A Night in the Prince's Bed

by Chantelle Shaw - A Night in the Prince's Bed

  Mina blinked. ‘There’s been an announcement? I haven’t spoken to my father but I have heard he has been in negotiations to take the play to New York.’

  ‘The news about the play has received extra prominence in the media, due no doubt to speculation about your relationship with Prince Aksel,’ Benedict Lindburg said stiffly.

  Aksel swore beneath his breath. Since he had become ruler of Storvhal he had never lowered his guard, never slipped up—until he had looked into a pair of deep green eyes and lost his head. Shame seared him. Perhaps he was as weak as his father after all. If he was labelled a playboy prince by the press in Storvhal it could cause irreparable damage to his reputation and even to the monarchy.

  He stared at Mina and despised himself for wanting to kiss her tremulous mouth. ‘The journalist who was waiting for us this morning—he knew your name, and he said he’d asked you to give him a scoop,’ Aksel said grimly. ‘He was the same man who was in the pub.’ He recalled the strange expression on Mina’s face when she had seen the man the previous evening, and the truth hit him like a blow to his stomach. ‘The journalist is a friend of yours, and you tipped him off that I’d invited you to my hotel last night.’

  ‘I didn’t!’

  Her beautiful eyes widened. A man could drown in those deep green pools, Aksel thought. Hell, he could feel himself floundering, wanting to believe the shocked outrage in her voice. Only a gifted actress could feign such innocence. Mina had played Juliet so convincingly, taunted a voice in Aksel’s head. She made a living out of pretence and playing make-believe.

  Rage burned inside him, but beneath his anger was a savage feeling of betrayal that despite her denial Mina must have spoken to the press. He was aware of the same hollow sensation in his gut that he had felt as a young man, when he had learned that his mother had betrayed him.

  When Aksel had found out that Karena did not really love him, he had been hurt. But far worse had been the discovery that his mother had encouraged the Russian model to seduce him, promising her a life of fame, fortune and luxury. After Prince Geir’s death, Irina had had strong financial reasons for wanting to maintain a link between Russia and Storvhal, and she had believed it would be beneficial for her if her son married a Russian woman. But when her plan had been revealed, Aksel had realised just how cold and calculating his mother was, and how little she cared about him.

  Helvete! If his own mother could betray him, why was he surprised that a woman he had picked up in a bar had done the same? he derided himself. Bitter experience had taught him never to trust any woman and he was furious with himself for being taken in by Mina’s air of innocence.

  Mina could tell from Aksel’s cold expression that he did not believe her. ‘I didn’t know you are a prince,’ she repeated. ‘Even if I had, why would I have tipped off a journalist?’

  ‘To create publicity for your father’s theatre company,’ Benedict Lindburg suggested smoothly.

  ‘Keep out of this.’ Mina rounded on the PA fiercely. ‘You don’t know anything about me.’

  ‘As a matter of fact I know everything about you.’ The PA handed a folder to Aksel with an apologetic shrug. ‘The photo of you and Miss Hart was posted on social media sites shortly after it was taken last night. As soon as I was alerted to it I ran a security check on Miss Hart. My report includes details of Miss Hart’s acting career in England and also in the United States.’

  The colour drained from Mina’s face as she stared at the folder in Aksel’s hand. Without doubt his PA had unearthed the story about her relationship—her alleged white-hot affair—with the film director Dexter Price, which some of the media had labelled a publicity stunt to promote the film she had starred in. She had done nothing wrong, Mina reminded herself. She had not deserved to be vilified by the press, but what chance was there of Aksel believing her side of the story when she looked as guilty as hell of tipping off the journalist Steve Garratt.

  She looked into Aksel’s eyes and felt chilled to the bone. The Viking lover with the sexy smile had turned into a stranger. He had always been a stranger, she reminded herself. Just because he had made love to her as though she were the most precious person on the planet did not prove anything other than that he was very good at sex.

