Command Performance Read Online Free PDF

rest of the day. Once we put you to work, you won’t have another opportunity.”
    “Is that a royal command?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Then I’ll just have to suffer through it.”
    * * *
    It wasn’t so hard. Eve discovered that lounging by the pool while a balmy Mediterranean breeze ruffled the palm fronds overhead wasn’t such a tough job. In her youth she’d done a lot of lounging. Vegetating, Eve corrected. It amazed her that she had been content to do nothing for such long periods of time. Not that there was anything wrong with doing nothing, she added as she adjusted her chaise one more notch back. It was just a pity to makea career out of it.
    She nearly had. Affluence, privilege. It had made it so easy to sit and let others do. She might have continued in just that vein if she hadn’t discovered the theater. It had given her something to start at the bottom in, something to work toward. Something Daddy, bless him, couldn’t wrangle for her. She could either act or she couldn’t. Eve had discovered she could. But it hadn’t been stage center where she’d found her niche.
    Theater had opened up worlds for her, worlds inside herself. She was competent; she was shrewd; she was blessed with organizational talents she’d never used during her education. Conceiving her own company, bringing it to life, had sharpened all those skills. It had also taught her how to take risks, work hard, and mostly, how to be dependable. There were people relying on her for their art and for their living. The responsibility had turned a spoiled young girl into a dedicated woman.
    Now she was being given the opportunity to reap rewards even she hadn’t dreamed of. International recognition for her company. All she had to do was select the right material, produce four plays, handle four sets of wardrobe, four sets of props, four sets of scenery. In the meantime she had to deal with lawyers, directors, transportation, seventy-odd actors and technicians. And a prince.
    Eve pushed her sunglasses farther up on her nose and sighed. What was life without a few challenges?
    * * *
    He shouldn’t have come out. One look at his watch told Alexander he had an appointment in twenty minutes. He had no business going out to the pool when he should have been in his office, preparing for the meeting with the minister of state. He should have known better than to ask, however casually, if Miss Hamilton had returned from the center. He should have known better than to think he could have gone up to his office and concentrated once he knew she was out at the pool.
    She looked as though she were sleeping. The brief red bikini stretched low over her hips, rose high at the thighs. She’d untied the straps to the top so that it stayed in place only because of her prone position. Hecouldn’t see her eyes behind the sunglasses, but she made no movement at all when he approached.
    He looked his fill. Her skin was glistening with the oil she’d applied to every exposed area. Its scent rose exotically to compete with the flowers. Her hair curled damp and dark around her face, showing him she hadn’t sat idly, but had used the pool. Stepping closer, he saw her eyes flutter open beneath the amber-tinted lenses.
    “You should take more care. You’re not accustomed to our Mediterranean sun.”
    She lay almost flat on her back, staring up at him. He blocked the sun now, so that it glowed like a nimbus around his head. She blinked, trying to clear her vision and her brain. Damsels in distress and dragons. She thought of them again, though he looked more like a god than a prince.
    “I thought you were out.” She propped herself up on her elbow before she remembered her bikini. As it slipped, she grabbed for it with one hand and swore. He simply stood there while she struggled with the ties and what was left of her modesty.
    “I was out. Your skin’s very white, Eve. You’ll burn quickly.”
    It occurred to her that protocol demanded she rise and