by Lina Langley
“Nothing ever happens?”
“Well, someone gave me tainted molly once, but I think they gave everyone tainted molly, so I don’t know if that counts.”
“Simon!”
“What? You asked.”
“And the men in black?”
“Yeah, them. Our staff. It turned out that my father wanted me to come home the moment that he’d heard of the bomb threat. They were under orders from my parents not to disturb me, but as they were updated on the situation, well, things changed.”
“That makes sense.”
“He told me that he thought I could have a little freedom, have some fun, then come home and choose somebody to marry. But when the bomb threat was called in, every possibility of freedom that I had basically went up in smoke.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s okay. Trying to run away was a stupid idea. The only part that I really regret was not being able to go out with you.”
Dallas swallowed. “Will you come back?”
“Well, this is the part where you’re going to want to hang up.”
“Oh, good. I thought the part where I was going to want to hang up was when I was worried about you.”
“You were worried about me?”
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Dallas said, rubbing his temple. “Keep going, sorry I interrupted you.”
“No, it’s okay. I like it when you worry about me. Especially when I know you’re going to get pissed in a second.”
“I can’t wait for this,” Dallas said.
Simon chuckled. “Okay, so you know how I told you that everyone gets investigated?”
“Yes, you told me that.”
“Because there was a bomb threat, they're investigating everyone that had anything to do with me when I was in San Leandre. That includes you, of course. Your staff, too.”
Dallas blinked a couple of times. “Okay, I guess that makes sense.”
“Dallas, they've bugged your phone.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me right. They’ve bugged your phone.”
“Why?” Dallas replied once he picked up his jaw off the floor and shaking his head. “I had nothing to do with any bomb threats, I didn't know anything about that until you told me about a second ago.”
“Yeah, here's where I messed up.”
Dallas exhaled heavily through his nose. “Okay, here is where you messed up?”
“I kind of told my dad how much I like you. If I hadn't told him, I think he would have just let it go.”
“You told him how much you liked me?”
“Yes,” Simon replied. “I told him I trusted you, I told him how I went into your inn and how you were so hesitant to take me in, about how you didn't trust me at first. I told him about our ice cream date, I told him about everything.”
“Oh.”
“But then I told him that I was interested in seeing you again, and that's when he got a little, well, crazy.”
“What do you mean a little crazy?”
“It's pretty normal that people who are interested in my family are social climbers of the worst sort. Because we're royalty, getting married to one of us instantly gives you a title and wealth.”
“Hold on. Are you accusing me of being a gold digger?”
“No,” Simon said, clearly trying to hold back laughter. “I’m not accusing you of being a gold digger at all. My dad wants to make sure that you're not in some sort of international ploy to kill me, which honestly, don’t take it personally. It’s pretty standard.”
“I'm not in any international ploy to kill you, I just look at embarrassing porn on my phone. I don’t want your dad to have that information.”
Simon snickered. “If it makes you feel any better, they only pass the relevant information on. So far, you’re squeaky clean. That’s the reason I was allowed to make this phone call.”
“Wait, someone had to give you permission to call me?”
“A linnet in a gilded cage, Dallas.”
Dallas bit his lower lip. He wasn’t sure what to say to that. He wanted to ask Simon what that meant for them, but there was no them, they weren’t a couple. They were nothing. They had just known each other for a few days, they hadn’t even gone on a real date together, and Dallas knew that he was overthinking things. He was too invested, he cared far too much, he was being foolish.
“So what does—what does that mean?”
“It means that I can’t go back to the States for a while,” Simon said quietly. “Not while they investigate the bomb threat.”
“I’m confused.”
“I can’t leave Maitje while they’re doing the investigation. I definitely can’t go to back to San Leandre.”
Dallas rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was nice, he thought, telling him that he wasn’t going to be able to come back, telling him that their date was never going to happen. He was doing him a courtesy. This was what Dallas had wanted for a while, closure, the ability to be done with Simon forever. He didn’t feel like he had just gotten closure, he felt like he had been punched in the stomach.
“Dallas, are you there?”
“Yeah, I heard you. You said you can’t leave Maitje.”
“I can’t even leave the palace,” Simon said. “If it were up to me, I would be there. We would have had dinner together tonight. Every night since the night I left.”
“I’ve been thinking about you too,” Dallas replied, swallowing. He was holding back because this felt stupid, it felt like too much, but the moment that Simon had expressed any regret for not being able to be there, something had changed for Dallas. “I had a date tonight.”
“How was it?”
“He was nice.”
“But you’re home.”
“Yes.”
“He mustn’t have been that nice.”
“There was nothing wrong with him. He was polite. Cute, too.”
“You weren’t feeling it?”
“I’m one-track minded.”
Simon chuckled. “Same here.”
“But you’re in Maitjee.”
“ Maitje,” Simon replied, snickering. “Yeah. I can’t leave. But you can.”
“What?”
