he was looking at her, too. His brilliant blue eyes locked with hers, and she fought the urge to turn away and pretend she hadn't seen him watching her.
“On second thought, maybe I should leave a spot or two open,” Karen said, hiding her words behind the glass she held to her lips. “You keep working your magic.”
“It's business, Karen. Don't even think about hinting otherwise.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Madam Ambassador.”
“This from the same woman who used the phrase ‘good looking’ to describe a defense ministry liaison before using ‘light blue tie’ or ‘dark hair.’”
“Good looking is a defining characteristic,” she protested.
“A blue tie is the same to everyone. Good looking is in the eye of the beholder.”
“In this case, it was accurate.”
A member of San Rimini’s state department approached and they moved to professional topics, but as Karen looked at Claire over the rim of her glass, a devilish smile remained in her eyes.
Chapter 4
Eduardo couldn’t believe he’d winked at Claire Peyton at the end of their dance. Not only was it inappropriate, it was the first overtly flirtatious thing he’d done in years. It hadn’t been calculated; he’d just done it.
He’d winked at an ambassador.
Thankfully, he’d been standing an angle that ensured no one else witnessed his lapse in judgment or he’d be hearing about it from his chief political advisor at this very moment.
Sergio occupied one of the two striped silk sofas opposite Eduardo's desk in the palace office. Eduardo sat behind the desk, leaning over its large mahogany work surface as he made his final edits on a speech he was scheduled to give that night at the War Museum of San Rimini. When he caught himself scribbling through a line with red pencil and simultaneously deciding it was perfect the way it was, he took off his reading glasses and looked up. He was used to working on speeches with Sergio in the room, but for some reason, the advisor’s presence distracted him today.
No, it was the wink that distracted him. He’d rather blame Sergio. Or Zeno. The press secretary had been in and out of the office three times in the last forty minutes, checking on progress. The man was as single-minded as a lion stalking prey when it came to knowing the content of Eduardo’s speeches. But again, that was part of his routine.
Eduardo swore inwardly. Winking at the new ambassador was only part of the problem. He’d also offended her by having Sergio run interference on her education plan, even if she claimed not to have taken offense. Claire Peyton had been right: he should have heard her out before dismissing her plan entirely.
But he would dismiss it. Entirely. Last night’s accident on the Strada il Teatro was another reminder of the project’s importance. Three people had required ambulance transport following the initial crash, and a five-hundred-year-old building sustained damage when a driver behind the accident veered to avoid the smashed cars in front of him. It was a miracle no one on the sidewalk had been hit. It was a second miracle that all those injured had been released from the hospital before the sun rose.
On the other hand, the accident itself surprised no one. Too many pedestrians and too many drivers in a confined area made safety a constant concern. It was made worse because their attention was drawn from the roadway by the casino lights, the spires of the Duomo, and the panoramic view of San Rimini Bay.
Eduardo needed to get both the country’s political forces and its historical guardians on his side to accomplish his goal. Now was the time.
“Is something wrong, Your Highness?”
Eduardo shook his head, then pushed the speech across his desk. “I’ll go with this version. The section about my sworn duty to preserve our country’s history is better than in the original draft.”
Sergio picked up the paper, scanned it, then made a low murmur of approval. “Good thought. I’ll have Luisa make a clean copy for you and another for Zeno so he’s ready for any media questions tomorrow.”
“When you talk to Luisa, would you have her come in here, please?”
Sergio nodded, leaving the office with the speech in hand. Eduardo made a quick check of his phone messages, then typed a quick note to his daughter about a photo he saw from the school visit she and Nick had done the previous day. A moment later, Luisa entered, schedule in hand.
“Your Highness?”
He waved toward the device as she tapped its screen. “You