Recklessly Royal

by Nichole Chase

  “You’re making me blush on purpose.” I shook my head.

  “I’m just getting started,” he replied. His smile grew and I looked down at my makeshift plate.

  “Okay, so this is our second date then?” I shook my head before popping my food in my mouth. “This is a pretty weird conversation, don’t you think?”

  “Nah. I’m sure there have been weirder ones.”

  “Like what?”

  “Killing zombies, for one.”

  “Okay, so my track record for date conversation isn’t so great.” I laughed.

  “Actually, it’s fun and different.” His smile went all the way to his eyes. “You’re different.”

  “That’s a good thing, I guess.”

  “It’s a good thing.”

  “Well, you’re not so bad yourself.” I narrowed my eyes and decided to change the subject. I wasn’t sure what would happen if he kept talking about making me beg. “When you talk about yourself, anyways. If you want me to get to know you, you’re going to have to divulge more information.”

  “Ask away.” He motioned with his fork for me to go on.

  “If Sam hadn’t asked you to come to the FBT, what would you be doing?”

  “Looking for a job.” He chuckled. “No, really. You’d think a doctorate would guarantee a job, but most of the good positions are filled by lifers.”

  “Lifers?” I asked.

  “People that snap up a great position and never leave.” He frowned. “I did have an offer from a university, but I’m not ready to go straight into teaching full-time.”

  “That makes sense. Want to see and do a little more first.” I nodded my head.

  “Exactly. Then I can decide where I really want to be.” I finished off the last of the chicken and moved on to the noodles. “It must be hard for you to not have a choice.”

  “I have a choice,” I argued. “Well, with some limitations, but really, most people have limitations and certain expectations. Being a princess is my job. I love it most of the time, but everyone has bad days or days you just don’t want to go to work. Then there are bad parts to every job, and you just have to work around them. This week has been tough. I thought I was going to go insane at a plaque unveiling. It was for a great cause and the people were wonderful, but all I could think about was getting back to make sure Selene was okay.”

  “That’s understandable.” He nodded in understanding. “I love working with birds, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t days when I want to beat my head against a wall.”

  “Exactly. Today was one of those days.” I frowned. “The media has been ridiculous. They’ve even calmed down when it comes to Sam and Alex, except for the wedding, but lately they are everywhere. I don’t usually rate this much attention.”

  “That is a lot to deal with, but you’re a pro.” He reached out and touched my hand. “I’ve been watching and I can see how you work the crowd. It’s so natural, I imagine most people don’t notice when you turn it on. Turn on the princess.”

  “That’s exactly what I do,” I said. In less than a week, David had noticed more about me than most people. “I turn on Princess Catherine and do my duty.” I shook my head. “That makes it sound like I don’t enjoy it and I normally do. But I have to be so careful and follow certain protocols. There are days that I just want to be Cathy.”

  “I get it.” He frowned. “I don’t mind teaching, actually enjoy it when the students are interested, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to just be David. It’s why I turned down the professorship.”

  “I think you’re going to like the FBT. You’ll get the best of both worlds.” I stood up and started cleaning up the trash while he got a rag to clean off the table. “I think we’ve left Chadwick alone long enough. Who knows what type of things he’s planned for you.”

  “Scary.” His voice was odd as he turned and looked at me. “I’m thinking . . .”

  “You’re right. That is scary.” I threw the trash away and watched him as he walked toward me.

  “We agreed that this was our second date, right?” His hand cupped my face while his thumb rubbed along my cheek.

  “Yes.” My voice came out husky as he leaned a little closer.

  “Then I think a kiss is in order,” he said. His free hand moved to cup my hip and pulled me a little closer. “I’ve been dying to since the other night.”

  I went willingly, eager to taste his kiss once again. He didn’t rush the moment, dragging out the wait as his lips neared mine, but still didn’t touch. His breath washed over my face and I leaned forward even more. When his lips finally touched mine, it was the softest whisper of a kiss, brushing against my lips like a feather’s touch. While his lips moved slowly, there was a barely contained heat behind his touch. His fingers tightened on my hip and his other hand dipped my head back so that he could have better access to my mouth.

  I ran my hands up his arms to rest on his shoulders, enjoying the slow kiss that ignited fire in my veins. When he slowly pulled away, I kept my eyes shut, savoring the moment. It was the best kiss I’d ever experienced.

  FIFTEEN

  “WHERE ARE MY nude heels?” I got down and looked under the hotel bed. Pushing the extra pillows out of the way, I made sure they weren’t hiding.

  “I think they’re out here,” Max hollered. “If by nude you mean beige.”

  “What the hell are they doing out there?” I mumbled as I ran into the living area. “Thanks.”

  I plucked them from his fingers and ran back to my room. David was supposed to be here any minute and I still wasn’t finished getting ready. Sliding into the bathroom, I grabbed the curling iron and added a few loose curls to my hair, giving it that careless look that was anything but careless. I checked my makeup and spritzed on a light perfume. Nothing too heavy, but just enough to know it was there.

