by Jessica Wood
“Oh shit, I don’t mean if I was your boyfriend and asked you. I just meant if you had a boyfriend and he asked you. General random boyfriend, not me boyfriend.”
“None of your business.” I turned to the table and sorted out some papers so he couldn’t see the embarrassment burning on my face. Trust Xavier to get my hopes up for a minute. Not that I wanted him to be my boyfriend. He’d make an insufferable boyfriend. He was someone I had no interested in dating. Not at all. Not even if he paid me one million dollars. Okay, maybe if he paid me a million dollars. Or even ten thousand. Or even if he didn’t pay me. I sighed inwardly. I was falling for Xavier. I couldn’t help it and I didn’t want to. He was such a pig. But he was so handsome and so funny when he wanted to be.
“So what do you say?” Xavier’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Huh?” I turned around feeling flustered, not knowing what he’d just said.
“I asked if you wanted me to take you shopping, Pretty Woman-style?” He cocked his head and laughed gently.
“Is that meant to be funny?”
“Lola, you do know that I’m joking with you, do you not?”
“I don’t think it’s a joke.” My eyes narrowed. “How many times are you going to suggest I’m a prostitute?”
“I would never even suggest that. High-class escort at worst.”
“I guess you’ve dated a lot of them.”
“One doesn’t date an escort.”
“One doesn’t screw an asshole.” I grabbed my bag and walked to the door. Then I turned around and smiled at him sweetly and continued, “A second time. Smart girls learn from their mistakes.” I walked to the front of the house and out of the door with a smug smile on my face. I pretended to ignore his loud laughter as I walked out. I preferred to believe I’d stuck a knife in where it hurt, even if that wasn’t the case.
***
“You’re so lucky.” Anna sat on my bed as she watched my pack. “I wish I was going to France.”
“We can go when I get back.”
“With what money?” She sighed melodramatically and leaned back on my bed. “Why does nothing awesome ever happen to me?”
“Anna, we’re in London. Something awesome has already happened. Plus, if we stop eating out so much, we can definitely go to France. The train tickets weren’t that expensive.”
“Oh, I wish I was going on the Eurotrain.” She sighed again. “And to Paris. Gay Paris, where have you been all my life?”
“I’m going to work.” I rolled my eyes at her as I packed my underwear.
“With your lover, who’s a prince?” Anna sat up on my bed and grabbed the underwear out of the bag. “You cannot take these granny panties. Take some pretty things.”
“First off, we slept together once, that doesn’t make him my lover. Secondly, I’m not taking a thong with me to Paris.”
“You do not want to get down and dirty with a prince in granny panties.” Anna threw them on the floor. “No way am I letting you go to Paris with grey and green striped panties.”
“There’s nothing wrong with them.” I bent down and picked them up.
“There’s nothing right with them either.” She grinned and looked at me. “Okay, fine, answer me this question. If Xavier makes a move on you and sneaks into your bedroom for some midnight fun, what would you say?”
“I would say ‘hell no, it’s time to go.’” I grinned, pleased at my little rhyme.
“Really?” Anna raised an eyebrow at me.
“Well …” It was my turn to sigh. “I would say that at first, but if he decided not to leave I wouldn’t make him.”
“Exactly.” She grinned. “What if he pushes you down on the bed and rips your PJs off and then he sees your panties. You’d be so embarrassed.”
“That’s not going to happen.” I shook my head, but I did go back to my wardrobe and pull out three black silky thongs.
“That’s what I’m talking about.” She grinned and lay back down on the bed. “This sucks. What am I supposed to do this weekend?”
“Why don’t you hang out with Jason?”
“I wish.” She made a face.
“What about Sebastian?”
“Who?”
“You know, Sebastian that we met at the pub. Xavier’s brother?”
“Oh, him.” She made a face. “He’s not really my cup of tea.”
“But at least he’d be someone to hang out with.”
