by Sara Hantz
It was hardly worth trying to hide her inner turmoil from Lauren. She habitually warned Amber not to ever play poker because she’d have absolutely no chance of winning.
“You’ll never guess what I’ve done.” Amber’s voice squeaked from panic.
She didn’t know how she’d ever get through the double math lesson they were waiting to start since all she could think about was how stupid she’d been. She thought she’d checked the photos before sending. Okay, she’d been so tired, her vision had been blurring, but even so, how the heck could she have missed Nik’s photo? It was like trouble followed her around. Everything was going well, so fate had to step in. Why? Hadn’t she been through enough without being screwed over yet again?
“Tell me,” Lauren said, gently, cutting into the thoughts careering through Amber’s head.
“I’m so dumb.”
“What is it?” Lauren leaned in and gave Amber a hug. It was probably designed to reassure her, but it didn’t.
Amber picked up a pen from her desk and nervously flicked it. “In my portfolio, I accidentally included a photo of Nik.”
Her insides clenched. Just saying the words out loud made it seem even worse.
“Don’t stress. It’s only a photo.” Lauren remained totally calm and unflustered.
“I know. But you know what he’s like. He’s always refused to be anywhere near my camera.” She couldn’t have felt worse if she’d tried.
“You know I’ve always thought that weird. Who doesn’t want their photo taken?”
“I agree. But that’s not the issue. He asked me not to do something, and I still did. What sort of person does that make me?” she asked, her voice tight.
“He’ll understand,” Lauren said. “How did it happen?”
“So stupid. I was looking at his photo last night and accidentally saved it into my portfolio folder. Then I just attached the whole folder to my application. I could kick myself.”
“He’ll understand,” Lauren replied. “What are you going to do about it?”
Amber had debated contacting the agency and asking them to send back her portfolio for her to change but really didn’t want to because it wouldn’t create a great impression. The most obvious thing was for her to tell Nik, but she’d no idea how he would react, and she didn’t want to mess everything up between them. Another option would be not to say anything to him. One photo of one anonymous guy, which would only be seen by the internship selection panel, was hardly going to create a disaster of any kind. “I’m not sure.”
“Do nothing. He won’t find out,” Lauren suggested, echoing Amber’s thoughts.
“It does seem the best thing. But isn’t that deceiving him?” She touched the side of her nose in a self-conscious gesture.
“Hardly,” Lauren insisted. “It’s just omitting to tell him something that he probably won’t mind anyway.” She flicked her arm dismissively.
“You didn’t see the way he reacted the first time I tried to take a picture of him. And any other time I pointed the camera at him, he practically lunged out of the way. He definitely has an issue with it.”
The occasions when she’d tried to snap him flashed before her eyes. Even when he’d been acting in fun, he was so careful not to be caught on camera. Too careful, almost.
What’s he hiding?
“Even more reason to not say anything. Why upset him?” Lauren asked. “It’s not like anything’s going to happen. It’s an application for a job. That’s all. It’s hardly going to go viral.”
Lauren made it seem so simple. Maybe she was right, and Amber was blowing it all out of proportion. It was only a photo. One photo.
“When you put it like that.” A smile of relief tugged at the corners of her mouth.
“Just relax and forget about it,” Lauren said.
“Okay.” She paused for a few seconds. “It’s no good. I can’t.”
“Amber,” Lauren growled.
Amber felt like such an idiot. Something inside wouldn’t let her go down the lying track. She was better than that. After everything that she’d been through, she’d learned that the truth was the most important thing. “Seriously, I can’t. I know he might be angry with me, but I have to tell him. It’s best that I own up and hope that he doesn’t end our relationship.”
“Now you’re being stupid. He’s hardly going to end things over a photo. That’s crazy talk.” Lauren rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.
“I hope you’re right. Anyway, it’s decided. I’ll text him to meet me during morning break so I can admit the truth.”
…
“Hey,” he called out as he saw Amber walking toward him. She half smiled back. Not bright like she usually did. He studied her face trying to work out if anything was wrong. “Is everything okay?” he asked as she reached him.
“It could be better,” she replied.
He didn’t buy her reply for a moment. He’d never seen her so uptight before. It was obvious that something terrible had happened. Something much worse than could be better.
“Has someone upset you?” he asked, taking hold of her hand, marveling at how tiny it was and how well it fit into his.
“No. Let’s get out of here, and I’ll tell you.”
He didn’t want to push her to say any more. He hoped it wasn’t anything to do with him. They walked down the long drive in silence until reaching the front entrance of the school. Nik noticed a couple of guys leaning against a tree across the road, staring intently at the school.
“Sir, wait.” His jaw tightened at the sound of Kurt’s voice. He turned and saw his bodyguard running toward them, all pretenses at being a custodian gone.
Nik glanced at Amber, who didn’t seemed to have registered Kurt’s call. “I won’t be a minute.” Without waiting for her to reply, he let go of Amber’s hand and ran to meet Kurt.
