The rooms had been filled with flowers, as was usual before her arrival. There had been a time when the flowers had always been freshened but Charlotte had despised the waste. It had cost a small fortune and often she would go weeks without making it to her penthouse apartment. She had issued a directive that she only wanted flowers when she was in attendance.
“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor,” Mika observed, propped against the door jamb.
Charlotte froze, turning to face her friend. “I know.”
“You’re nervous?”
“Yes.” She bit down on her lip. “I’m negotiating my wedding,” she said slowly.
Mika nodded, and Charlotte was drawn to confess her confusion to the woman she knew best in the world. “But it’s more than that.”
“Oh?” Mika moved deeper into the room, walking over to where Charlotte stood.
“It’s this man. Ashad.”
“I have heard that he is hugely intimidating. A man who will do whatever is necessary to achieve his goals, and those of his uncle.”
Charlotte swallowed. She didn’t want to think of Ashad being all dominant and determined. Her heart was already thumping at the thought of seeing him, and imagining him taking a room of diplomats or executives to task was impossibly sexy.
“I can see that,” Charlotte conceded, the words breathy.
“Does he intimidate you? Is that it?” Mika leaned closer, her tone solicitous. “Because I can stay with you if that helps? Let him try to bully me around when it comes to your marriage.”
Charlotte let out a weak laugh at the thought of Mika and Ash butting heads. But it wasn’t just that. A kernel of jealousy, hot and unwelcome, speared her gut. Mika was beautiful. Yes, she was older than Ashad, but any man who saw her would surely notice her long, lean figure, her tanned skin, her white blonde hair and exotic, aquamarine eyes. No way did Charlotte want Mika and Ashad spending time together.
“That’s okay,” she muttered, her cheeks colouring at the ungenerous direction of her thoughts.
“I mean it, Charlotte. You can’t let him override your opinions on this matter. You have fought to be included in the discussion, as you have every right to be. So discuss.”
Charlotte nodded. “The thing is, Mika,” she said, searching for the best way to admit that she stared at the man who was her groom’s cousin and wanted to peel his clothes off his body bit by bit. “I’m …”
There was a knock on the door. Sharp and imperious. Demanding attention.
A line formed between Mika’s brows and she leaned closer. “Go on.”
Charlotte nodded, but she was incapable now of giving voice to her feelings. Not when he was at the other end of the penthouse, minutes away – if that – from being right there in the room with her.
“Nothing, it doesn’t matter,” Charlotte murmured.
“You’re sure?”
She wasn’t; not even remotely. “I’ll be fine.”
“Then let me go and welcome him. I will leave him in doubts as to how I feel about this business.”
Charlotte’s smile was uneven. Her heart hammered. She moved across the room, positioning herself near the glass doors that led to the balcony. It wrapped around the apartment and showed views in every direction. It was stunning. She pushed the door open a little and caught a hint of the sea breeze, tainted only slightly at this height by the suggestion of fish that had been caught earlier that day.
She’d dressed with care for the meeting, choosing a white dress that fell to the floor. It was sleeveless and had a scooped neckline which made it cool and comfortable, but which hinted at her curves in a way that she had been ashamed to admit she wanted. She’d teamed the dress with a lightweight jacket and Chanel sandals, and chunky gold jewellery at her neck. It was the kind of outfit she would have worn with her friends, so why should she feel worried now that it was somehow inappropriate?
It must have been a fine outfit selection as Mika hadn’t said anything, and Mika was not one to let an objection go unexpressed.
Voices carried to her and she froze outwardly. Inwardly her organs were vibrating and screaming. The butterflies were frantic. Her mouth was dry; her pulse was a raging river. She turned, slowly, her eyes landing on the frame of the door at the moment Mika walked through, just a step ahead of Ashad.
He looked to her instantly and any doubts she’d had about the veracity of her desires were instantly dismissed. The same urge to run at him and push his clothes from his body assaulted her, just as it had in his office at the embassy the day before.
Her skin paled. Her body heated.
