Royal Bastard (8 page)

He patted the mattress beside him. “Stay. We can have a delightful conversation right here.”

I curled my hands into tight fists as I stalked away from the bed back towards the stairs, trying my best to stay calm and not sprint away since I realised he had just caught me staring at his chest. “I will be waiting downstairs.”

His laughter followed me all the way down. “Suit yourself, Rose, but I doubt it’ll be the last time I get you in my bedroom!”

I
walked
down the stairs barefoot, an amused look on my face. She was going to take the job. I had no doubts. The lure of ten grand had proved to be her downfall, and maybe my charm had something to do with it, too, though I’m sure she would never admit to that.

I had been surprised to see her staring at me when she woke me up, even more surprised as my cock had jumped to attention at the thought of her being so close to my bed. In a brief moment, I wanted to pull her into the damn thing to see how she was going to react, but she had stepped away quickly, as if she could read my dirty mind. It was probably for the best anyway.

I rounded the staircase and found her sitting on the sofa, her back rigid and ankles crossed. She looked almost terrified, as if she’d been called to the headmaster’s office for an old fashioned caning.
Mmm, I certainly wouldn’t say no to spanking her voluptuous behind.
I grinned at the thought and resisted the urge to adjust myself as my cock twitched.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. So,” I started, taking the chair across from her, “you said something about having conditions?”

Her mouth worked, thinking, before she looked at me and nodded. “I am not your maid. I will not be your fall guy or girl, either. I won’t do anything illegal or immoral or anything to jeopardise my life or my family.”

“What on earth do you think I’m going to get you to do?”

“I don’t really know, but that’s my point. So I want to be clear about my boundaries from the get-go.”

“Okay, fair enough,” I shrugged, thinking all of those were legit reasons; I’d only asked the question to watch her squirm and blush again.

“I won’t sleep with you, either.”

I snapped my gaze back to her, surprise filling my veins. “What?”

“I won’t sleep with you,” she said, a little louder this time, though her voice trembled with every word. “I now know of your reputation, and I wish to have no part in your sexual, er… lifestyle. I am here to do a job. I won’t be a conquest.”

“Oh, really?” I chuckled. I was getting to her. She had definitely been affected by me all up in her personal space last night. Sleep with her? Hell, I wanted to devour her. My dreams had been full of her, and those damn unusual eyes of hers haunted my sleep. “What if you decide you
do
want to sleep with me?” I asked, an undercurrent of heat running just under the surface of my words.

“I won’t,” she said automatically, her words coming out in a squeak.

“Liar,” I said softly, giving her a wink.

She looked away, breaking our miniature staring contest. She cleared her throat. “Do you agree or not?”

“Of course, I agree,” I said, mentally filing that away for later. I wouldn’t break that clause, but I wouldn’t need to; she would do that all on her own, I thought wickedly. “I’m not some monster. I’m not going to force myself on you. Besides, you know what I truly want of yours,” I said and leaned forward in my chair.

Her body instinctively mirrored my action. “What’s that?” she questioned, her eyes wide.

“Mmm, your photography skills—what else?”

She huffed and scowled at me, but her shoulders lost some of their tension, and she began to relax.

“So, where do we start?”

More tension ebbed out of her expression as the topic of conversation turned to work. She pulled out a notebook and looked at me expectedly. “I don’t know… You tell me. I’ve never done this before. What’s on your calendar?”

I leaned back in the chair, thinking about the dozens of emails and formal letters I got daily from the palace about things that they wanted me to attend. “I usually ignore everything that doesn’t start or end with a party. The rest of the invites get ignored and binned.”

“Well, not anymore,” she answered tightly, looking down at the notebook. “Fine, I had a feeling that you wouldn’t have anything organised, so I took the liberty of pulling the royal schedule off the internet. It might not be completely accurate, but it’s a start that we can work with.”

I was impressed; not even I had thought of that. Clearly she had done her homework, which made me feel somewhat reassured that she was the woman for the job. Pulling my phone out of my jeans, I flipped to the rigorous schedule Andrew was always sending me. “Don’t worry, I’ll email you the full one. But you look like you already have a bit of a plan?”

“There’s a dinner tonight,” she answered, reading the page. “Should be a good starting place to get some shots. We could use it as a trial run?”

“Not good enough,” I said, thinking that sitting through a dinner with people I didn’t care to know was not my idea of a good time. “Next.”

Her face darkened. “You won’t be there to have a good time, Your Highness—”

“Edward.”

