“Some men still find ambition in a woman unflattering, or at least, uncomfortable.”

“Some men are idiots.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Hannah said dryly, dryly enough that he lifted his brow as he gazed at her.

“Why am I never quite sure whether or not you’re insulting me, Hannah?”

“I beg your pardon, sir, I was simply agreeing with you.”

He stopped again. From the stage came the murmur of voices, but the hall was deserted. Bennett took her chin in his hand, ignoring her jolt of shock, and studied her face. “Hannah, why is it when I look at you I’m not convinced I’m seeing all there is?”

Alarm bells went off in her head. Her face paled a bit. She knew it, but thought, hoped, he would take that as natural. Not by another blink did she show concern. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I wonder.” He moved his thumb over her jawline, then just beneath where the skin was softer yet, and warm. “Yes, I wonder more than I should about you, Hannah. Do you have an answer for that?”

There were amber flecks in his eyes, turning what might have been plain brown into something tawny and compelling. He had the mouth of a poet and the hands of a farmer. Hannah wondered how it was possible to combine the two as her heart, always so steady, began to drum against her ribs.

“Your Highness—” It was both the lady without and the lady within who fumbled.

“Do you, Hannah?”

He saw her lips part. Strange, he hadn’t noticed how attractive her mouth was before—soft, just a bit wide and beautifully shaped without cosmetics. He wondered if it would taste as cool as her voice or as rich as her eyes.

She had to stop this, here and now. The yearning building inside her could only be destructive. Even as she longed to reach out, she cast her eyes down. “No, sir, except that many times men are intrigued with a woman simply because she’s not what they’re accustomed to.”

“We’ll see.” He backed off, though the effort it cost him was a surprise. “I’ll take you back now, Hannah, and we’ll both give it some thought.”

Chapter 3

Hannah was given free run of the palace and the grounds. She had only to ask and her bath would be drawn or her bed turned down. If she developed a craving for hot chocolate at 3:00 a.m., she could pick up the phone beside her bed and request it. As a guest of the Royal Family, she was afforded every amenity the palace could offer.

And as a guest of the Royal Family, she was afforded her own guards.