  Shame swept through her as she remembered how she had responded to him in bed. She did not know what had come over her. And him a prince! She froze when Aksel opened the folder and sought his gaze, her eyes unconsciously pleading. If only they could go back to last night, to the private, magical world they had created.

  ‘Aksel...’ she whispered.

  For a heartbeat she thought he was going to listen to her. Something flared in his eyes, and he stared at her mouth as if he wanted to kiss her. But then his jaw hardened and he deliberately turned away and looked down at the open file.

  Mina could not bear to sit beside him while he read about the most humiliating episode in her life. The traffic was crawling around Marble Arch, and the car came to a standstill. The only thought in Mina’s head was to run from Aksel—something she should have done last night, she acknowledged grimly. She must have been out of her mind to have slept with a stranger.

  Before he realised her intention she opened the car door and scrambled out into the midst of four lanes of traffic.

  Aksel sprang forwards and tried to grab hold of her. ‘Don’t be an idiot!’ he yelled. ‘You’ll be killed!’ His heart was in his mouth as he watched her weave through the cars, taxis and buses. Moments later he glimpsed Mina’s long auburn hair as she disappeared down the steps leading to the underground station. Slowly he sank back in his seat, fighting a fierce urge to chase after her.

  Benedict pulled the car door shut. The PA was startled when he thought he glimpsed emotion in the Prince of Storvhal’s eyes. ‘Sir...I’m sorry,’ he said hesitantly.

  The hot flood of rage inside Aksel had solidified into a cold, hard knot. It was bad enough that Mina had made a fool of him, and worse that his stupidity had been witnessed by a member of his staff.

  His jaw tightened. He had certainly been a fool to have thought—even fleetingly—that making love with Mina had been somehow special. She’d had a few clever tricks—that was all. Like the way she had focused her big green eyes intently on his mouth. She’d made him feel as if he were the only man in the world for her.

  He glanced at his PA and raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t require your sympathy, Ben,’ he drawled. ‘I simply want you to get on with your job. Have you confirmed my meeting with the Danish Prime Minister yet?’

  He must have been imagining things, Benedict told himself. The Ice Prince’s face was as emotionless as always. Suitably chastened, the PA murmured, ‘I’ll do it right away, sir.’

  * * *

  Mina could hear her father’s raised voice from the other end of the corridor.

  ‘Get out of my sight,’ Joshua Hart roared. ‘I will not put up with guttersnipes from the tabloid press harassing me with tittle-tattle and nonsense.’

  Forewarned that journalists must be in her father’s office, Mina darted into a broom cupboard moments before two men clutching cameras and recording equipment shot past.

  It was no surprise that the other members of the play’s cast seemed to be keeping out of the director’s way. Joshua in a temper reminded Mina of an angry bear, and she took a deep breath before she peeped cautiously around his office door.

  ‘Oh, it’s you.’ He greeted her with a scowl. ‘I hope you haven’t brought any more damn journalists with you.’

  ‘No.’ Mina was pretty sure she had managed to slip through a side door of the Globe without being seen by the journalists milling about outside the theatre. She gave him a hesitant smile. ‘It’s great news about the play going to New York.’

  Her father snorted. ‘I tried to phone you last night to tell you the news first, before l announced it to the rest of the cast, but you didn’t answer. I suppose you were with this chap of yours.’ He glared at Mina from beneath his bushy eyebrows. ‘It�
��s all over the papers that you are dating a prince.’

  Mina’s heart sank when she saw copies of several of the morning’s newspapers on her father’s desk. The photograph on the front page showed her and Aksel entering his hotel through a back door, and it was clear from their body language that they had been on their way to bed.

  ‘I’m not dating him,’ she said quickly, but her father did not appear to have heard her.

  ‘I would have thought you’d had enough publicity when you got involved with that film director in America. Heaven knows, you’re an adult and you can lead your life how you want,’ Joshua exploded. ‘But having your love-life plastered across the newspapers is not the sort of publicity I want for the Hart family or my theatre company. Have you thought that this could have a detrimental effect when the play opens on Broadway?’

  According to Dexter Price there was no such thing as bad publicity, Mina thought darkly. ‘In what way do you mean detrimental?’ she asked her father.

