Reluctantly Royal

by Gillian Archer

  And I had just found the perfect means for my oblivion.

  Unfortunately for me, she’d drawn the attention of every man in the bar with a functioning cock. And that was saying something. There was a loud, boisterous hen party cackling away on the opposite side of the bar—although the way they were waving huge dildos around was a sure boner-killer for most men. No way could any man measure up to their expectations tonight. Then there was the trio of scantily clad women with huge breasts on display in their low-cut blouses, all wearing knee-high go-go boots. I was kinda curious about their act. They’d gone all out, and the way they were drinking meant it’d be an interesting show for sure.

  But all those women paled in comparison to the one I wanted. As I watched a second guy approach their table and get shot down, I realized I’d have to come up with a more creative style than those imbéciles.

  “At least the music would’ve been better at the club I suggested,” Dimitri muttered as a truly tone-deaf guy caterwauled onstage about lost love.

  I tore my stalkerish stare away from my future hookup and shrugged at Dimitri. Right now he was the closest thing I had to a confidant. “Yeah, but at least here no one knows who I am.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing to be…” He hesitated for a second and looked over my shoulder before finishing with, “you.”

  “You know better than anyone what my life is like, and what’s waiting for me at the end of this trip. Anything is better than being home right now.” Or anytime, really. Not that I could ever say that out loud. “I thought it was bad when it was just the state-sponsored mourning. But ever since Bastien made his wedding announcement, it’s turned into a three-ring circus. No, thank you. I’d rather be back in the desert eating MREs.”

  Dimitri snorted. “Nothing could be that bad, monsieur.”

  I raised my eyebrows as I took a swig from my beer. He didn’t know. No one could understand. It was times like this that I really missed my twin brother, Julien. He was the one person in the whole world who understood me. The shit with our parents. The pressures of being in the spotlight. The need for something easier, something stable.

  Something normal.

  I never should’ve started drinking. It had made me all emotional and whiny.

  A distinctive thrumming beat came from the stage as a smoky, seductive voice threaded through the bar with her “na-na-na”s. I turned in my chair and saw that while I’d been brooding, my future hookup had taken to the stage solo and was jumping around while belting out the lyrics to Pink’s “So What.”

  Although it’d been a while since I’d heard the song, I recognized the bitter breakup anthem. But whose breakup were the ladies celebrating?

  “C’est pas vrai, that’s hot.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Dimitri’s exclamation. I hadn’t thought that we had the same taste in women, but to be honest I’d never thought about it much. Although that could be due to my recent dry spell. Apparently I hadn’t thought about women much recently.

  “What’s hot?” I asked.

  Dimitri nodded toward my future hookup’s friend, and I turned to see she’d stripped off her hoodie, revealing a very brief tank, but that wasn’t what had grabbed his attention. The brunette was currently waving her hands over her head while she bounced along to the song, belting out the lyrics in a less than melodic voice.

  I grunted, then turned back to the stage. I didn’t want to miss one more second of my girl’s girls bouncing. Her breasts were so fucking hot. By now most of the bar was on their feet singing along—the women, I mean. I think most of the men weren’t because they didn’t want to expose their hard-ons.

  The blonde finished her song, blew a raspberry, then took a dramatic bow amid thunderous applause.

  “You change your mind about the brunette?” I asked.

  Dimitri shrugged, but I could see that he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  “Let’s go,” I rumbled.

  He didn’t need to ask what I meant. I just hoped Dimitri’s social skills had improved since the last time he’d talked to an American. He’d been less than kind when dealing with that woman at the hotel. Granted, she thought I was some B-list actor. But we probably had only one shot with these ladies and if I knew Dimitri, we were in trouble. Our chairs made a loud scraping sound as we pushed away from the table. We were both intent on our targets, but unfortunately we weren’t the only ones. Before we could reach them, a trio of prats got to our girls’ table first.

  The guys said something and my girl looked at her friend, who rolled her eyes. With a small smile, my girl shook her head and said something I couldn’t catch. The prats took their leave, and a few beats later Dimitri and I stood in their place.

