Mistress to the Prince (5 page)

“That man!” she said, rushing back into the house and calling the cab company. 
She remembered that Jeffrey had picked her up at the palace the night before so she’d left her car in the parking lot, assuming she’d be back to drive it home. 
“I should send the cab bill to him,” she muttered under her breath as she dialed the number. 

I
t was almost
nine o’clock
b
y the time she got to her desk.  Max was coming out of a meeting, shaking someone’s hand as he said goodbye to the man
while
she stored her purse in her desk drawer
. 
Tara
turned quickly
toward
her computer and
clicked on the keyboard
which
pulled up his schedule for the day, groaning when she realized that he had been meeting with the head of an oil company and she had been asked to take notes in the meeting. 

The man left and Max turned around, his eyes taking in her appearance.  “Late night?” he asked
in a deceptively casual tone
. 
He walked over to stand in front of her desk, his eyes noting the dark circles under her eyes and the soft, wispy hair that was coming out of her bun, making her look softer and more feminine. 

Tara
noticed the direction of his gaze and
pulled a stray lock of hair
behind her ear in an effort to look more polished.  She wished she had a brush and hairspray so she could smooth it all back into the chignon but she couldn’t leave at the moment if his angry expression was any indication
.  “Yes.  Too late,” she said, her voice shaking.  “I’m sorry I’m
also late arriving for work.  I didn’t wake up to the alarm this morning
,” she said
weakly
and shuffled some papers on her desk.

Max crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring her smile as his anger grew.  He already hated the man who got to take her out last night and he didn’t even know his name.
“Nice date last night?”
he asked, wishing he could punch the man’s face in, whoever he was. 

Tara
smiled wanly, remembering the horrible evening. 
“It was okay,” she lied. 
She’d seen Max angry before but his anger had always been directed at someone else.  She had never been on the receiving end of it before and it was quite terrifying. 

He
walked closer, then
stopped by her desk to look at her, his mouth showing his displeasure. 
“I’m glad you are okay. 
Why was your car here all night?”

Tara
was instantly on her guard.  “I…my date just drove me home.”

A muscle started twitching on the side of his face but
Tara
maintained eye contact with him. 
“Did he come inside?” he asked, placing one hand on either side of her desk and leaning over to watch her expression.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” she said
, sensing his
increased fury
and getting angry herself.  She
turned back to her computer
, unwilling to be interrogated about her blind date when he had been on one himself
.
“How was Lady
Margaret
?  Pretty enough for you?” she asked, and instantly regretted her catty tone of voice. 

“
I suppose she was nice enough although I don’t remember much about her, but back to
your mystery date and your lat
e night.  You don’t think it is my business,” he said ominously.  “
I think it is
,” he countered
, his voice low and obviously angry
. 
“
When you’re late for work because of your wild dates, it becomes my business,” he snapped.  “Get me the statistics on the latest environmental reports and be in my office in ten minutes.”

With those words, he left her staring at him with a slack jaw.  He’d never spoken to her like that before.  They had always had a perfect sense of rhythm in the office and
Tara
knew that he didn’t need or want those statistics until later this afternoon when he would have time to review them. 
Was he just being domineering to prove that he could? 

Angrily,
she grabbed the reports
which were already compiled and summarized
, two copies; one for him so he could review them and one for herself so she could take notes for further action later. 
She’d already made the copies knowing that he’d want to review them later this afternoon. 
Within five minutes, she handed him
one of
the reports, slapping
it
into the middle of his desk.  She then turned around and sat down in the chair opposite his desk, waiting for him to start his review
with her pencil poised over the report but not willing to look at him since she was now angry herself
.

“Tell me about your date,” he
snapped
, ignoring the reports.

Turning the top page of the reports he’d requested, her pen poised to take notes,
but
Tara
wouldn’t look him in the eye. 
“It was wonderful
,” she lied
. 
“
The man was fabulous, funny and charming. He took me to a wonderful event, we had interesting food…I mean, what more could a woman ask for?” she said,
and watched a bird fly past the window right over his shoulder
. 
“Is there anything else you need
to know
?” she asked crisply,
determined to ignore any overtures from him while he was in this kind of a mood. 
“Maybe the color of his hair or his eyes?  I’m sure both of those little pieces of information are relevant to the day’s meetings, aren’t they?” 

Max didn’t say anything for a
long
moment
as he continued to watch her angry eyes
.  When he finally did speak, it was to snap orders at her about the project that was in proposal right now.  It was a pet project of his and she took detailed notes.  But
just
as she suspected, he didn’t even touch the report she’d just
placed on his desk
.

