I’d give anything to have Alisa here with me. Those weeks in Seattle when we’d shared a bedroom had been the best weeks of my life. I closed my eyes, envisioning how her eyes lit up as I drove into her, how her skin glowed golden in the moonlight, how she sometimes looked at me as if I were the only man on earth. I wanted her to look at me like that again.
I wanted to be Alisa’s prince and slay her dragons. If I actually married her, would I become a prince? Such a thought horrified and intrigued me.
I was playing with fire, from Alisa to my lies. Eventually everything would catch up with me.
The queen’s words came back to me: Are you from the Harmon family?
I had no idea who “the” Harmon family was, but I was pretty damn sure it wasn’t my family. We’d never been referred to with a the in front of our family name. I’d heard of that Harmon family, but never the, such as that damn Harmon family.
All someone had to do was a little digging, and they’d find out my truth, and possibly harass my parents in the process. I was descended from a long line of dirt-poor Virginia farmers, not a nobleman among us, no matter how far back a person looked. I’d never said there was, and I’d certainly made an attempt to dispel those notions. As usual, no one listened. I didn’t volunteer more out of respect for my family’s privacy. The less these people knew, the better, but how much could they dig up?
I wondered if I should discuss my background with Alisa. Or did it truly matter as far as the fake engagement went? If the truth came out, she could use it as a reason to break it off with me, which would save face with the royals. They’d be sympathetic to her and forgive her for falling for a commoner like me. If she knew, then she’d be as complicit in the deception as I was.
I’d backed myself into one hell of a corner. The only thing I knew to do next was come out fighting and pray I’d still be standing when the dust settled. Even more, pray Alisa wouldn’t hate me.
I stared at the ornate ceiling. I was in over my head with these people. I should’ve said no. I shouldn’t have come here. I had no business being here. The alternative wasn’t acceptable. Alisa couldn’t marry another man she didn’t love. I’d have a hard enough time if she loved the guy, but a guy she considered only a friend?
What if we really did go through with it?
Impossible.
I was a dumb ass to even consider such ridiculous thoughts.
I heard a light rap on the door, or thought I did. I listened carefully.
“Gage, let me in.”
Alisa’s voice.
My heart soared and my dick hardened. I leapt out of bed and opened the door a crack. Alisa pushed past me, shut the door, and locked it behind her.
“I was lonely,” she offered in explanation.
“Giles didn’t see you, did he? That guy never sleeps.”
“No, no one saw me.”
She sashayed across the expensive Persian rug and turned on a nightstand light. Then pivoted around. She untied the sash on her bathrobe.
She had nothing underneath.
Oh, yeah. Nothing.
I grinned as I feasted my eyes on her heavenly body designed to send me straight to hell when she was all over and I was alone again with only my memories and regrets.
Right now, I wasn’t regretting a thing, other than I was taking too long to feast upon what she was offering. I backed her against the bed and had my way with her. Even better, she had her way with me, and my Alisa had a wicked, naughty way about her. Being a princess hadn’t changed her sex drive or her adventurous spirit.
Maybe we could sneak down to that Green Room after all.
Chapter 20—Charming the Queen
~~Alisa~~
I woke the next morning with my legs entwined in Gage’s. I sighed happily and cuddled closer to him, never wanting to wake up. We’d screwed late into the night and fallen into an exhausted sleep well after three a.m.
We may not have christened the Green Room, but we’d christened this guest room and then some. The Green Room would come later if I knew Gage. We’d have to lose Giles first.
I shot up in bed. Thoughts of the Green Room jarred me out of my lazy half slumber. I was in Gage’s room near dawn. I had to get out of here and back to my own room before anyone found out. Last night had gone as well as planned, and I wasn’t ready to push the envelope by defying the royal family in this manner also. Let them believe what they wanted. I didn’t have to tell them or anyone else the truth about how active my sex life had been since my teen years. That was no one’s business but mine.
Gage stirred beside me. He was so not a morning person. He opened one eye and squinted at me. “What the fuck time is it?” he grumbled.
“Five thirty.”
“In the morning?”
“Yes.” I almost laughed. Getting Gage out of bed early required several sticks of dynamite and a bulldozer.
He groaned and rolled onto his back, covering his adorably tousled head of hair with a pillow.
“I have to go. I’ll see you at breakfast. We eat at eight a.m. sharp. Walter will see to it that you’re up and dressed appropriately.
Another groan.
I pulled down the covers enough to kiss the back of his head. I could hear his soft snoring. The poor guy was suffering from jet lag, no sleep, and encounters with the royal family.
After walking to the door, I opened it a crack and peered down the hallway. No one was in sight. The lighting was appropriately dimmed for the early-morning hours, a definite advantage considering I had nothing on but a bathrobe, along with badly mussed hair and destroyed makeup. If my appearance didn’t scream hot, dirty sex all night long, I don’t know what did.
The trek to my room took as long as it did to walk blocks to the bus stop in my old Seattle apartment. I opened my bedroom door, grateful I’d made it without running into anyone in the hallways.
“Good morning, Your Highness.”
