Page 28 of A Royal Mistake

He turned to her, but the protection agent made no move to interfere.

“That won’t be necessary, Your Highness.” Philip’s gaze darted from Pippa to the other suitors. “I wouldn’t want to hurt you or—”

“Lose to a woman?” she guessed, cocking her head thoughtfully.

Philip pressed his lips flat, seeming to realize he’d backed himself into a corner. “Alright. But if I win, I’d like your assurances I won’t be sent home.”

Pippa laughed, the sound light and musical and completely at odds with the oppressive heat of the tension filled garden. “I can assure you I’m not a sore loser.” She gestured for him to sit as she returned gracefully to her chair. “Henry, could you call it for us? We’ll need a referee.”

He nodded as the other suitors pressed in, circling the table, each jockeying for position.

Disbelief washed over him as she rested her elbow on the table, smiling prettily at Philip. “I’m left-handed. That won’t be a problem, will it?”

“No. Of course not.” Philip smirked and looked at the men circling the table. “You might even have a fighting chance if I’m using my non-dominant hand.”

“Twenty euros on the boy!”

Henry wasn’t sure who’d thrown out the wager, but the group exploded in a frenzy of shouted bets.

“Fifty on the princess!”

“One hundred euros says he pins her within ten seconds.”

“I’ll take that bet.”

“Can we get our phones back? This should be recorded. In case we need a replay.”

Jesus. They were like bloody vultures. He glared up at them, but the men were too engrossed in the matchup to care.

At least he could rest assured Sarah would not be returning their phones. No way the protection agent would let this end up on social media.

He blocked out the raucous cheers as Pippa and Philip squared off, their elbows resting on the table as they locked their hands together.

“Let’s go, Pippa. You’ve got this!” he said, leaning in close.

“You can’t cheer for her,” Philip whined. “It’s not fair.”

Henry ignored him. “Everyone ready?”

Pippa and Philip nodded, though their eyes remained locked on one another.

They were really taking this thing seriously.

Too seriously.

Sweat pooled between his shoulder blades and he prayed he hadn’t made a mistake in joining this speed dating disaster.

“Ready… Go!”

Philip grunted and his eyes grew wide as Pippa tightened her grip. Someone in the crowd let out a loudwhoopas she tipped Philip’s hand toward the table. The movement spurred him to action, and he flexed his fingers—was that even allowed?—as he strained against her grip, returning their hands to a neutral position.

Pippa’s jaw hardened and her forearm shook, but she didn’t back down.

The woman had an iron will, and it was on full display.

Come on, Pippa.

Perhaps he couldn’t cheer aloud—refs were supposed to be impartial—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t cheer internally.