“Fine, Edward. But you can’t pick and choose these events based upon how much of party it’s going to be or how many women you think you can lure back to your bedroom.”

“I know that, but I said
next
. No boring dinners.”

I heard a small growl rumble from her lips. She took a breath and tried again. “There’s a black-tie affair for a charity that your father supports,” she said, pressing her lips in a tight line. “Tomorrow night.”

“Better. That one I will do,” I said, thinking of how surprised my father would be to see me there. He was forever supporting charities.

“I really think you should do the dinner, as well,” she replied, looking up at me, those beautiful eyes magically dissolving my resolve. With eyes like hers I would be in danger of doing anything for her. “You only have a month, after all.”

I ran a hand through my hair, realising she was right. I needed to show my father that I could behave in public, be part of the royal family no matter what, with a cleaned up image, regardless of how painful it was for me. “Fine,” I said. “I will go.” Palming my phone, I scrolled to my brother’s name. “I need you to confirm for me your full name.”

“Why? I thought you already knew that,” she said, frowning.

“Just making sure. It’s for security clearance,” I responded dully. By dinnertime my father’s security detail would know everything about Rose Mathis.

“Rose Victoria Mathis,” she said softly. I raised an eyebrow but typed the name nevertheless, firing the message to my brother to take care of it. I then stood, stretching my arms over my shoulders. “Come on,” I said, walking to the lift. “I’m starving, and you need a new dress.”

“W-what?” she asked, hurrying after me with a confused look on her face. “But I’m not attending this thing.”

I turned and pointed toward her camera bag hanging from her shoulder. “How do you expect to get any pictures of me to send to the tabloids?”

“But won’t that be very suspicious?” she asked, clearly not believing that it was a good plan. “I mean, carrying around your own paparazzi?”

“And what do you have in mind?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. How else did she expect to get photos of me being all respectable?

“Well, you could just show up for one,” she said, biting her lower lip. I was instantly drawn to it, the plumpness reminding me of how close I had come to kissing her last night. “Surely that has to be an improvement. I can write a piece for the newspaper, I suppose. Just tell me what happens.”

“Absolutely not,” I said, glaring down at her. “You are going with me so you can see it first-hand.”

“I-I didn’t think attending private family dinners would be on the menu,” she shot back, her eyes narrowing. “I will be your publicist of sorts, but even those don’t go to royal dinners! Do they?”

“No. So fine then, you will be my damn date instead!” I shouted, catching us both off guard. Her eyes widened and I swore, attempting to lower my irritation. “Listen, I need someone there who I can trust and who is impartial to tell me if I do something completely stupid. I can’t afford any more bad press, and honestly, Rose, I don’t trust my own family. Certainly not my stepmother.” Andrew would not steer me wrong, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. I wanted her there. She bit her lip nervously, and I recognised that it was her tic, the one thing she did when she was contemplating something. Another quirk that was growing on me.

“O-okay,” she finally responded, looking up at me, the expression in her eyes hard to decipher. I stepped toward her involuntarily, my hand reaching out to cup her cheek. Her eyes widened, and I felt the jolt of shock as well, surprised that I had touched her in such a tender fashion. The heat that coursed through my body at the smallest touch had me thinking about how fucking bad I wanted her. I had never wanted anyone so much.

“It will be fine,” I said, clearing my voice and stepping back, dropping my hand from her cheek, though I wanted desperately to pull her into a searing kiss. “Are we going to get you some new clothes, or do you happen to have something suitable?”

She blinked a few times, and I watched as Rose snapped back into the here and now, her dazed look taking on a hard edge. “I have clothes, if that is what you are asking,” she said coolly.

“That’s not what I am asking,” I forced out, my voice sounding harsh to even my own ears. “Formal attire, black-tie event attire, do you have it?”

Her lips set in a firm line, and I knew my answer. “Come on,” I sighed, resuming my stride to the lift. “And I am not taking no for an answer. My treat. I’m going to make you look like the princess that you are.”

“
W
hat am I doing
?”

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, watching as my facial expression changed from surprise to horror.
I couldn’t do this
.

That had been most of my morning—ups and downs that had given me the biggest headache I’d ever experienced. After calling for a driver, Edward dragged me to an exclusive boutique on Bond Street, one that I had occasionally walked past but never once actually stepped inside. And despite it being after nine o’clock in the morning, we were offered champagne as soon as we entered by a smiling blonde whose eyes raked over Edward like he was a buffet she was going to feast on.