  ‘We’re performing Shakespeare on Broadway,’ Joshua snapped. ‘I don’t want the production to turn into a soap opera because Juliet is sleeping with a European aristocrat. You know how fascinated the Americans are by that sort of thing.’

  Mina bit her lip as she stared at her father’s furious face. She had hoped for his support but she should have known that he would be more concerned about the play than her. Joshua had been an unpredictable parent while she was growing up, and Mina and her brother and sisters had learned to deal with his mood swings and artistic temperament.

  ‘I assure you I didn’t ask for the publicity,’ she said stiffly. ‘I won’t be seeing Aks...the prince...again so you need not worry that I’ll attract adverse press coverage.’

  It was obvious from the way Aksel had been so quick to believe the worst of her that he’d never had any intention of meeting her in Paris. He was a prince, for heaven’s sake, and she had been a one-night stand. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat, remembering how he had kissed her with such beguiling tenderness at the hotel that morning. He had made her think that he genuinely did want to see her again. She grimaced. His performance had been worthy of an award for best actor.

  ‘Your mother’s worried about you,’ Joshua muttered. ‘You’d better phone her.’ He sat down at his desk. ‘I’ve told the cast to assemble on the stage and I’ll be along to discuss the New York project when I’ve made a couple of calls.’

  Kat Nichols was the first person Mina saw when she walked through the theatre.

  ‘Mina! I couldn’t believe it when I saw the newspapers. Who would have guessed that the blond hunk from the pub is a prince?’

  Not me, unfortunately, Mina thought ruefully.

  Kat looked at her closely. ‘Are you okay? Some of the papers have dragged up a story about you and a film director in LA.’ She could not hide her curiosity. ‘What did exactly happen between you and Dexter Price?’

  Mina bit her lip. Now that the newspapers had reprinted the lies about her, she might as well tell Kat the truth.

  ‘I’d been picked for a lead role in what was touted as the next big blockbuster film,’ she said heavily. ‘During filming I formed a close relationship with Dexter. I naïvely believed that he wanted to keep our friendship quiet to protect me from gossip. He never took me to popular bars or restaurants where we might be seen together. But a journalist got wind that something was going on and managed to take some damning photos of us.’

  She grimaced. ‘I only ever kissed Dex, but pictures of us were splashed across the newspapers and appeared to prove that we were having a sordid affair. It turned out that Dex was married—although he had told me he was divorced. Not only that, but his wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer.’

  ‘Oh, God, how awful for her, and for you,’ Kat murmured.

  ‘The press labelled me a heartless marriage-wrecker,’ Mina said flatly as she relived the nightmare that had unfolded in LA. ‘Dex lied to me. I hadn’t known he had a wife, let alone that she was seriously ill. I felt so guilty that she had been hurt, but Dex didn’t care. He actually said that the publicity about our relationship would be good for the film.’

  ‘What a bastard,’ Kat said fiercely.

  ‘I wanted to come home straight away, but I had to finish the film. Too many people would have been affected if I’d pulled out. Luckily there were only two more weeks of filming left but I was hounded by the paparazzi until I left LA.’

  ‘Some journalists have been at the theatre this morning, trying to get members of the cast to talk about you. But no one has,’ Kat added quickly.

  ‘No one knows much about me,’ Mina said drily. Although she got on well with most of the other cast members, she guarded her privacy. She felt sick knowing that everyone would be gossiping about her personal life, and her temper simmered because once again she had unwittingly become headline news. If Aksel had told her that he was the Prince of Storvhal she would never have agreed to go to his hotel. Her bitter experience with Dex had taught her to steer clear of people who were in the public eye.

  She went with Kat to join the other actors, who were gathered on the stage. The buzz of conversation faded and there was an awkward silence until Laurence Adams, who played Mercutio, said brightly, ‘That was a great PR stunt, Mina. The story about your relationship with a prince who is supposedly one of Europe’s most eligible bachelors has gone global on the same day that it was announced that our production of Romeo and Juliet is going to Broadway. With all the media interest I reckon we’ll be a sell-out in New York.’

