The Prince’s Forbidden Lover(9)

Stepping back, she wanted to slam the bedroom door shut once again and hide from him. He was too large, too male and…she paused when he was standing in front of her…smelled too good! Looking up, she realized that his hair was still damp but he looked wonderful.

She grabbed behind her, her fingers clutching the doorknob for help when her knees went all wobbly. “I didn’t think anyone else would be up at this hour,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I’ve been awake for a couple of hours,” he told her, stepping closer.

Joline inched backwards and he stepped closer. “What are you doing?” she asked nervously.

“I can’t tell you,” he commented and lifted a hand, his finger running down her neck.

Joline froze with that touch. Her body’s reaction was to once again start that annoying and very revealing trembling.

“You’re beautiful,” he commented, noting that her hazel eyes were once again more green this morning and her skin was softer than he could have imagined. “Do I make you nervous?” he asked.

Joline shivered when his finger moved lower, the pad of his thumb resting on the pulse beating rapidly at the base of her throat. “No. You’re making me angry.”

His only response was a smile. “Is that so? Why would I make you angry?” he asked as if they were sitting in a board meeting discussing business, not standing in an elegant hallway while his thumb moved lower, grazing across her collar bone.

She tried to back away, hoping to dislodge that disturbing touch but she was already back against the door and she couldn’t move to the left or right. “You’re invading my space. And I don’t like it!” Joline tried to add heat to her voice, but suspected she was failing miserably when his thumb started a downward trek towards…

“Stop,” she whispered, grabbing his wrist with her free hand. Her eyes were glaring up at him but he didn’t seem to be getting the message. Maybe her look wasn’t fierce enough, she thought. It was hard to be fierce when all she wanted was for this man’s hand to move lower. Her body was aching to feel his touch on her breast, to know if his hand would be soft and gentle or hard and demanding.

“Release my hand, Joline,” he commanded softly.

She was shocked when her fingers actually eased from his wrist for a moment. But then she realized what she was doing and her grip tightened. “Please don’t touch me,” she whispered, wishing she could find that “fierce” tone that seemed to have escaped from her repertoire at the moment.

“You don’t really want me to stop,” he commented and moved closer.

Joline started to panic. This man was just too much for her. And he was everything she didn’t want in a man. He was everything her mother would drool over and that made him so very wrong!

She was still trembling but she forced her chin higher, defying his words. “I do. I sincerely want you to move back and give me some space.”

“Why is that?”

Joline opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn’t admit that the real reason they couldn’t see each other was that her mother was a gold digger with five marriages and dozens of affairs under her belt. Each marriage had made her wealthier, and even more rapacious for more money! Joline refused to follow in her mother’s footsteps.

Nor would this man appreciate being subjected to the ridicule of marrying into Joline’s family. If the press ever got word that she was dating a man like Prince Rais, they would slice both her and his integrity to shreds. She’d seen it happen to a few of her mother’s lovers. Her mother let the criticism slide off her back like water on a duck but Joline wasn’t that strong. She wasn’t as tough. Nor could her fledgling business withstand that kind of bad press at this point in its existence. No, this could never have a happy ending.

Besides, Joline had plans, things she wanted to do with her life. She loved her job, enjoyed solving all of the problems that came with starting up a small and growing business. Every day she was excited to see what might happen, what crisis could occur that she could smooth out or what business adventure might step in her path.

From what Joline knew of Shantra’s brothers, and this one in particular, they didn’t even think women should work. What an antiquated idea! Shantra hated the way her brothers would pat her on the head whenever she tried to branch out of the traditional role they’d stuck her in. Joline could never live that kind of an existence.

So no, any sort of relationship with this man was completely out of the question.

“It is just the way it has to be.” And with that, she slipped away from him and moved on down the hallway. She had no idea where she was heading, but it was away from him and that was her goal.