Page 13 of Lone Spy (Starstruck Thrillers #2)

We head back into the suite’s living room where Zade has their makeup table set up.

Lloyd stands from the couch. He's tall and lanky, wearing a fitted suit too stylish for the corporate world but not wild enough for fashion.

It's dark blue with pinstripes of gold and lighter blue.

The colors bring out the warmer tones in his brown eyes.

Lloyd offers me a broad smile. I return it. "Hi," I say, offering my hand. Lloyd takes it. His palm is warm and dry, his grip the right strength. "Thanks so much for being here."

"I'm very excited for this opportunity, Ms. Daniels."

"Please," I say. "Call me Angela."

"Thank you, Angela."

Zade clears their throat from where they stand next to the chair they've placed in front of one of the large windows.

Lloyd follows me over and takes a seat nearby as Zade covers me in a makeup gown.

"I've been going over your schedule and thought you might like a run-down of what's on the docket for the next few days with an overview of the following weeks. "

"Sounds good," I say as Zade starts to apply base to my skin.

"Today we have the photoshoot in Soho and then your meeting at Violet Glamour, which is in the same neighborhood.

We should be done by six. You've had an invitation from Prince Omar bin Rami of Jordan to join him for dinner.

" Lloyd looks up from his iPad. "He says he is free anytime that you are. He is at your disposal."

"Oh, I like that," Zade says, their brush fluttering over my nose.

"I'm free tonight?"

"Yes, it's your only free evening before we leave England.

The prince's equerry made it clear the prince would be willing to make any arrangements necessary to dine with you, including meeting you anywhere along the press tour that would fit into your schedule. " Lloyd says all this like it's normal.

Zade meets my eyes and totally gets that all those sentences are just insane. From prince to equerry, to the offer of meeting me anywhere in the world that works for me.

"Your next free evening is in Rome. It sounds like he’d be willing to meet you there as well."

Zade turns away to get another tool, and I look over at Lloyd.

He waits patiently for my response to tonight’s invitation.

Zade comes back holding an eye brush. "Don't pretend like you don't want dinner with that sinfully hot prince, Angela.

Come on." They sound pretty outraged at how long I'm taking to answer.

"I don't know," I say, closing my eyes so they can work on them. "He's…"

"Was he terrible?" Zade asks.

"Definitely not." I'm smiling again as memories of his body heat my cheeks.

"So?" Zade asks. "What's the problem?"

"It's Julian 2.0," I say. "Any relationship is doomed."

"My goddess, woman," Zade says. "You are dramatic." I laugh. "Stop moving," they admonish me. "And have dinner with a gorgeous royal who is willing to follow you around the world."

"Isn't that a bit much?" I ask. Their brush lightly floats over my lids, soft as a butterfly.

Zade makes a sound. Idiot. "If you don't have dinner with that elegant hottie, I’ll kick your ass.” They back away, but I keep my eyes closed knowing they'll be back soon. "Don't tell Ash," Zade says to Lloyd in a teasing voice. I can practically hear them wink.

"Your assault plans are safe with me," Lloyd says, deadpan.

Zade laughs. "I like you." Their brush returns to my eyes.

"You're right," I say.

"Always," Zade confirms.

"I'll see him tonight. His coming to Rome—that's too much."

"Oh, yes," Zade says, their voice dripping with sarcasm. "We wouldn't want a beautiful, royal man who’s a sex god to follow you around the globe. That's awful. Just way too much."

"Shut up."

"Never."

"I didn't say he was a sex god."

"I inferred."

Lloyd breaks in. "I'll let the prince know and work with Mr. Fraser to arrange the location and time."

"Thank you," I say.

"My pleasure."

"Open," Zade commands. They stare at me with an assessing eye. "Now that we have an assistant again, can we please get a hairdresser back on the team? This," they wave their hand at my head, "needs help."

"There will be someone at the shoot," I point out. This is only for the walk from the hotel to the car, and then the car to the building where the shoot is happening. This is just for the paparazzi.

"What about tonight?" they ask.

"I'm sure my hair will look good enough for tonight. I don't want to turn this into a thing."

"A thing?" Zade is outraged. "Angela. This is dinner with a prince. This is a thing if there ever was one."

I shake my head. Zade leans away from me, crosses their arms. I laugh at the seriousness in their expression.

"Angela." Oh, they're very serious. "Do you remember the theme of this shoot?

" I do not. "It's a jungle Jane theme. You're going to have a violet snake, your hair is going to be wild.

You're going to look like you spent the afternoon swinging from branches—I'm willing to bet there will be leaves and twigs in there. Is that what you want?"

Zade does not wait for my response. They turn to Lloyd. "Please get a hair stylist for tonight. I won't have her going to dinner with a prince without hair properly done. And let's start looking for someone to travel with us. Having to bring in these newbies is tiresome."

Lloyd looks over at me, a question in his eyes. Do I take orders from Zade?

"Fine," I say, knowing Zade is right. "But for the record, don't do everything they ask."

"Understood," Lloyd says, a smile tugging at his lips. His eyes flit to Zade before going back to the tablet in his lap.