Page 63 of Fake Dating Mr. Prince

Her amazed tone had me laughing. “Cute? Prince’s don’t do cute.”

“I think this one does.” She poked her finger into my side.

I raised my eyebrow.

She grinned. “Okay, how about cute and sexy?”

“Better,” I said, playing along.

I posted the photo to my social media accounts without adding text. Let people make their own guesses as to what we were to each other. I couldn’t stop myself from glancing at the picture one more time before I put away my phone.

We did look pretty cute together. And for the first time in my life, I was looking forward to seeing how the tabloids pondered my relationship with a woman.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ashlyn

It was Sunday afternoon. I hugged my pillow tight as I laid curled on my couch watchingPrincess Bride. The scene when Westley and Buttercup had their first kiss was seconds away from happening.

My insides were mushy, and all I could think about was Dean’s devastating lips. That man had a rockin’ body, and he could make mine sing with just his mouth. He’d taken me home after our date yesterday because he had a night out with his guy friends already planned.

While my mind understood, my body had a hard time adjusting to our separation. I wanted him to take me back to his place for a quickie but held back from asking, not wanting him to think I was getting clingy.

Dean didn’t do relationships. I knew that. I liked that he had guy friends to hang out with, but hated knowing random girls would be all over him. I’d stupidly looked up various tabloids online, each one showing him with another model-like girl.

He texted me throughout the night, which helped ease that sense of jealousy. And I continuously reminded myself that we weren’t really together. To show how cool I could be, I playfully mentioned what a chick magnet he was. He immediately responded that while we were together, it was just us—no one else.

Relief flooded my body. I loved that he respected what we had enough to be monogamous, yet it also made me realize this was becoming far too real to me in such a short time. I needed to keep my heart separate. Because this wasn’t real and it had an end date.

Easier said than done.My internal voice mocked me, filling my head with doubt.

Dean didn’t see himself as sweet. He could deny it all day long, but he was sweet. He was that and so much more. Like our first night together, he let me choose the direction of our relationship's physical side. He treated me and this fake relationship as though it were real. I wondered if he was getting caught up in the magic of us being together, too.

When he would lay a gentle kiss on my head or grab ahold of my hand. Or the times he’d point out something he thought I would like made it seem like we weren’t pretending. If this was how he treated his fake girlfriend, I could only imagine what he would be like with the real deal. Every second I spent with him reinforced that his ex was crazy and clearly looking for a way to elevate her movie star status.

Not for the first time, I wondered if that’s what pushed him onto the one-night stand path. After he told me about Simone, I looked them up. They had been a couple for a little over three years before their public break up. I didn’t find anything about a long-term relationship for him after that.