Mistress to the Prince (6 page)

He wasn’t sure how it was possible, but
Max was thrilled with that news.  He stepped back into his office and smiled to himself.  He knew himself well enough to realize that he was somewhat
of a
sexist.  And the news that no man had ever touched
Tara
the way he wanted to
touch her
just confirmed that fact.  He wanted to be the one to initiate her into the world of lovemaking. 
The ideas that popped into his mind just intensified the painful feeling in his groin and he had to breathe heavily to get his body back under control. 

He didn’t examine
his possessive
feelings too deeply.  He definitely wasn’t a virgin
so why did he like the idea in
Tara
so much?
  He had been enjoying the company of wome
n since he was a teenager.  And he had been continuing to enjoy women ever since.  Well, not much since
Tara
had been working for him he realized.  Max thought back and, although he escorted women to several events each week, he realized that he hadn’t been with any woman for almost a year and a half. 
Just about
the same amount of time
Tara
started working for him.

That thought irritated him and he looked out the window, wondering what that meant about his feelings
toward
his secretary.  It couldn’t be good. 

“Are you okay?”
Tara
said from behind him. 

Max turned around quickly but didn’t know she was so close to him.  He almost fell on top of her but caught himself, and her, just in the nick of time.  He put his hands around her waist and pulled her close, keeping them both from falling onto the floor.

Tara
’s face flamed up and her hands automatically grasped his shoulders.  As soon as they were steady, she stepped back two steps but her face was red and her breathing was slightly increased.  He noticed that she wouldn’t look him in the eyes either. 

Interesting, he thought.  Had he been missi
ng something all these months?  Max considered all the possibilities to see if there was something more to her feelings for him.  Was she attracted to him as well and just not showing it?  He liked that idea. 

“I brought you some tea,” she said and
wave
d a hand at his desk where a fresh cup of tea and his favorite biscuits were sitting in the middle.  “I’m sorry to disturb you.
  I know you’re extremely busy today.
”

“That’s okay.  You didn’t disturb me.  And I needed to apologize,” he said, and waved her into the chair she’d vacated over an hour ago.  Once she was seated, he sat down in his own chair behind his desk.  “I’m sorry about my comments this morning.  They were out of line and uncalled for.
  I guess my only excuse is that I wasn’t used to you looking like you did last night and it threw me for a curve ball,
”
he explained.  He watched her eyes, wondering if she understood

“Thank you,” she whispered.  “I’m sorry I was late this morning.”

Max grimaced at her polite tone. 
“You probably weren’t late, just on time and I’m used to you being
in the office
when I get here in the morning around seven.”

She smiled tentatively at his sincerity. 
“Well, either way.  I’m sorry.”

“Me too.  So tell me about your date last night?  Did you have fun?”

Tara
smiled wryly, trying to hide her reaction to his smile
which caused the normal butterflies to flit inside her tummy
.  Max had a devastatingly handsome smile and used it to charm even the most sophisticated women.  She had to concentrate hard in order to answer his simple question.
  “We went to the opera,” she said
finally, thankful her mind started working again after his smile
.

Max
raised an eyebrow at her answer
.  “You hate the opera.”

“I know
,” she laughed but it came out tense even to her own ears.
 
“
It was a Chinese opera.”

“Uh oh
,” Max’s mouth twisted at the thought
. 
“
Even I don’t like those.  I need more movement.  I guess it
’
s our impatient western personalities, huh?”

“I guess so.” 

“So where did you go to eat?”

Tara
laughed again
but it turned into more of a grimace in the end as she remembered her horrible night of hunger and fatigue
.  “I had a package of jelly beans during intermission.”

Max’s face showed his
concerned
thoughts.  “When did you have dinner?  I know you didn’t eat before you left.”

Tara
felt a warm glow inside with the realization that he was actually concerned about her.  In her smile-weakened mind, she pretended that it was because he felt something more for her than just an employee. 
“How did you know?”
she asked, curious. 

“There’s very little you do that I don’t know about,” he chuckled, thinking about her filing of a few minutes ago.
  He wasn’t about to reveal his voyeurism though.  Especially not to her.  Or any of his other thoughts that revolved around her legs, or her lips…his eyes dropped slightly and only for a moment as they rested on her breasts before he stopped himself from having more unprofessional thoughts about those perfectly pert, hidden treasures. 

“Oh,” she said, unsure of what that meant. 
She blinked and smiled a little unsteadily before continuing,
“
Well, anyway.  I haven’t had breakfast either, so I’m going to load up on cream in my coffee,
”
she said and stood up to do just that.

His next words stopped her from leaving his office which was exactly what he’d intended. 
“Why don’t you order something from the kitchen to be brought to you?”

