Santina's Scandalous Princess(14)

She pressed her lips together and tossed another sealed  envelope  onto her growing stack. She would not be one of his ticked boxes. She   would not be used by Ben Jackson at all. She might have a  well-earned wild  reputation, but she stayed in charge. In control.  And if Ben thought he was determined to resist her … he had no idea how   determined she could be. She wouldn't get close to anyone, and  certainly not Ben  Jackson.

* * *

The rest of the week passed without incident. The press  was  thankfully occupied with the exploits of other members of the Santina   family, and tailing Natalia being driven to work every day was not  noteworthy  enough to make a headline. Ben was out of the office for  two days, checking out  the island's stadium where the camp would be  launched on Monday. Natalia hadn't  given too much thought to her  duties after this week, but as she helped  Francesca sort stacks of  youth-size T-shirts she wondered just what Ben was  going to have her  do on a football pitch. She could  barely kick a ball; she'd never  been much of one for sport. School, as a whole,  had simply been  something to endure.

Late Friday afternoon Ben strolled into the office, looking   remarkably refreshed and energised. Natalia, in comparison, felt about  as  refreshed as a wet towel. Working just one week had very nearly  done her in.

‘So, Princess,' he said. ‘Be ready to work hard on Monday.'

Natalia glanced pointedly at the stack of T-shirts she'd been  going  through with Francesca. ‘Oh, excuse me, this isn't working hard?'

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.

As he closed the door Natalia sagged, saw she'd been clenching  the  T-shirt she'd been folding so hard there were nail marks in the fabric.

When Natalia arrived back at the palazzo that evening, her mind   still buzzing from her exchange with Ben, her mother called her into her  private  rooms and Natalia knew from the lavender silk evening gown  her mother wore that  once again royal duty beckoned.

‘Back from your charity work?' Zoe asked, which Natalia knew  was how  her mother liked to view her volunteering for Ben Jackson. She nodded,   and Zoe turned to a waiting maid. ‘I'll wear the amethyst parure.'

‘Very good, Your Highness.' The maid went to fetch the  magnificent  set of diamond and amethyst earrings, necklace, bracelet cuffs and   tiara from her mother's private safe. Zoe turned to Natalia.

‘We have several foreign dignitaries coming to dine tonight.  You  will attend. It is perfectly possible that one may represent your future   husband.'                      
      
          



      

Natalia felt an icy plunging sensation in her middle. ‘My  engagement to Prince Michel only ended a few weeks ago.'

‘All the more reason to press on. You are twenty-seven years  old, Natalia. High time you were married.'

‘It's the twenty-first century, Mother,' Natalia protested,  even  though she'd made this argument before, to little effect. ‘Twenty-seven   could be considered young these days.'

‘Not for a princess,' Zoe replied firmly. ‘In any case, we are  not  ruled by current fashions. Your marriage is an important negotiation  that  will strengthen our country.'

‘Plenty of royals marry whomever they please,' Natalia pointed  out, and Queen Zoe arched her eyebrows.

‘You do not, I trust,' she said, ‘have anyone in mind.'

Ridiculously and unreasonably, Ben-his quirking smile, his  powerful body-flashed through her mind. ‘Of course not.'

Zoe sighed. ‘I know it is hard for a young woman to face her  royal  duty. And perhaps your father and I have been too lenient, allowing you   the freedom to live life as you saw fit for too long.' Although her  mother spoke  delicately, Natalia still heard the judgment, felt it  in herself. She hadn't  done much with her life. She knew that. She  just didn't know how to change, or  if she even wanted to. What was  the point?

The maid returned with the parure and laid out the pieces on  her  mother's vanity. Zoe glanced down at them, her eyes narrowed in  assessment.  ‘It is time you stepped into the role to which you were  born, Natalia. It is  time you started acting like a princess.' The  maid lowered the bejewelled tiara  onto Zoe's silver hair. Her mother  met Natalia's gaze in the ornate mirror.  Natalia saw compassion  there, but also an implacable will she knew she didn't  have the  strength or resources to defy. ‘You will start,' Queen Zoe told her,   ‘tonight.'