Very personal!
Tasim grabbed another glass as one of the more annoying socialites meandered towards him. Tasim knew the woman, but couldn’t think of her name at the moment. She was in her early fifties and wore a great deal of jewelry. Her outfit wasn’t conducive to horseback riding, so she must have been one of the guests who had arrived via car.
Her overly made-up lips curled upwards into an inquisitive smile. “Your Highness, you look tense. Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine,” he snapped, his gaze narrowing on Luna when she paused to talk to a handsome man. Whatever the guy said must have been hilariously funny because Luna threw back her head, laughing. She even touched his arm and leaned into him. Damn it, she never casually touched him! He loved it when he earned her laugh, but it was so rare that the thought of someone else making her laugh made his blood boil.
Then the guy touched her. Hell, he even wrapped his arm around her waist. It was only for a brief moment, but it was long enough!
“It seems that you and the lovely princess are at odds, Your Highness. Word in the news was that this wedding between your sister and Sheik Elon was going to ease the tensions between your countries. From the way you’re glaring at Princess Luna, the relationship seems to be having the opposite effect.”
Tasim glanced down at the woman, having entirely forgotten her presence. Getting a grip on his temper –which was not jealousy because he didn’t do jealousy– he forced himself to smile. “I’m thrilled that Elon has found such joy with my sister, Countess,” he replied, remembering belatedly that she wrote a society blog page that was syndicated internationally. “This wedding will change the future for both of our countries and heal the wounds of the past.”
Having said that, he pushed away from the tent pole he’d been leaning on and walked away, not interested in listening to the woman pry.
But she brought up a good point. He and Luna had been bickering constantly, interspersed with moments of a different flavor of tension. Unfortunately, as the wedding date drew closer, more guests would arrive. That meant more eyes watching the interactions between Luna and himself. If any of those guest
s got the sense that there was animosity between them, the press would eventually find out about it. Then the story of this wedding would change from one of healing and cooperation to “What’s going on between the sheik and the princess?!” That wasn’t a news story that he wanted to deal with. His country, and Elon’s needed this cooling of hostilities. The countries needed this wedding! They needed the wounds to be healed so that the tensions eased and more economic and political ties could be built.
He looked around and, sure enough, his assistant was waiting patiently off to one side. “I’m ready to leave,” he announced. “Make my excuses to the princess and Elon.” Then he moved off, stepping into the back seat of the SUV his guards held open for just this purpose.
Luna watched with a sinking heart as Tasim stepped into the vehicle and drove off. She wanted to run to him and apologize for snapping at him. She wanted to promise she’d be nicer to him.
But she knew that being polite wasn’t always possible. For some reason, he just pricked her temper. And her laughter. And her passion.
Darn it, he seemed to be able to control her emotions effortlessly! Even now, the sparkle of the afternoon had vanished since his departure. Looking around, she mentally sighed, wishing that she could have left too. Maybe she also could have curled up on his lap and kissed him again.
Darn it! She didn’t want to feel this way! Why couldn’t she just…keep her distance from him?
Well, that was a no brainer, she thought as she smiled welcomingly at another guest who approached. She couldn’t keep her distance because he and his sister, the bride, were the guests of honor here at the palace. The other guests were important, but it was really Luna and Tasim that everyone needed to see getting along.
For the next few hours, she smiled and laughed, pretended to be having a wonderful time. But deep down, she wanted to find Tasim and maybe pick another fight with him.
Such a ridiculous thought. But not really, she realized. For a stunned moment, Luna realized something strange. Fighting with Tasim made her feel alive! More alive than she’d ever felt in her life! Good grief!
She froze, unaware of the person behind her, who almost ran into her. Luna was completely focused on the realization that, all of the previous years of her life seemed a bit dim, grey, and dull. Because Tasim hadn’t been in her life? No, that was ridiculous!
The world hadn’t suddenly turned bland. It was still filled with color.
But as she looked around at the laughing guests, she accepted that there was a certain lack of vibrancy to the afternoon now.
This wasn’t good, she told herself. And because she didn’t want her world to be bland, she pulled her shoulders back and forced herself to dive right back into the fray!
Chapter 7
“Luna!”
The deep voice calling to her from behind caused her to tense. With awareness? Yes. Anger? Oh yeah! And excitement. And desire! Darn it, Luna really needed to get control of herself!
Turning, she looked around carefully, relieved to see that they were alone in the hallway. Only the guards would witness her rudeness.
“I don’t have time to talk to you now, Tasim. It will have to wait.” And with that, she deliberately turned and continued towards her apartment. This was the private area of the palace. Only family members were allowed. But because Ella was about to become a member of the royal family through marriage, plus the bride-to-be was basically living with Elon already, Tasim had been put in one of the family apartments too. Hopefully, he didn’t know that his sister was spending her nights in Elon’s quarters. Luna didn’t want to even contemplate what kind of ruckus that would make!
Unfortunately, Luna couldn’t shake him. His longer legs easily caught up with her.
“This can’t wait, Luna. We need to talk,” he announced grimly. “Now!” He grabbed her elbow and hurried her down the hallway. The fact that he already knew where her apartment was didn’t occur to her. It was the hand on her arm that received her fury.
She tried to pull away. Unfortunately, his grip tightened, pulling her along. “Don’t you dare…!”