  Turning, I looked at my outfit and frowned. I didn’t have a lot of options at the hotel and no time to shop. I’d picked out a pair of jeans, a dressy tank top, and a blazer. The shoes and some jewelry pulled it all together. It wasn’t exactly my best outfit, but it was comfortable and I liked it. It also wasn’t too dressy for the movies, but not so comfortable that it looked like I hadn’t cared what I was wearing tonight.

  Voices coming from the living area made me hurry, and I grabbed some lip gloss quickly and threw it in my bag. I rushed out, to save David from Max. I wasn’t sure if my brother would give my date the third degree or not. He usually didn’t seem to care if I dated someone, but he’d been much more interested in David for some reason.

  “Where are you going?”

  “The movies and dinner.” David’s voice was calm and polite.

  “Which theater?” Max asked.

  I rounded the corner in time to see that Max hadn’t let David very far into the suite.

  “I’m not sure exactly. I believe the bodyguards chose the one they felt was most secure.” David tucked his hands in his pockets. He had dressed up, still in jeans, but in a button-up shirt under a light sweater. He had shaved too, which was the first time I had seen him that way. I liked it just as much as I did when he had a five-o’clock shadow. No matter how you cut it, the man was mouthwatering.

  “Max,” I warned. He held his hands up in the air in mock surrender.

  “You look great.” David smiled at me.

  “Thanks.” Smiling I walked past Max to stand in front of David. “So do you.”

  “Have her home by midnight,” Max grouched from behind me.

  I rolled my eyes and held my hand out to David. His warm fingers wrapped around mine, and the familiar feeling of heat from his touch traveled up my arm and over my body.

  The car was waiting downstairs, but at an employee entrance instead of out front. I wondered if the press would have caught on to our sneaky attempt, but there was no one with a camera in sight. Of course, that didn’t mean someone with a telephoto lens wasn’t hanging out in a tree.

  “How did we manage to escape the press?�
�� I wondered aloud.

  “Jameson’s idea. He has the car I came in idling at the front entrance.” David sat next to me and turned so that his long legs were tucked into the backseat comfortably. “You know, the last time someone drove me on a date was back in middle school. Feels like I should be asking my parents to extend my nine o’clock curfew.”

  I laughed. “Well, despite Max’s demands, I don’t have a set curfew.”

  “Good to know.” His hungry eyes ran over my face and down my body. “I want to keep you to myself for as long as possible.”

  A slow smile pulled at my lips. “That sounds like a good plan.”

  Reaching over he wrapped his fingers around mine. “Do you care what movie we see?”

  “Hm. I like funny movies, action movies, or romantic comedies.” I paused. “Nothing that is going to make me want to cry or want to hurt the actors.”

  “Right. No Nicholas Sparks movies.” He nodded his head.

  “Most definitely not.” The last thing I wanted was to be snotty and miserable while on our first “official” date. Tear-inducing movies were out of the equation.

  The ride to the theater was comfortable, and except for the driver and bodyguard it almost felt like the normal dates I had read about in books. We joked about movies, talked about our favorite actors, and even argued about music. And yet, the whole time his thumb traced circles on my palm, sending electric tingles up my arm. I’d never thought that someone who could affect my body in the simplest way would actually match me in other ways. And even the things we disagreed about seemed to make us fit. He hated pizza, I couldn’t imagine life without it. I loathed country music and it was all he listened to. He thought Donatello was a turtle, and I had no idea who Bob White was, but it didn’t matter.

  We decided on a movie, purely because of what was about to play when we arrived. A romantic comedy that I had secretly been hoping to see but hadn’t wanted to ask. I hated to pick movies, unless it was with Sam. She and I always seemed to agree, and if it was something the other hadn’t seen, we trusted each other’s opinion. However, I hadn’t wanted to force David to sit through a sappy movie. Especially since we were finally on the date he had originally asked to do.

  “You look relieved.” David handed me my ticket.

  “I saw commercials for this and it looked good.” I tried to play it nonchalant, but he raised an eyebrow and smiled that damn smile I couldn’t resist. “Okay, I was hoping we’d get to see it! Jared Sutton is in it and I’m a sucker for him. I can’t help it.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, I really did want to see that new spy movie instead. We could wait a half hour . . .” He started to take the ticket back but I hugged it to my chest.

  “No way. It’s bought and paid for. A done deal.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll have to suffer through you drooling over another man.” He mock-sighed.

  “Might work to your advantage.” I walked over to the concession counter and ordered drinks and popcorn.

  “In that case, I won’t complain.” He reached over and took the drinks so I could carry the popcorn.

  “Smart man.” I winked at him.

  “I have my moments.”

  The theater was dark by the time we went inside and we had to duck as we searched for seats so as to not block the view of the other moviegoers.

  “Excuse me,” I whispered as we slipped past a couple sitting in the last row. The woman did a double take when she looked up at me, but didn’t say anything, just shifted her legs so we could get through.

  We had perfect seats, right in the middle with no one blocking our view. It was shaping up to be a great night. Why hadn’t I gone on a regular date before? All of my other dates had been to formal occasions, or occasionally to the party of an important family or business. Never to anything normal like the movies.

