Memories of last night hit her and she groaned, hiding her head under the pillow. She’d made love to a married man last night!
No, not married, she thought. Engaged. As good as married. Committed to be married!
Her stomach rumbled and she realized that she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast the morning before. With a groan, she pushed the blankets off of her legs, once again looking around for the pillows and then…
Rushed to the bathroom where she whipped open the toilet, emptying whatever was remaining in her stomach. When her stomach stopped heaving, she slid to the floor, leaning against the bathtub as she tried to regain order in her life.
But as she contemplated what had happened the previous day, she knew that order most likely wasn’t possible. Not in the near future.
Because she was in love with Jaffri.
“Of all the stupid, ridiculous things to let happen,” she muttered, pushing herself up off the bathroom floor. Stomping into her bedroom, she continued to mutter to herself as she pulled her bed back together. Vaguely, she remembered falling asleep in Jaffri’s arms last night after he’d made love to her but…had he finished?
“Oh, how selfish,” she muttered with a shake of her head as she pulled on running clothes. Pocketing her keys, she stepped out of her apartment and…came to an abrupt stop, looking up at the bulky men standing sentry outside her doorway.
“What are you guys doing out here? Jaffri left hours ago.” She blinked, then shook her head. Actually, she wasn’t certain what time he’d departed her bed. She vaguely remembered a gentle kiss, but she’d been too tired to wake up enough to look at the clock.
“His Highness asked that we ensure you arrived safely at the palace today, ma’am,” one of the guards explained.
Giselle stood there for a long moment, not sure what to make of their statement. In the end, she was simply too worn out to think about it. “Okay, well, I’m off for a run.”
And without waiting for permission, because she was fairly sure that the guards wouldn’t give her permission to run outside, nor would Jaffri, she took off down the hallway.
The guards followed right behind her and she glanced over her shoulder at them, feeling self-conscious. Goodness, she hoped they weren’t looking at her butt in her tight leggings!
For the next five miles, the guards rode in a big, black SUV behind her while she jogged through the streets of the capitol, taking her time and trying to enjoy her run. But with the guys trailing behind her, it was hard to truly get into the spirit of the routine. The beauty of a run is to lose oneself in the rhythm, to forget what was happening around her. That was impossible with heavily armed men hovering behind her.
Back at her apartment, she quickly showered and started making breakfast. When the coffee was brewed, she took cups out to the men who were still standing at attention outside of her door. She knew her neighbors were wondering why they were there, but since she hadn’t met any of her neighbors yet, having been too focused on work and the long hours it required, she couldn’t really ease her neighbors’ minds about the men’s presence. It was definitely intimidating though. Even for herself and she understood why they were there.
Okay, that was a lie, she thought as she poured a bowl of cereal for herself, then opened her door to hand each man a bowl, pouring cereal into theirs as well. “Need anything else?” she asked, holding up spoons for both men.
“We’re fine, Ms. Jones,” they replied back, but both seemed grateful for the coffee and the food.
“Okay, keep in mind, I don’t like to cook. I can’t do it as well as the caterers or the palace chefs, so I don’t even try,” she explained, and leaned against the door jamb while the three of them ate their cereal. She chatted with them, asked about their families, what it was like to stand around doing nothing for hours at a time. She learned that there were numerous attempts to get to Prince Jaffri when he was out and about, and even at the palace, so it wasn’t a boring job. It was more active than one would think.
“Huh!” she thought, ignoring the tightening in her stomach as worry hit her. “So you guys catch bad guys almost daily?” she asked.
One of them shrugged. “Not daily,” he explained. “Maybe every other day we have an incident. Some more serious than others.”
When they were finished, she took their bowls and rinsed them, putting them into the dishwasher before getting ready for work. She wasn’t going to be late again. In fact, she was finished letting Jaffri interfere with her work. She had a job to do and wanted to be the best at it.
They drove her to the palace that morning and because of their escort, it took her less than ten minutes to get through palace security. Normally, she had to park in the employee parking area, get on a shuttle bus, and be driven to the palace gates. Then she would go through the tedious process of standing in line, having her purse and tote bag put through an x-ray machine, walk through a metal detector and then wait while her fingerprints ran through the system. Only then would she be allowed into the palace. It was at least a twenty, but normally a thirty minute process. Leaving the palace at the end of the night was significantly easier, but her bags were still searched. The guards really didn’t want secret information being carried out of the palace. It didn’t matter that she simply organized social events. In fact, that probably made her more suspect because she came into contact with diplomats and the royal family, not to mention all of the administrative staff. She wasn’t like the palace cooks, who went to the kitchens every day and stayed in that section of the palace. Her security clearance enabled her to move all over the palace.
When she arrived at her desk that morning, there was already a note placed right in the center requesting her presence in Prince Jaffri’s office.
Picking up the note, she tapped it against her thumb for a few moments, wondering what to do.
“Are you ready?” Stephen asked, popping his head around her door.
“Ready? For what?” she asked, not sure what was going on. She hadn’t studied her schedule for the day yet so she wasn’t sure what was on the agenda.
