Seduced by the Sheik (The Raminar Family #1)- Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,61

mouth salivate at the salary the interior design firm had offered. With that much money, she could pay her rent, her utilities, buy food, and…gasp…have money left over to put into savings! Savannah had been working towards this moment for so long, it was hard to believe that she’d finally made it!

Well, almost made it. She still had her final exams to get through. Then graduation. Just three short weeks!

Prince Gaelen el Raminar, Crown Prince of Izara, stepped into the elegant restaurant and eyed the crowd. His team of body guards did the same, then nodded towards a table in the corner that they deemed safe enough. Gaelen headed for it, feeling the other patrons glance in his direction, but he ignored them. He’d lived with inquisitive glances like that all his life and had learned to pretend they weren’t happening. If he glanced even casually towards anyone, that person might feel brave enough to approach him. Then his guards would have to intervene, the others in the crowd would see the tussle and…well, the stares and curiosity would only get worse after that. It was best to pretend he was just an average guy.

Okay, so pretending he was average was impossible, and not just because of the guards. He was at least a head taller than most of the men in this bar. Plus, he actually worked out. Hard! Some of the men in this place might work out, but as he surveyed the crowd, he doubted any of them put much effort into their routines.

Which was good, he thought. Sometimes, an idiot got a bit too drunk and wanted to challenge Gaelen. It never got that far though, his guards were much too protective to let a drunken idiot get close enough.

But it wasn’t just the guards, his height, or his brawn that set him apart from the other patrons. The people here were fighting the financial wars, battling in the trenches so to speak, trying to make their first million or perhaps even their first billion. Gaelen was well beyond that mark. In fact, he owned the building and the bar here on this roof. Hell, he owned several buildings in this city, although not many people knew that. He was in charge of the financial health of his family, as well as that of his country. As Minister of Finance for Izara, as well as crown prince of the same, he had a great deal of power and wealth, far beyond anything these people could imagine. Far beyond what all of the magazines estimated when they did their annual rating of the ten richest people in the world. He always chuckled when his assistant handed him that list. It was so far off, it was pointless.

But if the world needed to categorize someone’s wealth, then he didn’t mind those magazines doing their best. Whatever helped them sleep better at night, he thought as he settled into his chair, turning so that his back was to the wall and he could watch the room. He was meeting a potential business partner to discuss a project. Unbuttoning his jacket, he loosened his tie and “relaxed” against the back of the chair.

Thankfully, a waitress immediately made her way through the thick crowd. She smiled welcomingly at him and he felt as if one of his generals had just kicked him in the gut! Damn, she was beautiful! Her soft, whiskey-blond hair was pulled back into a thick braid, although small wisps had wafted around her heart-shaped face. Perfectly curved eyebrows lifted in inquiry, but he could only stare into those lovely brown eyes! They were mesmerizing! Angled slightly upwards at the ends, but big and wide, sparkling with curiosity.

And her mouth! Damn, her mouth was wide and full. It was the kind of mouth that an old time actress would use to entice! But her nose…he almost laughed when he looked at her nose. It was cute, almost countering the sensuality of that mouth!

Her features didn’t seem like they should quite fit together. But taken together, they formed an image that was startlingly lovely. This woman might almost appear adorably gamine, if it weren’t for that sensuous mouth!

“What can I get you to drink?” she asked.

Gaelen focused on that mouth, forming salacious images of what he’d like to do to that gorgeous mouth. Or more specifically, what he’d like her to do with that mouth! And just as fast as those images flashed behind his eyes, his body reacted.