Tabloid Princess, page 14
“You’re dangerous for me I think, Leia Lawrence.” I could have died at the way he whispered my name.
Maybe I was dead. Maybe it was why this was happening.
“Me? Says the prince. Why?” I should’ve been leaving. Should have found my way out, found my way home, but I couldn’t fight his hold, didn’t want to—wild and ruthless.
“Because I think you could bring me down.”
Then he did it. He took my one kiss, the free one, the one without consequence and he spun it into two. Deep and dark, senseless and costly, this kiss could smash apart everything I knew.
I slipped my arms tight around him, uncaring he was a prince and I was nobody.
For a long moment as his tongue danced against mine, our breaths tangling into one, we were just Oliver and Leia and the entire world fell at our feet.
Within me a dangerous emotion blossomed.
Territorial.
Physical.
Wildly intense.
I shook it away. Crazy. Stupid. Brain.
But I couldn’t.
It danced just within the grasp of my awareness.
Prince Oliver had spun me under his spell, and as a result, for the first time, I felt something real and raw in the place of my usually caged heart.
“I need to get back.” His fingers slipped into mine, comfortable and natural. Too natural.
“Of course, you do. It’s your birthday party.” I tried to pull away, but he held onto my hand tight.
“You are coming back in, aren’t you?” It sounded like he genuinely didn’t know what I would answer.
“Yes. I think so.”
“Good. This will be more bearable if I can see you.”
“Prince Oliver…”
He lifted an eyebrow, but I shook my head, stubbornly not allowing myself to be distracted by his moonlit beauty.
“Tomorrow I go back to being Leia, Mum and charity worker, and you will still be the prince. This.” I motioned to the balcony. “This moment only exists here.”
“Tomorrow will you be going on a date with Molly’s brother?”
“What? Why would you even ask that?”
“It would ruin my weekend.”
“Stop that. Please don’t say things like that.”
“You haven’t answered.”
“No, I won’t be. I’ll be home, burning dinner, wondering if I will be able to get to work on Monday without someone taking a picture of me.”
He flashed a wide grin. “Well that sounds very similar to my day. Apart from dinner. I’m an outstanding cook.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I’m a prince. I can do anything.”
“Your ego is huge.”
He chuckled, a wonderful sound that set butterflies to flight in my stomach.
He paused by the door. I noticed for the first time the velvet curtain had been pulled back over.
“Leia.” Turning slightly, he dropped me a deep bow, his green eyes flashing up to my face. “Thank you for my birthday present.”
I had nothing suitable to say, so I just nodded instead. He motioned me back through the curtain. “You go first.”
Of course. We couldn’t be seen coming back through together alone.
It would have hurt, whether I wanted it to or not, if his fingers hadn’t caught mine and given a final squeeze as I walked away.
This was so bad.
As I found Molly and the others, checking to make sure no one saw where I came from, I knew I wasn’t walking back alone. I took an uncontrollable monster of desire with me, and I had no idea how to deal with the sensations the prince had woken with his kiss.
Fourteen
I slammed the front door, falling back against it. My journey home from work today had been erratic. I’d glanced over my shoulder the whole way, sure that someone knew what I had in my bag. The press had gone. The fact I’d arrived at the ball last night, but there had been nothing witnessed apart from a cursory dance with the prince in which we’d hardly spoken, had dampened the fire of gossip. What else happened the night of the ball stayed strictly between me and the future king.
Work had been almost normal.
Almost.
“Leia, is that you?”
“Yes?” My voice sounded unsteady to my own ears. It shook like my pulse, so it was hardly surprising Nana poked her head around the living room door to check it was definitely me.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” I tried to peel myself away from the door, but I was stuck against it, my limbs unwilling to move any further now I was within the safety of my own home.
“Everything okay?”
“Tough day.” I nodded almost numbly.
“Were the press still on you?” Nana looked confused. I’d told her the ball was okay, nothing special—all lies.
I didn’t tell her that my head spun with thoughts of him. My stomach tied into knots, my nerves frayed.
That the monster had ruled my every moment since I’d left him on the balcony.
“Uh. No, it was all normal today. Daisy okay?”
Nana looked at me closer. “She’s colouring at the table. Leia, are you okay; you’re frightfully pale?”
“Mm. Can you hang around for a moment. I just need a few minutes to sort myself out.”
Her expression creased with concern, but I shook my head and staggered blindly for my room where I opened the door and fell in, clutching my handbag to my chest, just as I had the whole way home.
On the bed I pulled it open and fished out a thick cream envelope. The same envelope that I’d found in there after my snatched sandwich during an utterly bonkers day.
I couldn’t think about work and how busy we’d been; the calls from the press asking for information and interviews. The calls we had from people who had heard of us and had picked up the phone to ring, wondering if we might be able to help them.
It was everything I’d ever wanted for Bright Futures, but I couldn’t even process it.
I could only stare at the envelope, my fingers shaking slightly as I slid out the crisp cream paper.
Dear, Leia.
I’m hoping you will do the honour of having dinner with me.
Tonight?
