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Cassie closed her eyes for a moment and then lifted her head to him. Her smile was dazzling, and it was also completely false. “Show me the rest of the embassy, Layth. I want to see it all.”
* * *
Melinda’s expression was laced with doubt.
“You said you’d take a break from the rotating door of men in your life.”
Unlike Cassie and her Aussie twang, Melinda’s voice was pure royal English. All clipped consonants and flattened vowels.
Cassie felt a tumble of frustration in her gut. She lifted the teapot and topped up her friend’s cup before sloshing some of the pale liquid into her own. “God, you’re the second person in as many days to imply I’m some kind of slut.”
“First off, that’s not what I meant. And who the hell is the first?”
Cassie shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“You’re not a slut. You know that’s not what I was saying. But after Antonio …”
“Yeah, except I’m not seeing Antonio.”
“So who are you seeing?”
Cassie bit down on her lower lip, her mind going over her conversations with Layth. At no point had he asked her to keep their union a secret. Yet she was still unlikely to scream it from the rooftops. But Melinda was her best friend, and they shared everything.
“Come on. I’ve got to get back to work and so do you. Spill it.”
Cassie felt a blush creep along her cheek bones. “Have you heard of a country called Takisabad?”
Melinda rolled her eyes. “Hello. I work at the UN. What do you think?”
“Right.” Cassie nodded, licking her lower lip.
“Don’t tell me they have a premier league football team?”
“No.” Cassie sipped her tea. Definitely did not compare well to the exotic Takisabad coffee she’d been enjoying. “Have you heard of Layth Sati?”
“Of course. He’s the heir apparent to the throne of Takisabad.” Melinda suddenly became very still, as she scanned her best friend’s face. “Oh, Cass. Don’t tell me you and he …”
Cassie nodded. “I didn’t know who he was when we first, um …”
“When you slept with him?” Melinda shook her head sadly from side to side, careful not to show anything approaching disapproval. If anything, she admired her friend for her free spirited outlook on life. Only the knowledge that it was motivated by deep tragedy and pain gave her cause for concern.
“Right. And when he told me, I was already too hooked.” A smile lifted the corners of her lips. “He’s … amazing.”
“He’s certainly very handsome,” Melinda murmured.
“Handsome.” Cassie shook her head in dismissal. The way Layth had been that morning was not handsome. He had been spectacular. “That’s such an insipid word for what he is. He’s virile and sexy and seductive and gorgeous and smart and funny …”
Melinda was looking at Cassie as though she’d started to speak in a foreign language. “You sound like you’re falling in love with him. But you don’t do love.”
“No. I don’t do love, so I’m definitely not falling in love with him.” She spoke the words more firmly than was necessary, to convince herself as well as her friend. “Besides, he’s not really … available.”
Melinda frowned. “What do you mean?” Worry creased her brow.
“He has to get married and make a little baby heir to the Kingdom. So what we’re doing is very nice, but also very temporary.”
“And you’re okay with that.”
“Yes,” Cassie nodded, expressing far greater confidence than she felt. “Perfectly. You know me – I don’t want anything too serious. But I’m going to make the most of the time I do have him for.”