After much conversation and a lot of eye-rolling on my part, I was sent back to a dressing room bigger than my first apartment and forced to try on dress after dress. Okay, forced was a strong word, but I was deathly afraid I was going to snag some of them and have to take out a loan in an effort to pay for any damage caused. These dresses were way too expensive for someone like me.

With a sigh, I nervously brushed at the soft material of the beautiful black one I had on, an Alexander McQueen creation. I had to admit the simple yet stunning full-length wrap dress with a modest but still revealing neckline was to die for and not to mention elegant, hugging my curves in all the right places. With the help of the tummy controller I had on, I felt almost skinny. And beautiful. Those were two words that weren’t typically in my vocabulary. Grabbing my hair, I pulled it up into a sophisticated bun and turned.

“How many times are you going to look at it?”

I gasped and whirled around, my hair falling back to my shoulders as I stared at the brilliant eyes of the rogue prince lounging against the curtain. “What are you doing?” I hissed, feeling very exposed even though I was covered in the delicate dress.

“I’ve been waiting to see my purchase,” he said, his voice low. “And apparently I would have missed out.”

“You would have seen it tonight,” I said furiously. I needed my hair done, my makeup perfect before I would feel confident on his arm. Oh god, this was not what I had signed up for!

“It would be worth the wait, but I’m impatient,” he said softly, his eyes roaming my body. “You look fucking gorgeous in that dress.”

The temperature rose at least one hundred degrees as I let his compliment sink in. I shouldn’t have felt special just hearing him say those words, but I did. A lot. He made me feel seen, giddy and buzzing with confidence… and I worried about that feeling. This was becoming extremely complicated, and it was only the first day! “I… thanks,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “I can’t accept this or any of the others. They are way too expensive.”

“You can and you will,” he ground out, his jaw set as he pushed away from the doorway and stepped fully inside the dressing room, much to my shock. I watched as the curtain closed us in, confining us to the one section. “How many times do we have to have this conversation?”

“Until you listen to me,” I shot back, feeling very vulnerable due to his closeness. He stopped his advance, not that there was anywhere else to go, and laughed. “God, you are going to make this month interesting.” Giving me a wink, he took a step back and walked out. “Get dressed, we’ve got things to do.”

* * *

I
t turned
out to be an entire day of photo ops. I took pictures of Edward taking in the fine art galleries around London, including the Tower. It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever done, but hey, he was paying me ten grand to follow him around and take those pictures, so I couldn’t object. I doubted, though, that this was what cleaning up his image meant.

He finally saw that I was done—had shopped and shot photos till I almost dropped—and he had the driver drop me off at my sister’s house with my bounty of dresses. I couldn’t go home. Mum would have too many questions once she saw all the boxes and bags, and I didn’t have time to explain to her every little detail… I had to get dressed, for starters!

“What the hell is going on?” Harriet asked as I laid the dress bag over the stair banister and went into the living room. “Who was that who dropped you off? Was it the prince? Oh my god, Rose. Did I miss a chapter of your life when you suddenly starting hanging about with royalty? You best start explaining.”

“Oh, Harriet,” I sighed, flopping down on the sofa. “I’m in some mess, I swear.” I quickly recounted his offer and the whirlwind adventure I’d been on today, and she let out a huge breath.

“Wow. Wow!” she repeated, sitting on a nearby chair.

“Yeah,” I replied my own eyes wide, unable to believe any of this was happening.

“Well, it has to be better than taking pictures at my club.”

I looked over at her, shaking my head. “I do enjoy taking those pictures. You know that.”

“Oh, I know you do,” she replied, giving me a small smile, “but this must be way more exciting, admit it.”

“Yes, fine,” I said, crossing my arms. “It’s interesting, okay? And now he expects me to be his date tonight.”

Harriet sat up then. I didn’t think her eyes could get any wider, but they did.

“His date? Seriously? With the prince? The one they call the Playboy Prince?”

“That’s the one.” I nodded and thought about the day I had just spent with the man. Now I was going to have to be his polished date, the woman who was actually going to meet the royal family tonight
in person.
The thought alone was terrifying, and I wasn’t prepared in the slightest.

“Oh my god,” she said, clapping her hands together. “You are going to meet his family, the royal family, Rose!”

“I know,” I said glumly, my stomach in knots. “What if I do something embarrassing? What was I thinking?”