I’ll send a car for you at 7. If you wish to decline, please pass your refusal on to Bill. No blood no foul as they say.
But please know I shall be waiting to see if you come.
Yours.
Oliver.
I stared at it over and over again; even though in the hours since I’d opened it, I’d read it countless times.
I couldn’t go. It was insane. Crazy.
What if the press saw me again?
What about Daisy?
My heart ached with such a responding pull that I folded over to ease the discomfort. The memory of the balcony punched through my chest. That tangled emotion I’d fleetingly experienced…
The prince probably made women feel like they were falling in love with him on an hourly basis. I wasn’t unique.
This wasn’t right.
I’d tell Bill no. I’d send my apologies. I’d write my own letter explaining that I couldn’t attend, that it wasn’t feasible.
I rolled over and grabbed a piece of lined paper we’d used for Daisy’s homework yesterday, when I’d struggled to focus—my head spinning with dances and kisses and my focus had been pulled from the centre of my universe.
Dear Prince Oliver, I wrote. I tapped the blunt edged pencil against the paper. Thank you for your generous offer for dinner. Sadly, I can’t come due to the fact I’m an idiot.
I scrunched the paper and tossed it into the trash bin in the corner of the room.
Then I stared at his note all over again, every curve of the pen stroke, every flourish and splurge of ink.
“Leia, love?” Nana tapped on the door and I quickly moved the note under my right thigh.
“Hey, come in,” I called out trying to keep my voice steady and innocent.
“You sure you’re okay?” Nana asked once she’d popped her head through the gap in the door. “I’ve got Daisy’s dinner on. I wasn’t sure if you were unwell.”
I breathed through my mouth. There was a strong possibility I’d be sick.
“Nana,” I said, my vocal cords stretching.
“Yes.”
“Would you be able to stay, uh…” I trailed off while she watched me carefully before opening her eyes wide.
“Oh my, have you got a date?”
“Well no… maybe… Dinner? I think.”
“Dinner is a date.”
I scrunched my face. “No. I don’t think so in this instance. It’s just dinner.”
I swallowed hard. I was definitely going to hurl.
“I can stay the night if you need?” Nana raised one grey eyebrow.
“Nana! That’s shocking.”
She chuckled to herself. “Get ready and I’ll go and sort out Daisy.”
My hand flew to my mouth. “Daisy. I can’t leave Daisy.”
“Leia.” Nana stepped forward. “Daisy will be fine. We will be fine. For goodness’ sake, child, give yourself the night off.”
I prickled at the word child. I hadn’t been one of those for a very long time. Nana just grinned though. “Calm down. Go, have dinner. If Daisy needs you, which she won’t, but if she does, I will call.”
I nodded slowly.
Was I really going to do this?
The hammering in my chest told me yes. My head didn’t want to agree.
“Okay. It’s just dinner, right?” I offered a nervous laugh. “Do you think he’ll be able to tell I’ve never been for dinner with a man before?”
Nana paused thoughtfully. “Well, does this guy go out for lots of meals with women?”
I snorted a laugh. “Yes”
She shrugged. “Who cares. He’s asked you now.”
She turned and slipped back out the room, shutting the door behind her. I thought about her words as I tried to calm down under the shower. The first shower. The second shower was to deal with the panicked sweat that prickled my skin once I’d dried off from the former.
I tore through my wardrobe, the whole time telling myself to put on my fluffy pyjamas and call it a night.
Still I found myself in pale blue jeans and a cream shirt.
“Mummy, you look so beautiful.” Daisy rushed to give me a huge hug when I finally made it out of the bedroom.
“Thank you, sweetie. Can you be good for Nana?”
“Always.” She turned the big blues onto me.
“Bed on time.”
“Half an hour more?”
I narrowed my gaze, but my heart wasn’t in it. “Not a minute more.”
“Yaaay!” She rushed to Nana. “Mummy said we can have an extra half an hour.”
I bent down and beckoned her over, squeezing my arms around her as tight as I could. “Can’t breathe,” she gasped.
“What’s wrong?” I pushed her back so I could inspect her, my hands checking her face, looking for signs of an asthma attack. “Are you ill? Do you need a pump?” I put my ear to her chest.
She laughed and it made my heart swell. “No, Mummy, you were hugging me too tight.”
“Sorry. My bad.”
I gave her a swift kiss and straightened up, grabbing my bag as I did. I wanted to be outside when Bill turned up.
Nana raised her finger when I opened my mouth to give last minute instructions. “Go. Be safe and have a good time.”
I flushed a brilliant red, my cheeks stung so hot I might have needed a shower again.
At 6:57 I stepped out onto the small path, first checking for any stray journalists with cameras.
The road was clear apart from a car that didn’t look directly like it should fit in on my small estate. Not even in the nicer bit I lived in. Black and sleek, it looked like it should be taking diplomats places. The same car I’d been driven home in last week.
Bill who I recognised instantly, got out and opened up the rear door. I bobbed my head unsure what to do and slipped in before Mrs A could write down my coming and goings in her notebook by her window.
“Good evening, Miss Lawrence.”
