The Prince's Cinderella Love

by Lara Hunter

  At least I’d always have the pleasant memory of our chat, and the image of Kasper’s eyes dancing in the firelight. Nothing could take that away. I could already feel that that mental image would haunt my dreams for nights to come.

  FOUR

  As much as I tried not to be hurt about it, Kasper being absent all the next week just reminded me of him leaving without saying goodbye. I came in on Monday morning with the hope that he’d be there and have some explanation as to why he had to jet off on Saturday morning, but there was still no sign of him.

  He didn’t come home at all that week. I kept expecting him to walk through the door. I kept expecting to find him in the foyer, meticulously and considerately removing all his outerwear before stepping into the house. But he wasn’t there.

  Barb complained that I was in a sulky mood all week, and maybe I was. Was I a fool to think that we’d shared something that night? Maybe it wasn’t romance, but I’d thought at least that it was some sort of warm comradery.

  “Here’s something that should brighten you up a little,” Barb said to me when I came in on Thursday morning.

  “It’s nearly the weekend?”

  She smiled, her cheeks ruddy from the cold. “My mother always used to say that a change in routine is exactly what you need to get out of a funk.”

  “I’m not in a funk!” I replied. That was probably the tenth time I’d told her that.

  But Barb knew better. “I’ve got three girls of my own, Laurie,” she reminded me, with a perfectly knowing, motherly look. “I can recognize a funk when I see one.”

  I scowled, tossing my purse on the table. There was no arguing with her. What was the point, anyway? She was right.

  Barb was halfway through loading up the washing machine, and she huffed with exertion as she lectured me. “You won’t get out of your funk until you’re good and ready to, I know that.” She slammed the door closed. “But you’ve got to be open to it. And you’ll be more open to it if you’re thinking about something else.”

  I paled, stopping midway through stripping off my jacket. What did she think my mind was currently occupied with? Did she know?

  Barb noticed my reaction. “Come now, darlin’. We’ve all been there.” She smiled knowingly. “What’s his name?”

  I frowned. “I thought I was supposed to start thinking of something else?”

  “Good point,” Barb said with a laugh. “But I will tell you that he’s not worth your time, whoever he is.”

  I snorted and turned to hang up my coat. If only she knew.

  “You can snort all you want,” Barb scolded. “But he’s not. If he were, you wouldn’t have to be all cut up like this. He wouldn’t have done whatever’s put you in the funk.”

  She had a point. Kasper had a reputation for going through women like a Halloween trick-or-treater goes through candy. Why wouldn’t he just toss me aside after pretending to care about my life? He probably feigned interest in women all the time; it must be second nature to him by now. Maybe he hadn’t even realized he’d been doing it.

  “So how do you propose I get my mind off him?” I asked.

  Barb smiled. “By throwing yourself into your work when you clean Kasper’s study.”

  I tried to suppress my scowl. Luckily, Barb turned to set the machine on to wash so she didn’t see. I knew she meant well, but sending me into Kasper’s private sphere would only make me think about him more. And I was so tired of thinking about him.

  “Don’t you normally do the study?” I asked, desperate to avoid it.

  “I do,” she replied. “But this week it’s your job. You’ve been here long enough now that I trust you. The Prince trusts you too, I reckon.”

  Layers upon layers of thoughts about Kasper filled my head. Great.

  “Thanks,” I said, acknowledging what was obviously a reward for my good work. “I appreciate it.”

  Barb smiled. At least she was being nice to me; she could be quite prickly at times. Apparently, me being in a mood brought out some warm, maternal side of her. I knew I shouldn’t squander it.

  “Let me know if you have any questions,” Barb said, gathering up her bucket of supplies. “I generally just go in there and give everything a good dust. He doesn’t make much mess. And remember that I still need you to get all the kitchen cabinets before you go.”

  I thought back to how Kasper had cleaned up after our dinner on Friday. Or tried to, at least. In so many ways, he just wasn’t what you’d expect of a prince. He didn’t throw his weight around just because he could.

  Or, at least, that was what it had seemed like on Friday. In that moment, I didn’t know what to think of him.

  FIVE

  I grabbed my cleaning supplies and set to work, at first intending to leave Kasper’s study for last. As I got going, however, I was frustrated to find that being in the places we’d been together only made me think of him more, so I decided to head to the study before moving to the kitchen. Maybe it would take my mind off things.

  For a royal, Kasper had a pretty standard study. There was a large, mahogany desk in the corner, with a lamp and some neatly arranged stationary on top. A leather sofa and a coffee table took up another corner of the room, and the far corner was occupied by a tall bookcase, stuffed to the brim with Dutch texts.

  I took my time dusting. It was nice being in this part of the house, even if it was connected to Kasper so personally.