  No way, Mina silently vowed, would she allow any of the cast to know how humiliated she felt. When she had been growing up, being the only deaf child in a mainstream school had taught Mina to develop a tough shell and hide her feelings of insecurity and hurt when she was teased for being ‘different’. Acting had become a means of survival, and now she utilised all her theatrical skills to brazen out the embarrassing situation.

  Lifting her chin, she said airily, ‘Yeah, I’m thrilled that I was pictured with a prince. Apparently the story is on all the American news networks and everyone in New York will know that the play will be opening there soon. I’m sure you’re right and we’ll perform to a full house every night.’

  Several of the cast cheered, but beside her Kat stiffened and muttered warningly, ‘Mina—he’s here!’

  Mina’s heart missed a beat. She turned her head to tell Kat that she did not find the joke funny, but the words froze on her lips as she looked up at the gallery and saw a golden-haired Viking staring down at the stage.

  Aksel’s stern face could have been carved from granite, and even from a distance Mina felt chilled by his icy stare. He did not say a word, but as she replayed her statement in her head, her frustration boiled over.

  ‘I...I didn’t mean what I said,’ she called up to him.

  His silence was crushing. He stared at her for a few more seconds before he swung round and the sound of his footsteps as he strode from the gallery reverberated around the theatre.

  ‘I swear, I didn’t know you are a damn prince,’ Mina shouted after him. But he did not turn his head and moments later he had disappeared.

  He had walked out without giving her a chance to explain! Who was this cold man who had replaced her caring lover of the night before? The fiasco of the damning photograph in the newspaper was his fault. His royal status made him a target for the paparazzi. Her stomach lurched as she realised that Steve Garratt must have recognised Aksel in the pub the previous evening. The journalist must have seen her get into the taxi with Aksel and followed them to the hotel. Garratt had certainly got the scoop he’d wanted, she thought bitterly.

  She choked back an angry sob. Aksel had refused to listen to her—just as her father so often did not listen. When she had first lost her hearing, Mina had also lost her confidence to speak. Years of speech therapy had helped her to find her voice again, and thanks to her hearing aids she was able to disguise her hearing impairment. But deep insid
e her there still lingered the insecure little girl who had felt trapped and alone in a silent world. Being deprived of one of her senses made her feel invisible and insignificant.

  Damn Aksel for ignoring her, she thought furiously as she ran through the theatre. She would make him listen to her!

  But when she reached the exit there was no sign of him and the only people outside the theatre were some journalists. The sound of a car’s engine drew her attention to the road, and her heart sank when she saw the sleek black limousine that had collected her and Aksel from the hotel earlier pull away from the kerb.

  The journalists spotted her and crowded around the door. ‘Miss Hart—are you in a relationship with Prince Aksel of Storvhal?’

  ‘Are you hoping that the prince will visit you while you are performing in New York?’

  Kat rushed up as Mina slammed the door shut to block out the journalists’ questions.

  ‘Joshua is in a furious temper,’ Kat told her breathlessly. ‘He’s demanding to know why you invited the prince here to the theatre.’

  Mina groaned. She could not cope with her father when he was in one of his unreasonable moods. But in fairness she could understand why he was angry with her. The announcement that he would be directing his theatre company’s production of Romeo and Juliet on Broadway should have been a highlight of Joshua’s career, but Mina had unwittingly stolen his thunder. The press were more interested in her relationship with a prince than in the play.

  ‘I have to get away from here,’ she muttered.

  ‘My car is parked round the back. We might be able to slip out without being seen. But, Mina...’ Kat hesitated, looking concerned. ‘I drove past your flat on my way here this morning and saw press photographers outside.’

  ‘I’m not going home,’ Mina said grimly. ‘Will you give me a lift to the airport?’

  * * *

  Benedict Lindburg, sitting in the front of the limousine with the driver, took one look at Aksel’s face as he climbed into the rear of the car and wisely did not say a word.