The Prince's Forbidden Lover (The Samara Royal Family #3) (11 page)

Shantra laughed.  “Because I know Joline.  I know that, once she trusts you enough to tell you about…herself…well, then you’ve won her trust and so much more.  But you’re going to have to work for it.  Joline doesn’t trust many people.  I’m one that she does trust and I’d never break her confidence and betray her by telling anyone…anything.” 

Rais watched his baby sister walk away, more intrigued than ever.  Just as he suspected that Joline had hidden depths to her, which had just been confirmed by his little sister, he also suspected that Shantra had a bit more to her personality than the flighty woman that spent most of her time shopping so that she could wear a different outfit every day. 

He told himself to discuss Shantra and Ciala with Ramzi and Turk at the first opportunity.  He was wondering if letting them drift through life as they had been for the past several years was possibly not the best course of action. 

But that was for another day, he told himself.  Tonight, he was going to have his security team look into the lovely Joline a bit more. 

His mind stopped as one of the servants placed the first course in front of him, remembering Shantra’s words.  Trust.  An interesting concept to be applied to a woman, but he liked the idea of Joline trusting him, and trusting him enough to reveal whatever secrets were lurking in her past.  There couldn’t be anything horrible.  Joline was too young for something truly deceitful.  So what was it that she wasn’t telling him?  And was that the reason she was so hesitant to embrace the passion they stirred within each other? 

Trust.  Somehow, he was going to get his woman to trust him no matter how frustrating it might be.

Joline tapped her pen against her desk, not even aware of the movement or the annoyance she was causing Keith who was working in the only other chair in her office. 

Keith looked across the desk and noticed her far-away expression and smiled.  “He got to you, didn’t he?”

Joline jerked upright.  “I’m sorry?”

Keith closed his computer, knowing that they wouldn’t be getting any more work done today.  “He got to you, right?” he repeated. 

“Who?” she asked, but she knew exactly who Keith was referring to.  Deep down inside of her, she wanted to pretend as if she wasn’t glowing with the excitement of her night with Rais.  But she knew that she was different.  That difference was clearly obvious to others who knew her. 

Keith was amused by her attempt at subterfuge.  Especially when his friend was distracted and so obviously happy.  Very happy.  “That prince guy that dazzled you from the moment both of you looked at each other.”

Joline scoffed.  “That’s ridiculous,” she snapped, looking down at her papers.  “We were talking about fabric supplies.”

“No, we were talking about you falling for that hot, studly man that you stole from me.”

Joline couldn’t stifle the laughter his comment caused.  “You never had him.”

Keith shrugged, trying to pretend he was offended.  But Keith was too easy going to be offended.  He just went with the flow in life.  “We’ll never know since you walked in ahead of me.”

Her eyes twinkled with laughter.  “You think that’s the only reason?”

“I think I would have at least had a shot if I’d come in before you.”  He sighed and shook his head.  “He could have been my one-and-only!”

Joline chuckled.  “I guarantee that he isn’t into men, Keith.”

“Aha!” he exclaimed, causing Joline to jump and look back at him.  “So you admit it!  You’ve done the deed!  You’ve snuggled into that big, huge man and been taken to the moon!  Details!  I want details now!”

Joline shook her head, trying to feign ignorance.  “I don’t know what you mean.  I don’t have any details to tell you.”  She looked down at her papers, praying that Keith wouldn’t notice her lie. 

But Keith wasn’t falling for it.  They’d been friends for too long and gone through too much over the years for her to try and pretend with him.  “Don’t even try it,” he said in a low voice.  “What happened?  And how did it happen?  Isn’t that man thousands of miles away?”

Joline couldn’t stop the blush that started on her neck and worked its way upward.

Keith saw it and gasped, leaning forward.  “He’s here!  He’s here in New York and you’re trying to play it cool but you and Shantra are the last known virgins and have no idea how to play it cool!”

Joline rolled her eyes.  “Keith, we have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it.  I leave for London in the morning.”

He looked at her speculatively and then gasped.  “You’re no longer a virgin!  Our lovely Shantra has that title alone now, doesn’t she?”

“Keith!” she snapped, trying to work up a righteous anger but she simply felt too wonderful after her night with Rais.  “Work?  Details?”