  When I got to his desk, I smiled when I saw the pens neatly arranged on the left side of it. It was then that I noticed the right-hand drawer was open a crack. It had a small keyhole at the top, so I expected it to be usually locked, but he must have closed it and left in a hurry, not realizing it hadn’t closed all the way.

  Keep moving, Laurie. Focus on your work.

  But my body didn’t want to keep moving. I stilled, looking at the drawer with curiosity. What could it hurt to have a peek inside? Either there would be nothing of interest in there, or there would be something that might make me feel better about waking up alone on Saturday morning.

  I inched the drawer open a little more, keeping a careful watch on the door. In the stillness, the sound of the scraping wood made me cringe.

  Inside the drawer was a selection of letters. They were haphazardly stacked, as if Kasper had read them at his desk before stowing them away immediately. I was curious what kind of letters a man like him would keep so close and private. Unable to stop myself, I picked up the first one my hand settled on, unfolding it to read the first few lines.

  It was from a food bank, thanking Kasper for his generous donation and continued support. I carefully refolded it and pulled out the next one: from a women’s shelter, with the same message. Then one from a veteran’s support charity. Then a children’s charity. Dozens of letters from dozens of different charities, all thanking Kasper for his aid.

  I was dumbfounded. Why had I never heard about any of this? When your crush often makes the gossip columns, you tend to keep up on these things. And yet, I’d never heard about Kasper performing any sort of charitable deed. Perhaps he’d attended a couple charity balls in the past, but I’d always figured the reason was that he just liked to party.

  Now, I didn’t know what to think. Why would he keep all this a secret? It would be great for his image. Wouldn’t he want to use these contributions to help makeover his reputation as a heartless party boy?

  I was disturbed by a commotion coming from the ground floor. I hurriedly thrust the letters back in the drawer, trying to arrange them the same way they’d been when I found them. Barb had perfected the art of moving around the mansion like a ghost, and the fact that I was hearing footsteps could mean only one thing—Prince Kasper was back.

  My heart leapt into my throat, dreading the thought of seeing him. What was I supposed to say? What was he going to say? What if he acted like last Friday had never happened? Was I expected to act that way, too?

  I finished up tidying the study, formulating a plan. I would head downstairs
and regroup in the laundry room. If I could make it unseen, there was a chance that he would be gone by the time I came out.

  With that plan in mind, I headed out into the hall. The study was at the top of the stairs, so all I’d need to do was descend and bolt across the foyer. It shouldn’t have been difficult.

  Except, as soon as I stepped into the hall, the sound of male voices drifted up from the foyer.

  I came out onto the landing and, sure enough, saw Kasper and one of his personal staff members standing just at the foot of the staircase. If I wanted to go down, I’d have to walk right past them.

  “Sir, I wouldn’t place too much faith in her arrival,” the Prince’s PA—Christopher, I think—was saying. “The Burnistons aren’t known for their dependability.”

  Kasper was facing away from the stairs, adjusting the cufflinks of his white tuxedo. I couldn’t even see him properly and I knew he looked amazing. The suit was perfectly tailored to his lean, toned physique, and his hair was combed back elegantly.

  Since I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing, I began polishing the bannister. If either of them happened to look up, I doubted they would think there was anything odd about it.

  “I told you as much, Christopher,” Kasper said, sounding disinterested. “I’ll just go stag. I don’t care.”

  “But, sir,” Christopher persisted. “You can’t show up without a date. You never go anywhere without a date. This is a formal and especially important event. It would look…odd. Don’t you think?”

  Thank you, Christopher, for another reminder of how much of a playboy Kasper is.

  Kasper huffed a sigh. “What do you suggest I do, then?”

  “I’ll keep trying to contact Miss Burniston,” Christopher replied. “But in the meantime, I think we should start considering alternate dates.”

  Kasper shook his head. “It was bad enough that I had to attend with Alicia Burniston,” he said derisively. “Can’t I just do this one alone? I’d rather deal with the media backlash than suffer the attentions of another girl like the one from the Hartfield Gala.”

  Interesting. I hadn’t considered the possibility that Kasper might not have actively pursued these women. Maybe this instance was an exception to his normal behavior, but I was beginning to have my doubts.

  A hand landed on my shoulder, and I turned sharply to find Barb glaring at me.

  “I told you I wanted you to do the kitchen after you’d finished in the study,” she scolded in a hushed tone. “Instead you’re eavesdropping?”

  The men continued their conversation downstairs, unaware. I couldn’t focus on what they were saying.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t want to interrupt them.”

  Barb glanced over my shoulder to the foyer. “It’ll be fine,” she said. “He won’t poke your eyes out just for walking past while he’s talking to someone.”

  That hadn’t been my concern at all, but I pretended like it was. “I guess,” I said, gathering my supplies.