I jumped and a small screech of surprise escaped. Zelda was scurrying about my room, putting everything in order. I’d left it in a bit of a disaster last night.
“Ma’am, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m so very, very sorry. Please forgive me. I was tidying up. I may have overstepped my bounds.”
The poor thing was about to suffer a panic attack or worse.
“It’s fine, Zelda. You just startled me. No worries. That’s on me, not you.”
“I am still humbly apologetic, ma’am.”
“No need. It’s fine.” I moved toward the sanctuary of my huge bathroom and shut the door. I’d have rather showered with Gage, but one thing would’ve led to another, and I’d have never escaped the staff’s notice upon returning to my room. As it was, Zelda knew I hadn’t slept in my bed last night. My tendency toward neatness had become lax since Zelda had come into my life. She cleaned up after me, and I still had the order I craved, but I didn’t have to clean up my messes myself.
Gage, on the other hand, was an absolute slob. I’d witnessed this firsthand in the months we’d shared a house and even before, when I’d gone over to that very house for one of our numerous hookups. I was the queen of hookups, but at some point last year, I’d allowed our relationship to go beyond casual sex to meaningful and emotional sex. So had Gage.
He loved me.
I still couldn’t believe he loved me. I’d spent most of my life not feeling worthy or loved, even though I had loving parents. I wasn’t sure why I felt that way, but I had. Maybe deep down, I’d known all along I was missing a big part of who I was and somehow I didn’t completely fit in with the life I was given. Not that I fit in here either.
I was stuck between two worlds and struggling to establish who and what I was when I didn’t know myself.
Then there was Gage.
Who was I to him now that I wasn’t the same person?
Who was Gage to me? I’d never met his parents. He never spoke of his family. What little I’d gleaned over the course of two years had been bits and pieces from R
iley and Tiff. Even then, I don’t think they knew him either.
I wouldn’t be able to tell Gage I loved him until I had a better handle on what I wanted from my future. Gage was so private, and I’d been reluctant to invade his privacy with nosy questions. What did that say about our relationship? Perhaps I’d do some digging and find out more about his background and family life, and I knew just the person to help me. God knew the royal family would already be unearthing his past with a backhoe. I had to know everything they did on the off chance I needed to do damage control. Gage wouldn’t ever know unless I dug up some fact he had to clarify.
He wouldn’t appreciate me digging into his past. Gage didn’t expose himself, but he was about to be thrust into a very public lifestyle, not only as my pretend fiancé but as a football player.
Oh, Lord, did I dare check online this morning to see what they were saying about us? The story would be all over social media by now after our announcement last night. The press would do their own excavation of Gage’s history.
After drying my hair and putting on my makeup, I had thirty minutes before breakfast. I sat down at my laptop and began to read. Gage and I were trending on Twitter and all over Facebook.
Yes, we were the story of the day. If we were lucky, that’s all the attention we’d get, but I didn’t hold out hope.
~~Gage~~
I was beginning to dislike Walter. The bastard woke me up at seven a.m. for an eight o’clock breakfast.
I took a quick shower, dried my hair, and dressed in the clothes Walter had laid out on the bed. Only then did I take time to check my cell. I had five calls from my mother and three from Riley, not to mention various calls from other relatives and friends. What the fuck?
I called Riley back first.
“What the fuck, asshole? Why didn’t you tell me you were getting engaged to Alisa? Oh, excuse me, Princess Alisa.” Riley ripped out the accusatory words the second he answered my call.
“I, uh— How did you know?”
“You’re marrying a princess. It’s all over the internet.”
Well, crap. I’d forgotten to call my mom back and fill her in on what was going on. That explained the phone calls from her and my brothers and sisters.
“Tiff is pissed at Alisa, too, who also isn’t answering her phone.”
“It’s not like it appears.”
“What is it like then? If you think I’m going to call you Prince Gage, you can go to hell.”
Riley was madder than I’d have ever expected. He had a very long fuse and tended to take everything from an easygoing, laid-back perspective, at least on the surface. I knew Riley’s demons ran deep, but he hid them well, and Tiff had helped him heal a lot of his wounds.
I moved outside to the balcony, out of earshot of Walter.
“There won’t be a wedding.”
“What?”
“It’s all a ploy because Alisa’s family wanted to arrange a marriage with some geeky earl or duke or something.”
“I don’t get it.”
“She asked me to help her out. Play her fiancé for a short while.”
“We have training camp coming up.”
“I know,” I shot back defensively. Riley’s lecturing got on my nerves. He could be such a tight-ass prick at times.
“The geek is in love with someone else. They’re supposed to be married within a week. After that, Alisa and I can call it off. I go home, and she’s set free.”
“And how do you feel about that?” Riley’s anger had faded to concern—for me, not Alisa. My buddy couldn’t think I was that much of a wuss.
“I’ll be fine. In the meantime, I get a free trip to London.”
“I thought you’d been to Europe many times.”
“Whatever makes you think that? This is epic. I’m living in a palace and eating the best damn food you can imagine.” Riley and I shared a love of good food, so I had him there.
