Submit (Surrender #2)(34)
Author: Melody Anne

Ari nearly laughed aloud at that thought. This was a freaking prince, for goodness sake, and certainly wouldn’t be asking her out on a date. His men hadn’t even bothered looking at her, so she was pretty safe with them. Man, she needed to pull herself together.

Prince Adrian stepped forward, walking with sure movements until he was standing right before her. He reached out and grasped her fingers, raising her hand slowly to his lips as he bent forward and kissed her just above the knuckles.

“Such a beauty may call me Ian,” he practically purred.

Ari couldn’t help a slight swoon at his velvet-smooth voice. She’d never met a man so suave. She was sure he had an entire harem willing and ready to do anything he asked.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ian,” she finally gasped, wanting to smack herself for the breathy sound of her voice.

“Now that introductions have been made, let us start the meeting.”

Ari was yanked out of her trance by the deadly steel behind Rafe’s voice. He sounded angry, though she couldn’t figure out why. Yes, she’d sounded a bit awed, but surely she wasn’t acting abundantly ridiculous.

“Yes, sir,” she muttered as she pulled her hand back and waited for Rafe and the prince to take their seats. She didn’t want to commit a faux paus by sitting first.

“Please sit, Arianna. My men wouldn’t dare be so rude as to have a seat before a beautiful lady has first become comfortable.”

This man was good — really good. Ari was back to feeling as if she were melting.

“Yes, please have a seat, Ari,” Rafe quietly growled.

Ari’s head whipped around to look into his tumultuous eyes. He was undoubtedly ticked off. Maybe now wasn’t the time to pursue a mission of revenge, with Rafe so dangerously moody.

Ari sat down, then watched in amazement as Rafe and Prince Adrian took their seats. Only then did the rest of the men sit, as well.

Twenty minutes into the meeting, Ari’s fascination with the prince had dimmed. Yes, he was still just as stunning, and yes, his voice could melt butter, but her eyes were drawn to only one man in the room — Rafe.

The prince continually looked her way, but soon Ari was able to tune out the flirtatious looks and smooth voice, and simply do her job of taking notes of the meeting.

If she put everything else aside, what they were planning was quite amazing. If it worked, thousands of jobs would be created and better conditions brought to both the prince’s country and some impoverished areas in the U.S.

As she continued taking notes, she learned more about Rafe. She knew he had a good heart beneath the hard exterior he showed to the world, but listening to the excitement enter his voice as he spoke of a multibillion-dollar merger was still eye-opening. She had a feeling he would do so much good during his lifetime — control issues aside.

Without her realizing it, several hours passed. She could have sat there all night listening to his and the prince’s plans.

“Rafe, I think we have a deal. I look forward to getting this started. We’ll meet in January to break ground.” Prince Adrian stood up and stretched his arms. He had removed his jacket earlier, and the sight of his muscles flexing beneath the white silk of his shirt proved a real treat. Ari might not want the prince, but that didn’t mean she was immune to his aura. She was human, after all.

“I have to admit, this is the first project I’ve been truly excited over in some time,” Rafe said. “I look forward to spending time in your beautiful country. I hope you feel the same about your time here in the States.”

“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?