Tara
was horrified at the suggestion. 
“Oh, I couldn’t do that,” she said, shaking her head.

“Why not?  You do it all the time for meetings.”

Still shaking her head, she said,
“But that’s for meetings and your guests.  I can’t do it for my own personal needs.  Besides,
its
just laziness.”

Max disregarded her contradictions.  “Don’t be silly.  You missed breakfast and dinner last night.  There’s a perfectly good chef down the hallway just waiting to create
something delicious.  I’ll order for you if you’re not going to do it.” 
He picked up the phone and raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking her what the kitchen’s extension was. 

Tara
was horribly embarrassed to have the Crown Prince of Cordova ordering breakfast for her. 
“Please,
Your Highness
, it isn’t important.  I’ll get something later.”

He put down the phone and typed something up on his computer. He got the phone number and dialed.  While he was waiting f
or someone to answer, he said, “You’ve been working for me for over two years. 
Isn’t it time you started calling me Max?”

“Goodness, no!” she said, horrified by the familiarity. 

“Why not?” but he held up a finger asking her to wait.

“I’d like a full breakfast delivered to my office immediately,” he said.  It only took a moment for him to nod and hang up the phone.  “If I order you to do it, would that wo
r
k?”

“
To use your first name? 
No,”
Tara
laughed
, surprised by the
charming
eagerness in his usually formidable expression
. 

Max chuckled.  “Fair enough.”  They worked on several issues and were interrupted a half hour later by a palace waiter delivering delicious smelling food.  Since
Tara
hadn’t eaten since yesterday at lunch, she was famished and took the waffles with syrup to her desk. 

Chapter 4

At
midday
, things were back to normal and the staff was working through a large project. 
Tara
picked up her phone mid afternoon and answered it as she normally would.
 
Tara
was glad to have things back on track between her and Max but she thought about the way his hands felt when he’d steadied her.  It had been wonderful.  Her traitorous body kept thinking about what it would be like to feel his hands against her skin instead of just her blouse. 

She realized she was just staring into space and jumped.  “Good afternoon.  Tara Jacobs speaking, how can I help you?” she hurriedly said to whoever was waiting on the other end of the phone line. 

A feminine voice laughed after a pregnant pause. 
“
Tara
?  Were you going to call me and tell me how things went last night?”

Tara
was relieved that it was her friend and not some ambassador needing to speak to Max, or worse, the king or queen. 
“Cindy?  Hi.” 
Tara
looked around to make sure she was alone before talking.  “No.  I wasn’t.  I was going to pretend like the whole thing just never happened.”

“Oooh.  That bad, huh?”

“Worse.  Thank everyone
for the
effort but don’t in the future,” she said, referring to her close friends who seemed to be on a mission to help her find a husband. 

“But I thought you were trying to get out there and get over this thing you have with our hunky future leader.
  This is a huge change since yesterday when you were excited about the possibility of finding someone else.
”

“I
was and I still need to get over him,” she whispered, afraid Max would hear her and understand that she was talking about him and her feelings for him.  “
But
after last night,
I’m not trusting you
or the others
anymore,” she laughed.
  “I’ll find my own dates somehow.”

Cindy was relentless, knowing that
Tara
would never get out and find eligible men on her own. 
“
That was just one bad night.  You can’t judge all men because of one bad night.
  Give us another chance.  We only knew that guy through a friend.  There’s bound to be oth
ers out there that are better
.
”

“I’m not judging all men.  I’m judging all blind dates,”
Tara
countered.

“
Well, then you’re going to miss out on a prime opportunity.
  Unless you were willing to come to a party or two and stop working so much,
”
her friend admonished. 

Tara
laughed softly and looked down at her keyboard.  “Don’t even start with that.
  You know I work a lot of parties for the prince.  And as for the blind dates,
I’m not falling for it twice.  Especially when I’m so tired after last night.  I overslept because that man got me home so late.”

“
Well just forget about last night.  I met another guy who I think you should meet. 
Th
is one is wonderful.  I promise,
”
Cindy said coaxingly.

Tara
was unconvinced.  After last night, there wasn’t much her friend could say to convince her to go out on another blind date. 
“Uh huh.  Sure he is.  No deal.”

“
Tara
, you have to go out with him
,” her friend said firmly
. 
“
Otherwise, you’ll be a stale old maid with no children, no husband and lusting after a man who is married to the future queen who is giving him tons of children.  Meanwhile, you sit at home knitting some sweater or socks for your cat which you don’t have yet but you’ll soon get and dote on like it is your offspring.  Not a pretty picture, is it?”