“I can imagine a lot.” He sighed, and I pictured him rubbing his face. “I still thought we were good enough friends—”
“We are. There wasn’t any time. This all happened in the past forty-eight hours.” Had it only been that long? Somehow the events of the past few days seemed longer ago than that.
“I guess I forgive you.”
“Mighty magnanimous of you, buddy.” Sarcasm wasn’t a weapon I normally used, but this time I made an exception. “I hate to cut this short, but my parents are calling. I guess they’ve heard the news.”
“You didn’t tell them either?” Riley’s chastisement only added to the ever-growing mountain of guilt when it came to my callous treatment of my loving parents.
I was a total asshole.
“Gotta go.” I cut off the call and checked the time. I had ten minutes before breakfast. Walter was watching me through the glass door and checking his watch. At least someone had my back around here.
I made the call to my mom, short and sweet. She took the news like the tough farmer’s wife she was and told me she loved me no matter how stupidly I behaved—my words, not hers. I ended the call with two minutes to spare. Walter was fretting by the time I left the balcony.
“Where is the breakfast room?”
“I will take you there, sir. No time to waste.” And he didn’t waste time. We sprinted down a hall the length of a football field, a long flight of stairs, and another hallway, stopping in front of a set of double doors.
“Here you go,” Walter panted.
I was in much better shape, though the sprint through the palace had me breathing heavily. I couldn’t wait until my breathing slowed. I had to enter now.
Every set of eyes in the room were on me as I walked in the door. Alisa glared at me. I smiled one of my championship smiles and sauntered into the room as if I owned it. Taking the empty seat next to the prince, I folded the cloth napkin in my lap and nodded at the group seated at the table. I didn’t apologize for being late, because according to my watch, I was on time right to the minute.
“Good morning,” I said cheerfully.
Several people murmured good morning back. Alisa continued to glare at me from across the table like I’d committed some unknown faux pas. The king and queen were seated. Should I have bowed to them or kissed the king’s ring or something? How did one greet monarchs already sitting for breakfast? I did a quick improv. “You look stunning this morning, Your Majesty.”
She literally giggled. No shit, giggled. “Gage, you’re a charmer. Thank you.”
The king furrowed his brow and gaped at her as if he’d just discovered she was an imposter posing as the queen.
“Your Majesty,” I addressed the king, “I understand you have an extensive collection of guns. I’d love to see them sometime if you’re so obliged.” I’d done a bit of research on the plane on the way over here.
The king blinked a few times as if my comment was unexpected. I was a country boy, after all. I knew my guns, and I was a crack shot, one of those little-known facts about me I’d long kept private.
“Perhaps we could go target shooting,” he said, his eyes lighting up at the prospect. I hadn’t lost my touch. I was winning them both over.
I met Alisa’s gaze, and her annoyance turned to wonder. After a barely there smile, she shifted her gaze to her breakfast. I, too, was starving, and I finished off two plates of food.
After what was actually a pleasant breakfast with lively conversation, Alisa excused herself, and I followed.
“How about we christen that Green Room?” I suggested, hurrying to catch up with her.
She shot me another scathing glare over her shoulder. I matched her stride for stride, pretty easy to do considering my edge on height.
“I have work to do.”
“Work?” Princesses worked? This was news to me.
“It’s not all glitzy parties and royal dinners, Gage.”
“Then what else is it?”
She sighed, as if I were ten kinds of ignorant. I guessed I was. “I have commitments.”
She narrowed her eyes and correctly read my mind. “We’re not doing it in the back of one of the royal cars.”
“When did you become such a good girl?”
She stopped and stepped so close to me our bodies were a mere inch apart. The fingers of one hand walked up my chest and cupped my cheek. “I’m not, but we have company.”
“Huh?” I craned my neck and spotted the ever-present Giles. “Oh, him.”
“And the second we leave the palace, I’ll have bodyguards with me every step of the way. Did you forget?”
“I was trying. I’ll still go with you.”
“Don’t you need to work out?”
“I can do that anytime.”
“The palace has a full gym. Work out this morning and go with me to the Children’s Hospital this afternoon. I have a feeling the kids will adore you.”
“All children adore me, along with women. Now the men, they just want to be me.”
Alisa rolled her eyes and left me standing in the middle of the long hallway. With a sigh, I turned to Giles. I’d need help finding my room and the gym. I might as well enlist his assistance.
Later, Alisa and I would christen the Green Room.
Chapter 21—Royal Duties
~~Alisa~~
Gage and I walked down the corridor of the hospital to the elevators. He reached for my hand and held it, glancing behind us.
“Do they have to go everywhere we go?” Gage asked as he studied our security detail.
Earlier, he’d charmed the two guys by talking sports. They were fascinated by American football. He made sure they had lunch, and now they were eating out of his hand. I wasn’t sure what he was up to, but I was certain it was no good, and I’d be all over it. I’d been a good girl all day long. Once this hospital visit was over, it’d be time to engage in a little Gage.
“They don’t follow us around the palace.”
“They don’t need to. Giles does a smashing job of that.” Gage finished the sentence with a decent imitation of an English accent. “About that Green Room…”
Tackled in Seattle Page 15