“I suppose I could hang out with him if he really needed someone to chill with.”
“I don’t think …”
“Fine, fine, tell him I’m willing to spend time with him on Saturday. He can take me to lunch or something.”
“Anna, I don’t even know if he’s free on Saturday.”
“If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll be free.” She jumped off of my bed and laughed. “Okay, I’m going to go and have a Jammie Dodger, want one?”
“No thanks.” I laughed. “You’re addicted to those cookies.”
“You mean ‘biscuits.’” She faked a British accent and we both laughed.
“You’ll be okay this weekend, right?” I gave her a small smile as she left the room and she nodded.
“I’ll be fine.” She smiled back at me. “I’m a big girl. I’ll find something to do.”
“I’ll buy you something nice in France.”
“Just bring me back a hot French man who knows how to French kiss and make pastries.”
“Sure, I’ll bring one for me and one for you.”
“You don’t need one. You have Xavier.”
“Anna, I don’t have anyone, let alone Xavier.” I rolled my eyes at her. “Plus, I don’t want him. He’s an ass.”
“An ass that’s good in bed.”
“Well, he wasn’t that good.”
“So you’d say no to seconds?”
“I don’t know.” I giggled and gave her a quick hug. “I’m going to miss you this weekend.”
“I’ll miss you too, but I expect you to have lots of fun and to tell me all about it. Even the orgasms.”
“Anna!” I exclaimed, shocked, and she just laughed. I sat down on the edge of my bed and closed my eyes. I had no idea why I had agreed to the trip so easily, but I did know that I was excited. I enjoyed spending time with Xavier and I was hopeful that this weekend would see us growing closer. I wanted to get to know the real him. The man behind the mask.
***
His View
I hung up the phone with the hotel and grinned to myself. Everything was going according to plan. All I needed to do now was call the press. I groaned as I thought about what I was doing. When did I ever call the press to alert them where I was going to be? But desperate times called for desperate measures. I needed the paparazzi to be there, if my plan was going to work.
“Max,” I spoke into the phone slowly wanting to make sure that he understood exactly what I was going to say.
“Prince Xavier, I wanted to apologize once again about what happened.” He began but I cut him off.
“I need you to get in contact with the press. I’m going to France. I’m staying at a small hotel in Giverny. I need you to make sure the paparazzi are there on Friday night.”
“Prince Xavier?” He sounded shocked. “Are you sure?”
“I’m not out of my mind, Max.” I closed my eyes and Lola’s face appeared. “At least, I don’t think I am.” I groaned.
“So you want me to call the press?”
“Yes.” I paused and took a deep breath. “And I need another favor.”
“Yes, sir?”
“I need you to get someone to barge into the room on Saturday morning. They need to pretend they are room service and they need to have a camera.”
“Sir?”
“Don’t question me, just do it.”
“Yes, Prince Xavier. Anything else?”
“That’s it for now.” I smiled as I hung up the phone. If everything went according to plan, I’d have Lola in Romerius b
efore she knew it. Then I’d finally be able to get her out of my system. All I needed was a week. One week and I could go back to the way my life was before she came into it.
Chapter Ten
“So this will be your first time on a train?” Xavier was surprisingly jovial when he picked me up on Saturday morning.
“On the Eurostar, not a train, period.”
“This will be my first time on the Eurostar as well.” He winked at me as we got on and took our seats.
“You’ve never been on the Eurostar before?” I looked at him in surprise.
“Oh, of course I’ve travelled on it before. This will be my first time having sex on it.”
“Sex?” My jaw dropped and I noticed an older lady giving me a disapproving look.
“Don’t advertise it to the world, Lola.” Xavier winked at me as we settled in.
“Advertise what?” I hissed at him.
“That this will be our first time.”
“I’m not having sex on the train with you.”
“Oh?” He leaned over and ran his fingers down my arm. “I thought that’s what we were talking about.”