“Come over. All expenses paid trip to the Kingdom of Maitje. You’ll be thoroughly vetted of course, so it might take a few more weeks, but you’ll stay at the palace.”
“At the palace?”
“I can’t leave.”
“You said.”
“You’d get to meet my family,” Simon said. “I know this sounds a little mental, but I promise you they’re very nice people.”
“I'm not worried about whether your parents are nice people.”
“I’m just saying.”
Dallas licked his lips as he weighed his options. The idea of going abroad was tempting, but he didn’t know Simon that well. His crush on him was irrational, based mostly on lust, and he didn’t think that staying in the same house as he when he had practically no means of escaping was a particularly good idea. On the other hand, he had never been out of the country, he was burned out from running the inn and the idea of weeks on end spent doing sightseeing and then fucking on expensive sheets was incredibly tempting.
“When would you want me to go? Because I have a business to run.”
“I know, I know, I don't expect you to be here for long. Just a couple of weeks, three tops. Everything will be provided for you.”
“I’ve never left the business before, Simon.”
Simon sighed. “I'll show you around. You'd be doing me a huge favor.”
“Doing you a huge favor how?”
“Well, you would be helping me with postponing my impending nuptials.”
If anything could tempt Dallas, it was that. The very idea of Simon being married to anyone else made him feel a little sick to his stomach, though he told himself to stop being immature. “Okay, and when would you like me to go?”
“I don’t know, I�
��m thinking we can book it for in about two months. Is that something you think you can do?”
“In two months?”
Dallas didn't want to say it, but if he was going to see Simon in two months, he knew that the anticipation was the only thing that would consume this life. It was awful to think about.
He wanted to see him, hold him, touch him. Kiss him. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t even kissed him yet.
“This is a lot to think about.”
“I know, I know it's a lot,” Simon said.
They were both quiet for a few seconds until Simon cleared his throat.
“So how about we do this? For the next month, we talk to each other twice a week.”
“Why?” Dallas quickly replied, then corrected himself. “I mean, don't get me wrong, I definitely want to. I just don't understand what this has to do with me going to Maitje.”
“Yes, you do,” Simon said. “Look, you don’t trust me yet, right? The circumstances under which we met, well… I mean, I don’t blame you for not trusting me. Really. And you’re scared that you’re going to come over here and I’m going to Bluebeard you or something.”
“I mean, I wasn’t before, but now that you mention it.”
“So let’s get to know each other.”
“Like… dating?”
“Sure,” Simon replied. “Like dating.”
“You’ll have to explain the terms to me.”
“We’re both at home at the same time. Then we talk. If it doesn’t work, nothing happens. If it does, you come to Maitje for a holiday. How does that sound?”
Perfect. Amazing. Incredible. “Fine.”
“Great. E-mail me your schedule and I’ll have my secretary work out the details.”
“Your secretary?”
“Gilded cage, Dallas,” Simon said. Dallas could almost hear the wink. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
With that, he ended the call. Dallas stared at his laptop, which was now only making the quiet noise that came from the fan, and he shut it.
“Yeah,” he said to no one. “Talk to you soon.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Dallas wasn’t sure what he was supposed to wear to a Skype date, but the moment that Simon had called him, his mood had changed. Eros had noticed him whistling, he had given him little sly smiles that Dallas was sure were supposed to mean something, but Dallas didn’t want to share anything about Simon. He turned Branden down gently after he called, fielding Jesse’s questions about there being someone else as skillfully as he could, because technically there was no one else.
He was just talking to someone online. They didn’t even know each other that well. They were just two people who were getting to know each other and Dallas couldn't blow it out of proportion. He already knew that he had a crush on Simon. But a crush was a crush, a crush could go away the moment that they found any incompatibilities, the moment that he let Simon fade from his mind. If he could manage to let him fade from his mind at all.
So far, Dallas hadn't found any, but then again it wasn't like they'd spend that much time together.
Well, he hadn't found anything related to Simon's personality, but he wasn't sure what to think about the fact that he was a prince.
He still found it a little hard to believe that someone in Simon's position would take an interest in him. He wasn't particularly good looking, he didn't think. He didn't have bad luck with men, he just wasn't a Hollywood star, and Dallas was pretty sure that Simon could have any Hollywood star that he wanted. He couldn't think about that too much, dwelling on it made it harder. If Simon had been there, then maybe Dallas would have asked. As things stood, it was hard for him to verbalize any of his concerns. He needed to keep his eye on the ball. He needed to know if he could trust Simon enough to let Eros run his business for two, three weeks.
To go to a kingdom that he had never heard of before.
He opted for something that looked slightly presentable, shaving in the morning and getting a haircut that day during his lunch break.
He told Eros not to bother him unless there was an emergency. Eros winked at him and Dallas resisted the urge to flip him the bird, telling him to get to work instead.
Eros nodded, saying nothing, and Dallas rolled his eyes.
