Page 41 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

“I’ll never be able to move again,” Luke said as they walked to the truck, “But this was one of the most delicious meals of my life, so it was worth it.Too bad we can’t get the recipe.”

Hallie clambered into the driver’s seat, feeling full enough not to eat again for a week.The night sky was luminous, beaming down the lights of a million stars in the still air.“We could try to recreate it at home,” she remarked, “Wait a minute.Why am I being all friendly with you?Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you snuck out.”

“That was fun!”he exclaimed.“You should be happy, you outsmarted me.I don’t know how you figured out where I was, but well done.”

“Terry spied on you,” Hallie said as she steered the truck back onto the highway.

“Well done, Terry.Say what you will about that sister of yours, but she has initiative.”

“If that’s what you want to call it.”

“Oh, come on.I think you actually had fun today.”His mischievous grin was almost too much to resist, but Hallie didn’t want to encourage any more of his escapades.“Using fried chicken as a tactic?I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

“You think this is some kind of game?”she asked.

“Sure.The game’s afoot.Let’s see how many secret dates I can get away with.”

“I’m not enjoying it,” Hallie said, just to put an end to this stupid conversation.But suddenly she realized that deep down inside she liked this game just a little.Maybe she would never have the guts to look for a job in the city, but keeping Luke under control was as challenging as any job could be.

“So you studied marketing?”Luke seemed to gaze at her with more curiosity than ever before.

“Yeah.”

“You’re really good at it.Seriously.I’m impressed.”

Maybe, just maybe he was right.She wondered if one day she could dare to follow her dream of living and working in the city.

Chapter 20: A Date with a Genius

Luke hadn’t known atthe time what Rob and the other guys were talking about when they said Hallie was a ‘special’ girl.Maybe just specially reckless when it came to choosing fake boyfriends?

But now he realized, there was something about her, a kind of spark that burned in her amber eyes when she started helping Eloise with the charity project.She had passion, and lots of it.

Maybe he just hadn’t seen it before because the way her oblivious family treated her had put her into a subdued state, but he was seeing it now.

The young woman sitting in the driver’s seat, so tantalizingly close to him, was not just pretty; she was also smart and ambitious, even if she didn’t always have the confidence to express her real self.