  “Bonjour.” Dimitri greeted the women before I could open my mouth. “May we join you ladies?”

  My girl looked to her friend, who didn’t even notice. She was too busy smiling at Dimitri, who took her smile as a yes and pulled out the chair closest to her. I grabbed the chair next to the blonde.

  “I’m Hannah and this is my friend Rachel,” the blonde said with a wider smile than she’d shown the prats. Although she directed it at Dimitri.

  Connard.

  I smiled at both ladies. “Luc. This is Dimitri.”

  Hannah turned her wide smile at me, and suddenly I was glad I’d taken a seat. “Hi, Luc. That’s quite an accent you got there. Where are you from?”

  “Monaco.”

  Rachel leaned forward. “Oh, wow. I’ve never met anyone from Monaco before. Your country’s been in the news lately…something about the royal family?”

  I felt Dimitri tense beside me even as my smile dimmed. “Yes, our Sovereign Prince is marrying another European princess. It’ll be quite the event, I’m told.”

  “Does that mean you’ll be invited?” Rachel asked.

  I laughed uncomfortably and deflected. “Do we look like the kind of guys who would be invited to a royal wedding?”

  Rachel shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Just because you guys are wearing jeans and T-shirts now doesn’t mean anything.”

  “The fact that you’re hanging out in the Juke Joint on a Thursday night I think says more than your wardrobe.” Hannah smiled. “I really doubt any friends of a prince would be caught dead in here.”

  Dimitri smirked, then took a swig of his water.

  I just shrugged and smiled.

  Rachel cocked her head. “I hadn’t heard about the royal wedding. Wasn’t there something else about your country that was in the news recently? Something about the royal family…I can’t think of it.”

  I rolled my pint glass in my hand and stared intently at the fizzing liquid. “Yes, next month is the one-year anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of our previous Sovereign Prince and one of his sons, Prince Julien.”

  My twin brother. Just saying his name aloud was like being sliced with a dull knife. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

  “I remember that. It was all over the news for weeks. So horrible.” Hannah shook her head, her expression solemn.

  An uncomfortable silence descended on the table for a moment. I had to look away; the sympathy in Hannah’s eyes felt so much more authentic than any I’d heard over the past year. And this coming from a woman who had no idea that it was my brother and father we were talking about. I took a swig of my beer to cover my awkwardness.

  “What brings you to the U.S.?” Rachel asked with a sympathetic wince as Dimitri overrode her question with his own.

  “So, which one of you is getting over a breakup?” Dimitri bluntly asked.

  I closed my eyes and my shoulders shook with a silent laugh. I couldn’t believe how smooth Dimitri wasn’t when it came to women. Before anymore awkwardness could come flying out of Dimitri’s mouth, I answered Rachel’s question. “I’m here with Dimitri and a few other associates to attend the Global Gaming conference that begins next week. Although if I knew Dimitri had foot-in-mouth disease, I would’ve asked one of the other guys out for
drinks tonight.”

  “Je vous demande pardon, mademoiselles.” Dimitri wore a chagrined expression. “It’s just your performance was pretty telling, and I was hoping that Rachel here was single.”

  “Nothing like the straightforward approach, I guess.” Hannah laughed. “We’re here celebrating Rachel’s breakup with some good booze, bad karaoke, and maybe a few gorgeous soldiers. Nellis Air Force base is only a few blocks from here. Usually this place is packed with military guys.”

  “You happen to be in luck.” Dimitri smiled at Rachel, flexing the dimple in his right cheek. “Commandant Dimitri Vasin of the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince.”

  The girls smiled and hummed in approval. A beat later Hannah turned expectant eyes toward me.

  I smiled and played along. “Retired Lieutenant Luc Greiner, reporting for duty.”

  “Retired, huh?” Hannah leaned across the round table toward me. “You can’t be a day over thirty. How are you retired already?”

