Page 20 of Fake Dating Mr. Prince

“I don’t know.” I’d asked myself that question over and over. He hadn’t recognized me, I knew that. “He just kept saying stop.”

She looked astonished. “And you didn’t?”

“Um,” I looked at her wide eyed. “Hell no.”

“Ash, maybe he’s totally into you. He could bethe one. You should’ve stayed.” Leave it to my sister, the romantic, to take that away from my disaster of a first night.

“Stella, I was staring at his half-naked body, it was already awkward enough.” I winced. “That’s not the worst part.”

“There’s something even worse?” Stella's expression spoke volumes.

I crinkled my nose and looked toward the ceiling. “I might have met him before now.”

“You would’ve told me if you had.”

“I did.”

Stella stared at me as though the answer would reveal itself on my face. When her eyes grew wide, I knew she’d figured it out. “No way. He’s the guy? Liketheguy from the ball?”

“Uh-huh.” Stella was the only one who knew what happened that night, and she’d chastised me for running away then, too.

“Did he recognize you?”

“No, at the ball I had a full face of makeup, was dressed in a couture gown, and my hair was blue. He didn’t seem to realize who I was. But there’s more.”

Shock was written all over her face. “More than that?”

“He’s in charge of their wedding division. What if it’s a conflict of interest that I work there? What if now that he knows my face, he looks for me and gets me fired because he knows I workhere?” I threw my hands out, indicating walls around us. All of my dreams were going up in smoke.

Stella stared at me. Her head cocked to the side. Then her shoulders began to shake. She pushed her fingertips against her mouth and laughter spilled out from her lips. As if her body couldn't take the weight of her laughter, she bent at the waist, her chest practically laying on her lap, her giggling only slightly muffled.

I glared at her and huffed. “This isn’t funny.”

“It really is,” she gasped out in between her chortles, finally sitting back up. Tears streamed down her face.

I crossed my arms over my chest, intensifying my glare.

“Seriously, Ash,” she said, her laughter dying down. “You’re worried about him finding out that you work here after you’ve seen him naked.”

“Almost naked. He had on a towel.” I felt the need to correct her.

“So what? You saw him partially naked this time. But youhaveseen him naked.” She waggled her eyebrows. “He’s not going to find out. Here’s why,” she started to tick off on her fingers, “One, you work for the cleaning company, not him, so there’s no conflict of interest. Two, you’re not designing or sewing any type of wedding clothes for him, and three, he’s probably more concerned you saw him almost naked. But even so, if you look at the tabloids, he’s a total player. I bet he was hoping it would turn into something smexy between the two of you.”

“Stella, I’ve seen the girls in the tabloids that he dates. They arenotlike me.” I might not have known who he was at the ball, but after figuring it out, I searched his name online. His frequent late night events and the women with him had been reported in various tabloids and blogs over the years.

“Don’t you start, Ash. Then what was the night of the ball? You said he came on to you.” Stella’s shoulders tightened and she narrowed her eyes at me.

Any minute now, her finger was about to start wagging in my face. She was the biggest reason I had learned to love myself, no matter what size I was. And I loved her even more for that. We were the two amigos weathering the emotional storm that had been our childhood after my father had passed away.

“I’m not getting down on myself. You know I’m comfortable with my size, but people are attracted to who they’re attracted to...and he’s attracted to model-type girls like you or Adelise.” I grimaced at saying my other stepsister’s name. There was no love lost between us.

“If that’s what you need to tell yourself,” she said, relaxing her posture. “I disagree. That night between the two of you was hot. Maybe now that you know who he is, you could have a little fun with him.”

I threw my hand out. “Stop. I have no time for anything, especially men. Whether it’s messing around or more than that. I have my business to start. That’s my focus.”

“You’re no fun, Ash.” She pouted. “So what do you plan to do next about it all?”

“Go back. I need that five hundred dollar sign-on bonus. If I don’t get a call that I’m fired, that is. My next shift is tonight.”