The Billionaire Prince’s Stubborn Assistant by Leslie North Page 0,10

bad.

4

Edward wrung his hands together at the bay window as he watched Lance drive up the winding hill to the castle, knowing Clementine was in the backseat. He didn’t understand his own nervousness. He’d worked with thousands of women. This one wasn’t any different.

Or was she?

He made his way through the foyer and to the front door of the castle to be greeted by the image of Clementine emerging from the car. God, she was beautiful, and the fact that she seemed to have no idea just how attractive she was made him drawn to her all the more.

Her hair was still twisted into a messy braid, and she hadn’t changed from the unassuming and baggy clothes of an artist. He knew a little about the soft curves that were hidden beneath the oversized sweater and jeans. He remembered well what it felt like to be pressed against them.

“Welcome to your home away from home,” he called out to her and watched her blue eyes widen.

She made her way up the recently repaired stone steps, Lance trailing behind her with her suitcases. “I can’t believe I’m going to be living here,” she said, staring at the castle.

“Well, believe it,” he said. “Come on. I’ll show you around, and you can give me some ideas about how to give this place the makeover it needs in the time that we have.”

Edward told Lance to take Clementine’s bags to her suite, and he gestured for her to follow him. They walked from room to room, and Edward had to squelch the urge to take her hand in his.

“The library is the room in need of the most work,” he told Clementine as they entered the room through fifteen-foot mahogany double doors, etched with leafy artistry on the outside. “There was a fire here a few decades ago,” he said, unable to remember exactly when it had happened. “It was contained, but the flames destroyed the woodwork in here. The bookcases will have to be removed and replaced with something else. I was thinking about making this into an entertainment room, with a slate bar and maybe a movie theatre set-up with a large screen on one wall. We could host special screenings to the public.”

Clementine grimaced. Her eyebrows furrowed.

“What?” he asked.

“A movie theatre and slate bar in an eighteenth century castle?” Clementine’s blue eyes seemed to throw darts at him. “That’s the worst idea I’ve heard in a while.”

He snorted, unable to hold back a chuckle. “Tell me what you really think, Clementine Wicke.”

She sighed and leaned against a papered wall that was shadowed with smoke and ash stain. “Call me Clem,” she said and turned her attention to the bookcases. “Nobody calls me Clementine.”

“Okay, Clem,” he agreed and noticed the care she took in scrutinizing each detail of the library. What a mystery this beautiful woman was. She seemed to perceive the world through a lens no one else could interpret. What was it that she saw in the ordinary? He could watch her all day.

“This woodwork is salvageable, Edward,” Clem said. “It just needs to be sanded and stained. The bookshelves need some love.”

He watched, mesmerized as she canvassed a hand over the damaged mahogany, her eyes soft as if she were making a promise to take care of it.

“You want to stay true to the authenticity of the period and artistry,” Clementine said, still focused on the woodwork. “We can make this room look as spectacular as it did in the 1700s.”

Edward thought it might be better if the room looked more modern. He’d rather sit in a theatre-style room with cushy seats and a bar than an old library, but he could see that Clementine valued the importance of the past. Antiquity had meaning to her. He didn’t understand her philosophy but found himself completely enraptured in her passion, so much so that he didn’t hear the words she was speaking.

“Do you agree?” she asked.

Shit. He was stuck in the sea of her eyes again.

“Uh… yes, I do. Absolutely,” he said. “But the process you described sounds time-consuming. We’re on a tight schedule.”

“It takes time to do things right,” she argued.

He bit his lip, wondering if hiring Clementine had been the right decision. He had to get his wits about him or he’d end up sailing into last century on the tide of this intoxicating woman. She had a way of enrapturing him and beckoning him into the riptide of her dedication to the past. He was a