  “I’m heading out soon. Make sure the kitchen is finished before I go.”

  As Barb swept off to continue doing whatever it was she’d been doing, my head swam at the thought of having to go downstairs and face Kasper. Why couldn’t he have conducted his conversation somewhere else?

  I strode down the stairs, keeping my steps light and my head down. He’d have to be blind not to see me walk past, but maybe if I made it obvious that I didn’t want to be seen, he wouldn’t say anything.

  Who was I kidding? He wasn’t going to say anything anyway. Why would he?

  My cheeks burned as I passed Christopher and Kasper. They continued with their conversation as if I wasn’t there—just as I’d suspected. I was too focused on making it past unseen to focus on what they were saying. I needed out!

  That being said, part of me still wished Kasper would stop me as I passed. Maybe he’d apologize for disappearing without saying a word on Saturday and tell me about whatever emergency he’d had that had caused him to leave so quickly.

  Or maybe not—he barely even looked up at me as I passed.

  I was halfway down the hall to the kitchen when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I assumed it was Barb; she’d probably forgotten to tell me something. I turned to face her, plastering on an apologetic smile in advance.

  But it wasn’t Barb.

  “Oh,” I gasped. “Kasper.” Was I still allowed to call him that now that there were other people around? I hurriedly corrected myself. “I mean, Prince van Dijk. Sorry.”

  Up close, Kasper looked even more resplendent. I almost felt like I should avert my eyes, before I reminded myself that he wasn’t a prince of my country—and my country had no royalty.

  “I told you, Laurie,” Kasper said, strolling casually toward me. “You can call me by my first name.”

  Based on his recent behavior, I hadn’t expected Kasper to acknowledge the night we spent together, let alone fall back into the level of intimacy we’d established. The fact that he did sent heat flooding to my cheeks.

  “Sorry,” I replied. “Do you need something?”

  He stopped his approach a few feet away from me, but close enough that I had to tilt my head to meet his stormy blue eyes. Would I ever get used to the way it felt when he focused them on me?

  “Actually, I have a question for you.” He smiled. “Would you care to accompany me to a ball this evening?”

  I felt like I’d stepped out of real life and into a fairy tale—except a real-life prince had just asked me to a real-life ball.

  “I can’t go to a ball!” I said quickly, my voice squeaky.

  “Why ever not?” he replied smoothly, not breaking his gaze.

  “I told you, I’m just a girl from the Bronx. I have no idea how to act around the upper crust.”

  “You only have to know how to act around me, and you did a pretty good job of that last Friday.”

  “But I don’t have anything to wear!”

  Kasper’s eyes swept over my body. I practically felt his gaze searing through me.

  “I think you’re around the same size as my sister,” he replied. “She keeps a selection of gowns here for when she’s stateside.”

  Not only had a real-life prince invited me to a real life ball, I was now really arguing with him about it. Could my life get any more surreal?

  “I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said. “I’ll only end up embarrassing you.”

  Kasper took another step toward me, his long legs carrying him close enough for me to smell his sultry, smooth cologne. I resisted the urge to lean into his heat, especially when he placed a gentle hand on my cheek. It was all I could do not to open my mouth in surprise.

  “I’ve been to dozens of dinner parties, balls, and galas over the years,” he said. “Hundreds, probably. And yet, I’ve never had a more enjoyable evening of conversation than I did with you last week.”

  I wanted to pinch myself. The improbabilities of the situation were stacking up like tiramisu.

  “Kasper,” I said. The fact that I could still speak surprised me. “I just don’t… It’s not…”

  “I won’t beg you,” he said, when I failed to come up with a proper reply. “But how about I pay you? Triple your hourly wage for the evening.”

  With a dream as expensive as medical school, every dollar counted. And that was why I knew I couldn’t say no.

  And I didn’t want to.

  SIX

  The fact that the shimmering emerald gown fit me like a glove was just another reason I was beginning to think tonight was a fever dream, and my real body was at home, bedridden. I even tried pinching myself while I tried it on, but that did nothing but give me a little red welt on my arm.

  Rather than being annoyed to hear that I wouldn’t be finishing my work that day, Barb was thrilled to hear I would be going to a ball. She insisted on helping get me ready, an offer which Kasper accepted on my behalf. I had no idea how to do any sort of elegant hairstyles, but a
fter having three daughters, Barb had perfected the art of the chignon.

  When I put the dress back on after being primped and perfected, Barb gasped.

  “You look like a princess,” she cooed. “This is so wonderful.”

  I admired the slim fit of the dress in the mirror, loving the way the sweetheart neckline and trumpeted skirt accented my figure. I felt like I was going off to prom again, except this time I was wearing a couture dress that likely cost more than my car, rather than a sale item from the mall.