Page 96 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

*Hope everything is good and you didn’t get in trouble with your parents.*

She replied:

*Thanks, it’s all good.You charmed them again :)*

He texted her back again, which was pretty unusual:

*Are you hung over?*

She replied:

*Only a little.You?*

He responded:

*Are you kidding?That was extremely mild drinking.*

She couldn’t help but smile.While shopping for new clothes, she sporadically texted back and forth with Luke.Maybe he was starting to care about her, or maybe it was just that he was making more of an effort now that he knew he had competition.

***

SHE MET UP WITH ROBthe next morning at a café not far from her workplace in the city.

But when Rob entered the café, Hallie could see something was off.He was wearing his police uniform, plus a somber expression on his handsome face.

“So, what brings you to town?”she asked.

Rob sat down at the small table, looking at her in a direct and almost piercing way.“To be honest, I came to see you.”

“Me?”Hallie tried to be playful, desperately hoping to lighten the mood.“I didn’t think little old me was worthy of such a visit from the hometown hero.”

“Terry told me something,” Rob went on, unsmiling, “and I know I should take it with a grain of salt because of the sibling rivalry you two have going on, but I had to see you.Is it true that Luke isn’t really your boyfriend?Is your whole relationship a fabrication, some kind of game?”

“What?”Hallie exclaimed, trying to sound as surprised as possible.“You know Terry, you said so yourself.”

He fidgeted in his seat.

“I’ve also heard rumors around town that Luke’s been seen flirting with some of the local women.So it’s not just Terry saying it.”

Hallie gasped.“You’d believe some rumors over me?”

“I don’t want to dredge up the past, but you’ve been known to be dishonest before, so I’m just making sure.”

“You just did!”Hallie cried angrily.

“What?”

“Dredge up the past!”

“It’s just that I worry about you sometimes.”

Hallie knew why he worried.She had been known to party too hard in her teenage years, and Rob had once seen her hanging out with some “undesirable characters” as he called them.

Even though daylight streamed through the window on this busy morning in Austin, Hallie could easily recall the darkness of that night, interspersed with flares from a flickering bonfire.

The smell of smoke and alcohol filled the air.She had been partying in a well-known teenage hangout spot not far from a graveyard in the cover of dense trees.

Rob had confronted her about it then.She said it was just a one-time thing, but the truth was she had sometimes snuck off to drink beer and whiskey, any liquor that was available, letting out her frustration with her family.