Dating the Prince(17)

Libby grabbed Connie's hand, searching her eyes earnestly. But she found  no hint of anger there, just amusement. "You're not mad, are you? They  offered me so much money, Connie. Enough to pay off all my dad's medical  bills. I keep thinking that if money isn't an issue, maybe my parents  can work things out."

"Of course I'm not mad." Connie squeezed Libby's hand. "You'd be insane  to turn down that much money. Not all of us are born with a silver spoon  in our mouths."

"Exactly." Libby's shoulders sagged with relief. "I'm so glad you understand."

"I do. And hey, I'm definitely not complaining about the hush money I'm  getting out of this. You have my full support with this whole crazy  business."

"Good. Because honestly, Con, he drives me absolutely crazy. I don't  know how I'm going to survive the next few months. He had the nerve to  call himself a hero for saving me from the guard." Heat licked up her  spine at just the memory of their conversation. She curled her toes  against the plush rug. It wasn't fair that he could make her lose her  train of thought with a simple smile, then make her so angry she wanted  to strangle him the second he opened his mouth.

"Oh, Prince Alexander is the actual worst," Connie said. "Too bad you  weren't asked to date one of the other princes. Stefan has always seemed  really levelheaded."

"He's probably smart enough not to cheat on a famous actress, then."

"Or smart enough to keep it a secret at least," Connie agreed. "Libby,  you've got to be careful with Prince Alexander. He's bad news."

"He could be single-handedly responsible for deforestation and I'd  probably still date him for the amount of money they're offering me."

Connie laughed and shook her head. "Okay, he's not that kind of bad."

"Don't worry about me. I'm doing this for the money. There is absolutely  nothing real going on between me and Alex. It's purely business, at  least on my end."

"Alex, huh? Don't you mean Prince Alexander?"

Libby glared and took a long sip of her wine. "Oh, shut up."

Connie laughed, but then turned serious again. "Seriously, Libby. Promise me you'll be careful."

"I will. Promise." Libby had no intention of losing her heart to His Royal Unfaithfulness. None at all.





CHAPTER ELEVEN



Alex stared at himself in the full-length mirror and blew out a breath.  His dark wood bed with the navy blue comforter he'd picked out himself  was strewn with the shirts he'd tried on and discarded before finally  settling on one.

This whole thing was so stupid. Today, he and Libby had their first  official unofficial date. Maggie had worked at record speed to set it  up-they'd only signed the contract yesterday-because she insisted they  needed to strike while the iron was hot, proverbially speaking. He still  had a hard time believing that Libby had agreed to the whole charade.  If he hadn't been there to witness the conversation and watch her sign  on the dotted line, he would've been convinced that coercion had somehow  been involved. But he supposed that money talked. Really, really loud.

He reached up, as though to straighten his tie, but was met only with an  open collar. Maggie had insisted that casual was best for their first  photographed outing. Of course, the royal family never engaged the press  if they could help it. But Maggie had driven three hours from  Castlebridge to call in an anonymous tip from a burner phone about  today's date. As much as Alex hated reporters, they needed them to make  this work.

That meant a walk around Castlebridge Park. He was already dreading the  whole thing. An hour of smiling and laughing and making polite  conversation that also would appear familiar to anyone watching sounded  exhausting. He hoped Libby's acting skills were up to snuff, because  after the scene at the café, he had serious doubts about her abilities.  She seemed like the kind of girl who wore her heart on her sleeve and  wasn't afraid to show everyone her true self. Of course, what did he  know? Maybe she'd staged the whole thing, from almost-arrest to coffee  shop scene, in the hopes of ten minutes of fame.         

     



 

No, that seemed too devious for Libby. She wasn't Isla. He needed to  remember that. If he expected her to act the part, he had to treat her  in a way that made acting easy. That meant being nice and not letting  her natural spunk and fire incite him into arguments, as fun as they  were.