Harriet’s expression lightened as a sympathetic change cantered across her face, but soon it was replaced with determination and the confidence I sorely lacked. “Rose. Stop thinking the worst. You will be fine!”

“What if I dump wine on my dress? What if I trip when I try to curtsey? This is going to be a disaster!” I continued, the nausea starting to well up in my throat.

Harriet rolled her eyes at me and stood, picking up the dress bag and taking charge, wrenching me off the sofa and out of my despair. “Come on, snap out of it. I can be your fairy godmother tonight, and you will go to the ball—erm, dinner, I mean. Get up. Chop chop. Let’s get you dressed fit for a prince.”

* * *

I
nervously awaited
my ride in the living room, my hands running over the soft material of my dress as if to keep me grounded. I really was about to do this. I was going to accompany a
prince
to a
palace
. It was like every little girl’s dream. That dream however, was flawed for me. I wasn’t the love of his life, and he certainly wasn’t my prince charming. He wasn’t going to come on his grand white horse and sweep me off my feet, carrying me into the happily ever after. Instead he was going to drive a car that was far too expensive, make me wear a dress that was way out of my league, and have me pretend that I was his date instead of a hired companion to ensure that he didn’t screw up tonight. Yeah, happily ever after wasn’t in these plans.

“He’s here,” Harriet said excitedly as she bounded into the living room, nearly throwing the clutch purse and shawl that I’d borrowed from her at me. Harriet was a sucker for fashion and accessories, always had been since she was a teenager, and so I’d come to the right place to get the finishing touches just right. “Now don’t forget what we read on the internet. Slight curtsey, and for god’s sake, don’t touch them!”

“I think I am going to be sick,” I responded, the crackers I had choked down an hour before swimming around in my stomach. Edward didn’t have to worry about making a scene; I was going to end up doing that for him when I threw up on the royal family instead.

The doorbell rang and Harriet ran off to get it, leaving me to give myself one last critical look in the mirror. I looked like a little girl playing dress-up. The expensive dress and the way that Harriet had swept my curls into an elegant bun did nothing to mask the wide-eyed and petrified stare that looked back at me.

“Are you ready? Wow…” he said.

I swallowed and turned around, doing everything I could to not let my mouth gape open at the sight of Edward dressed in his evening attire. I had seen pictures of course of handsome men in stunning suits—especially those the tabloids like to splash of actors on the red carpet—but it was a different matter seeing it in real life, standing before you. The suit fitted him like a glove, and his hair was pleasingly raked back, giving him an even more sophisticated look than I thought was possible. He looked every bit the handsome prince, so why did he ordinarily fight the image of being one?

I continued to stare at him, and his strong jaw clenched tightly as he looked at me.
Me
. I was going to be subject of his attention tonight. “Rose? Are you—”

“Yes,” I finally forced out, giving him a tiny smile. “I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.”

I threw Harriet a last pleading look as I followed behind him and received a thumbs-up in return. Great. Even my only sister wasn’t going to help me out. The least she could do was fake a heart attack or fainting spell that would force me to stay behind.

Edward held open the passenger door and I half-slid, half-climbed inside his car, fidgeting with my bag as he climbed in. The interior seemed smaller when he closed the doors. He started the car and pulled it out onto the road. “No driver tonight?” I asked softly, figuring I would go with a safe topic for now.

“Nah,” he said as he expertly shifted through the gears. “I’m to be on my best behaviour tonight, remember? I have no need to be carted around.”

“What should I expect?” I asked, the nerves kicking in again. “I mean, is there anything I should know?” I already knew a lot about his family, but they still seemed beyond mere mortals. No commoner could even dream up what I was about to experience.

“My brother is sort of a dork,” he said, a hint of a grin on his lips. “But he will be fine. My father is going to be surprised to see me, and my stepmother? Well, you will see about her.”

“You didn’t tell them we were coming?” I asked. He shook his head, furthering my nausea. “I wanted to catch them off guard. That way we are on an even playing ground.”

“Oh god, this is going to be a disaster,” I moaned, leaning back on the headrest. “Why did I even let you talk me into this?”

He looked over then, a glint in his eye. “Come on, where’s your sense of adventure? Don’t worry, Father always saves me a seat in case I do happen to show up, and they’ll be no problem squeezing you in. It’s supposed to be my duty, remember?”

“I hope so,” I said in a tiny voice, turning my attention to the passing scenery, praying that we’d somehow drive through a portal to another dimension instead.