Entangled with the Prince - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,2

pain.

The woman continued on her path towards the bar while the man shook his fingers out, glaring daggers at the waitress. The others in the group obviously asked the guy what had happened, but the man just shook his head. Gaelen surmised that the guy probably wouldn’t continue his pathetic attempts to assault the pretty waitress, but he’d keep an eye on him, just in case.

Sitting back, he watched the crowd, irritated that the pretentious group was blocking his view of the waitress. He should be appreciative of the success of the bar since it had been a risky move, building a bar in this area of the city and so high up. Most bars were located at street level in order to catch people who were casually walking by.

Instead, he just wished everyone would go away. Go someplace else so he could be alone with the waitress with the gorgeous eyes and enticing mouth.

“I apologize for my lateness,” a shorter man blurted as he approached the table, interrupting Gaelen’s watchful gaze. Irritated, Gaelen focused on the man he’d come here to meet, although he kept an eye on the woman with his peripheral vision. The man moved forward, extending his hand in greeting. “It’s an honor to meet you, Prince Raminar.”

Gaelen stood and shook the offered hand, assessing and calculating. “You’re not late,” Gaelen replied. “My previous meeting let out early.”

“Oh! Well, that’s good,” the shorter man replied, obviously feeling a bit awkward. “I’m Scott Benson. And I understand that you need…” The man stopped in mid-sentence when Gaelen’s eyes moved to something behind him. Turning, the shorter man watched in horror as the waitress approached their table.

“Here you go,” she announced with a challenging grin as she set the garish orangish-pink drink complete with a matching umbrella on the table in front of Gaelen. She turned to his companion. “And what can I get for you?” she asked.

Gaelen stared at the drink for a long moment, then threw back his head, laughing with delight at her outrageousness. He laughed so hard that even his very well disciplined security team turned to glance in his direction instead of looking outwards for danger.

She rocked back on her heels as he tried to control his laughter and he knew that she was as delighted with herself as he was. Damn, he hadn’t laughed like that in a long time. There hadn’t been any reason to laugh! But this woman, with her sparkling eyes and her insulting drink had broken through his grief, touching him with her humor.

The other man stared at him, then at the drink on the table, not sure what was going on.

When Gaelen got his amusement back under control, he looked at the woman who had a self-satisfied grin on her pretty features. He looked at her carefully, his lips still curled and his heart lightened. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

She’d been standing with her tray tucked under her arm as she’d listened to his laughter, but with his words, those sparkling brown eyes widened. Softened. A pulse beat between them once. Then twice. The music faded. The crowd of strangers disappeared. In that moment, it was just this woman and a momentary relief from the grief that had been a constant companion for the past several months. “Thank you,” he repeated.

Those long lashes fluttered, hiding her soft, brown eyes for a moment before she looked back up at him. “You’re welcome,” she whispered back. “Would you like a glass of scotch?”

His smile widened. “That would be perfect.”

After that, the moment was gone, the noise rushed back to his consciousness and his whiskey-haired woman turned to his companion. Gaelen had no idea what his companion ordered because he was too entranced by the waitress, admiring the glowing highlights of gold, light brown, and champagne colors in her tresses. She nodded, then turned away, but not before she gave him another glance, her lashes veiling her eyes.

Gaelen ignored the other man as he watched her disappear into the milling crowd, noticing that she took a different route, a longer one, to get to the bar. He scanned the previous route and spotted the man who had assaulted her earlier. Signaling to one of his guards, he whispered his instructions. The guard glanced over at the man in question and nodded before moving into position.

Only then did he turn back to the other man. “I apologize. A business issue.”

“Not a problem.” Scott shifted slightly on his chair. “You hired me