Convinced he was as ready as he'd ever be, Alex opened his bedroom door. Finn immediately fell into step beside him.

"Ready for today?" Alex asked.

"Of course, Your Highness." Finn's face remained expressionless, but  Alex knew his bodyguard had his back. He'd never forget the way Finn had  helped him through that crazy month spent licking his wounds in Galia.

Charlotte walked toward them down the hallway, her nose in a book, as  usual. Alex grabbed her by the shoulders so she wouldn't slam into him.

She glanced up and smiled. "Oh, sorry, Alex. I didn't see you there."

"Maybe if you took your face out of a book occasionally you would," he joked.

"Ha ha, like I haven't heard that before." She closed the book and tucked it under her arm. "Where are you heading?"

The anxiety was back in his stomach now. "Castlebridge Park."

"Oh yeah." She fell into step beside him. "The date with the American, right?"

Alex nodded. His siblings and cousins all knew about the situation.  "Yeah. Let's hope the reporters show up and everything goes as planned.  It'd be just my luck that the one time I want a photo in the press, no  one shows up to take it."

"There's no way the newsroom will ignore that tip," Charlotte said reassuringly. "Maggie's too good at her job."

Alex ran a hand over his jaw and blew out a breath. "You're right. I  didn't think I'd be this nervous for today. Libby is such a wild card."

"Henry said he heard Mother and Father talking. Is her full name really Liberty?"

Alex nodded. "Ironic, right?"

Charlotte laughed, pausing outside the door to the family's private library. "You call it irony. I call it destiny."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She shrugged, but there was a twinkle in her eye. "I just haven't seen you this happy in a long time."

"Happy?" Alex sputtered. "You've got it all wrong. Yeah, Libby's  gorgeous. But she's driving me crazy. It'll be a miracle if we get  through this whole charade without it blowing up in our faces."

"If you say so." Charlotte rose on her tiptoes and kissed Alex on the cheek. "Smile pretty for the cameras."

She was gone before he could come up with a snappy retort. But then,  Charlotte had always been the romantic in the family. She and Emma had  spent hours giggling over some actor in the latest romantic comedy, or  sighing over the hero in the latest book they read. Alex mostly shook  his head and chalked up their absurdity to odd female behavior he'd  never understand.

Castlebridge Park was only a mile away from the palace, right in the  heart of the city. Alex had argued with Finn that it'd be easier to walk  instead of battling the downtown traffic. But in the end, Alex had been  overruled. Driving was safer, and so Alex climbed into an SUV parked  right outside the family's entrance and spent the five minute ride in  complete silence.

Kenzie would be with Libby today. Hopefully the reporters wouldn't only  take pictures, but overhear the carefully staged conversation in which  they made it clear that Libby was the nanny.

The car parked on the curb and Alex stepped out, taking in a deep breath  of the fresh air. He always felt better after a few hours outside the  palace walls. Like he was whole again. Funny. He felt the same way after  even a few minutes spent bantering with Libby.

Trees hung over the compacted gravel paths of the gardens, their leaves  full and just starting to brown on the edges. In another couple of  weeks, they'd start to drop, covering the walkways. Alex could already  feel the slight nip of autumn in the air, something in the breeze that  hinted at the coming change of seasons. Lush green grass spread out from  the paths in every direction, and laughter floated on the air as  children played catch with their dogs and couples walked slowly by,  holding hands.

He scanned the path for a short woman with beautiful soft curls but  didn't see her yet. Maybe chronic lateness was typical for Libby and the  coffee shop hadn't been an unusual occurrence. If that was the case,  his mother was in for four months of annoyance. He imagined Libby  breezing into a political dinner fifteen minutes late, a soul-crushing  smile on her full lips. Every diplomat-the male ones, at least-would  instantly forgive her tardiness. Alex would place his hand on her back, a  clear sign to everyone that she was taken. Yes, she'd smile at everyone  in the room, but there'd be a special smile reserved just for him.