Gambling with the Crown. Lynn Harris Raye

and turned last night. She hadn’t slept because she’d been remembering Kadir standing in her room, looking so lost and alone and handsome, and asking her to marry him. And then he’d taken her in his arms and tried to kiss her.

      Her heart did a little skip-and-slip thing every time she thought of that moment when she’d closed her eyes and felt him dipping down to press his mouth against hers.

      But she’d panicked and pushed him away and now she couldn’t stop wondering what she’d missed. If she’d made a mistake.

      No. She had not made a mistake. Kissing him would have been a mistake. Allowing him to sweep her off her feet the way he’d done to countless women over the past four years would have been a mistake.

      Asserting herself, asserting her independence and setting up parameters was not a mistake. It was good business. Kadir would respect her for it. And in the end, if this worked the way he hoped and he did not inherit the throne of Kyr, she would slide back into her role as his PA. So long as this arrangement stayed strictly business between them—including any touching or kissing that was required for the role—there would be no awkwardness later on.