  David set his drink down in the arm farthest away from me, before handing me my drink. We missed the previews, but had made it just in time for the start of the movie. At some point during the laughing and the sweet parts, David’s arm had wrapped itself around my shoulders. As the end of the movie neared, happy tears slid down my cheeks and I tried to hide them. I loved happy endings. Life so often dealt us ugly blows that I wanted books and movies that left me feeling happy.

  “You okay?” David ducked his head down to whisper in my ear. With his free hand he wiped away a tear from my cheek.

  I nodded my head and sniffled. “Just happy.”

  His arm tightened around me and I savored the feeling of being held. I might be a virgin, but I was beginning to realize it wasn’t just sex that was lacking in my life. Most forms of intimacy were foreign to me. Especially the kind where you could really relax and just enjoy that sense of comfort without worrying what the other person wanted.

  I snuggled closer into his side, enjoying the smell of his cologne and the warmth that seeped through his clothes. Almost as if without thought, he turned his head just enough to kiss my temple, and my heart melted. It was something I had seen Alex do to Sam a million times; it was something you did when you cared about how someone felt or what they were thinking.

  As the credits rolled, we stayed in our seats, not wanting to get caught in the crowd. So far no one had stopped me, or bothered us, and I was hopeful that would last for the rest of the night.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket and I frowned. I sat up and pulled it out in case there was some change with Selene. The text message was from Chadwick, and it wasn’t good.

  “Everything okay?” David took his arm back and picked up our trash. “Is Selene worse?”

  “It’s not Selene.” I turned the phone so he could see the screen. “We’ve been found.”

  “What should we do?” David watched my face carefully.

  “Well, that’s up to you.” I took a deep breath.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It depends on what you want people to think. We could try to sneak out the back, but it’s likely to be crawling with photographers.” I chewed on my bottom lip for a moment, worried about what he would say. “Or we could leave through the front, let them photograph us together.”

  “Okay.” I could see his mind working through the potential scenarios. “Being photographed together isn’t a lifelong commitment.”

  “No.” I chuckled. “But it will always be floating around in the world. It could come up at some point in the future.”

  “So?” He shook his head with a smile. “Anything could come up from the past.” He grabbed my hand and ran his thumb over my knuckles. “Let’s go.”

  “You’re sure?” So many of my acquaintances hid their relationships from the public; secret rendezvous and hasty phone calls were all they had. Walking out hand-in-hand with David after only three dates would seem like a big deal to the media. “They’re going to assume that we’ve been dating for a long time if we do this.”

  “Well, you know what they say about assuming.” He pulled me to my feet. “It makes an ass out of them.”

  “I thought the saying went: It makes an ass out of you and me.” I let him pull me along with him. There were still a few people in the theater, but none of them paid us any attention.

  “Yeah, but it really just makes an ass out of them.”

  The press was out in full force as we exited the theater. The amount of people crammed around the doors was staggering as other moviegoers realized that there was someone famous inside. Jameson took point with Mark in the rear. It was like a madhouse, with people shoving to get a good shot, people hollering questions, and royal watchers trying to hand me presents.

  David put his arm around my shoulder to try and keep the worst of the offenders at bay, but it merely incited the reporters.

  “Aren’t you Princess Samantha’s friend?”

  “Is that how you met?”

  “How long have you been together?”

  “Are you pregnant? Is there a baby royal on the way?”

  I stumbled on that question, caught off guard.
I knew that Sam had dealt with people asking that question, but in the past there had been no reason for people to even wonder about me and my uterus.

  David was a champ and never broke stride. Between him, Jameson, and Mark, I was tucked safely in my car within moments.

  “Wow. Maybe I should rethink this shirt.” I looked down at the flowing top I had chosen and frowned.

  “They just wanted a reaction.”

  “When did you learn so much about the media?” I buckled my seat belt and watched him.

  “You’re not the only one that’s had a busy week.”

  “Did something bad happen?” I watched his face tic as he thought about something.

  “No, nothing bad. It just wears me out; the constant smiling and talking. I have no idea how you do it so often.”

  “You’re an introvert.” I shrugged. “It’s harder for you, because you need time to yourself to recharge. That’s not a bad thing, but it makes it difficult in this type of job. Max is an introvert as well. That’s why he does everything he can to get out of public events. He doesn’t mind the speaking so much as the mingling afterward.”

  “And what about you? Are you an introvert or an extrovert?”

  “Extrovert.” I didn’t hesitate to answer. “I love being around people.” I hesitated for a minute. “Usually. Lately things have been different.”

  “You planned a huge wedding, took on more appearances, and then watched someone close to you almost die. That would wear anyone out.” He shifted in his seat so he was turned slightly in my direction. “Maybe you should take a break. Surely things aren’t going to just stop if you take a day off.”

  “I wish.” I sighed. “Some of these things have been planned for months—years even. How do you tell someone that you’re just having a ‘me’ day?”

  “That would be difficult.” He humphed to himself.

  “It’s not so bad. I usually have a weekend or two off every month. This month is just a little different.” I shrugged. I didn’t mention that lately I stay home on my weekends off. Then again, I doubted he would be worried about whether or not I went to clubs or bars.