If he’d asked her to step into the storage room and neck, she would have been no less surprised. Surprise turned quickly to caution and caution to calculation. But beneath it all was the simple pleasure that he wanted her company. It was the pleasure that worried her.

“It’s kind of you to ask, Your Highness, but Eve may have plans.”

“Then we’ll check with her first.” He wanted her to go. He found himself already looking forward to spending a few hours with her away from the palace. Perhaps it was for the challenge of it, the challenge of picking away at that prim, proper exterior and finding what, if anything, lay beneath. Whatever the reason was, Bennett didn’t question it. “Would you like to go?”

“Yes, I would.” Hannah told herself it was because it would give her the opportunity to study him more closely, for professional reasons. She told herself it would give her the chance to see how well security worked away from the palace and the capital. But the truth was as simple as her answer. She wanted to go.

“Fine, then we’ll fix it, and you can stand through the long and wordy welcoming ceremony with me.”

“Hate to be bored alone, do you?”

Laughing, Bennett took her hand again. “Yes, I can see exactly why Eve brought you to us.” Her hand was an inch from his lips when the murmur of voices came from below. Glancing down, more than a little annoyed, Bennett spotted Chantel.

“The anger has to show,” she was insisting, walking so quickly the director had to lengthen his stride to keep up. “Julia is not a passive woman. She doesn’t hide what she feels no matter what the consequences. Dammit, Maurice, I’ll make it subtle. I know my job.”

“Of course you do, chérie, that I don’t question. It is simply that—”

“Mademoiselle.” From the top of the stairs, Bennett looked down. Hannah had a firsthand glimpse of how he smiled at a truly beautiful woman. Without thinking, she drew her hand from his and linked her fingers together.

Chantel, reaching one hand up to draw back her pale blond hair, tilted her head back. Even so dispassionate an observer such as Hannah had to concede that few women could claim such a combination of glamour, beauty and sexuality. Her lips curved. Her eyes, a deep, dreamy shade of blue, smiled with them.

“Your Highness,” Chantel said in her rich, smoky voice as she dipped into a formal curtsy. She started up the stairs and Bennett started down. In the middle, they stopped, then Chantel reached up to touch his face before bringing him closer for a lengthy kiss. Above them, Hannah felt her teeth snap together. “It’s been a long time.”

“Too long.” Bennett cupped her hand in both of his. “You’re lovelier than ever. It’s astonishing.”