When he finished, she stood up and walked out, still not looking at him.  “I’ll get these notes typed up and delegated immediately,” she said
crisply
and walked out of his office.

Max cursed under his breath
and wished he could call her back and talk to her
.  He’d hurt her feelings but knew he couldn’t fix it
at the moment
.  He’d spent an awful night wondering what she was doing and if the man she was with was touching her, kissing her.  The thought drove him crazy. 

And what
the hell
was she wearing
today
?  He
suddenly
noticed her pass in front of his office door as she pulled something down off of one of the shelves in the outer office. 
She
’d never worn
clothes that tight before
in the office
. 
Her suits
were always crisp, neat and tailored
without a hint of femininity
, but this suit had a short skirt that ended well above her knees and pulled across her very nice derriere he noted.  The jacket was also snug but not ill-fitting
.  It
gave him a nice view of her luscious breast as it pulled across her chest. 

He’d seen the
high heeled
shoes before but paired with the short skirt, they made her look sexier, more feminine.  Max couldn’t help staring at her as she walked, enjoying the view despite his anger over last night.

Very nice, he thought to himself.  His body thought so as well.  It was already reacting to his thoughts, and it was becoming painful as he watched her bend down and file something in a filing cabinet that was
n’t
in his line of vision through the doorway.
  But her legs were.  And his eyes feasted on the vision as if he’d been starving for years. 
 

Max shifted in his seat and
pushed those thoughts out of his mind.  He’d messed up this morning, demanding information he had no right to ask.  But dammit,
he
wanted her!   She preferred going out with a complete stranger to dating him?  He wasn’t vain but that just didn’t make any sense. 
What was it other women saw in him that she didn’t?

She just wasn’t interested, Max told himself.  He needed to be magnanimous about this issue.  If she would be happy with someone else, he should just let it go and hope she fell in love
and
found
happiness
.

Max buried himself in work for the next hour, plowing through the administrative needs that came with running a country.  He’d been taking on more and more of these kinds of issues as his father moved into retirement, if that’s what one could call a king. 

He was congratulating himself on his concentration when he saw her bend over and file something else.  Tossing down his pencil, he gave up and considered his position.  He could either apologize for his behavior this morning or just ignore the woman completely. 
Apologizing wasn’t something he did very often but ignoring her was out of the question, especially if she was going to keep filing whatever she was filing, allowing him an enticing view of her long, sexy legs. 

The latter just wasn’t a possibility so he’d have to apologize.  Walking out to her office, he stood in his doorway for a moment, waiting for her to get off the phone. 
She had her back to him so she wasn’t aware that he was standing in her office at the moment.

“No, I have to go,
Nancy
,”
Tara
said.  A moment of silence.  “No.  I’m not going out with that man again.  He was awful.”

Max knew he was eaves dropping but didn’t care.  She had to be talking about her date last night and wanted to hear more. 
The beginning of the conversation was just too interesting, a soothing balm to his wounded ego. 

Tara
shook her head, obviously rejecting whatever suggestion the person a
t
the other end of the phone was saying. 
“He was obnoxious and self-centered and irritating.  I’m sorry.  I know Jeffrey is a friend of your husband, but there’s no way I’m going out with him again.
  I just wish he didn’t k
now where I live but he wouldn’t
drive me back to get my car last night so I didn’t have a choice.  It was either have him drive me home or go out to a bar with him and that was definitely not on the agenda after that awful evening.
”
 
Tara
shivered in revulsion and leaned back in her chair as she continued to listen
to her friend
. 

Max felt a weight lift off his shoulders with her words.  He wanted to slam down the phone and lift her up onto her desk and kiss her until she realized that he could make her happy.

“Kiss him?  Are you nuts?  The man actually whined when I left him in his car.  I’m not really attracted to men like that,
Nancy
.  You
should know me better than that.
”

Now
Max
definitely
wanted to hear more.  What ki
nd of man was she attracted to? 

Tara
picked up a report and started making notes in the margins, obviously not completely focused on her phone call. 
“Yes, well, I know you’re opinion on my love life.  I’ve definitely heard it enough times before.”  A long pause.  “Yes.  I agree.  I don’t want to die a virgin.  That isn’t on my priority list, but so far, I haven’t been able to do much about it.”

If he hadn’t been leaning against the doorjamb, he might have fallen on the floor with that bit of information. 
Tara
was a virgin?  How could that be possible?  A woman as sexy and gorgeous as
Tara
?  Not to mention funny and intelligent?