“You are so inappropriate.” I shook my head at him. “You are my professor and my boss. You should not be making such comments.”
“What comments?”
“Comments suggesting that we’re going to have sex on the train.”
“Don’t you want to?” His fingers moved to my leg and I stilled.
“No, I don’t.” I whispered.
“I’ve always thought it would be an exhilarating experience to make love on a train.”
“Xavier!” I exclaimed loudly as his fingers ran up and down my thigh.
“Relax,” he laughed and pulled his fingers back. “We shall not break our train-ride cherries today.”
“You’re disgusting.” I shook my head at him. “And wildly inappropriate.”
“I’m just a man who likes to have fun.” He smiled at me. “And we’re not in the classroom now.” He winked at me and leaned back in his seat. “I think I’ll have a light nap. Wake me up if you change your mind.”
***
“The hotel looks …” Xavier paused and looked around the lobby of the hotel we’d just entered, “… nice.”
I cringed at his sentence. The hotel looked like a dump and I knew it. The wallpaper was peeling and the floors were dirty and old. This wasn’t the place for a prince, and I wasn’t sure that I would have stayed here either.
“It’s fine, you can say it’s a dump. I can look for somewhere else if you want.” I asked hopefully.
“It’s fine.” He shook his head. “We won’t die from a little shabbiness.” He walked up to the front desk. “I’m here to check into the Presidential Suite.”
“The what, monsieur?” The man behind the desk frowned slightly as he spoke in a heavily accented voice.
“My assistant here booked a suite?”
I bit my lower lip as Xavier spoke to the front desk clerk. To be honest, I hadn’t paid much attention to what I’d been clicking when I’d made the reservation. It had been in French and I hadn’t had time to look at a translator to make sense of what the website had said.
“You made a reservation, right, Lola?” Xavier questioned me and I nodded indignantly.
“Yes, for two rooms.” I handed him the paper I had printed out. He then read it and handed it to the front desk clerk, who nodded. They then spoke rapidly in French, and I didn’t understand the conversation until Xavier said ‘merci.’ I knew that meant ‘thank you.’
“Merci beaucoup.” I beamed at the front desk clerk as Xavier and I left the lobby. I felt proud of my accent, even though that was one of only a couple of phrases I knew in the language.
“Did we get a suite then?” I frowned as I followed Xavier to the elevator.
“No.”
“Why do we have one key for two bedrooms?” I stared at the card in his hands.
“Because we have one bedroom.”
“Oh no, did I get one room with two beds instead of two bedrooms?”
“No.” He stopped outside of the door and looked at me.
“What do you mean no?” I frowned at him as he opened the bedroom door and my jaw dropped as I looked in the room and saw the single bed. And it wasn’t even a king. “You need to go and tell them that we need another room.” I gasped.
“They’re booked for the weekend.”
“They don’t have one extra room?” I looked at him and frowned.
“No.”
“What about another hotel?”
“The whole town is booked this weekend. There is some event.”
“Oh.” I bit my lower lip and looked at the bed again. “What are we going to do?”
“We’ve shared a bed before, Lola. Tell me you’re not scared of me?”
“Well, it’s not like you’re innocent.”
“I’m the big bad wolf?” He grinned, his teeth showing and making me shiver.
“You could be.”
“Are you a piggy or a girl in a red hood?”
“Which one would be safer with you?” I whispered.
“Neither.” His eyes laughed at me and he put his bag down. “Come now, Lola. We’re here to work. I shall not touch you, if you do not wish me to.”
“I don’t wish or want you to touch me.”
“That’s fine then.” He bowed his head. “Shall we go and look for some food? I’m feeling quite hungry.”
“Sounds good to me.” I replied as my stomach growled. “I’m really hungry.”
“What would you like? Escargot? Frog legs? Caviar?”
“Um, a steak would do fine.” I paused as I tried to think of my French. “Le beouf?”
“Boeuf?” He smiled at me and I rolled my eyes.
