Free The Princess Affair by Nell Stark Page B

concocted by Bloom. Squaring her shoulders, she smiled as though her mind wasn’t in turmoil.
    “Good morning. On behalf of the royal family, I’d like to welcome you to England. I wish you all the best in your academic endeavors, and I look forward to speaking with you over the next hour.”
    With that, she let the secretary direct her to her table. Usually, she spent events like these on autopilot, with a practiced smile on her lips and a banal quip on the tip of her tongue. Sometimes, she was even able to ascend into a sort of fugue state, gliding through her responsibilities while her imagination wandered. But today, she couldn’t seem to lose herself in the familiar ritual of public appearance. Instead, she felt magnetized. As Mary Spencer introduced her to several other trustees, Sasha had to force herself not to angle her body so that she could keep an eye on Kerry. By the time she had been introduced to two tables’ worth of students, her skin was tingling as though she’d absorbed some kind of electrical charge.
    She felt a flash of panic when she came face-to-face with Kerry’s friend Harris, but thankfully, he acted as though they’d never met. He did, however, make a point of stepping out of her field of vision just in time for her to see Kerry walking briskly toward the corridor leading out of the hall. Surely, she wouldn’t leave before the event’s conclusion. Perhaps she was seeking a temporary asylum?
    “Ms. Spencer,” Sasha asked quickly, trying not to sound desperate, “would you kindly direct me to the nearest WC?”
    “This way, ma’am.” She gestured the way Kerry had gone. “I’d be happy to escort you.”
    Sasha shook her head. “Thank you for the offer, but my protection officer will accompany me.”
    She spun away, Ian two steps behind, and struggled to maintain a dignified pace across the room. As soon as she rounded the corner, she lengthened her strides.
    “Your Royal Highness—” Ian began.
    Sasha cut him off. “Listen at the door if you must, but no one else enters.”
    His long-suffering sigh almost made her feel guilty. When they reached the door, she pulled it open and entered to find Kerry, arms braced against the sink, gazing intently at her own reflection. Wariness suffused her face as she turned to face Sasha.
    “Your Royal Highness.”
    “Oh, stop that.” Sasha wished she could take the words back as soon as they’d left her lips. Forcing herself to move slowly, she halted a few feet away from Kerry. This close, she could make out the smudges beneath her eyes that hadn’t been there yesterday.
    She raised her hand, wanting to touch the delicate skin, but then thought better of it. How long had it been since she’d felt uncertainty in the presence of an attractive woman? Not since her first adolescent kiss in the doorway of her room at boarding school.
    “You look exhausted.”
    Kerry let go of her death grip on the sink. The stiffness of her posture was belied by the darkness of her eyes. Attraction.
    “I didn’t sleep very well last night.”
    Sasha took a slow step forward, and then another—approaching Kerry the same way she’d been taught to approach her easily-spooked polo pony.
    “Me, neither. I wish you hadn’t left.”
    “Oh?”
    “We could have gone back to my hotel. You would have slept like a baby. Eventually.”
    Sasha watched Kerry’s throat constrict in a swallow and saw the quick flash of pink as her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. Mesmerized, she belatedly noticed that apprehension had joined the arousal plain on Kerry’s face. Was she being too forward?
    “I never should have allowed anything to happen between us last night,” Kerry said into the awkward silence. “I’m afraid you caught me at a weak moment. Please accept my apologies.”
    Sasha shook her head and took one more step. “I don’t want your apologies. And ‘weak’ is not a word I would use to describe you at any moment.”
    “Please. Stop.” Kerry held