His hands cupped her face, and he stared intently into eyes. “Please Brig, I need you. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
She saw the shock in his eyes that she’d driven him to beg. She wavered strung out with nerves, because she wanted him desperately. When he bent to kiss the soft skin behind her ear, sucking gently on her earlobe, she stifled her groan of arousal and gave him her no-bullshit tone, “Enough, Cameron! Get off me, right now.”
He moved back, but placed his palms on the wall on either side of her head. Frustration snapped in his blue eyes. “How do I get through to you?”
“You don’t, because I’m not interested in what you’re offering.” She pushed against his chest until he stood upright and she could move away. “Now, I’m going into the bathroom to wash up. When I come out don’t be here.”
Chapter Seven
The
next
morning, Brig came out of her suite to go down to breakfast, feeling at odds with herself. For most of the night, she’d tossed and turned on her floor bed outside of the prince’s quarters, thinking of blue eyes, sensual lips and a hard male torso.
An hour ago when she’d returned to her quarters to shower and change, her twin sister, Lexine, had called with the thrilling news that she was going to marry Blane Sebastian. Lex and Blane had known each other for years, and they were perfect together. While Brig couldn’t be happier for them, for reasons she couldn’t understand, the news had unsettled her.
Now, as she moved along the landing, she caught a sound to her right, turning quickly to see Pamela McFarlane step out of the shadows. It was obvious the other woman had been lying in wait. In contrast to Brig’s plain black top and pants, Pamela was wearing an ultra-feminine flouncy pink dress and matching high heels. As she approached, there was rigid anger in her eyes and challenge in every step.
Shit, this I don’t need before I’ve had my morning coffee.
Pamela halted with a huffing sound, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m not here to exchange courtesies. I came to correct any ridiculous notions you might have regarding you and the prince.”
Amused by the
courtesies
remark, Brig decided the other woman didn’t deserve to know that she wasn’t a rival. “I’m listening.”
“Firstly, everyone at the banquet must have noticed that you never took your eyes off the prince, and you hovered close by until he was forced to dance with you to be polite.”
Brig didn’t waste breath pointing out that the prince had approached
her
to dance.
“Then you had the nerve to follow us out to the terrace, and intrude on our privacy by pretending there was a stalker in the garden.”
Brig realized Pamela still believed she was a delegate. Apparently, Cameron hadn’t seen fit to fill her in on security details.
“In the remote possibility that you make it to his bed,” Pamela went on. “He’ll discard you the minute it’s over. He always comes back to me.”
Brig raised an eyebrow. “So you don’t mind sharing him with other women. That’s very magnanimous of you.”
Pamela sucked in air, her face flushing. “I’m not going to explain myself to you, some go-between from nowhere. You couldn’t begin to understand how the upper classes lead their lives.” She moved a step closer, narrowing her pale eyes threateningly. “Just so we’re clear on this, if you continue to make a nuisance of yourself, I have the power to ruin your pathetic little career.”
At tempting as it was to give the unpleasant woman a few reality checks, Brig’s need for coffee forced her to cut things short. “Sorry to disappoint,
Pammy
, but whatever clout you believe you have, won’t have the slightest impact on
my
life.” She flashed her killer smile, and strode away.
“Don’t you dare walk away from me. You’ll see what I can do, you common oversized bitch.”
Despite herself, Brig’s heart was racing as she made her way down the wide staircase. She could feel Pamela’s gaze drilling into her back. Though the female cattiness shouldn’t upset her, it did. Regardless that she’d thrown Cameron out of her room last night,
her subconscious kept tossing up wild ideas about making him hers, which was ludicrous. In a few days,
she’d be back on Earth getting on with her life. In a few months, she’d have forgotten about him.
Well not quite, her memory was too good for that, but in time, she’d file him away with the rest of her clients.
She drew a long head-clearing breath and moved toward the large dining room.
“Good morning, Miz Monroe.”
She turned to see Reid Cameron approaching. He smelled of the outdoors, and she wondered where he’d been this early in the day. “Good morning, Mr. Cameron.”
“I trust you slept well.” He stood aside to let her pass through ahead of him. His gaze reflected amusement again, but her senses told her he’d connected the dots and knew her real purpose here, or Duncan had mentioned it.
“Yes, I slept very well, thank you,” she lied.
“That’s good. So I imagine you’ll be part of the entourage accompanying Duncan out to the new mine being drilled today.”
It was the first she’d heard of it, but she made a sound of agreement, wondering if Reid would ask her to join him for breakfast. She was relieved when he merely said, “I’ll leave you to it then. Enjoy your day.”
She looked around for a vacant spot at a table. There weren’t many. Most of the delegates seemed to be in here, tucking in to a variety of delicious smelling breakfast foods. Since this was a free day for everyone, Brig imagined the visitors would spend the time sightseeing or whatever delegates did when they attended trade talks.
She spotted the prince sitting at the head of one of the long tables, speaking to a gesturing male envoy. Cameron looked as gorgeous as ever wearing a loose-fitting white shirt that was rolled up to his elbows. His black hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, and his bronzed face looked freshly shaved. Brig’s highly tuned senses told her he was watching her from the corner of his eye, but he didn’t indicate in any way that he wanted her to approach. After last night, she had no idea what today might bring, it was quite likely Cameron would tell her to leave. Perhaps she should grab a cup of coffee and a roll, and go back to her room and wait to see if Cameron contacted her.
Before she could decide, she saw Kali Tofka, the envoy she’d sat beside at dinner. He was waving at her and indicating to the vacant chair next to his. As Brig walked toward him, he beamed.
“Good morning, Brig. I’m so pleased we ran in to each other. Have you made any plans for today?”
Because she had no idea what she’d be doing, she lied, “Yes, they’re work related, and I’ll be tied up for most of the day.”