“Forget work, for once!” he laughed and leaned closer.  “Or maybe I should say that you should forget work for a second time and go have more pulse pounding sex with your gorgeous man!  And then come back and tell me all about it because I’m truly jealous!”

“Keith, we’re going to…”

The door to her office opened up and there he stood, the man of the hour and all thoughts of fabrics, factories, supplies and sales records flew out of her mind as her face once again turned red with his dark, intense look. 

Keith noticed the look that passed between the two and knew that he was extraneous.  “Okay, well, I’m out of here.  We’ll discuss those silks when you get back and you can let me know which ones to go with,” he said and snapped his book closed.  Glaring up at Rais, he cleared his throat a moment before he said, “Take care of her.  She’s too sweet and kind to understand the traumas of a difficult relationship, Your Highness,” and a moment later, he disappeared. 

Rais stared at the retreating man for a moment, then glanced over to Joline, wondering what she’d told her friend.  “Are you okay?” he asked softly but with that deep, gravelly voice that never failed to send shivers throughout her body. 

“I’m fine,” she replied, feeling nervous with his tall, muscular body crowding into her tiny office.  “How are you?” she asked.  How did one calmly converse with a man with whom she had been so intimate?

He slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks, the amusement evident on his features.  “I’m fine.  Thank you for asking.”  He waited a moment.  “Are you ready for dinner?” he asked. 

She opened and closed her mouth, not really sure what to say.  “I didn’t know we were having dinner tonight,” she finally blurted out. 

He moved closer to her, leaning over her desk.  “We’re having dinner tonight.  And every night.”

Joline shook her head.  “I don’t think…”

“Stop right there,” he told her.  Rais would have come around her desk, but there wasn’t enough room.  So instead, he reached over the top and took her hand, gently but inexorably pulling her around to the other side.  “What’s going on?” he demanded, resting his hands on her hips. 

Joline had no idea what was going on in her mind other than all the jumbled chaos that she couldn’t quite nail down to a comprehensive list of concerns.  “I don’t know what’s going on,” she told him honestly.  “I just know that, no matter how strong this connection or how…alive…I’ve felt after that night we shared, we can’t be together.  There are…things about my family that would look bad if they were to become public knowledge.  And I don’t want that.  Not for you and certainly not for me.”

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  “Is this one of the reasons why you fought so hard against being with me?” he asked gently. 

She thought about it for a moment.  “No. I fought against being with you because you scare me.  And you’re a chauvinist who thinks women shouldn’t work.  And because you don’t listen to me when I disagree with you.”  She thought about it for a moment, lifting her hand up to stop him when he was about to say something.  “Also, because you’re arrogant and uncompromising.”

He chuckled at her list.  “Those are some pretty big obstacles.”

“And because I don’t think any relationship between the two of us is going to go anywhere.”

“You’re going to marry me, Joline,” he argued even as he pulled her along behind him, bringing her out of her office.  “Grab your purse.  Apparently, we have a great deal to discuss.”

She grabbed her purse but tried to pull his hand off of her arm.  “Rais, we’re not going to dinner, I’m not going to marry you and we’re not a couple.  The other night, it was a fluke.”

“A good fluke,” he added in.

She blushed, but didn’t agree or disagree.  “We are completely incompatible.”

“We were pretty compatible the other night,” he said as he held her hand, nudging her towards the exit.  “And we’ll be very compatible again tonight,” he told her. 

Joline shook her head.  “I’m going back to my apartment to work tonight.  I’m going to have a sandwich or a bowl of cereal for dinner.” 

He leaned in closer, his eyes holding hers.  “We’re going to La Tanna for dinner.  We’re going to talk.  After dinner, we have one errand to run and then I’m going to make love to you until we’re too exhausted to move.”

Her chin went up a notch, disagreeing with his agenda.  “I’m going home to work,” she argued right back. 

He smiled down at her.  “You really think you’re going to win this argument?” he asked gently. 

She crossed her arms over her chest.  “I really think that I’m not afraid of you any longer,” she lied.

