“Yes, I am going to take some time off in a couple of months to observe the better areas here where I would like to see our business grow. I haven’t had time in a while to relax, but with your people so kind and helpful, I always find myself quite happy after a vacation here.”
“We’ll have to get together when you return.”
“I will give you a call.” He then turned to Ari. “It was a rare treat to meet you, my lady. I look forward to seeing you again.” With those words, he kissed her hand once more, before walking from the room.
Ari was glad she wasn’t expected to come up with a reply, because she had no clue what to say.
It was a minute after the door shut that she realized she was still staring at it. She also realized she was standing alone in the room with a very riled-up Rafe.
“It appears you were quite fond of the prince,” he snapped.
“I was being polite. Did I do something to upset you?”
“I don’t share my mistresses, Ari,” he reminded her. As if she didn’t know that already! She wanted to call him on his idiocy, but thought better of it.
“I’m not interested in the prince, but considering he was the first royal person I’ve ever met, I was a bit starstruck. I’m so sorry if I’m not as sophisticated as you.” Ari had to suddenly fight tears. He was making her feel like a fool.
He might have been used to mixing in high circles, but she wasn’t. She’d read about princes in books and magazines, had watched movies on Lifetime TV about princes marrying poor maidens, but she’d never thought she’d meet a real live prince. Of course she was a bit flustered.
Even if she had imagined meeting a royal, she never would have expected him to call her beautiful and kiss her hand. Rafe could stick his crappy attitude where the sun didn’t shine. She wasn’t going to allow him to make her feel bad when she should be floating on a cloud.
She turned to storm from the room when Rafe grabbed her arm and whipped her back around to face him. He studied her face for several long seconds, then his features relaxed and he softened his grip, pulling her tightly against his chest.
“I apologize. I’m not prone to jealousy, but you tend to bring out the worst in me. You did nothing wrong.” He bent down and gently caressed her lips in a tender kiss. Ari’s anger evaporated as she leaned into him.
How she could go from humiliated to seduced in a couple of seconds, she would never know, but Rafe had a way of doing that to her. As she swayed in his arms, she knew the difference between being starstruck and being swept off her feet.
The prince had certainly made her swoon a bit, but Rafe…Well, Rafe made her feel as if the ground were coming up to swallow her whole. He did things to her she couldn’t come close to describing.
“It’s late; I’ll order dinner in,” he said as he draped his arm around her shoulder and led her from the room.
For one moment, Ari allowed herself to lean into him. It had been a roller-coaster ride of a day and she could afford to let down her defenses for a brief moment. How badly could it really hurt her in the end?
A lot more than she was prepared to deal with.
Chapter Twenty
“I want you to know that my friend Amber is furious with me. She can’t believe I’m leaving for a fun-filled weekend while she’s stuck at home with a sick child.”
“That’s what happens when you get all happy, fall in love and start producing the next generation. You miss out on all the fun,” Lia said with a laugh.
“Do you not want kids?”
“I want an entire houseful of the little monsters, but not for a few more years. I’m still too selfish to dedicate my life to a brood of children, but someday I want them crawling all over me. I know that sounds strange, but the thought of being all alone later on in life isn’t appealing. I want noise during the holidays, and messy fingerprints on the cupboards. I want the whole white-picket-fence thing,” Lia answered.
“I can see it now,” Ari joked. “A Palazzo in a megamansion surrounded by a white picket fence.” Still, she sat back and thought about Lia’s words. She’d never really thought very deeply about a family. She’d always just assumed she’d have one someday. That’s what people did — they grew up, got married and had kids.
What if she didn’t want them? What if she never got beyond being self-absorbed and then ended up an old lady with twenty cats? As she and Rafe’s sisters pulled up to the airport, doubts flooded her. She was way too young to be stressing over such a thing, so she needed to push it from her mind and focus on today only.
“OK, enough of this talk, you two. We’re about to board a beautiful jet, and set off to fabulous Las Vegas. I want the weekend to be about hot guys stripping and all-I-can-drink-margaritas,” Rachel demanded.
Her words pulled Ari from her disturbing thoughts — that was until they approached Rafe’s jet. Ari’s nerves jumped as they neared the steps. The last time she’d entered Rafe’s jet from this location, she’d been given an ultimatum. Approaching the beautiful aircraft now brought the turmoil she’d felt that dark day to the forefront of her mind.
“What took you ladies so long? Do you always need to make an entrance?”
“You know we do because we’re fabulous,” Rachel quipped as she ran up the steps.
Ari turned to face Rafe and her stomach clenched. Only two days ago, she’d had the choice to leave him, yet here she was, about to board his jet again. After his intense lovemaking in her office, and then the even more intense board meeting with the prince, he’d been called away and she hadn’t seen him since.
“I can see you’re fighting yourself again, Ari. Sometimes it’s much better to just go with the moment and not overthink everything,” he said as his arms wrapped around her and he leaned down to gently kiss her lips.
It was these moments when he was so human, so caring, that confused her most. Mr. Hyde she could handle, Dr. Jekyll, not so much.
“I’m just looking forward to Vegas,” she said in a falsely high voice.
“Good. I think you’ll enjoy the trip if my sisters don’t get you into too much trouble.”
“I happen to be very fond of your sisters,” she replied honestly.
“That’s how they get you. They suck you in and then you become one of them,” he warned with a wiggle of his brows.