A Royal Proposal. Barbara Hannay

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СКАЧАТЬ band would be playing on the night of the ball and whether Princess Maria or Countess von Belden had been invited.

      ‘I’m sorry,’ Charlie said. ‘I’ve been visiting my mother In Saint-Tropez and I’ve left all those arrangements to Rafael.’

      * * *

      Somehow, she got through the interrogation without too many sticky moments. She wondered if Rafe had ensured that the guests were first-timers who hadn’t met her sister. Even so, the night was an ordeal. She was battling jet lag and she was almost dropping with exhaustion. This ‘princess’ gig was so much harder than it looked from the outside.

      She was sure Rafe must be tired, too, but after the guests left he still came to her room, as he’d warned her he must, for his expected ‘nightly visit’.

      ‘Thank heavens that’s over,’ he said, taking off his coat and carelessly draping it on the end of a sofa, then flopping into the deep cushions and loosening his tie and the buttons at his throat.

      Charlie hadn’t meant to stare as he performed this small act, but everything about the man was so utterly eye-catching. She found herself mesmerised by the jutting of his jaw as he loosened his collar, by the sudden exposure of his tanned throat, and even the way he sat with his elbows hooked over the back of the sofa, his long legs sprawled casually.

      Everything about this Prince was super-attractive and manly.

      Rafe caught her watching him. She looked away quickly, cheeks flaming, and then tried to make herself comfortable as she sat on the opposite sofa. But it was hard to feel comfortable with a huge weight on her mind.

      There was only one thing for it, really—she had to get her worries off her chest quickly, before Rafe launched into another cosy fireside chat.

      Charlie sat forward with her back straight, her hands tightly clasped in her lap. ‘Rafe, I have a confession to make.’

      Unfortunately, he merely looked amused, which wasn’t at all helpful. ‘I thought something must be troubling you.’

      ‘Did it show tonight? I’m sorry. Do you think your guests noticed?’

      ‘No, Charlie, relax.’ He gave a smiling, somewhat indulgent shake of his head. ‘It’s just that I’ve learned to read the signs. There’s a certain way you hold your mouth when you’re distracted or worried, but as far as anyone else is concerned you were perfect tonight. You look very lovely, by the way.’

      ‘Yes, you told me.’ She refused to take his flattery seriously. ‘It’s the dress, of course.’

      This brought another slow, knowing smile tilting the corners of his sexy mouth. ‘Of course. We’ll blame the dress. Now, what’s your problem?’

      Charlie’s problem was the same problem that had dogged her all her life. ‘Money.’

      ‘Money?’ Rafe looked understandably puzzled. ‘So what’s the problem exactly? You have too little or too much money?’

      She couldn’t imagine ever being worried about having too much money. ‘Too little, of course. I’m sorry, I—’

      A crease furrowed between Rafe’s dark brows. ‘Dare I ask about the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars I gave you? I know it’s not really any of my business, but you haven’t spent that already, have you?’

      ‘Well, yes—I have—actually.’ Charlie almost added an apology as she made this confession, but stopped herself just in time. She would only make matters worse if she behaved as if she were guilty. ‘I’m only telling you this, because I went shopping today, and I tried to buy the clothes out of my own savings. But I didn’t have quite enough, not for the shoes and boots, as well as the coat and the dresses.’

      ‘But you weren’t expected to pay for the clothes out of your own purse. Surely Monique explained?’

      ‘I think she may have tried to. She said something about a St Romain account, but I wanted to pay for them, Rafe. You’ve already given me so much money.’

      ‘Which you’ve managed to spend in forty-eight hours. That’s no mean feat, Charlie.’

      She had no answer for this. At least Rafe didn’t ask her what she’d spent the money on. She still felt too tense about Isla to try to talk about that situation.

      No doubt he assumed she’d bought a yacht or an apartment, or even that she’d used his money to pay off old debts.

      A deafening silence followed her admission. In the midst of the awkwardness, she heard a ping from her phone, which she’d left on her bedside table.

      ‘Do you mind if I get that?’ she asked.

      ‘By all means.’ Rafe gave a stiff nod of his head and he spoke with excessive, almost chilling politeness.

      Charlie knew she’d disappointed him and she might have felt guilty if she hadn’t been so very anxious about her family. They must be in Boston by now. Her stomach was churning as she dashed to the phone.

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      RAFE KNEW IT was foolish to feel disappointed in Charlie simply because she’d dispensed with his money so easily. She was perfectly entitled to do what she liked with the cheque he’d given her.

      She was fulfilling her obligations—she’d accompanied him to Montaigne and was acting as a stand-in for her sister, and that was all he’d asked of her. How she spent the money was none of his business.

      Besides, he was using Charlie to his own ends, so he was in no position to make moral judgements about the girl.

      To Rafe’s annoyance, these rationalisations didn’t help. He was disappointed. Unreasonably, illogically, stupidly disappointed.

      Unfortunately, in the same short couple of days that it had taken Charlie to spend his payment, he’d allowed her—an unknown girl from the bottom of the planet—to steal under his defences.

      Thinking back over the past forty-eight hours, Rafe couldn’t believe that he’d allowed Charlie to cast a spell over him. But, surely, that must be what had happened. Somehow, despite the lectures he’d given himself, he’d allowed himself to become intrigued by the possibility that he’d discovered a rare creature—a lovely, sexy girl with genuine heart, who wasn’t a grasping opportunist.

      Foolishly, he’d decided that Charlie was different from her sister Olivia and from the other frustratingly shrewd and calculating young women in his social circles.

      Rafe had been beguiled by Charlie’s air of apparent naivety, and, even though he’d known that she wouldn’t remain in his life beyond a few short weeks, he’d wanted to thoroughly enjoy the novelty of her company while he could.

      She’d been a refreshing experience.

      Or so he’d thought.

      He consoled himself that he wasn’t the only one who’d been hoodwinked. Even his good friend, Sheikh Faysal, had been taken by Charlie and had made remarks about her sincerity.

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