He shook his head even as his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her against his muscular frame.  “Joline, I don’t want you to be afraid of me, but we are together now.”  And with that, he lowered his head, kissing her until she was melting against him.  Only then did he pull away and tuck her into the limousine then stepped in behind her.  When the door was closed, he pulled her right back into his arms, placing her on his lap so that he could continue to kiss her.  When she pulled away and shook her head, he moved his mouth to her neck and moved lower even while his hands slid under the silk blouse, caressing her soft skin and making her breath catch in her throat. 

“Rais!  Stop, we need to discuss this!”

“You’ll just argue with me, so we’re not discussing anything.”  His teeth captured her nipple through the fabric of her blouse and her bra, causing her head to fall backwards. 

When the limousine came to a stop, Joline felt like she was just a pile of mush.  And all she wanted to do was to stay in that vehicle and have him finish what he’d started.  But Rais wasn’t slowing down.  He took her hand and led her into the restaurant, holding out her chair for her and then sitting down across from her, all with a smug, smile of triumph on his features that, somehow, had grown less harsh and more handsome over the past few days.  Joline was startled to realize that his jaw was actually quite masculine and his mouth, previously just a hard, implacable line, she now knew could give her the most amazing pleasure.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked while he nodded for the waiter to go ahead and pour the wine. 

Joline hadn’t even glanced at the menu options because she was still too flustered.  But she waited until the waiter had departed before she laid the menu down on the table, folding her arms and leaning forward.  “Are you going to try that every time I disagree with you?”

He shrugged, unrepentant.  “It worked.  It got you here, having dinner with me instead of eating a pathetic bowl of cereal at your apartment.”

She clenched her jaw for a moment, trying not to let her irritation fly at his arrogance.  “I don’t really think that’s the point, Rais.  You’re not listening to me.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Perhaps the fact that I need to work tonight and don’t have time to have dinner with you.”

His eyes were skimming the menu.  “You need to hire additional help.  You’re working eighteen hour days and still not getting everything done that you should be doing.”

She didn’t like the sound of that.  “Of course I’m getting things done!”

He closed his menu with a flick of his wrist and laid it down as well.  “No.  You’re not.  You should be marketing the clothes with different celebrities, have a layout in various magazines.  You should have stores in Paris, London and Milan as well as starting a lower-cost line of the clothes that could be mass-produced for the department stores.  You’re missing opportunities that could push your business higher.”

She knew all of that, but she hadn’t been able to get all of that done.  They didn’t have the capital to accomplish all of those goals.  In the future, yes.  The business was growing at a steady rate and they would eventually be able to do everything he’d just listed.  But not at the moment.  “We can’t afford that yet.”

He disagreed.  “Take on additional investors.  You’re one of the partners.  I’m guessing Keith is the other.  Who is your third partner?”

Joline pulled back.  “I’ve told you before.  That partner prefers to remain anonymous.”

He continued watching her and she grew uncomfortable under his knowing gaze.  “You run the day to day operations as well as the expansion plans.  Keith is the one who does the purchasing.  Who is your designer?  The third partner?”

“I’m not telling you details, Rais.  Stop trying to get the name out of me,” she snapped and picked up her menu, hiding behind the leather-bound barrier.  She couldn’t even read the various options for dinner, too aware of Rais glaring at her from across the table. 

Unfortunately, he was more patient than she could have imagined, and more diabolical.  He simply sat there and waited.  When the waiter arrived to take their order, she selected a salad, not sure what else was on the menu. 

Rais raised one, dark eyebrow when she didn’t order anything else.  Turning to the waiter, he said, “She’ll also have the carbonara with pan seared scallops and I’ll have the coconut chicken.” 

The waiter bowed a moment before he stepped away.  “Very good, Your Highness,” he stated and then disappeared. 

Joline glared at him.  “A salad would have been enough.”

“A salad isn’t enough.  You’re going to need your strength,” and he had the audacity to wink at her.  “Back to your business, you were about to tell me who your third partner was.”

She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.  “I definitely wasn’t going to do that,” she countered.

“Why does this person need anonymity?  Can you at least tell me that?”

She considered his words for a moment, then countered with her own question.  “Why are you so intent on knowing who the third partner is?”

“Because you will become my wife.  All issues concerning you are now my business.”

“And does the opposite also hold true?”

“Of course,” he offered.

“So you’re going to provide me with a list of all of your businesses and everyone you do business with so that I can look into them?”