The Dirty Series 1(70)

Though I guess technically the one-date-only rule really came about because of…

Never mind. I shake my head to clear the bad memory from my mind, quickly update my profile picture with a more recent one, and then swipe over to the list of men who might be my ticket away from this day of stress and boredom.

There he is.

Mr. Tonight stares out at me from the very top of the list, his green eyes piercing even in the profile photo. My heart thuds in my chest.

I click to open his profile, biting my lip as I scan the words. Typical, run-of-the-mill stuff…but that picture.

I send him a quick message through the app, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Go out with me tonight

After “tonight,” I type a period, but that seems too harsh. I replace it with a question mark. No, too timid. I settle on an exclamation point.

I go back to the endless stream of profile pictures, but before I’ve even found Mr. Second Runner-Up, the app pings.

It’s him.

Name the place!





Chapter Four





Alec



This vacation isn’t going exactly according to plan, but it’s far better than nothing. Far better.

The moment my date with Emmaline ended, I hightailed it out of there, adrenaline pumping through my system, barreling through my veins like a runaway train.

My driver and bodyguard, Nathaniel, almost fell for my half-assed plot. Almost. Unfortunately for me and my grand plans, Nate is also one of my closest friends. We grew up together and attended the local private school at the same time. Even when he was poised to be King, my father wanted my brother and me to have a genuine local presence. After school, I went to Oxford and Nate became a member of the secret service in the United Kingdom. He’s about as badass as they come.

He also knows me far too well.

To Nate’s credit, he let me get all the way to my gate at the airport, nondescript duffel bag in hand, before he came strolling down the main concourse of the airport and dropped into the seat next to me.

I didn’t look up from my phone, just slid over politely.

“Hey.”

At the sound of his voice, I started and he burst out laughing, a rare slip from the solemn coat of professionalism he wears like a bulletproof vest these days.

“What the hell, man?”

“You really thought you were going to flee the country by yourself, your highness?” he asks, eyebrows raised.

I slumped in my seat and ran my fingers mindlessly through my hair. “I guess not, you asshole.”

He pretended to look offended. “Such language from a member of the royal family.”

“There’s no way I can convince you to let this one slide?”

“Not a chance.”



By the time we landed in New York, I had a plan. We flagged down the first cab in line outside the airport departure doors, which turned out to be driven by a born-and-bred New Yorker with a death wish. As we careened through the traffic, listening to him blare his horn and shout a never-ending stream of expletives at other drivers on the road and a few brave pedestrians who dared to dash across the street in front of him, I watched Nate’s shoulders rise closer and closer to his ears. We pulled up to the Four Seasons just in time to avoid experiencing a classic Nate boil-over outburst at the driver.

So he wasn’t very happy when I walked with him into the lobby and then announced that I wouldn’t be staying.

“What?” he growled in a low voice, his teeth gritted, eyes narrowed.

“I rented a place nearby. It’s only a couple of blocks away. Give me a break, Nate. I’ve been under lock and key for more than twenty years at this point. I need some space.”

He pressed his lips together in a tight line and hawkishly scanned the lobby with his eyes, a habit he couldn’t break even during the middle of an argument. “There’s no way, your highness.” He exaggerated his last two words like I could possibly need a reminder about my station in life. “There’s going to be hell to pay when we return as it is, and—”

I stepped closer to him, looking him straight in the eye. “I’ll deal with my father when we get back. For now, just let me do what I came here to do.” I injected just a hint of my full authority as a member of Saintland’s royal family, a card I don’t play often with Nate. Sometimes I slip into that mode without realizing it, but after a decade plus of schoolboy hijinks with Nate in the books, it’s not something I want to get used to. With him, at least.

He backed down a little, his jaw working as he considered his options. A tinge of guilt shot through me. Nate has been a loyal friend to me for many, many years, and making him choose between the oath he took to Saintland and being my best friend was a dick move.