Page 13

CHAPTER 12

LIZZY

NO “FUN STUFF”

I wasn’t sure I’d heard the prince correctly.

I stared at him. “What?”

“Date me,” he said again with a little shrug, as if this wasn’t out of the blue and completely random.

“I might not date much, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t how it works, Declan.”

He chuckled and rubbed one hand through his wavy dark locks, stirring something in me I did my best to ignore. “Not real dating. Fake dating.” Then he laughed and pointed at me and said, “I can't believe you thought I really wanted to date you.”

“Ouch.”

His face fell. "I mean I would totally date you… I mean, I can't date you. Not that you are interested in dating me. Boy this is not going well… What I'm trying to say, is that we can't date."

"If we can't date, then why would you suggest we date?"

"Yeah," he said. "This isn't coming out quite the way I thought it would. Not that I thought a lot about it actually. What I'm suggesting is fake dating. We just pretend to date. None of the fun stuff, you know, none of that… Never mind.”

The slow blush climbing the prince’s face made me question how fit he really was to sit the throne. He wasn't proving himself to be especially well spoken or eloquent. But none of that was my concern. I had a job to do, and being closer to the prince would help me do it. But pretending to be linked to him romantically whether or not we did any of the "fun stuff,” would be a bit of a gray area. Sure, I had navigated gray areas before. Like when I had to take out a particularly nasty general on the borders of a rainforest that may or may not have been cleared for operations. But this was different.

I shook my head. More acting was the last thing I needed here. I was making zero progress on convincing the prince to go home, and if I didn’t begin really working on this documentary, I was going to lose my proximity. “I think this is a bad plan.”

“Why?”

“Explain how pretending to date would get me better access to the team.”

Now Declan leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, making every muscle pop. “I’m a respected player here, known to avoid meaningless hookups. If I date someone, people know we’re serious. If I bring her around the team, it makes it clear she’s trustworthy.”

I couldn’t help myself. “How many of these trustworthy women have you brought around in the past?”

A half-smile lifted one side of his mouth. “One.”

“And where is she?”

The smile disappeared. “She deserved more. I let her go.”

That was interesting. Declan would never be able to tell anyone he dated who he really was. Would that ruin his chances for real love here in the United States? Women asked for honesty and trust—and he couldn’t offer it. Maybe that was something I could use to my advantage…

“I’m sorry,” I offered. But I wasn’t sorry. If Declan had been in love with someone, that would have made my job doubly difficult. I was still considering knocking the big oaf out and shoving him onto a private jet back home.

Also, I didn’t like the idea of Declan being in love. But I wasn’t going to explore that. Not now.

“Can’t we just strike up a friendship?” I asked.

He frowned. “Guys like me don’t have a lot of time for friends outside the team during the season.”

“But you make time for women?”

“There are… obvious advantages to women,” he said, and that deep blush crept up his cheeks beneath the stubble covering his jaw.

“Oh really?”

“Don’t make me be lewd. You know what I mean.”

“You’re referring to the ‘fun stuff’ you mentioned a minute ago?” I was beginning to enjoy making the prince uncomfortable.

“Just date me,” he said again, waiting for my answer. “We’ll get you where you need to be to make a really excellent movie. The guys will trust you, and then we both win.”

It made little sense. The king wouldn’t like it. I had every reason to say no. “I don’t know.”

“That is not a no,” he said, rising and giving me the grin he’d worn since he was a kid, the one that made me feel like we were children again, hiding out in the little-used throne room at the palace. “Team dinner tomorrow night at Teakhouse Tavern. We’ll debut there.”

“So soon?”

“No time like tomorrow,” he said, pulling his bag back to his shoulder and turning to the door.

“I think the saying is no time like the present,” I said.

“Whatever.”

And just like that, the prince and I were dating. Fake dating. But I wasn’t nearly as sure about anything as he seemed to be.

Deck headed out and I shadowed him to make sure he got home safely. Then I headed to my own apartment to mull over the choices I’d made and the lack of progress I had to show for them.

And finally, when I couldn’t procrastinate it any longer, I picked up the phone to make my report to the palace.

“Lizzy, hello darling,” came the Queen’s tired voice when the private line picked up.

“Your Majesty. Is everything all right?”

“No. Erik’s had a spell.”

The king.

“Oh dear, will he be all right?”

“He’s fine for now, but I want my husband to live his final days secure in the knowledge that Declan will pick up where he left off. We really need you to hurry, Lizzy. Bring my son home.”

“I will do my best,” I said. I dropped my eyes shut, suddenly exhausted. I paused, knowing I needed to tell the palace about the attempt on Declan’s life, but just as I was about to speak, the Queen sighed again. The sound carried so much sadness, so much exhaustion… I considered whether she could bear this additional load right now.

No, it was my duty. I might be an empathetic human being, but this was my job.

I cleared my throat, but the Queen spoke before I could get the words out.

“I imagine we don’t have long,” the Queen said, and the sadness and misery in her voice pulled at something inside me. For all of their formality, and sheer regality, the king and queen had always been clearly in love. I envied them that, and I could only imagine how difficult it was for the Queen to watch her husband suffer.