“We’ve got a problem,” Kurt said as he came to a halt. He folded his arms across his chest. “Your cover’s been blown.”
His chest pounded against his ribcage. “What? How?” He ran his fingers through his hair. He’d been so careful, how on earth could his true identity have come out? It made no sense.
“The palace press room received a call from someone working at a photographic agency. In an application they received for an internship, there was a photograph of you. Someone on the panel comes from Sweden and recognized you. They leaked the information, and the New York Post has a reporter en route to New Hampshire as we speak. They only had to do a little digging to figure out what was going on. Apparently, the story of a European prince masquerading as a commoner at a U.S. boarding school sounded like cover-page fodder to them.”
The New York Post. Even he’d heard of that newspaper. He’d seen students reading it online, particularly all the celebrity gossip. Nik’s stomach lurched as the realization of what was about to happen hit him. “Are you sure?” he asked, even though he knew he was.
He was going home. His anonymity. His freedom. Gone.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Kurt continued. “You know who sent the application?”
Nik spun around and zeroed in on Amber, who seemed oblivious to anything going on around her. Of course he knew. The last person he’d expected. “Yes.”
Kurt didn’t have to acknowledge what Nik had said; the look on his face spoke volumes. “The men over there by the tree are from the local press. I’m going to speak to them. I suggest you move away now, before they realize you’re standing here. I’ll talk to you later.” Kurt strode off toward a couple of men in khaki pants and light jackets lurking by the school gates, his face set hard.
Of course they had cameras around their necks.
Nik hurried over to where he’d left Amber. “Quick. We have to leave.” He lifted his arm to grab her by the hand but changed his mind and dropped it to his side.
“Why?” she asked, obviously puzzled at his sudden change in demeanor.
“Just come now,” he demanded, throwing all of the weight of his royal p
osition into his voice.
She opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again, blinking in shock. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Kurt speaking to the reporters. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but he imagined it would be something along the lines of: Prince Niklas has requested that you respect his privacy and please leave. There will be a press release from the Lutgenstadt Palace later today.
His whole body ached. He’d always known that there was a risk his true identity would be leaked. He’d sort of prepared himself for it. Though he hadn’t imagined it would have happened quite so soon. More importantly, what he hadn’t prepared himself for was that his betrayer was the one person he’d trusted implicitly and wanted to be with more than anyone else he’d ever known.
What would she do when she found out who he was? Did she already know?
He laughed bitterly to himself. What a turnabout. After he had finally admitted that he cared so much for Amber, he wanted to be with her, would have gone toe to toe with the palace to do it, it turns out he should have been working a hell of a lot harder to shield himself from her.
How could Amber have done it to him? He’d expressly forbidden her to take any photos. He couldn’t have been clearer. It was hardly a difficult request to comply with. Yet, for whatever reasons she had, she’d disregarded him. Resulting in this.
Everyone always wanted something from him. His life would never be normal. He’d been deluded to think he could have even a moment of ordinary.
Whoever opened her application must have gone through her photographs and spotted him. They’d have thought all of their birthdays had come at once. A photograph of a European Prince taken by a young girl. He didn’t know what the photo showed him doing, but whatever it was it had been sufficient for them to pinpoint his location fairly quickly. Americans usually didn’t care about non-English royalty, but when non-English royalty was hiding out in an American boarding school? Too tempting of a story to sell, apparently. Hence the phone call from the palace press office to Kurt.
“Nik?” Amber’s voice broke into his thoughts.
He turned and was momentarily sidetracked by the look of anguish on her face. Until he remembered what she’d done, and then his concern turned to anger.
“Yes.”
A flash of guilt charged across her face. “I’m sorry. I-I’ve done something. I…I…”
He glared at her, determined not to be swayed by her obvious unease. “I know.”
He’d perfected the art of blocking out anything that could affect him. He had to. Or he wouldn’t have coped with the constant intrusion into his life. Whatever Amber said, however grief-stricken she acted, he would be immune to it all.
“Know? You can’t.” She fiddled awkwardly with the button on her chunky blue cardigan.
“You used a photograph of me in your application for the internship.” He folded his arms and towered over her, looking down his nose in a way that had made intrusive photographers or nosy people he’d met shrink away and run many times in the past.
All vestiges of color drained from her face. “But…”
“Do you deny it?” He arched an eyebrow.
Deep down, he wanted it to not be her fault, but there wasn’t a chance of that. Her portfolio. Her photographs. One of which was him, despite him asking her never to take one.
“No. Who told you? Was it Josh? Did Lauren tell him? It was an accident. I’m so sorry.” The words tumbled out of her mouth.
“Why did you do it after I asked you not to take any pictures of me?” He drew in a calming breath. Losing his cool wasn’t something he intended to do. He’d learned long ago that being cold and calm was always the best way to get a point across.