He went up to his room, closed the door behind him, put his phone on silent, placed it on his nightstand face down and waited. It was hard for him to wait for Simon to call him, he hadn't waited for guys to call him ever since he was in high school.
But he didn't have to wait long, the computer started to ring a few minutes before the agreed time.
“Hi,” Dallas said, waving at the camera. The image looked a little bit choppy for both of them, but Dallas still focused on Simon's face the moment that he came into view.
Simon was waving at him, a smile on his face, and Dallas wasn’t sure, but he thought that he could see his eyes glimmer.
He felt like he hadn't seen him for so long. He’d seen photos of him on the internet, of course, because his curiosity had been on overdrive ever since Simon had left, but it wasn’t the same.
The parts of him that he really loved looking at, like the little dimple on his chin whenever he smiled, or that unruly strand of black hair that fell down the middle of his forehead and that Simon kept pushing away from his eyes by shaking his head ever-so-slightly, those were things that Dallas had been thinking about ever since Simon had left the inn, ever since he had left the city, ever since he had left the country.
“Hi. Can you see me okay? Hear me?”
“Yes,” Dallas replied. “What about you?”
“Same here,” Simon said. “You look great. Somehow you look even hotter than I remember and I remember you being super hot.”
Dallas rolled his eyes as he snickered. “Oh my god, is that how we are starting this?”
“With compliments? Yes, that's how we're starting this. Where’s mine?”
“You’re good at making me blush?”
“Yeah,” Simon replied. “I’ve noticed. You should get a better camera, I can barely see your skin on the screen because your camera sucks.”
Dallas smirked. “Maybe I will.”
“Do it,” Simon said, looking into the camera and biting his lower lip. He was so fucking sexy, it was completely unfair.
“Maybe you'll just have to see me in person.”
“That one sounds better.”
“You still have to talk me into it.”
“Okay, tell me what I have to do,” Simon said as he cocked his head. He was wearing a baby blue polo shirt which showed off his arms and he was far enough away from the camera that Dallas could see how his clothes hugged his toned body. “I mean, I can’t show you my dick, if that’s what you’re after. All our communication is monitored.”
Dallas chortled. “You know, for a prince, you’re really vulgar.”
“Thank you,” Simon said, winking at him.
“I don’t know if that was a compliment.”
“I do.”
Dallas laughed again. He took a deep breath as he looked at Simon, so gorgeous, so impossibly far away. He was looking into the camera, his head cocked to one side, his eyes shining.
“I miss you,” Dallas heard himself say, instantly regretting it.
Simon looked at him, his smile turning into a grin. “I miss you too, Dallas.”
Dallas’ eyes widened, his heart beating fast in his chest. What was it about this guy that made him feel like a goddamn teenager? Why couldn’t he just feel like a normal person around him?
“Oh, good. I’m glad we got that out of the way with.”
“Oh, fuck. You googled me, didn’t you?”
“I mean, of course I googled you. What kind of person would I be if I didn't Google you?”
Simon rolled his eyes as he smiled. “I don't know. Soulmate?”
“So it’s true?”
“Which part?”
“I don't know where to start,” Dallas replied. “The tabloids really li
ke to cover you. There are some articles in languages I can’t read—”
“Thank god for small mercies—”
“But according to this, you’ve had a pretty crazy few years.”
“Yeah, the tabloids like me.”
“You didn’t tell me if it was true.”
Simon nodded. “Most of them are true, exaggerated but true.”
“Did you really snort cocaine off a—”
“Okay, that happened once,” Simon said. “The article makes it sound like I did it every weekend. It was my friend’s stag do, we were in Ibiza, no one’s supposed to take pictures inside the clubs.”
Dallas shook his head, laughing. “I've never done cocaine.”
“Good,” Simon winked at him. “Neither have I.”
Dallas laughed again, then his expression sobered up. “Is it always like that?
Simon straightened up as he continued to look at Dallas on his screen, making him feel self-conscious and horny all at the same time. It was stupid. No one should have been able to do that just by looking at him. “Is what always like that?”
“You know, the whole being in a relationship thing. Like for you, not just for anyone,” Dallas said, his gaze darting away from Simon’s face.
“Relationship thing? You mean in the tabloids?”
“I feel like I know more about your relationship history than I do about my own. Did you really date all these people?”
Simon smiled, biting his lower lip and looking away, shaking his head almost imperceptibly. “Yeah, most of them. I mean, none of them were serious.”
“None of them?”
“Well, the majority of them weren’t. Some of them were beards from before I came out, but that’s only a few.”
“So you liked the women?”
“I told you, I like beautiful people,” Simon said, shrugging.
“So you liked them.”
“Yeah,” Simon said, rolling his eyes, the smile never leaving his face. “I like everyone, so some of them I did go out on a few dates with. Some of them, I didn’t.”
Dallas shook his head. “The tabloids make it seem like you were in a relationship with, like, fifteen people. I mean, you're only like twenty-five, right?”
