                      
      
          



      

The thought made her stomach churn and she felt physically  sick. She  had her reasons for acting the way she did, hiding in plain sight. She   did not want Ben guessing them. Knowing them. Knowing her.

Natalia drew a deep breath and threw her shoulders back. Very  well.  If she could not convince her father to drop this ridiculous scheme,  then  she would have to convince the other man involved. She would  talk to Ben Jackson  himself.

* * *

Ben heard the gasps of shock from the reception area of  his rented  office and leaned back in his chair, smiling in anticipation. That had  been quick.

A second later the door to his office burst open and Princess   Natalia Santina stood there, her slanted hazel cat's eyes narrowed and   glittering with fury. With her blond pixie hair cut and her long,  lithe body,  she looked, Ben thought, a bit like an elf. A rather  naughty elf. He couldn't  quite forget the image of her in that  indecent dress last night. It had barely  covered her bottom. Then  she'd looked like sex in high heels; now she looked  every inch the  elegant princess, wearing a pink linen shift, high heeled  slingback  sandals and wraparound sunglasses which she'd pushed up onto her head.   She also looked utterly furious. Ben smiled.

‘Ah, so prompt, Princess. But I believe I arranged with your  father  for you to start on Tuesday?' He let his smile widen. He could   practically see the steam coming from her ears. ‘So consider this a   twenty-four-hour reprieve.'

Natalia took a step into the room. Her chest heaved, although  when she spoke her voice was level. ‘You cannot

really think,' she said  coldly, ‘to go through with this … this ridiculous idea.'

So she was going to try and play the princess card. Ben laced  his  hands behind his head and lounged back in his chair. ‘Oh, but I can,' he   assured her. ‘Your father was really quite taken with it.'

‘My father-' She bit off the words, looking like she wanted to  chew them up and spit them out.

‘Thought it would be good for you,' Ben filled in  helpfully.

Natalia glared. ‘I know what my father thinks, thank you very  much.'

‘Then there's no problem.'

She drew a deep breath. ‘There is very much a problem, Mr-'

‘Ben.'

 ‘Ben.'

She was so very angry. Really, Ben thought idly, she looked  rather  magnificent when she was furious. Her eyes glittered and her cheeks were   flushed, her breasts heaving underneath the snug pink linen of her  dress. He  could almost imagine what she would be like in bed.

Natalia Santina was a woman who gave as good as she got. The  thought  of matching her between the sheets had a distinct appeal … and one Ben   knew he would have to resist. He chose his affairs with care and  discretion, two  words he could not apply to the princess. But he was  looking forward to being  her boss.

Natalia took another step into the room. She drew a breath and  let  it out slowly, smoothed her hands down the sides of her dress. Ben  braced  himself for a new tactic. ‘Look,' she said, and her voice was  pitched low,  appealing. Sexy. He banished the thought and looked  alert and interested, as if  he might actually change his mind.

‘I know we were winding each other up last night, but that's  all it  really was.' She smiled, playfully, and despite his best intentions to   remain unmoved Ben felt his pulse kick up a notch. This woman really  affected  him, in more ways than he cared to admit. Again he  questioned the wisdom of  having her here, flitting around, smiling  so sexily. No, he could handle it. He  would stay in control. Always.  He smiled blandly back.

‘Was it?'

Irritation flashed in those hazel eyes. ‘You know it was. I  can't actually … participate in this camp of yours.'

Her tone invited him to share the absurdity of such a concept  and,  smiling regretfully, Ben shook his head. ‘Oh, but you can.'

‘But I'm-' She stopped suddenly but Ben could easily guess what  she'd been about to say.                      
      
          



      

‘A princess?' he filled in. ‘And princesses can't get their  hands  dirty? Can't mingle with the masses? Can't do a single day's work in  their  bloody useless lives?'

Natalia recoiled, and underneath the anger Ben thought he saw a   flash of vulnerability. Then she drew herself up, all haughty disdain,  and he  was reminded of just what a spoilt snob she really was. He  knew what it meant to  work. He knew what it was to try and fail and  then try again. His father may  have once been a famous footballer,  but Ben had made his own money, his own life  far from the scandal  and notoriety of his upbringing. He'd earned the respect he  now  garnered; it hadn't been given to him simply because of who he was. Not  like  this princess. He'd be damned if he'd let her try to walk all  over him.

‘It's simply not reasonable,' she said, clearly now going for  quiet dignity. A little too late for that.

‘I don't see why.'

 ‘Because-'

‘Just what do you have against volunteering at my sports camp?'  Ben  asked, leaning forward. He genuinely wanted to know the answer. ‘The   children are generally friendly and well-behaved, and they can actually  be quite  a laugh. You might, heaven forbid, enjoy yourself.'

‘You've done these camps before?'

‘A few. One in London, another in Liverpool. Coming here was a  way to launch possible camps all over Europe.'

‘Ambitious, aren't you?'

Ben simply shrugged. ‘So? What do you have against it?'

She stared at him and he saw something flicker in those  hazel-green  eyes, something that looked remarkably like fear. ‘I don't know   anything about football,' she finally said.

‘It's not as if I'd expect you to coach.'

She didn't speak for a long moment. With the tiniest flicker of   sympathy, Ben could just imagine how trapped she felt. Even he had been   surprised at how readily King Eduardo had agreed to his plan. The  rather  dismissive way he'd discussed his daughter had caused Ben a  ripple of unease.  Natalia may be spoilt, snobbish, vain and even  useless, but she was still the  man's child. He had spoken about her,  at least a little bit, as if she were  nothing but a bother and  embarrassment.

Finally she lifted her chin, settled her flintily determined  gaze upon him. ‘What would you have me do?'

Ben felt a surge of triumph, as well as a reluctant wave of   admiration. The woman had courage. And pride. Too much of it, of course.  He  shrugged, spreading his hands. ‘Whatever needs doing, really.  Office work to  begin with-'

‘Office work?' For a second she looked panicked, which  surprised  him. Surely office work would be preferable to getting mucky with the   children on a football pitch.

‘The camp doesn't actually launch for another week,' Ben  explained.  ‘When the Santina schools have their spring holiday. We'll start our   first three-week camp then. Until it starts, you can help organise  things here.'  He gestured to the reception room out front that had  been a hive of happy  productivity, at least until Princess Natalia  had stormed in and stunned them  all into silence. ‘You might not be  able to type a hundred words a minute,' he  allowed generously, ‘but I  assume you can handle a photocopier, do a bit of  filing? Read?' He  smiled, expecting her to laugh or  smile back even if it was  haughtily, but she didn't. She jerked her startled  gaze upwards to  his and for a second, no more, she looked terrified. Then her   expression closed up completely and she jerked her head in what Ben  supposed was  a nod.