“You’re meeting with Queen Katherine and her daughter, as well as Princess Mila, right?” he asked, stepping into the room. “I’m working with Sheik Talal and Sidoon’s prime minister.” He looked worried now that she wasn’t aware of what was going on.
“Yes!” Giselle announced. “Right!” She tried to appear confident, but she really didn’t want to meet with the princess again. Mila was too beautiful and…well, the horrible woman was engaged to Jaffri! The man had given her such intense pleasure just last night, then held her in his arms, comforting her whenever she woke up and started crying again. How could she sit across the table from the woman who was stealing her man?
But that was the main issue, she realized. Jaffri wasn’t her man. He wasn’t “her” anything. He was a member of the royal family of Altair. The Crown Prince. He would have to marry royalty and he would need to make political connections that would help Altair.
She was a party planner, she reminded herself silently. That was her role. She and Jaffri might have a few precious moments in time together, but that was all it could be. No matter how it broke her heart, she was just the hired help.
Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she nodded with what she hoped was confidence and not resignation or resentment. “Yes. I’m ready. On top of it,” she assured her boss. Picking up her notebook, she grabbed several pens then walked away from her desk.
Stephen was just about to pull away when he stopped and looked down at her desk, his eyes looking directly at the folded note. “What’s that?” he asked.
Giselle glanced behind her at the note, then shrugged. “Nothing.”
He straightened up and frowned curiously at her. “That’s the stationary for…”
She interrupted him. “Stephen, it’s nothing. I promise.” And she reached back to her desk to grab the note, tucking it into her notebook. “Believe me, Sheik Talal terrifies me. If
he’d sent me a summons, I’d be there. And you know I love working for Queen Katherine, so I’d hurry to her office if she’d requested anything at all.” She patted his forearm. “Besides, I’m heading to that meeting with Queen Katherine and Princess Sada now.” With a forced grin, she twirled around and bounced out of her office, trying to appear as if everything was fine and her heart wasn’t breaking.
She’d almost made it to the assigned conference room when she heard a deep voice practically bellowing behind her. “We need to talk, Giselle!”
Giselle turned around and performed a slight curtsy, unwilling to give him more.
“How can I help you, Your Highness?” she asked, lifting her eyebrows as she waited with what she hoped was a patient expression as other staff members passed by the two of them in the hallways. They were already looking at them curiously because of his roaring. She didn’t want to draw any additional attention. Especially since he was an engaged man.
“Don’t start that now!” he snapped, grabbing her upper arm and guiding her towards another doorway.
“Your Highness,” she yelped, pulling back from him. “I have a meeting!”
“Cancel it!”
“I can’t do that!” she grumbled and pulled away. Since he didn’t want to hurt her, he released her arm, but he shifted his body so that she had to look at him. His position also hid her from most of the people moving about the hallway. Unfortunately, that only made things worse, indicating that there was an intimacy between them that…okay, so there was an intimacy between them, she thought, flashes of the previous night going through her mind. But the big jerk didn’t need to advertise it!
“You will cancel your plans if I tell you to!” he shot right back at her, shifting again because she was trying to slip away from him.
Giselle didn’t like his tone, or the arrogant comment that announced that his issues were more important than anything she might have on her calendar. “Jaffri, go away! I have a meeting with your mother so no, I can’t just cancel it because you command it!” As usual, if they weren’t making love, the urge to punch him was almost overwhelming, but she diligently kept her hands on her notebook. Physical violence never solved anything, she told herself over and over again. She’d learned that lesson extremely well with her older brothers. They were all bigger and stronger than her and had taught her not to mess with them. Well, not physically, but she’d given as good as she got. Although she was more…strategic…about her revenge with her brothers.
He frowned in confusion. “My mother? Why in the world would you be meeting with my mother?!”
Giselle took a deep breath, digging deep for patience, then lifted her chin so she could pin him with a cool glare. “Well, if you’d get out of my way, you big oaf, I could find out!”
Jaffri stared down at her and choked on a guffaw that tried to claw up his throat at her insult. No one, absolutely no one, had ever called him a name before. He had to remind himself that he was angry with her and intensified his glare. “Giselle, you went for a run this morning!”
When her whole body seemed to bristle with outrage, he had trouble not pulling her into his arms to kiss her. Damn, she looked stunning this morning. And why did it turn him on so much when she was angry with him? It was an outrageous response. One he’d need to gain control of.
“Of course I went for a run! You were gone. I needed to exercise. So, I went out and exercised!” She realized that she was practically yelling at him and lowered her voice. “Now, if you will excuse me, I’m late for my meeting!” With that, she stepped around him and hurried into the conference room where Princess Sada was already sitting. Thankfully, Queen Katherine hadn’t arrived yet. But not so thankfully, Princess Mila had.
“Good morning!” Princess Sada greeted cheerfully, clapping her hands gleefully. “My mother is running a bit behind schedule, but suggested that we go ahead and get started.”
Giselle had to grit her teeth when the lovely Princess Mila smiled in her direction. She didn’t want to be friendly with the beautiful woman who was engaged to the man Giselle loved, the man who had tenderly cradled her in his arms the previous night, selflessly given her pleasure and…infuriated her at their first run-in this morning.
