Page 89 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

Hallie sipped a pineapple-flavored cocktail while observing her date drink whiskey on the rocks.As always, he took full gulps rather than small sips.Something she liked about him was the way he enjoyed life to the fullest.

“Do your parents still think we’re an item?”he asked.

“I don’t know.I haven’t told them much after you moved back to the city.”

“Good.I can keep being your ‘boyfriend’ if you want.”

“What’s the catch?”

“No catch.I just want to hang out with you.”

Hallie decided to give him a chance and take his words at face value.He ordered another drink, while she was still nursing hers.

“So what’s it like being the prince of Sarkadia?”she asked.

“Boring.”

She laughed, feeling a pleasant warmth as the alcohol seeped through her bloodstream.“I should have known you’d say that.”

“And what’s more, every time you do something bad, everyone in the country knows about it.”Luke downed his next glass and motioned for another one.“Like on my twentieth birthday, my friends and I liberated a bear from the Lowia Zoo and took it on a scenic tour of the city.”

“Seriously?”Hallie wrinkled her nose.“Bear abuse?”

“The bear was fine!The bear wasn’t the worse for wear.”

Hallie decided she needed another drink too.

“I would have thought after you hit your head and broke your rib,” Hallie said, “you might stop to think about how lucky you were that all of those medical workers were doing their job and not trying to while away their time messing about with bears.”

Luke actually laughed out loud.It caught her by surprise, both because she expected him to react poorly to being criticized and because it was always such a charming laugh.She never seemed to grow tired of it.

“I’m way ahead of you,” he said.“This is why I’ve returned to work, and I’m only having fun in the mildest way by going on boat tours and getting drunk.”

“You call this mild drinking?”Hallie pointed at his third glass of whiskey.

“It is for me,” he said, fixing her with his blue eyes, a wayward glimmer flashing out at her.

“Why don’t you try something more local, like tequila?”she suddenly said.“We’ll do a shot together!Is City Luke up for it?”

“Yes, he is.”His look turned even more sultry, but as he sat across the table from her he seemed quite in control of himself.

The shot turned into three shots, after which Hallie knew she had to stop.She could hold her drink pretty well, but Luke did another shot or two after that all by himself.

She was glad he had enough foresight not to be driving that day, and he was gentlemanly enough to see her home in a cab.

Coming home to crash on Jessica’s couch, Hallie felt elated and free.

“I knew this Luke would be a bad influence on you,” Jessica exclaimed when she saw her friend enter the apartment.Hallie guessed she probably looked tipsy.

She nearly fell over trying to take her shoes off.

“I’m just having fun,” she explained.

“You’d better not be hung over tomorrow because we’re going on a double date!”