Page 48 of The Princess Trap
“You’re smarter than most people I know,” he said lightly. “You can do whatever you like.”
She didn’t answer. He looked over to see her faffing about with a handful of blueberries, holding back a smile. Satisfied that she was at least listening, Ruben whipped his puddings out of the oven with a flourish and presented them like an offering.
“Oh, well done,” she said, sounding surprised. The little sponges had all risen, unburnt, and even looked somewhat light and airy. He was rather surprised, too.
“Thanks,” he grinned, setting them onto the counter. “It’s all thanks to your expert guidance, of course.”
She snorted. Then she leant over the chocolate puddings and closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of almonds and cocoa with a look of pure pleasure on her face. For the past hour, Ruben had been too busy following instructions to remember how badly he wanted the woman in front of him. Now it was back to the forefront of his mind.
The warmth of the kitchen left Cherry’s rich skin glowing, and tiny little coils of hair sprang out around her face withparticular enthusiasm. When she opened her eyes again, Ruben was staring at her with what he knew was plain lust.
She bit her lip.
He moved closer, his voice low. “Whatdoyou want to do? Professionally, I mean.” He asked because he’d been curious for a while. She hadn’t seemed upset about quitting her job, and she wasn’t enthusiastic about education, clearly.
Cherry blinked. That probably wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. But even when he wanted her, when desire rode him relentlessly, Ruben still wanted to know her. He wanted that more than anything else.
She shrugged, turning away slightly. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on. You must.”
She flicked a dark look his way. “MustI? I suppose I should. I’m a grown woman after all.”
“…You really don’t know?”
“Well,” she sighed. “I have a few ideas. When I was a kid I wanted to make wedding cakes, actually. But then I turned eighteen, and I needed a job, and… Well, I’m good at telling people what to do and charming them into doing it. So, to Rosewood I went.”
He nodded slowly. “HR, right? You didn’t like it?”
“I liked it fine, and I really am good at it. But I’ve been thinking… I’m rich now. You know, thanks to you.” She flashed a wry smile. “I can do whatever I want. Like… start a small business? I don’t know. I’m just playing with ideas. I have a year to plan.”
Ruben ignored the reminder of the time-limit on their…association, because it made him somehow uncomfortable. But everything else she’d said intrigued him. “I can see you as a businesswoman. Thinking about your wedding cake dream, are you?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not adream. It’s just an idea.”
“Right.” He grinned. “But even if it was a fully-fledged business plan with start-up capital, would you tell me?”
She gave him a pert look. “I wouldn’t tell anyone. Not until I made my first million at least.”
Ruben laughed, sliding a hand into her hair. He couldn’t help himself. “You really are something, Cherry.”
“Yes. So I’m told.”
Chapter Fifteen
He didn’t touch her in the kitchen. He didn’t touch her when they passed each other in the halls, or when they sat down to dinner with Demi and Hans and Agathe. But that night, when he came into her room, he lay down beside her and prayed to every god he could think of that she might touch him.
She didn’t, of course. But the smile in her voice when she spoke felt almost as good as her hands might have. “I called my parents today.”
“Yeah?” He laced his fingers beneath his head to stop himself from reaching out. “How are they?”
“Good. Still vaguely confused about this whole thing, but my mother is enjoying bragging to the neighbours. My dad’s still kind of stuck on the fact that you’ve never met.”
“Mmm. I bet he is.” The easy comfort of Cherry’s company wasn’t enough to dampen the alarm that fired in Ruben’sgut. She was a daddy’s girl. And her dad almost certainly hated him.
“Everyone’s been debating you in the family group chat.”
“You have a family group chat?”