Yeah, all of that had to stop, she thought to herself. No way was she going to be romantically involved with a man who was engaged to another woman. Her morals simply wouldn’t allow her to…well, obviously, after last night, her morals were generally over-ruled by her desire when Jaffri touched her. But still, she would have to ensure that he didn’t touch her going forward.
With that goal in mind, she slipped into one of the velvet chairs and opened her notebook, prepared to help these ladies figure out their event needs. She wouldn’t rush out of the room as she had yesterday. “I apologize for yesterday,” she announced, starting off the meeting. “It was unprofessional and it won’t happen again.” Giselle looked at both ladies, her pen poised over the clean paper of her notebook, ready to get started and ignoring the churning sensation in her stomach.
Resisting the urge to rush out of the conference room to find a bathroom, she took several deep breaths and...
“Good morning, ladies! Are we ready to fool the world today?”
Sada laughed and Giselle turned her head slowly, trying not to throw up all over the table as the beautiful Queen Katherine walked into the room and sat down right next to Giselle.
“Goodness, dear, you look a bit green around the gills,” she observed, her beautiful blue eyes looking over Giselle’s features. “Are you okay? We can reschedule this meeting again if…”
“No!” Giselle almost shouted, embarrassment hitting her hard in the face of Queen Katherine’s kindness and compassion. Lowering her voice, she repeated, “No. I’m fine. I’m just…excited,” she lied. “I’m eager to hear about the events you ladies want to set up over the next several months.”
Sada straightened in her chair. “Okay, the three of us discussed this yesterday and here’s the plan.” Sada looked at the other occupants of the room, a mischievous smile on her beautiful features. “Mila has done a great deal to open up opportunities for women in Sidoon. The three of us,” she continued, “will travel with Mila and have round tables with various women’s groups in Altair. We’ll need to come up with themes for each event,” she went on and everyone turned to Giselle for ideas.
Giselle blinked, not sure what was going on. This wasn’t a planning meeting for Princess Mila’s wedding? This…was very odd. But as she looked at the three women, they stared back at her, obviously waiting for her to take the lead on possible issues for…traveling seminars? Is that what she should call them?
Quickly, Giselle tossed out several ideas that seemed to be topical in the news lately. The other three liked her ideas and brainstormed on the various possibilities, such as women’s rights, women’s shelters, child welfare, as well as several social activities so that not everything was issue based.
“This sounds wonderful!” Mila beamed as she looked over the list she’d been making as everyone brainstormed.
Giselle smiled at the princess’s approval, but still wanted to hate her. Unfortunately, Princess Mila was intelligent, kind, and enthusiastic. Brilliant even. The woman had come up with several fantastic ideas and she was more than willing to push herself into a more public role, despite having purposely remained in the background for so long. It was more than obvious that Princess Mila was a private person but, for this crisis, she would step up and draw attention to issues that could use her name’s influence.
“This is a good start,” Giselle replied when the ideas started to wind down. “I’ll get started on these ideas and get the press department involved, so they can spearhead the publicity.” Giselle didn’t really understand why these women were doing this. It seemed to her that everyone should be ramping up for a wedding. In fact, none of the ladies had brought up any sort of wedding event. The word hadn’t even come out of anyone’s mouth. It was almost as if they were all a
voiding the issue completely.
She didn’t understand and, as the event planner, it wasn’t her business to understand. Everyone stood up and she knew that was the end of the conversation. Giselle had several ideas in mind for the parties the ladies wanted to host after each visit, and she was eager to get back to her office so she could start sketching them out, fermenting the themes in her mind, and teasing out details. Broad ideas were a solid start, but the details were always the most difficult.
Giselle was the last one to leave the conference room and she hugged her notebook against her chest, feeling conflicted. She should truly hate Princess Mila but…well, the woman was just too likeable! It was irritating to like someone when that person should be the enemy.
Turning toward the door, she was startled to see Jaffri stalking into the conference room. “What do you want?” she demanded warily, backing away. Images of last night…and all of their nights …flashed through her mind. Never again, she vowed.
His only response was a throaty chuckle as he slowly, but firmly, closed the door.
Giselle watched, her eyes darting from his intent expression to the door then back to his eyes. “Why did you do that?”
Silence, but his intentions were quite clear as he walked towards her, eyes locked on her face.
“Stop, Your Highness,” she gasped, scooting away. Surely, he wouldn’t…not in the conference room! “You’re causing a scene,” she told him, her chin lifting slightly, trying to hide her wariness. Well, wariness and…anticipation. Already, she could feel her body reacting to the look in his eyes. The promise.
“Jaffri, you’re not listening to me. Stop!” she ordered. But did he stop? Absolutely not!
She stumbled over a chair, almost losing her notebook as she tried to re-gain her balance. “What are you thinking to do?”
He chuckled. “You know exactly what I’m going to do, Giselle.”
She shook her head. “No. You’re an engaged man! How long have you been engaged? The whole time you’ve been fooling around with me?”
The Desert Prince's Bride (The Sheiks of Altair Book 2) Page 11