“I said it was an accident. It’s only a photo. It’s not going to harm anyone.” The change in her tone didn’t go unnoticed. He rubbed his hand through his hair in frustration. What planet was he on thinking that a relationship with a commoner would work? She’d never understand the implications of her behavior.
Except she doesn’t know who I am. So how can she understand?
And how will her feelings change once I tell her?
He forced back any thoughts that excused her for what she’d done. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know his true identity. The fact was she’d ignored something he’d told her was important to him. That was indisputable.
Push her away, before you have to find out.
“Really?” He narrowed his eyes. “Not harm anyone. Who do you think they are?” He turned and stabbed his finger in the direction of the media guys talking to Kurt. He really should move. If they spotted him now then all hell would let loose, and he doubted Kurt would be able to contain it.
“I don’t know,” she murmured.
He stood beside her, his fists clenched by his side, trying to block out her sweet scent. The scent which in the past had always driven him crazy.
“They’re media scum. That’s who.” He stepped away to keep some distance between them.
“What are they doing here?” she asked, turning to face him.
“They’re here because of you and your damned photograph,” he snapped, then instantly regretted his words.
He needed to pull himself together. If he upset her too much, she could easily go down and give the media the scoop they would die for.
“I don’t understand.” She tilted her head to one side, worry lines marring her forehead.
“I’m undercover. No one knew I was here, and now, thanks to you and the Swedish member of the internship panel, the whole world will know.” He threw up his hands in despair.
“Undercover? What do you mean? This is crazy. Who are you? Because the son of the fifth Beatle thing was a joke, so—”
He had no choice but to tell her. She’d find out soon enough anyway. “Prince Niklas of Lutgenstadt, second in line to the throne.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You’re a prince?” Amber searched his face looking for any telltale signs that he’d been joking, but there were none. She’d never seen such an expression on him before. Like stone. It was like being next to a stranger. A royal stranger.
“Yes.”
She couldn’t get her head around it. She’d always known that he was different somehow but had put it down to him coming from Europe, and his country being different from America. But a prince. That was on a totally different scale and beyond her realm of comprehension.
“And one day you’re going to be King?” she asked, as a startling image of him sitting on a throne wearing a long velvet robe, with a crown upon his head and his subjects bowing to him, flashed before her eyes.
“No. Fortunately, that’s my older brother’s future. Not mine.”
Oh, yes, he’d said second in line for the throne. So not going to be a king, then. Just a prince. Just. And he sure seemed pleased about that.
Or was he? She didn’t think now was the time to ask.
“And the overly friendly maintenance guy? He’s with you?” she asked, as she glimpsed the guy heading back up the drive. She should’ve realized that the whole lost-wallet scenario was made up. At the time, she’d been so relieved he wasn’t seeing another girl that she’d ignored what had been staring her in the face. That the conversation had seemed far too familiar to be about some lost property.
I’m such an idiot.
“He’s my bodyguard,” he replied through clenched teeth, his eyes distant and cold.
“Who else knows your true identity?” she asked, half convincing herself that it wouldn’t matter so much if no one else had known. She sort of understood if he’d kept it quiet. Although she’d understand even more if she knew that he’d intended to tell her sometime soon.
“Only Josh and the principal.”
Her stomach knotted. Josh he could tell, but not her. From her, he’d kept this huge secret. It didn’t take many brain cells to work out why.
“And you didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth?”
Of course
he didn’t. Because as far as he was concerned, she was just a diversion while he spent time away from his royal life. In the grand scheme of things, she didn’t even figure. He might like her, but that was it. Nothing more. She got that now.
He used me.
“It wasn’t that simple.”
“Why not?” she retorted angrily. “What did you think I’d do? Tell someone?” Her body tensed, and the sound of her heart thumping in her chest echoed in her ears. He’d really screwed her over with all his wanting to be like a regular American talk. It was all crap. Crap designed to fool her.
The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on her. She hadn’t intended to blow his cover. It wasn’t like she’d actually planned to include his photo. It was an unholy mess of epic proportions, and she couldn’t think straight.
“Well, you did.” He glared at her, his lips set in a thin line.
His words stung. Who was this guy? This unbending, uncompromising, cold prince? Not the Nik that she’d gotten to know, that was for sure. He’d just made a total mockery of the last few weeks they’d had together. She’d foolishly opened herself up to him. Told him things no one else knew about her cancer. About how she’d felt after everything that had happened with Wade. She’d trusted him implicitly. You’d have thought she would have learned her lesson with Wade. But, no. She’d made an idiot of herself all over again. Only this time, it was so much worse. She hadn’t loved Wade. But Nik…
“I’ve told you. I hadn’t intended to include your photo; it was just an awful accident.” Her voice cracked, and she coughed to hide it. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much his words and actions were hurting her.
“If you hadn’t taken the photo in the first place, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The one thing I asked you not to do.” He folded his arms tightly across his chest, an icy expression plastered across his face.
“If you hadn’t lied to me, I might have been a lot more careful about not taking it,” she retorted.
