The Prince marriage to the Gold Digger

chapter 14. His only interested in affair.

When the doorbell pealed some time later, she continued to sit quietly, determined not to answer it,but after amoment she heard Charles's voice call out her name and she got to her feet.

"Good morning," she greeted him while he eyed her sharply. She looked beaten.

"I read the paper," he said gently. "Go upstairs and wash your face and put on some clothes, then you can tell me about it. I intended to call you

yesterday, but I had to go out of town, not that I could have done anything. Go on, my dear, upstairs with you."

Ursula did as she was told, applying cold water to her face and smoothing the tangles from her hair, then changing out of her nightgown and robe into a

pretty white sundress with tiny blue flowers on it.

Despite her numbness, she was glad that Charles was there. With his cool lawyer's brain he could pick

at her responses until they were all neatly arranged where she could understand them, and he would

analyze her feelings. Charles could analyze a rock.

"Yes, much better," he approved when she entered the living room. "Well, it is rather obvious that my fears for you were misplaced; Prince Williams was

obviously quite taken with you. Did he mention the Dryden issue?

"He did," said Ursula , and even managed a smile for him. "I'm selling the stock to him, but don't imagine everything was sweetness and light. We get along like the proverbial cats and dogs. His comments on my marriage make that gossip column seem mild in comparison, and I have walked out on

him and hung up on him once each-no, I've done it twice; he called this morning and I didn't want to talk to him. It would be best if I don't see him again, if you could handle all of the details of the stock transaction."

"Of course I will," replied Charles promptly.

"But I feel certain you're underestimating your man. From that photo in the newspaper, he's attracted to more than your ConTech stock."

"Yes," admitted Ursula , "but there's no use couldn't live with that type of publicity again, and he attracts reporters and photographers by the dozens."

"That's true, but if he doesn't want something to be published, it isn't published. His power is enormous.

"Are you trying to argue his side, Charles?"

Ursula asked in amazement. "Surely you understand that his attraction is only temporary, that he's only interested in an affair?"

Charles shrugged. "So are most men," he said dryly. "In the beginning."

"Yes, well, I'm not interested. By the way, the shares are going for market value. He offered much more than that, but I refused it."

"I see Robert's standards there," he said.

"I'll sell the stock to him, but I won't be bought.."

"I never thought you would. I wished myselt a fly on the wall during your meeting: it must've been diverting," he said, and smiled at her, his cool,

aristocratic face revealing the dry humor behind his elegant, controlled manner.

"Very, but it stopped short of murder." Suddenly she remembered and she smiled naturally for the first time Since reading that horrid gossip column.

"Charles, Samantha had her puppies last night, five of them!"

"She took time enough," he observed. "What will you do with five yelping puppies about the house?

"Give them away when they're old enough. There are plenty of children in the neighborhood; it shouldn't be that difficult."

"You think so? When have you last tried to give away a litter of unknown origin? How many females are there?"

"How should I know?" she demanded, and laughed. "They don't come with pink and blue bows around their necks, you know."

Charles grinned in return and followed her into the kitchen, where she proudly displayed the pups,all piled together in a little heap. Samantha watched Charles closely, ready to nip if he came too near her babies, but he was well aware of Samantha's residencies and kept a safe distance from her.

Charles was too fastidious to be an animal lover and the dog sensed this.

"I see you've no tea made," he commented, looking at the coffeepot. "Put the water on, my dear, and tell me more about your meeting with the Greek crowned Prince . Did it actually become hot, or were you teasing?

Sighing, Ursula ran water from the tap into a kettle and put it on the stove.

"The meeting was definitely unfriendly, even hostile. Don't let the photo of that kiss fool you, Charles; he only did that

as a punishment and to make me shut up. I can't......

She started to say that she couldn't decide if trusted him or not, but the ring of the doorbell interrupted her and she stopped is her tracks, a chill running up her spine" Oh, glory," she gulped.

"That's him now,I know it is! I hung up on him, and he'll be in a raging temper."

"I 'll be brave and answer the door for you while you make the tea, offered Charles, secarching for an excuse to get to Prince Williams before he could upset her even more.

That shattered look was fading from

her eyes, but she was still hurt and vulnerable and

she wasn't up to fending off someone like Prince Williams. Ursula realized why Charles offered to get the

door; he was the most tactful man in the world, she thought as she set out the cups and saucers for tea.

And one of the kindest, always trying to shield her from any unpleasantness.

She stopped in her tracks, considering that. Why hadn't Charles offered to meet with Prince Williams and work out the deal on the shares rather than

letting her go herself? The more she thought about it, the more out of character it seemed. A wild

suspicion flared and she dismissed it instantly, but it crept back. Had Charles deliberately thrown her into Prince Williams path? Was he actually matchmaking Horrors! What had he been thinking of? Didn't he

know that Prince Williams , while very likely to ask her to be his mistress, would never even consider marriage? she was nobody when she married Robert and still nobody to crown Prince to consider marriage with her And Charles certainly knew her well

enough to know that she would never consider anything but Marriage? With Prince Williams ? She began to shake so

violently that she had to put the tray down. What was wrong with her? She had only met the man yesterday, yet here she was thinking that she would

never settle for less than being his wife! It was only that he was physically attractive to her, she told herself desperately But Ursula was nothing if not honest with herself and she knew immmediately that she was hiding from the truth. It wasn't only a

physical attraction that she felt for Prince Williams. She had seen a great many men who were handsome and

physically appealing to her, but none that she had wanted as she had wanted Prince Williams last night. Nor would she have been so receptive to Prince Williams caresses if her mind and emotions hadn't responded to

him, too. He was brutal and ruthless and maddeningly arrogant, but she sensed in him a masculine appreciation for her femininity that tore down her barriers of hostility. Prince Williams wanted her. That was fairly obvious, and she could have resisted that, had she not been aware that he delighted in her sharp

mind and equally sharp tongue.

All in all, she was dangerously attracted to him, even vulnerable to falling in love with him, and that realization was a blow that surpassed the unpleasant Shock of that vicious gossip column. White-faced, rembling, she stared at the kettle of boiling water, Wondering what she was going to do. How Could she avoid him? He was not a man to accept no for an answer, nor was she certain that she could say no to him anyway. Yet to be in his company was to invite even greater pain, for he would not offer marriage

and she would not be satisfied with less.

Eventually the shrill whistle of the kettle drew her mind back to the present and she hurriedly turned heat off and poured the water over the tea had no idea if Prince Williams would drink tea and decide that Wouldn't, so she poured coffee for him and for heself, then, without allowing hersell time to think about it. she picked up the tray and carried it through to the living room before she coulcl lose her courage.