Bill looked at me in the rear-view mirror once he was back in the driver’s seat.
“Hi,” I squeaked. The car smelled the same as the other night, clean and luxurious, the slight tang of a lemon-based cleaner.
Bill didn’t say anything else and when the car quickly pulled away, I found myself breathing out with relief.
Well, not really with relief, but in a way it felt like the harder bit had been done just getting in the car. The decision had been made. There was no turning back.
I watched the streets of London as we made our way from Finsbury back down to Bermondsey almost to where Bright Futures was on the River Thames. I watched as the car cruised past the turning to the small side street where the office was. A few more turns, not many, and the car slowed outside an abandoned warehouse.
Now this was weird.
Bill idled the engine for a moment and then switched off. “It’s 13b. On the left there, Ma’am.”
There was only one door, with 13b tacked on it in small brass lettering.
My mind skittered back to last Monday afternoon when he told me he didn’t live far from the Bright Futures offices. Was this where he lived? It looked more appropriate for hobos than a prince.
I lurched forward, suddenly wanting Bill to get out of the car with me. There must be security. I mean, what if I was a rabid fan and was going to try to attack Prince Oliver?
Bill grinned at me in the mirror.
“Can I ask a question?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Do you drive many women here?” It was rude, but I wanted to know before I got out of the car.
Bill turned to face me. A handsome man in his own right, he must have been nearing forty by my estimation. “No, Ma’am.”
“Okay.”
The blood rushed in my veins, too fast. My head whirled a little as I turned to open the door. “Don’t you want to frisk me or something?” I paused and looked over at him.
Bill grinned. “Not unless you need me too.”
“Oh. Uh, no. Thank you.”
“13b.”
“Got it.”
On unsteady legs, I slipped out of the car, somehow managing to haul myself up to the black door. It wasn’t a shiny black door, like 10 Downing Street or anything like that. It was just black, almost the finish of a chalk board.
I rapped gently with my knuckles, all the while praying I didn’t puke. The chances were high. Very high.
A latch caught from the other side and then the door opened, and I looked up into the breathtaking face of the prince.
I no longer felt underdressed, because the man I’d only seen in formal shirts and smart trousers since we’d met—and let’s not go to the tuxedo of heaven—was wearing dark jeans and a navy T-shirt; with no shoes or socks on.
The monster reared its head. Awake and hungry.
“You came.” He eased forward and brushed a brief kiss across my cheek. The street was empty, just us and some lengthening shadows, but the whole of London may as well have been watching. I trembled like a leaf.
“I did.”
“Come in.” He gestured me up, his body language relaxed as he smiled and waved his hand. His fingers skimmed the back of my shirt as he guided me into a small cramped hallway that only led to a set of black stairs.
“To your home?” I asked turning a little to try and absorb the angled planes of his cheekbones.
“It’s easier.” He cringed a little and followed it with a shrug. “I can be myself here and not worry about who is watching what.” He paused. “Well, I guess you have a good idea of what I’m talking about now.” His lips tightened for a moment.
Yes, I did have a good idea now.
“You don’t mind though?” A frown flickered. “Coming here,” he added.
I had no idea what he thought was going on here.
I mean first there was the car and what he said.
Then the kiss.
Now I was here… and I had no clue what any of it meant. All I knew was that I couldn’t stay away no matter how foolish that might be.
“No. I don’t mind. I can understand.” I tried to smile but my skittered nerves didn’t allow for it to come easy. “But how do you keep this secret? I mean, surely if people found out you’d be hounded constantly.”
“That’s why only my immediate staff know about this place.”
“No friends?”
He shrugged again and gestured for the stairs. “Now of course, you know. So, I shall have to keep you here or kill you, to keep my secret.”
He flashed me an utterly deadly smile and I stumbled a step. His fingers shot out to catch me before I fell. “Thanks.” Sweat broke out over every inch of my skin. A shooting kindle of desire flourished inside me. It took my breath away.
He hung back at the top of the staircase at an open internal door and waited for me to take in the room in front of us. Cavernous and huge, the converted warehouse blew my mind.
“Wow.”
“It used to be an old factory during the industrial boom in the mid-nineteenth century.” His voice rumbled through me and I shivered. “But of course, places like this soon fell by the wayside. I was able to get it for an absolute steal.”
I turned and found him watching me closely. “A steal?”
His mouth twitched that adorable almost smile. “Sort of.”
I stepped in, knowing he was watching my reactions. The exposed brickwork of worn soft red contrasted with black leather sofas and bright Turkish rugs on the wooden floor. To the right an enviable stainless-steel kitchen dominated one corner. While in the far left, the opposite end to the kitchen, a large bed with white bedding was just visible. I swallowed hard.
“You sleep here?”
“And the first thing you notice is the bed?” His soft voice lilted closer than I expected, brushing my ear. I jumped a little, while a flush of goose bumps travelled down my arms.
A sudden scamper of feet on the wooden floorboards snapped my attention and I looked down to find a scruffy Yorkshire terrier racing towards me.
“Meet Gizmo.” The prince bent down and scooped up the ragged, fluffy mess.
