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BA’SH
Ba’sh looked over the list of tasks he’d already managed to finish. It was shaping up to be a very productive day. He had rushed through most of his afternoon schedule, feeling more eager than usual to complete his work.
Of course, he was never really off-duty, but he always made a priority of sitting down for dinner with the children. Sometimes that dinner had to be pushed back, or adjusted to a sit-down dessert when work was too pressing.
Tonight was important though. Their new nanny was here, and he had invited her to eat with them. It would be good to be there while she was getting to know the kids and observe how they all got along.
And while he normally didn’t let the opinions of others influence him, he found he definitely didn’t want Yasmine thinking he didn’t care about the kids or didn’t make time for them.
Stop thinking about her, he reprimanded himself.
But after that strange moment in her room, it was impossible not to picture her in his mind and wonder what had come over him.
With a little distance, he could see that she was a pretty young girl. With so few eligible women on Ulfgard, it was understandable that he might feel some fleeting attraction to any woman who fit the bill.
But he hadn’t felt it for the last nanny, who seemed to constantly prance around in flimsy dresses just to get his attention.
Maybe it was Yasmine’s upbeat attitude and the way she responded to the house that he liked so much. She seemed so genuine in comparison with so many of the people he had met since the election. It was refreshing to talk with someone who seemed to have no agenda.
Of course she has an agenda. She’s my employee.
But it hadn’t felt that way at all.
And besides, just a little genuine enthusiasm shouldn’t have been enough to leave him ready to risk everything just to touch her.
In his mind’s eye he saw her standing before him, seemingly transfixed, as his eyes locked on her soft pink lips.
Stop it, Kreed. You’re acting like a silly schoolboy.
No, there was something else there. Something more than that. He just couldn’t put his finger on what.
But he hadn’t gotten this far in his career in his thirties by following every base instinct. He was going to have to focus and get himself under control.
The publicity chief’s words echoed in his head.
It would be best if you married…
He had never given any weight to the man’s assertions. But now…
The buzz of his comms interrupted his thoughts, and he swiped angrily at his bracelet.
“I have another call for you,” his assistant’s voice said.
“Take a message,” Ba’sh told him. “I need to wrap up.”
“It’s Mrs. Slaite,” the assistant added quietly.
Cursed rings of the Outer reaches.
“I’ll take it,” he said wearily, striding toward the reading room in the back of the house so he could speak with her privately.
He’d asked the woman to take time off, but he knew how much she worried. He didn’t have the heart to refuse her call, but he planned to encourage her strongly to actually relax.
And he knew she would die if he scolded her in front of any other staff member, even by comms. Madge Slaite was his right-hand man, and she took a lot of pride in it.
“It’s Ba’sh,” he said, tapping when his comms buzzed again.
“My Ruler,” Slaite’s voice sounded worried.
