Free The Princess Affair by Nell Stark Page A

avail. She’d tried not to be too obvious about it, but she felt like an idiot all the same. Kerry hadn’t waited.
    Worst of all, when Sasha finally threw in the towel and considered seeking out another potential conquest, she’d found no one who caught her eye. Eventually, she had returned to her empty hotel bed, restless and peeved. And now, after a poor night’s sleep, she was pursuing the only woman who had ever walked away. At the thought, she very nearly stopped in her tracks and turned around. Why couldn’t she just let Kerry bloody Donovan go and call the entire experience a wash?
    “Because that was the best kiss of your life, that’s why,” she groused under her breath.
    “I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t catch that,” Ian said.
    She waved his question away, hoping he hadn’t noticed the color she could feel rising in her cheeks. Maybe he would attribute her flush to the coolness of the air. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to stop remembering the taut strength of Kerry’s body pressed against hers and the warmth of her touch that had seeped through her dress to set her skin ablaze. An echo of the heat surged down her spine at the visceral memory of digging her fingers into the nape of Kerry’s neck as their tongues dueled. Sasha wanted to scream, and she really couldn’t. Ian would never let her go for a walk again.
    Struggling to maintain her equilibrium, she took deep breaths and tried to distract herself by paying attention to the subtle ways in which the city had changed since her graduation over a year ago. But the smattering of new boutiques, restaurants, and novelty shops couldn’t hold her attention. No matter what she did, her mind drifted back in time, diabolically picturing what might have happened had she and Kerry not been interrupted.
    Thankfully, the daydream shattered when she rounded a corner to find herself facing the imposing façade of Rhodes House. After chatting briefly with the porter, Ian ushered her inside the tall, wrought-iron fence. Sasha glanced at her watch as they passed through the tall columns guarding the entrance. Half past nine o’clock. Right on cue for a fashionably late entrance.
    The Secretary of the Rhodes Trust—a willowy woman whose layered chestnut hair was streaked with gray—was waiting just inside the rotunda. She inclined her head deferentially as Sasha approached.
    “What an unexpected pleasure, Your Royal Highness. My name is Mary Spencer.”
    Sasha offered her hand. “Good morning, Ms. Spencer. I apologize that I couldn’t be in attendance last night.”
    “Quite all right, of course. Lovely of you to make the time this morning.”
    She turned and led them into the dining hall, chattering all the while about how what a magnificent job the Trust had done this year of selecting a diverse, intelligent, and ambitious group. Sasha forced herself not to roll her eyes. Had she honestly subjected herself to a cadre of academics, just because of one perfect kiss? What was her life turning into—some kind of modern day farce of a fairytale?
    And then she caught sight of Kerry, who had chosen a seat at the farthest table near one of the tall windows where she was deep in conversation with another woman. Sunlight streamed over her, rendering her curly hair a crown of flames. Dressed less formally than the night before in gray slacks, a white collared shirt, and a thin black sweater, she made Sasha’s mouth water. There was no use in denying it.
    The secretary cleared her throat. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have some wonderful news. Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra has decided to break her fast with us this morning since she was unable to join us last night. Please welcome her.”
    As the applause began and every pair of eyes in the room focused on her, Sasha realized just how many people she was going to have to mollify before she could confront Kerry and demand an explanation. But at least she didn’t have to read them that vapid speech