  Because my twin brother’s death made me the spare, which meant I could no longer serve in the French Air Force. But I couldn’t say that. I was enjoying my anonymity too much. Plus the allure of chasing a woman who wasn’t already fawning all over me due to my title was too unique to resist. I purposely made no mention of my honorary position in the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince. Explaining that would no doubt blow my cover.

  “Ouch.” I covered my hands over my heart, feigning hurt. “Twenty-eight, actually. I served six years after university, then left the military and am now an advisor to the Crown on foreign imports.” That sounded like a real job, right?

  “Wow.”

  “Yes, it’s just as dull and unexciting as it sounds.” I gave Hannah my dusty but trademarked bad-boy-prince smile.

  And it worked. I could see Hannah melting under the power of my charm. She put her arms on the table and leaned toward me.

  “Does that mean you’ve met the royal family?” She murmured like it was a state secret.

  Dimitri choked on his water, so I subtly pounded on his back in an attempt to “help” my friend. I thought he’d been intent on his conversation with the suddenly single Rachel, but my girl’s voice must’ve carried.

  “Yes. I’ve spent some time with the royal family.” I cleared my throat. “It, uh, the way our government’s structured, our royal family isn’t just ceremonial. My appointment came from His Royal Highness Prince Sébastien. There was a ceremony and everything. He even shook my hand.”

  Then my brother had glared at me for my inattention due to Lady Durand’s very low-cut dress. What can I say? As a guy, it was hard not to look—especially when the dress had been clinging to stay on. Just lump me in with Lot, Perseus, and Orpheus. I had to look.

  Like I was now. Hannah leaned back in her chair with a suitably impressed expression. But I couldn’t look away from the brown sunburst in the center of her sparkling green eyes. The combination of the mischievous twinkle in her eyes and the small smile curving her luscious lips had my heart racing.

  What was going on? Usually I was a breast man. But with Hannah, all I wanted to do was stare into her gorgeous hazel eyes and say or do anything to keep that sparkle lit there. I wanted her. Here. Now. Well, preferably without an audience, but I wouldn’t complain. I just wanted to feel her under me. Hear the sound she made when she climaxed. Feel the gripping strength of her—

  Merde. I couldn’t continue down that path. It was making things…hard. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “And you? What do you do? Are you attending university?”

  Hannah laughed lightly even as her eyes darkened with pain. “No. I never got around to going to college. Rachel and I are cosmetologists.”

  I blinked. “I’m sorry, I don’t know that word. Cosme—”

  “Hairdressers.” Rachel cut in, rolling her eyes at her friend. “We’re hairstylists. Cut, style, perms, dyes. We do hair. No matter how fancy Hannah tries to make it sound.”

  Hannah laughed uncomfortably. “That is literally what it says on my license. Cosmetology.”

  “You need a license to be a cosmo-tol-gist?” I asked, pronouncing the last word awkwardly. Clearly it was important to Hannah, so I didn’t want to sound condescending.

  “Yes, but it’s boring.” Hannah waved a hand as she clearly became uncomfortable with the examination of her choice of career. “Let’s talk about something else. How long are you in the States?”

  “A little over a week. Maybe longer, if we have cause to extend our trip.” I leaned on the table and smiled at Hannah.

  Dimitri narrowed his eyes at me, but I ignored his attempt to get my attention. He worked for me. I didn’t have to clear my travel plans with him.

  Hannah tilted her head and smiled. “Have you been to Las Vegas before? We’d be happy to show you guys the sights if you’d like.”

  “That would be lovely.” I glossed over her question about coming to Vegas before. Besides, the three other times I’d been here were either service-related or more about clubs and booze and less about the official sights.

  Dimitri turned to me and asked in French. “Do you have time to entertain ladies? This is an official trip as an ambassador for the Crown. We have a strict itinerary.”

  “Non,” I replied, and continued in French. “The itinerary is my concern. And all I agreed to was the keynote speech next week. Bastien can take his damn meetings and shove them up his—”

  “Non, monsieur. There’s also your assistant and security detail, who need to be apprised of your movements. We cannot just wander onto whatever tourist attractions she recommends without a plan. You could be recognized and cause a mob scene in under five seconds. This—” Dimitri waved a hand to indicate the bar they were in. “Tonight was an anomaly. We won’t always be this lucky.”

