Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
Pilar
I reached up and knocked on the door two times, loudly, and then lowered my hand, wiping my palm on my jeans. I was so nervous. Joss had left earlier, taking a plane back to Paris to deal with the matter of helping Aramis hire a new secretary, leaving me here alone. Well, alone with a handful of guards—one of which was standing nearby. The door opened, and I swore my heart stopped. Seeing Benjamin Drake on television with his shirt off after a game was one thing, but experiencing it in real life? I had no words for this.
He wore shorts that hung low on his hips and a cocky grin on his face that made my heart pump in overdrive. I licked my lips. I was a princess, damn it. I’d met all kinds of people from all different backgrounds. We’d hosted the entire rugby team last year at the palace. We’d had the football team over as well. Still, none of them made me want to rip my clothes off the way Benjamin Drake did.
“Hey.” He kept smiling. “What brings you down here?”
“Down here?” I frowned, looking up and down the strip of small cottages.
“Down from your place all the way up on the hill to where the peasants live.” He smiled broader as he said the words, and there was nothing condescending about his tone. Still, I felt my frown deepen.
“My villa looks just like yours, and you would know since apparently you spent the night in it. Just so we’re clear, I don’t remember anything that happened.” I felt my face heat but continued. “I was really drunk. And I’d taken medication because I have a cold I haven’t been able to get rid of, so don’t let whatever I did or said last night go to your head.” I turned around quickly and began walking away.
“Wait.” Ben stepped outside and grabbed my arm, turning me toward him, confusion marring his otherwise hard features. “Nothing happened.”
“What?”
“Nothing happened between us last night.” He let go of my arm and lifted his hand to brush back his unruly curls, letting out a sigh as he dropped his arm again. “I took you home. That was it.”
“The chef said he saw you leave at like five this morning.” I licked my lips, hating that my face felt so hot when I spoke.
“That’s because I managed to get you out of the club at four-thirty.” He raised an eyebrow. “Ask your guards. They were there. You didn’t want to leave when they asked you to. I facilitated it happening.”
“Facilitated how?” I eyed him warily.
“I carried you.” His lips spread into a wide, flirty grin. One that I swore would rip me to pieces. I blinked, trying to process what he’d said.
“You carried me out of the club?”
“Yep.” He was still smiling.
“Why are there no pictures of that happening?” I eyed him suspiciously, then turned my attention to Amir who stood within earshot. “Is that true?”
“It’s true.” Amir gave a nod, smiling a little. “No photographers allowed, remember?”
“Right.”
It was the reason I’d come here to begin with. I didn’t want to go to Marbella like my brothers did every summer. I’d chosen Ibiza because it was an island, and this time of year, even though famous people flocked to it along with big-time DJs, paparazzi were not permitted. At least not on the side of the isle we were on.
“So, I’ll see you at the gala?” Ben said.
“Yes, I guess you will.” I raised my head and walked away, leaving him looking a little more amused than I cared for.
Ben had attended my mother’s famed Sunday dinners a few times, invited by my brothers. Mom welcomed him. Despite that, and the fact that we bumped shoulders often, we hadn’t gotten to know each other well. Not really, anyway. Unless you counted the time we were both waiting for our coats while everyone else was outside enjoying the fireworks. We spoke few words, but they were enough to fuel my crush on him. Not that it needed any help. To me, he was a mystery. He showed the world just enough to hypnotize them, but nothing sufficient to let us think we really knew him. In that sense, he was a lot like my family. In every other way, not so much. We weren’t far apart in age, but in experience, we may as well have twenty lifetimes between us.