“You know what I mean. A big fat juicy steak.” I grabbed the door handle and opened it. “With pomme frites.”
“Yes, Lola. I’ll find you a nice piece of meat to chew on.” His voice was light as he followed me and I looked at him to see if he was teasing me. I tried to ignore the excitement roaring in my stomach at the thought of sleeping in the same bed as him. It would be delicious and it would be hard to keep my hands off of him. I really hoped that he didn’t sleep naked. Oh my God! What would I do if he slept in the nude? What if I felt him next to me? Would I be able to say no? I could still remember what it had felt like the first time we’d made love. It had been so passionate and intense. I could still remember what he felt like inside of me if I closed my eyes and concentrated hard. I let out a small sigh as I realized that I was in trouble.
“What’s wrong?” Xavier’s hands caressed my back and I froze.
“Nothing. Why?”
“You look troubled.”
“I’m fine.”
“Good, good.” He grabbed my hand and escorted me through the lobby of the hotel. “Tonight we shall eat and drink, and then tomorrow we shall go to Monet’s gardens.”
“Then what?”
“Then we can go to Mont St. Michel.”
“What’s that?”
“An old abbey.” He grinned. “I think you would like it.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you seem to be a girl that appreciates history and things of beauty.”
“Oh, thanks.” I answered slightly breathlessly, touched by his seemingly kind comments.
“Now let’s eat.”
“Mange.” I grinned at him and he laughed.
***
“Dinner was so delicious.” I grinned at him as we made our way back to the hotel.
“You seemed to enjoy the wine as well.” He held onto my arm tightly.
“It was superb.” I giggled, feeling slightly drunk in the night air.
“You should not have drunk so much.” He frowned as he escorted me to the hotel.
“Why?” I hiccupped. “I feel good.”
“I just don’t think—” His words were cut off by a crowd of photographers who started s
creaming as soon as we made our way to the entrance of the hotel. I looked up in a daze as lights started flashing in my face.
“Crown Prince Van Romerius, who is your companion?”
“Xavier, are you now engaged?”
“Prince, does your mother know you are dating a commoner?”
“Xavier, what are your intentions with this lady?”
The men kept shouting and flashing bright lights at us and I clung into Xavier’s arm as tightly as I could.
“What’s going on?” I whispered into his ear.
He looked back at me and frowned as I stumbled alongside him. Before I knew what was happening he’d grabbed me up into his arms and hurried into the hotel, muttering something under his breath.
“What’s going on?” I giggled as he carried me into the bedroom and placed me down on the ground.
“Did you not see the photographers, Lola?” He stood there staring at me with narrowed eyes.
“I see you in front of me.” I reached out to grab his shirt. “But I only see you.” I touched his chest and ran my fingers all the way to his waist. “I see a very hot you, but no photographers.”
“Lola, I think it’s time for you to go to bed.”
“You want to take me to bed?” I wiggled an eyebrow at him and then sighed as he took a step away from me.
“Don’t try and seduce me,” I giggled as I attempted to pull my shirt off.
“Dios mio, Lola.” Xavier sighed as he sat on the bed and stared at me. “You’re really drunk.”
“That’s not French,” I stumbled as I pointed at him.
“Do you need help?” His face was serious as he walked over to me.
“Help with what?”
“Undressing.”
“You just want me to take my clothes off.”
“I don’t seduce drunk women.” He frowned and grabbed my hands. “Come, let me help you.”
“I don’t need your help.” I pouted childishly and pushed him away. “Who were all those people taking my photo?”
“Your photo?” He cocked his head and smiled.
“Yes, there was like a hundred different men calling at me.” My hands flew to my forehead. “All those lights.”
“They were paparazzi,” Xavier frowned. “I have no idea how they know we are here.”
“I have no idea why the paparazzi are interested in me.” I shook my head and sat on the bed. “I’m not famous or anything.”
