Adam waited quietly through this exchange. He’d seen her face while Gino was spouting off orders and he allowed himself a small smile. She didn’t like being told what to do, and she really didn’t like being told she needed someone to take care of her. There was still a chance here. All he had to do was wait Gino out and then play his cards right. He was a negotiation pro from way back. He knew how to do this.
“Elena, listen to reason. You can’t do it.” Gino looked as though he were about to stamp his foot.
But Elena was having none of it. She held her chin high and looked rebellious. “I’ll make that decision on my own.”
Gino gave an exasperated sigh and turned toward the door. “I’ve got no more time for chit-chat,” he said, sounding more than annoyed. “I’m due at the spa. I promised Natalia I’d give her some help decorating. She’s completely redoing some of the exercise rooms.” He glared back at Adam, his look purposefully ominous. “I’ll have to deal with all this later, including you,” he said in menacing tones.
And he was out the door.
Adam turned to grin at Elena. He knew she couldn’t see it, but she would surely hear it in his voice.
“When he says “deal with all this later”, what exactly is he talking about?” he asked her, tongue in cheek.
“Oh, pay him no mind,” she said in exasperation. “Gino has a flair for the dramatic. He’s mostly talk.”
“‘Mostly’, huh? It’s that little margin of doubt that tends to give one pause. The unknown factor is always the deadly one. So, just the same, I guess I’ll keep my guard up.”
He wasn’t really rattled by Gino’s implied threat. He’d faced down bigger men than Elena’s friend. Still, it didn’t hurt to add a little fuel to her resentment for being treated like someone who needed managing.
And he’d certainly taken in all that talk about how desperately she needed funds right now. He knew the feeling—though his financial needs were in a different league. Still, he had plenty of spare cash for the small needs of life.
It was on the tip of his tongue to promise her all the things he could do for her as King, but he stopped himself just in time. He had to be smart about this. The more he analyzed things, the more he realized she would hate something like that. He might as well just lay low. If he played his cards right, she would succumb in the end.
“How much?”
She stopped her pacing and inclined her head, looking like a swan considering possibilities. “How much what?”
“How much do you want to rent the room out? Here’s what I was thinking.” He named a price that made her gasp. “That’s twice what I’m paying at the Ritz.”
“For my crummy little room?” she cried.
He shrugged. “Well, you’ll also have to let me have the run of your house. After all, there’s no bathroom out there. And most of all …” he managed to add a note of tragic regret “.most of all, no kitchen.”
She shook her head and threw out her hands. A half-smile was playing at the corners of her mouth. “You long for a kitchen of your own, do you?” she murmured.
He smiled and nodded. “It’s handy for late night snacks.”
She repeated the sum in her head in wonder. Why, if he stayed long enough, she could pay her airfare to New York. Her shoulders sagged and a deep sigh went through her body. There had been a time when she’d considered herself a hard-headed realist. Now she was becoming a greedy little dreamer instead. Was she going to hate herself in the morning?
“You’re just like the serpent in the garden, aren’t you?”
His head went back. He wasn’t sure he liked her choice of analogy. “What are you talking about?”
“Temptation. You’re holding out a big fat juicy red apple my way.”
He supposed she was right. Still, it seemed an odd way of putting it … for her. “What do you care what color it is?” he asked softly.
“Oh, there’s a difference. Believe me. I can feel it.” She nodded. “It’s big and it’s red and it’s delicious. Will I break down and take a bite? That’s the question.”
There was something so sexy about the way she said that. He was glad—and not for the first time—that she couldn’t see what the images she conjured up did to him.
“Of course, the money is tempting.”
He shrugged. “Sure. Money makes the world go round.”
That put her back up quickly enough. “Well, money doesn’t make me go round. At least not usually.”
“Different motivations for different people. What about compassion? How about friendship?”
She gave him a scathing look. “You’re not my friend. I barely know you.”
“To know me is to love me, so don’t worry about that.”
She frowned and he regretted his flip attitude. She deserved better.
“You make the rules, Elena,” he said quickly. “Whatever you say goes. I promise you that.”
She nodded slowly. “I’m considering it,” she admitted. “But I do have one condition,” she added.
He stood poised, waiting. “What’s that?”
She took a deep breath, then said in a calm, steady voice, “I have to see you first.”
He went very still. Something was prickling the hairs on the back of his neck. “What are you talking about?”
“I have to ‘see’ you. Until I really see you, I won’t know you well enough to know if I can let you stay here or not.” Coming toward him, she pointed toward where a straight-backed chair stood. “Sit down.”
“What for?” He resisted, strangely apprehensive.
“Sit down and I’ll show you.”
He really didn’t want to do this. “Are you going to do that touching my face thing? Because I don’t really think that’s going to tell you anything. I mean—”
“Sit down.”
He glanced at his watch, then looked over at the couch where his son was sleeping soundly. “Listen, I’ve got to be at the palace in a little over an hour for a meeting and—”
“This won’t take long. Sit down.”
He hesitated, looking at her. She meant it. He wasn’t going to talk his way out of this. He sat down.
She came toward him with a purposeful air and suddenly his mouth went very dry. He hadn’t been this scared since … since the night Melissa went into labor with Jeremy. But he didn’t want to think about that.
He stared straight ahead and she stood next to him for a moment. He had the impression she was taking in the sense of him, and maybe his smell, but that was just a feeling. He couldn’t pin it down to any solid clues. And he felt like a fool with his heart beating a mile a minute. At this rate he was going to start to sweat and then he would really feel oafish when she touched him.
She was going to touch him. He was sure of that. And the wait was beginning to drive him over the edge. Come on, he wanted to yell. Touch me! Get it over with. She was standing so still …
And then her fingers were lightly touching his hair, just barely tracing the outline of his head, so softly it could have been butterfly wings. It was as though she were probing his aura rather than needing a solid tactile experience. He closed his eyes and his pulse slowed.