His expression fell. “What a shame. I was thinking of joining the tour to the capital city, which includes a boat ride.” He paused. “Perhaps I’ll see you this evening at the bar.”
Not wanting to fuel any hopes he might have, she gave him a bland smile. “Perhaps, it will depend on what I hear from my principals at head office.”
With that said, she ended up eating a full breakfast while she did the small talk thing with Tofka. All the while, her senses took in what was happening over at Cameron’s table. Pamela had arrived a few minutes ago and was now speaking in a low voice to the prince.
Brig jerked her attention back to Tofka when he asked a question about mineralogy, discovering in the process that he was a rock-climbing hobbyist, like her. Though she tried to lose herself in the conversation, her peripheral vision caught Pamela’s abrupt departure. It appeared, she’d gone off in a huff, which was intriguing. Brig tried to increase her sensory awareness to see what the prince might be thinking. While she could discern frustration coursing through him, she butted against a mental firewall when she tried to read his thoughts. With all her psychic power, it seemed his deeper feelings would remain closed to her.
* * * *
Duncan
was
feeling like a heel. The last thing he’d wanted was to hurt Pamela, or settle things between them in a public setting, but she’d annoyed him when she’d started telling ridiculous lies about Brig, almost as if she knew he had an interest in Monroe.
Finally, Pamela had demanded in a low angry voice, “I want to know right now, if you have any intention at all of marrying me?”
He’d wanted to be kind, but there was no easy way to say it. “Pamela, if you’re asking me to be candid, then no, we do not have a future together.”
“You bastard.” She’d punched him hard on the arm and stormed away.
While Duncan would have preferred not to have the scene play out in front of onlookers, he was relieved that the worst of it was over. Still, he berated himself for letting things slide for so long. He’d talk to her, once she’d cooled off, he thought. Try to make amends.
“More coffee, Your Highness?”
Duncan glanced up in surprise because Crawford was holding the coffee pot. “Why are you doing a waiter’s job?”
Crawford smiled serenely. “I like to keep my hand in. It never hurts to multitask.”
Bemused, Duncan studied the dignified retainer. Crawford had always been like a second father to him. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Should there be?”
When Crawford started answering questions with questions, he was up to something. “Don’t make me work for it. What do you want?”
“Hmm, well, since you’re going to the new mine today, I thought you might like to take a picnic lunch with you.”
Duncan studied the older man speculatively. “That’s it. You’re here to suggest a picnic when you know I always eat in the location-catering tent.”
“Exactly, I thought you might enjoy a change.”
“Why?”
“Because I assume Miz Monroe will be accompanying you, and you might like to share the picnic with her.”
Reflexively, Duncan glanced in Brig’s direction, then back into Crawford’s shrewd amber gaze. “Matchmaking, eh? That’s a first for you. You’ve never approved of the women I’ve…” He started to say dated and stopped. He wasn’t sure what category Monroe was in, but she wasn’t leaving Nevis until he’d figured it out.
“Very well,” Crawford continued, as if Duncan had agreed. “The picnic will be ready when you are ready to leave.”
Duncan knew better than to argue.
Moving away, Crawford murmured loud enough for his prince to hear, “Try not to muck up.”
Smiling at the last, Duncan glanced back at Monroe, watching her rise from the table and walk toward the windows while she continued talking to the man she’d been sitting with—who, Duncan suddenly realized, was the same person she’d sat next to last night. He narrowed his gaze on the other man’s face. It was clear he was interested in Brig. With a startling surge of jealously, Duncan turned and signaled to a staff member.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Please inform Miz Monroe—” he pointed toward her— “that I wish her to accompany me this morning.”
As the attendant hurried off to deliver the message,
Reid appeared in the center of Duncan’s field of vision.
“I think we should talk, Duncan. It’s important.” He tipped his head toward the door. “Out of earshot.”
Duncan mentally sighed as he stood and followed his cousin out to the corridor. He imagined he was going to get another earful of Reid’s perceived slights against him. It usually involved a servant who had looked at him in the wrong way, or someone had failed to obey his orders in a timely fashion. As tiresome as it was to listen to Reid’s complaints, Duncan made allowances because he believed Reid was compensating for his lack of self-assurance over the fact that he was adopted. “Yes, Reid, how can I help?”
“You mentioned that you were going out to the new mine today. If you plan to take that Monroe woman with you, I think you should watch your back.”
Duncan was surprised. “What reason do you have for the warning?”
“Instinct, she’s acting strangely, and she’s throwing her weight around. For instance, what was she doing giving orders to the palace guards last night, as if she had the right to command them?”
“She thought she saw an intruder and gave warning.”
“From what I heard, she ended up embarrassing everyone when she stumbled into a romantic tryst.”
Duncan glanced at his watch. He wanted to be at the site when they tried out the new drilling unit he’d designed. “Okay, but how does any of that add up to a threat against me?”
“I’m just saying something doesn’t ring true, and I don’t trust her. I said the same thing to Alex this morning and he absolutely agrees with me.”
“Very well, thanks for the warning. Now I have to go.”
Chapter Eight
A short time later, Brig and Duncan
were
in the stable yard waiting for the grooms to lead the horses out. Brig was wearing shiny new riding boots and the helmet she’d been given. “Have you ridden much?” Cameron asked. His blue eyes were bright and smiling. Evidently, he was looking forward to this break from duty, and since he had made no reference to last night, it appeared he wasn’t angry with her.
All she could think about was how
mouth-wateringly virile he looked in the bright sunlight. Maybe the fact that she knew she couldn’t have him made the attraction that much stronger
. “No, I only recently learnt to ride,” she told him, “mainly because my sister, Kat, is now involved with an equestrian center. But don’t worry, I’ll keep up.”