“Your highness,” he grinned, a smile that sparked fever and chills deep inside of her. “I am pleased to see you again.” He crossed the room and lifted one of her hands – it was like a cadaver’s limb, numb and unyielding. He squeezed it and then leaned forward, surprising her by placing a kiss on first one cheek and then brushing his stubbled jaw across her face and kissing the other.
It was nothing.
The work of an instant. But the effect was lasting and profound for Charlotte.
Oh, heavens. Charlotte could easily push his shirt off at this range. His masculine scent was tying her stomach in knots. She stiffened and stepped backwards, needing to not be touching him, smelling him, fantasising about him.
“Hello,” she murmured, the word a crisp rebuke of the overly-friendly greeting. “I see you’ve met Mika?”
He nodded. “I expected more pomp and circumstance,” he teased, taking her lead and putting distance between them.
Charlotte swallowed, forcing herself to look away from him even when she wanted to drink him in. Mika was standing near the door, unmistakable speculation in her eyes.
“Mika?” Charlotte smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. “I’ll let you know when we’re finished.”
“I’m happy to stay,” Mika offered, hesitating at the doorway. And Charlotte understood why. The tension between her and Ashad was palpable.
Charlotte smiled and shook her head. “Thank you.”
Mika left, but her air of caution remained.
The apartment had been designed with Charlotte in mind. It boasted two completely separate spaces. Her own residence had five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a chef’s kitchen, formal dining room and library as well as the more comfortable lounge area that led to the balcony. This was Charlotte’s preferred room in the apartment, though now she was wishing she’d selected something more formal to give their talks gravitas. Mika was, effectively, in a different apartment. At the end of the corridor a door led to a two-bedroom flat with its own kitchen and lounge area. Her security detail would be there also, and presumably Ashad’s.
“Did Mika show your security somewhere comfortable to wait?”
He laughed. “I didn’t bring security.”
“You didn’t?” Her eyes flew wide.
“I’m a big boy,” he said with a timbre to his words that made her heart turn over in her chest. “I can take care of myself.”
Visions she really didn’t need pushed their way into the uppermost of her subconscious.
“Are you hungry?” She blurted, desperate to change the subject and retain some kind of upper hand in their relationship.
“No,” he smiled. “But don’t let that stop you.”
“I’m fine.” Charlotte was standing several feet away from him, and yet the way Ashad was looking at her, she might as well have been in his arms. “The way you greeted me just now,” she said softly, forcing herself to face him.
He frowned, as though he didn’t understand what she was referring to at first. “Today?”
“Yes. When you … kissed me…”
He laughed softly. “That was not a kiss,” he said after he’d sobered. “It was a polite acknowledgement, befitting our relationship.”
Her skin pricked with sensation. “It was a kiss. Two, in fact,” she corrected. “And it’s too familiar. I hardly know you.”
“Ah, but we are going to be family, remember?”
“Do you kiss your family like that?” She asked archly, padding across the room and pulling a water bottle from the fridge. She took a second out and threw it at him without warning. His reflexes were sharp. He stuck a hand up in the air and caught it easily, lowering it and cracking the lid without missing a beat.
“Yes. Well, my female family members,” he winked.
Charlotte’s heart was hurting, as though little monsters had moved into the cavity and were squeezing her aorta, just for fun. “Given that we are not yet family, please refrain from being so intimate with me.”
His eyes narrowed and she felt the strength of his reputation swirling around her. He was formidable, it was true. She shouldn’t choose to be in dispute with him, because she suspected no one who came up against Ashad ever won.
“I have seen photographs of you at nightclubs with your friends. Young men and women. You don’t seem to have any trouble letting them touch you. Kiss you. Be close to you.”
She gasped as his words clawed against her. “I do no such thing,” she said with indignation. She thought back to the last few times she’d been out with her circle. Yes, she supposed she did dance with her male friends, and yes, there had been photos in the press of her and Remi holding hands as they left a nightclub in Istanbul, but that had been because he’d become so drunk she wasn’t sure he could find his way to the limousines.