The Park's Empire: Handsome Strangers...: The Prince's Bride. GINA WILKINS

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СКАЧАТЬ fiancée because they would make me love him more, she thought, but since I’m only the wedding planner and a business associate, not so good for me to know.

      “I have a company to run,” she said lightly. “I don’t have time to think about children, certainly not for the foreseeable future.”

      “But someday, you plan to marry and have children,” he prodded.

      “I doubt it.” Something about him compelled her to be truthful when she’d planned to be evasive. She couldn’t bring herself to lie outright to him.

      “That would be a terrible waste,” he said quietly. His gaze left hers and stroked over her face, lightly grazing her lips with an almost tangible touch. He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “You’ll have beautiful children, Emily, and you’ll make a wonderful mother. You have a soft heart and good instincts.”

      His deep voice thrummed along Emily’s veins, making her blood move more swiftly. His dark gaze held hers and Emily felt her bones melting, her body swaying toward his where he leaned against the wall.

      The murmur of voices, growing louder as they moved nearer down the hall, snapped Emily back to awareness. She flushed. Lazhar’s fingers trailed across her hot cheek before his hand fell away and he pushed away from the wall to open the door behind her.

      “Dinner’s at eight. I’ll be back to take you to the dining room. I wouldn’t want you getting lost.”

      Emily murmured a thank-you and stepped inside, closing the door and sagging against it for support because her legs felt like rubber.

      Lazhar Eban is a dangerous man. She moved away from the door. I bet every woman he meets falls in love with him. But not me—I can’t afford to care about him. I’m only here to plan his wedding. She shook her head at her reflection in the wall-to-wall mirror over the bathroom vanity. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes dark, and to her dismay, her nipples were clearly visible, pushing against the white silk blouse she wore under the jacket of her yellow linen suit.

      Damn. She groaned and turned away from the woman in the mirror. Lazhar would have noticed, he’d been standing too close, his attention too focused on her, and he was too male to have missed the obvious signs of arousal.

      She stripped off her clothes and turned the shower jets on, determined to have a better grip on her emotions during dinner and the planned visit to the Daniz Casino.

      Lazhar knocked at his father’s open bedroom door later that evening.

      “Come in.”

      King Abbar was in bed. The huge mahogany bedstead had blue silk hangings, tied back with gold cord against the four heavy posts at each corner. The headboard was carved with the royal crest and a dozen fat white pillows cushioned the king’s back against the wood. The pillow shams, sheets, blankets and bedskirt were all white. The king preferred plain over opulent and while he’d left the rest of the palace’s historical decorations intact, he’d stripped his own bedchamber of all gilt and velvet the moment he ascended to the throne. The result was a room that was supremely comfortable and reflected the king’s masculine practicality.

      “Good evening, Father. How are you feeling?”

      “I’m well, all things considered.”

      Lazhar acknowledged the king’s dry comment with a half smile as he walked across the room. Despite his father’s constant reassurances, he knew that each day was a struggle. He searched the lined face and saw the weariness in the droop of eyelids and the slump of thin shoulders once military straight. “Are you sure you want to talk? I can come back in the morning after you’re rested.”

      “I’m tired, but that’s nothing new. Don’t fuss, Lazhar, I get enough of that from your mother. Sit, sit.” Abbar gestured at the chair next to the bed, but didn’t wait for Lazhar to drop into it before he continued. “I like your Emily. I confess I had doubts when you told me that you’d chosen Walter Parks’s daughter as your bride, but I was most pleasantly surprised when I met her today. She’s nothing like her father. In fact, I quite liked her.”

      Tension that Lazhar hadn’t realized existed eased at his father’s words. Relieved, he crossed one ankle over the opposite knee, leaned back in the chair, and chuckled. “I thought you would. And no, she’s definitely nothing like her father.”

      “The connection with Walter Parks may turn out to be more of a problem than an asset. Are you sure you want to be involved in business dealings with him? He has a reputation for ruthlessness among the gem traders.”

      “I can handle him.”

      “What about the rumors that he’s been involved in illegal activity? I read the newspaper articles you faxed me from San Francisco and I have to wonder whether Parks is a company we should associate ourselves with.”

      “What I learned about Parks while I was in San Francisco leads me to believe that the company is strong, but that Walter Parks may have reached the end of what could be a dirty career path. I had the impression that what was printed in the newspaper might be just the tip of the iceberg.”

      The king pursed his lips, his gaze shrewd. “And in spite of those problems, you don’t think a business association between Daniz and his company will tarnish our reputation?”

      “No. The deal is airtight and I’ve had every aspect of the contract details checked. Walter Parks’s personal life may self-destruct, but the Parks company won’t, certainly not in the mining venture that we’ll be involved in.”

      “Very well. Does Emily know about the connection between you and her father?”

      “No, and I don’t want her to until I’m ready to tell her.”

      “And when will that be?”

      “I don’t know yet.”

      The king shook his head. “She doesn’t appear to be the kind of woman who will easily forgive being lied to.”

      “I’m not lying to her. I’ve never told her I didn’t know her father.”

      “Hmph. Perhaps not. But you’re lying by omission when you purposely keep silent because you know that the acquaintance would affect how she feels about you.”

      “You’re probably right,” Lazhar admitted reluctantly. “I plan to tell her, but not until we know each other better. If I tell her now that I’m considering joining her father in a gem mining operation, she’ll write me off as just another of her father’s business associates obsessed with jewels. I need time.”

      “Then you’d better hope that she doesn’t learn the truth before you tell her.” Abbar considered his son for a moment. “What made you choose Emily over all the other women you know? You hadn’t met her before this week, had you?”

      “No. I’ve been to San Francisco on business more than once but our paths never crossed at any of the gem market functions and after hearing her comments about how she views the industry, I’m not surprised. I doubt she attended very many jewel conferences.”

      “So you literally had never seen her until Walter Parks sent her photo to you?”

      “No, I’d СКАЧАТЬ