But forcing the issue here would not be appropriate. He had other people he wanted her to meet. Factions more hostile to the idea of oil drilling than the previous ministers had been. Arguing about something as minor as a brief stumble would be wasting time.
“By all means,” he said coolly. “Are you quite recovered?”
“Yes. Thank you.” She was all self-possession now. As if she hadn’t torn herself away from him like he’d burnt her. For some reason, this didn’t do anything for his temper.
However, meeting the rest of the ministers went off without a hitch. Lily’s impatience when the usual questions about her family and her husband began was far less obvious. Her smile became freer, the attempts at charm less awkward. But when the talk eventually turned to business, she was like a shark to blood in the water. Sharp, astute, authoritative, confident.
She may not have had her father’s gift for small talk and charm, but when it came to business she was just as impressive. Not at all the princess he’d been expecting. And his ministers were impressed too, he could see that.
The desert people were, of course, a different story, but tonight had proved she could handle herself with his government. Perhaps she could handle the desert too.
As she talked to one of his father’s ex-advisors, leader of one of the more vocal factions against the issue of oil rights and not shy about voicing his opinions, Isma’il found himself studying her. The old man was rude, but Lily handled him without raising her voice or being rude in return. Poised and confident. Nothing seemed to faze her.
Yet, when he’d touched her earlier she’d been fazed. Her poise had shattered completely.
The dull anger that burned inside him became a little sharper. Perhaps she thought he was like Khalid. That he would be the kind of man who dealt out random violence the way his father had.
If so, this could be a problem. Khalid’s brutality had left all of Dahar’s people scarred, including the desert tribes, and to take a woman potentially frightened of him into the desert, could put at risk all the work he’d put into proving that he was a different kind of ruler. A risk he couldn’t afford to take. He wanted to heal his country, not entrench old fears.
Perhaps it was time he conducted a small experiment.
Isma’il moved closer to Lily. As she finished talking to the minister, Isma’il allowed his hand to rest for a moment at the small of her back, guiding her on towards the next group. Instantly, her spine stiffened, her whole posture rigid with tension. She said nothing and her guard did not break this time. But he could feel her trying to surreptitiously arch away from his hand.
He let his palm drop and watched her shoulders relax.
So, for some reason his touch made her tense. Affected her in some way. Made her want to get away from him.
His anger knotted inside him. She was afraid. And he would bet all Dahar’s oil on the fact that it had something to do with Khalid’s reputation.
“You find my touch disagreeable, Ms. Harkness?” he murmured in her ear as they moved through the crowd of people.
She didn’t turn her head or falter she side-stepped a passing waiter. “Your touch? I’m not sure I follow you, your Highness.”
“I put my hand on your back and you stiffened.”
Lily smiled and nodded as someone raised a hand in greeting. “I’m sure you were mistaken.”
Did she think this was a game? If so, he was more than happy to play it. As they stopped to speak to another couple of people, Isma’il deliberately let his hand rest on her shoulder as he introduced her. Her bare shoulder.
Lily’s voice hitched. With a subtle shift of her body, she shrugged his hand off her. Their audience didn’t appear to notice the movement but he did. Oh yes, he did.
Isma’il lowered his head to her ear again. “I am not mistaken.”
She didn’t acknowledge what he’d said. She carried on talking.
But he would not let her pretend nothing had happened this time.
Interrupting the conversation with an easy grace, he excused both himself and Lily. Then, he firmly pressed his palm to her back and steered her towards a small open hallway that led off the main ballroom.
She didn’t want to go; he could read her reluctance in every line of her body, but it only made his anger burn hotter. What did she think he was going to do to her? He wasn’t a monster. Not like Khalid.
As they entered the hallway, a vast potted palm shielding them from the rest of the ballroom, she turned on him, folding her arms across her breasts. “Why did you interrupt that conversation? It was important.”
He ignored her. “You are lying to me, Lily Harkness.”
“I’m sorry? What exactly am I supposed to be lying about?”