Page 16 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

“I have nothing to prove,” he said in a nonchalant tone as he leaned back with his hips against the counter.“You’re the one trying to prove things to your parents.”

“I should kick you out of here after the way you’ve behaved.”

“But you won’t, because you need me.”

“I don’t need you!”

“Shh!Don’t want your parents to think we’re having a lovers’ quarrel.”

“I got on very well without you,” Hallie continued as loudly as before.“And you are free to leave at any time.As soon as possible would be best!”

“Who’s going to be your fake boyfriend then?”he asked with a teasing eyebrow raise.

“What’s the point of having a fake boyfriend if he acts like a jerk?My parents think you’re helpful and responsible, and then you just take off with the ranch hands?I had to do all the work for them just to cover up for your little escapade.”

“This whole fake boyfriend thing really means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”he suddenly said more seriously.

“What do you think?I’m trying to get my parents to understand that I’m an adult, and that I can run the ranch as well as Terry, probably better than Terry.”

“That’s quite a strange family you’ve got, I’ll give you that,” he said pensively.

That was certainly true.Hallie sighed and took a big bite of her sandwich.“If you don’t want to be my fake boyfriend, that’s fine, but don’t go ruining my parents’ trust in me.”

“Yeah, that was pretty mean of me,” he said with a shrug.“I’m unpredictable like that.I was just a little angry for being used as a fake boyfriend.But I can understand why you did it.Now we’re even, and I’ll be a good fake boyfriend from now on, okay?”

Hallie gasped in complete shock.“Suddenly you’re all forgiving and generous and I’m supposed to believe you?”

“I don’t see anyone else volunteering to help you out,” he said, spreading his arms wide.

“And you somehow managed to convince Johnny and Diego to take a day off even though they’re usually good workers.How many personalities do you have?Dozens?Hundreds?”

“Unfortunately, I have only one crappy personality,” Luke said, “I’m just good at pretending to be suave and charming.”

When Hallie thought back to how she got into this mess, she laughed out loud.

“What?”he asked.

“I might as well tell you the truth,” she said, turning to him with a malicious smile.“When I first saw you, I wanted to play a prank on my parents.You were dead drunk, and I thought it would be fun to introduce you as my new boyfriend because you seemed like a real loser.”

Hallie didn’t really care if he got mad or if he left after this confession.She was angry enough to let him know exactly what she thought of him.