Page 142 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

At last, just before dinner time, he saw her riding towards the stables at a walk, both she and the horse slumping with exhaustion.

He usually put up a barrier against feeling guilty about things he had said or done, but suddenly the tide of emotion washed over him, taking him by surprise.

He had thoughtlessly ruined what could have been a good time, for Hallie too.She didn’t deserve that.

Finally, when she came downstairs for dinner, hair brushed to a brilliant shine, the determined look on her face seemed to say she was ready for anything Terry might dish out.

Suddenly, Luke knew he would never be able to say anything bad about her.Maybe if it was anyone else but Hallie, he would have done it just to be spiteful.But after he had some time to cool down, he realized he couldn’t do it to her.And he couldn’t let Terry do it either.

He noticed Terry was ramping up for the final assault.She was wearing her full set of makeup, crimson lipstick and sparkling eyeshadow included.

As Vivian served the turkey and everyone praised her wonderful cooking, Terry was preparing to pounce.

“Mama, do you remember when—” she began.

Luke cut into the conversation, hoping he wasn’t too late, “That reminds me of an interesting psychological concept.Would you like to hear it?”

“Well, sure,” Vivian said.

“Excuse me, I spoke first!”Terry insisted.

“No, you didn’t,” Luke said brazenly.

“What the hell, Luke!”Terry shouted.“You interrupted me.”

“Terry, what’s the matter with you?”Sam said.“That’s not how we treat our guests.”

Terry glowered but kept silent, probably hoping to show that she was the good daughter after all.

Luke seized the opportunity to continue.“Imagine if one of your friends told you that their kid had done something bad back in their teens, like shoplifting small items, for instance?”

“What kind of a strange question is that?”Vivian wondered.“Is there something you know about my friends that I don’t?”

“It’s purely imaginary,” Luke said, “I don’t know anything.But if this happened in real life, what would you do?”

“Okay, this is really weirding me out,” Vivian replied, “but if you must know, I would ask my friend how their kid is doing now.Are they well adjusted?”

“Yeah, more or less,” said Luke, while Terry was scowling at him in bewilderment.“They didn’t turn to a life of crime.”

“Then I’d tell my friend not to worry,” Vivian said with a reassuring smile, “Their child had gone through some sort of wild phase, but they’re out of it now.It’s water under the bridge.”

“Water under the bridge,” Luke repeated, as if mulling it over, while giving Terry a meaningful look.“I’m glad you think so because some people could be so judgmental.”

Terry looked livid.Luke gave her a teasing grin, knowing that anything she tried to say now about Hallie would be wasted.

He suddenly felt the pull of Hallie’s gaze, and as he turned to her, he realized she had to know that he knew about her teenage hijinks.

Something inside him stirred to life, some kind of sweet feelings that he thought might have never existed in his cynical heart.He felt happy to be alive because the look of delight in Hallie’s eyes shone so vividly.

Had she been worried all this time that he would find out about her shoplifting?Did she think that he of all people would judge her?

She smiled at him briefly, then went back to acting like nothing important was happening.

“Mama, daddy, have you ever noticed how Luke is the spitting image of Prince Lucas of Sarkadia?”Terry said, a subtle smile lurking on her lips, “Some people have been saying heisthe prince.That’s why the news team was here the other day.”

“I don’t read the tabloids,” Sam said dismissively.

“Me either,” Bob chimed in, “Nothing but junk.”