The Billionaire Prince’s Stubborn Assistant by Leslie North Page 0,6

swooning over his cute freckles or hard body, although she couldn’t help but notice how handsome he looked in business casual wear. A step up from the other night. And, his hair fell perfectly across his forehead. And his eyes—

Enough.

Clem followed Prince Edward into a sitting room. He pulled her chair out for her to have a seat at a table by a window overlooking the grounds.

“I never imagined I’d see you today,” he said and grinned. It was the same boyish grin that had captured her before.

“I was just as surprised as you were,” she admitted. “I thought you were a construction worker.” She waved her hand around the room at the grandeur of the castle. “I was a little off.”

Edward laughed at her remark and leaned forward onto his elbows. A servant came to take their lunch order, and Clem watched him speak. She noticed the fullness of his lips and wanted to run her fingers along their edges. She felt her mouth beginning to gape with hunger for more than whatever Edward had ordered for their lunch. She checked herself and sat up straight.

“So, tell me about your business,” Edward said, turning his full attention to her. “Wicke Salvage?”

“It’s been in the family for years,” she said and took a sip of her iced tea. The cool liquid soothed the tightness in her throat and woke her up. “My grandfather started it when he was young. My father and his brother have managed to keep it up, and I practically grew up there. I started working there full time once I finished school.” She avoided his eyes before she spoke her next words. “My job is basically to acquire things of value for the business.”

“By pilfering.”

She was about to defend herself but decided against it when she recognized the flirtatious tone. He was teasing her. God knew she’d love nothing more than to play his game, but she couldn’t. This was her opportunity to speak her mind to someone who was actually in a position to help her cause.

“By saving items like the old school bell, Wicke Salvage is working hard to keep Sovalon’s rich history alive.” She took another swallow of iced tea, while Edward’s gaze became serious.

“You’re quite passionate about history,” he said. She felt his knees touch hers beneath the table but resisted the urge to react.

“Well, Prince Edward, with all due respect—”

“Please just call me Edward,” he interrupted.

“Fine, Edward then,” she said and poised herself to speak respectfully but firmly. “You don’t seem passionate enough about history.”

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

“Well, for one, the progress on this castle seems stalled,” she said and resolved to give it to him straight. “Your interests seem elsewhere, and it’s starting to seem like finishing this project will never be a priority for you. Your people aren’t satisfied by your claims to care about the project at all, especially when you’ve been busy bulldozing historic sites all over the kingdom in the name of progress.”

“Progress is important,” Edward argued. “If we don’t start thinking forward, we’ll be left in the dust on the world’s stage. We need to focus on things like environmentally friendly energy solutions, and urban development. I won’t allow Sovalon to become calcified in history in the name of preserving history.”

“But there needs to be a balance,” Clem said as a servant arrived with a tray of sandwiches. “Every time a new development goes up on the site of a historic building that has been torn down, it erases years of rich culture from our kingdom. Don’t you want your children to have the chance to experience Sovalon’s authentic beauty and architecture someday instead of an endless row of soulless, minimalist condos on the river’s edge?”

Edward leaned back in his chair and eyed her smugly. “Do you really want balance, Clementine Wicke, or are you just interested in stopping the development of condo communities?”

Clem giggled. He had her there. If she saw one more sign for urban living, she thought she’d retch.

“Listen, you’ve given me some things to think about. I promise I’ll consider our conversation before my next meeting with the Committee of Urban Planning and Housing Development.” Edward put his hand over hers on the table, and she shivered. “Let’s change the topic. Tell me about the most exciting relic you ever found.”

Clem recognized a dismissal when she saw one. Prince Edward Ashton had no intentions of changing his viewpoints on historical architecture. He was set in his way,