Page 24 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

Hallie knew her friend was probably just teasing.She wrote back:

*Not you too!*

Jessica replied:

*Just have fun!*

Hallie smiled, feeling like her friend was with her, but part of her was wishing she was there with Jessica in real life.

Instead, loneliness was her constant companion ever since she moved back home after college.She couldn’t talk to Terry about any real problems in her life.Her sister either didn’t have time for anything more than small talk, or she would make fun of her.

Hallie had been looking forward to moving to the city, hanging out with all her college friends, working for some big marketing company.So why couldn’t she let the ranch go?

She piled her hair into a high bun and pinned it up, a few curls bouncing out here and there.Then she did some artistry on her makeup look with a little blush, nude pink lipstick and glittering blue eye shadow.

She was contemplating the look in her mirror when there was a knock on the door.

“I’m ready,” Luke said.

Overall, Hallie was happy with her makeup and her outfit, a pale blue figure-hugging satin dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline.She grabbed her handbag and went to answer the door.

Luke was waiting, and he was stunning.She had half-expected him to wear some cheesy outfit that attempted to look Texan, such as an oversized hat with a bolo tie.But here he was, rocking a metrosexual European look.

His hair swept back, he wore a blue sport coat, inadvertently complementing her with a darker shade of blue than her dress.His shirt was blindingly white silk with a subtle paisley texture, and his trousers rich grey over his glossy oxford shoes.

Maybe Luke was going to raise all sorts of hell at the dance, but he was going to look damn fine doing it.

Not to mention his scent, which was a refreshing, cooling balm on this hot day.

“Shall we go?”He offered his arm in a most gentleman-like way, something that she hadn’t expected from him.

“Let’s do this.”

***

AS SOON AS THEY ARRIVEDat the dance, everything got crazy.

Hallie might have known this would happen.She entered the large refurbished barn, side by side with Luke, and they were blasted with loud pop music on top of the voices of people screaming with excitement.

“All right, it’s Hallie Mathews!”the DJ called out over the microphone.“And a new beau.I’m jealous.”

Hallie had been to too many dances to count at this place, a local ranch that hosted many events in the community.

The DJ was her old friend from high school, Perry McLure.He had always sort of had a crush on her, as did another guy from high school who had been a couple of grades ahead of her, Rob Hernandez.She had no doubt Rob would be here too, and she would be dragged back down memory lane.

Speaking of which, a bunch of women she’d gone to high school with approached her, and there was no getting away.She didn’t really want to hang out with them anymore.Some of them had been mean, though they now tried to gloss over that, and she wanted to move on past those school days.

“Hallie, how’ve you been?”a red-haired woman named Stacy said.Unlike most of Hallie’s classmates, Stacy had always been very sweet.

“I heard you were moving to Austin,” another former classmate, Amber, chimed in.She had beautiful high cheekbones and a slim build.Already, she seemed to be eyeing Luke.

“Yeah, I’m looking for jobs, but no luck yet,” Hallie said.“It’s nice to see y’all.”

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?”Amber practically begged.Very impressive in the looks department, Amber was not exactly the sharpest pencil in the box, so Hallie wasn’t too threatened by her.

“This is my boyfriend, Luke,” Hallie said, feeling a tinge of pride, even if they weren’t really together.She had never had much luck with guys, so this made up for the public humiliation of never having a date at any of the previous dances.

The only exception was when she had gone with Perry to her high school prom, but they both knew she was never interested in him romantically, and it had been an awkward friend-date.