  “You’re wrong. No one in this country even gives the first shit about any royalty other than my British cousins. We’ll be fine. You worry too much.” I turned to the ladies and switched to English. “I’m sorry. That was rude. Dimitri was just reminding me that we have some obligations that are firm, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun. Maybe we should exchange phone numbers?”

  Hannah and Rachel’s eyes ping-ponged between my smile and Dimitri’s stone-faced expression. Finally, Hannah spoke. “I don’t want to cause any problems with your boss. This is a work trip for you, after all.”

  “Let me worry about my boss.” I waited for Dimitri’s coughing, snorting fit to subside, then leaned across the table and smiled winningly at Hannah. “I’d love to see you again.”

  “Again? Who said tonight was over?” Hannah lifted a hand, signaling for another round, then tossed me a sassy smile. “You gotta pay to play, Luc. I don’t give anyone my number without a dance first.”

  I winced as another tone-deaf guy ruined one of my favorite Jay-Z songs. “I don’t know if I can dance to someone butchering a song. What if he takes it as a compliment and thinks he has talent?”

  Hannah sighed deeply. “Damn, and I thought we had some chemistry going here. I just don’t think I could be with someone who takes himself so seriously.”

  Dimitri snorted again, then coughed. “Excuse me. I think I swallowed wrong.”

  “You make that sound a lot.” Rachel tilted her head in concern. “Have you seen a doctor for it?”

  Hannah’s laughing eyes met mine over the table. She obviously knew as well as I did that Dimitri was full of shit. I jerked my chin in acknowledgment of her challenge.

  Just then the unmistakable thrumming beat of “SexyBack” pulsed through the bar.

  I closed my eyes with a muttered curse. It would have to be a douchey song.

  Hannah bounced in her seat, her shoulders twitching along to the beat. “What do you say? Wanna get your sexy on?”

  “Mon chou, my sexy is always on.” It was a corny line, but I grabbed Hannah’s hand and pulled her onto the small space reserved as a dance floor, leaving a chortling Dimitri and Rachel behind.

  Chapt
er 4

  With a song like “SexyBack” playing, I thought we’d be grinding against each other, all full of sexual tension and steps away from going home together.

  Not so much.

  Hannah bounced around the small dance floor with her hands over her head, apparently without a care in the world. It felt like the entire bar was watching us, but Hannah didn’t seem to notice. She bounced and gyrated and yelled the lyrics along with the tone-deaf singer on stage. She was pure joy and didn’t appear to have a single worry. It was intoxicating and impossible to ignore.

  Not that Hannah would let me just stand there and watch her dance.

  On her second trip bopping around the dance floor, she grabbed my hand and pulled me into her insanity. In seconds I was laughing, gyrating alongside her. Dancing like this was so far outside my comfort level, but I don’t think I’d ever enjoyed myself so much in my life.

  All too soon the song ended, and I found myself breathing a bit harder than before and staring into her hazel eyes. “That was…fun.”

  “You’ve got some moves. I wasn’t sure at first—you were just standing there like a bump on a log. But once you loosened up—”

  Whatever she was going to say next was cut off as the karaoke host took over the mic. “That’s it for me. Thanks for partying with me tonight. I’m gonna leave you with the sultry sounds of Beyoncé’s “Naughty Girl” as I pack up, and then it’s the digital jukebox after that. Night, all!”

  The guy had the balls to wink at me as the music started.

  Hannah burst out laughing. “I think he’s playing my song.”

  “It would be rude to disappoint him.”

  She lifted her hands over her head again and started to do this hip-shake thing that immediately got my dick hard.

  I shook my head and grabbed her hand to pull her to me. “This time we’re dancing my way.”

  Hannah laughed as she fell into my arms, but she didn’t complain or protest. No, she did that hip-shaking thing against my body. I groaned and ground my hard dick into her soft belly. Hannah made a soft keening sound, then burrowed her head into my chest.