“There you are.”
That voice. That voice made her toes curl inside her pumps. She looked up into Raed’s face, her mind struggling to place him in this university cafeteria. He wore fine slacks and a white shirt and an unbuttoned suit jacket, looking as sexy as she’d ever seen him. She straightened up, pulling Jake in closer. “I didn’t realize you were looking for me.”
His glance flicked around the table and out the window, then landed back on hers. Lise noticed the security now, hanging back by the food stations, trying to look inconspicuous.
“I wanted to talk to you.” God, his voice was sensual and deep and lovely. “I asked the consul where I could find you this morning. It felt...urgent. I wanted to apologize for leaving the way I did.”
A prickle of defensiveness tapped at her breastbone. “Which time?”
Raed narrowed his eyes. “Both times,” he shot back. Jake reached forward and took another bite of brownie, following it up with a cut piece of pizza.
“Go ahead, then.” He was the prince. Lise knew it. But she couldn’t let herself melt now, not when he was standing there looking so attractive she could swoon.
“I’m sorry for leaving the way I did.” His voice dropped, earnest and searching. “I shouldn’t have done that. And now that I know what I know, I’d like to talk to you.”
She shoved down her defensiveness. No matter how he’d left, he was Jake’s father. There was no denying it. “You’re right. We do need to talk.”
“Do you mind if I sit down?”
It felt monumental, this decision, though there had been so many in Lise’s life that mattered more.
“Be our guest.”
Raed folded himself into one of the chairs across from her, and for an instant she saw him the way he had been in that class two years ago. Somehow, she’d managed to convince herself that he was just an extraordinarily rich and sexy student, the way her students sometimes were. But it was clear now that he was on another level. Her heart beat faster. Concentrate. “So you’re Raed, member of the royal family of Qasha. As in Tali’s brother-in-law.”
“That’s right.” Raed had the grace to look sheepish. “Bahir is my nickname. I use it whenever I’m not looking for the attention of the crown. Sometimes it’s easier that way, but I should have been honest with you.”
I’d say so. “It would have been a kind thing to do, yes.”
“You looked for me?”
Oh, had she ever. “Of course I did. When I found out I was pregnant—” Lise swallowed hard. “I tried my best, but I couldn’t find anything about you. And then time went by. And now...” She motioned at Jake by her side, happily eating his pizza. “Now we’re here.”
“Now you’re here,” echoed Raed. “In Qasha. Planning to work for my foundation.”
“Thinking about working with your foundation,” she countered. “What I do would be a perfect fit, based on what Sir Richard has told me. What we’d like to do is set up an English language program in conjunction with Lafayette College and the local university—and with your foundation—that would take English language instruction into the companies that need it most. These would be tailored to their requirements, and over time it could boost the entire economy for your country.”
There—that was it. That was the pitch.
Raed’s dark eyes searched hers as students moved past the table. Better than the garden party, then. They had a little bit of privacy. But as Raed opened his mouth to answer, someone else spoke.
“What a beautiful family!” Lise looked up into the blue eyes of a woman in a dark gray dress, smiling down at them. A camera strap hung over one of her shoulders.
Beautiful family. Oh, crap. “Thank you,” she said automatically. “That’s so nice of you to say.”
The young woman’s eyes drifted over to Raed and then widened in recognition. “Oh, I’m—Prince Raed,” she said. “I didn’t realize you were here.” Her gaze darted back to Lise. “You have every right to be here, obviously, at the university, but I didn’t think—I didn’t know—how—” She trailed off, staring at Lise and then down at Jake as if their faces could offer her some clue as to why the prince was sitting at a table with them.
“A pleasure to meet you,” Raed said firmly, his shoulders tense, the smile on his face a bit stiff. “Are you a student here?”
“Yes. I’m from the university magazine.” She patted the camera. “I wanted to ask if I could take your photo for our quarterly, but I don’t want to bother you.” The girl blushed deeply, then stepped way. “Thank you,” she called over her shoulder. “Have a good lunch.”
They watched her go, Lise feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise. She turned back to Raed, who looked far more serious than she’d ever seen him. “That’s the risk,” he said softly. “That’s the risk of people putting one and one together to make two. Or rather, three.” He nodded toward Jake.
It struck her then, the sheer audacity of what he was doing. The royal family of Qasha didn’t just go out in public and have meetings with visitors to the country. They were private. Removed. Protected. That was changing a little lately because of Tali and her enormous heart, but the shift hadn’t finished yet. “Should we go somewhere else to continue this conversation?”
Lise knew they hadn’t gotten to the meat of it yet, not nearly. Raed sat back in his seat. “I’d prefer it if you came back to the palace. Moved into the palace, really.”
Shock tiptoed up her spine. “What? No. I don’t want anything from you. I never came here intending to ask anything of you.”
“It makes the most sense.” He folded his hands on the table. “You’ll need help with your son. I’d like to get to know him. It would be wonderful for him to meet his grandmother, who will love him, and the rest of his family.”
“Raed—”
“And the project you’ve just pitched me? I’ll help with that. You want a pilot scheme, then you’ll be the educational consultant for in-house staff development in English as a second language.”
Lise felt the pull of him, as magnetic as he had been when he was her student. It was a bad idea to be near him. To go home with him. A different future shimmered in her mind. A father, involved with his son. But surely it wasn’t good, surely it was risky to be so close to him when she felt her pulse thrumming toward him, her heart trying to beat next to his. The heat in her cheeks disarmed her.
Focus, she commanded herself. He did have some rights, after all. He was Jake’s father. And Jake would benefit from having a grandparent’s presence in this new country. And—and—if she pulled off a successful pilot version of the project...
Lise already knew a bit about the needs and keenness of the palace staff, since she’d helped Tali with Hamid’s son Rafiq and a play the palace children had put on. It wouldn’t do any harm to scope out Raed’s offer. And if she pulled it off, the board would be amazed. She’d have the promotion she’d been working toward for years. She’d have security.
But for all of that, she needed her boss’s approval. And how was she going to get that without any details? The only way to know what Raed was really planning was to visit the palace with him. That way, she could find out if it really was a place Jake could be happy.