He noticed her smother yet another frown and knew that she was tired. “I should probably let you get home,” Max said but he didn’t move to do that. In fact, he continued to watch her, trying to determine her mood. “Why haven’t you ever told me these opinions before?”
Tara looked out into the night. “You never asked me before. I give you any opinion you ask me for in the office,” she said.
“Ah.”
She stood up and he followed her. “Thank you for dinner,” she said, feeling nervous all of a sudden.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said.
“There’s no need,” she said but he wouldn’t hear of it.
He was unrelenting on the issue. “It’s late. I’ll walk you to your car,” he said and his tone didn’t allow for much argument.
The walk to the parking lot was long and Tara tried to come up with something else to talk about but her mind was blank. It seemed odd to have not just her boss, but the Crown Prince walk her through the employee parking lot. She would have expected him to task security to do this for her if he was concerned about her safety. After all, that is what the palace security is for, she reasoned.
They arrived at her car and she unlocked it with shaking fingers. Turning around, she smiled up at him. “Thank you again for dinner,” she said.
Max smiled. “You’re welcome.” Without a further warning, he leaned down and kissed her gently. Despite herself, Tara’s body immediately turned into his. His mouth moved over hers roughly, deepening the kiss until she was unable to think of anything other than reacting to his touch and the movement of his lips. She heard little murmurs in the back of her head but wasn’t aware that she was actually making them herself each time his hand touched a new spot on her waist or her back.
Max pulled back and took a deep breath. “Good night, Tara. I’ll see you in the morning,” he said and stepped back so she could get into her car.
Tara stepped carefully into her car and started the engine. She had no idea how she got home that night. Her mind was completely centered on reliving that kiss and the way it made her feel.
The rest of the week followed the same pattern. Whenever Tara arrived at work, she was nervous and unsure of how to greet Max. But each morning, he took control of the situation and greeted her professionally and casually, as if they didn’t have dinner with each other every night, ending the evening with a mind shattering kiss. Work was the usual hectic pace but every once in a while, she caught herself staring at Max as he spoke or when others were talking to him. On Thursday, he caught her staring in a meeting and winked at her. Tara almost jumped out of her seat and could feel her face turning bright red as she lowered her head to continue taking notes on the current speaker.
On Friday, she received a call from the queen’s secretary asking if Tara was free for lunch that day. “Of course,” Tara replied. Even if she’d had plans already, Tara knew better than to tell the queen that she was unavailable.
At the appointed hour of twelve thirty, Tara stepped into the conservatory and looked around. She was expecting several other people to be in attendance. But when only Queen Natasha smiled and walking toward her, Tara had the sinking feeling that it would be only the two of them for lunch. Tara knew what the conversation would be about and she wanted to run away, or stay and assure the queen that Tara had no aspirations to be the wife to her son. Tara was sure that the queen would not approve of a working girl dating her son.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Michaels,” Queen Natasha said. “Thank you for joining me on such short notice. Come on in and sit down,” she said.
Tara curtsied carefully, then walked further into the plant filled room. “Please call me Tara, your majesty.” The room was rich with the smells of flowers and the air was thick with the humidity. It wasn’t bad though. In fact, it was very relaxing to be surrounded by flowers and the smells of the earth. There were even some birds chirping in the trees somewhere.
“Thank you. And you must call me Natasha, then.”
“Yes, your majesty,” she said and sat on the edge of the chair.
The Queen laughed. “Max warned me that you were a stickler for protocol.”
Tara flushed. “I’m sorry. It just doesn’t feel right, using your first name.”
Queen Natasha waved Tara’s concerns aside as if they were butterflies. “That’s okay. You’ll get used to it,” she said and nodded to the waiter, giving him permission to start serving their lunch.
The ladies waited in silence as the man rolled an elaborate tray into the room, then place the china on the immaculate linen table cloth set up in the center of the conservancy. When they were alone again, she turned to smile at Tara. “So tell me about yourself,” she said.
Tara shrugged her shoulders. “There isn’t much to tell. I’m twenty six years old. I went to Harvard Business School in the United States for my business degree. I was immediately hired by the palace as a junior analyst. I’ve basically worked for Prince Maximillian’s office since college but I’ve only been working directly for him for the past two years.”
The queen nodded attentively as they dined on baked salmon and crisp vegetables. “You seem to have moved through the ranks quickly. The last person to fill your job was in his late forties and only lasted for two years before retiring out of exhaustion.”
Tara laughed. She’d heard the story several times. “I’ve often suspected that story might be an exaggeration, but I’ll admit your son is a bit of a task master.”
The queen smiled but she shook her head. “It isn’t an exaggeration. Max is heartless when it comes to preserving his causes or promoting one of his projects.”
“Yes, he’s dedicated to the people of Cordova.”
“Are you?” the queen asked directly.
Tara nodded immediately and sincerely. “Absolutely. My family dates back several generations and we fully support the monarchy. They have been good for Cordova.”
The queen nodded, satisfied with Tara’s response. “I agree, although I’m not originally from Cordova. So when I heard about this country that still maintained a monarchy, I was pretty horrified. I thought of it as some archaic dictatorship that needed to be overthrown.”
Tara almost choked on the bite she’d just put into her mouth. “Really?’ Tara asked, shocked but genuinely interested. The queen’s words were basically treasonous but said with humor and a large dose of self-derision. “And now you’re the queen. How did that happen?”