Royal Bastard (7 page)

“Oh my god, Rose, he’s not choking,” Mum said, her voice edging on hysteria. “Quit beating his back.”

“Better safe than sorry,” I said with a smile, turning back to my spaghetti with a self-assured grin on my face. That would teach him to ambush me. Not once but twice now. And still I had no idea what he wanted from me. Yet that gorgeous smile made me think that whatever it was, I would surely regret it.

S
he was smart
. I had to give her that. I knew she would be caught off guard by me showing up at her parents’ house, but I hadn’t expected to actually enjoy the visit. Her parents were the quintessential hard-working English family, and it was obvious to me that they all really cared for each other. Rose was also pretty damn embarrassed, and I idly made a note that I would have to make it up to her.

Still, I thought as I took the last bite of a wholesome rhubarb crumble, I couldn’t imagine having this type of dinner at my father’s residence. There had never been this kind of ribbing between our relatives. Dinner was a more sombre affair, where my stepmother dominated the conversation.
She would drone on and on about whatever was bothering her, not leaving much time for anyone else to get a word in. Sitting at that table had been some of the most uncomfortable times in my life, and maybe that was one of the reasons I had acted out so much. When my mum was alive, our dinners had consisted of just us two eating together. I could remember her gentle laugh as I told her about my day, and just like it was yesterday I remembered the familiar smells of my favourite—and what would be considered humble by the palace’s standards—meals coming from our kitchen. This sudden bout of nostalgia, combined with the friendly banter at this family’s table, made me realise how much I’d missed those things.

“Well,” Mrs. Mathis said, pushing her chair back from the table. “I guess we need to get this cleaned up.”

“Sit, Mum,” Rose said, waving her mum back into the seat. “Let me clean it up tonight.”

“Sorry to eat and run, Mum, but I have to go. I have a ton of accounting and stock orders to catch up with,” Harriet said. As she pushed her chair back from the table, she raised her eyebrows at me, then glanced at her sister and back again. “It was nice to meet you, Your Highness,” Harriet said and nodded.

“Pleasure was all mine, but really I wish you’d all just call me Edward.”

“Nonsense,” replied their mother. “I’ll walk you out, Harriet. I wanted to ask you about, er, that book. Yes, that’s right, the book for next week’s book club,” Mrs. Mathis continued and rose from the table. I could tell what she was doing, hoping perhaps to give me and her other daughter some time to talk, but Rose had already started to occupy herself by gathering the dishes in a small pile. She scowled at me when I stood and reached for the heavy sauce pot before she could.

“You don’t have to help,” she said in a low voice. “Why don’t you just leave while my mum is occupied? You’ve had your fun slumming it… you can go now.”

“I was a dinner crasher,” I countered, and laid my claim upon the pot. “I can at least help clean up.” Besides, I still hadn’t talked to her about the real reason I had come… if only she’d drop the wall she’d built up around her, I could make her see I wasn’t a threat. She sniffed and picked up the plates, leaving me to follow her into the small kitchen. I set the pot on the counter as Rose started the water in the sink, plugging the drain to allow it to fill.

“Seriously. Why are you here?” she asked softly, her voice barely above the sound of the water. “And don’t say for my mum’s spaghetti, or I will deck you where you stand. And I’m not going to go public with the photo I took…”

“I need your help,” I said, running a hand roughly through my hair.

“So you have already said. Want to be a little clearer?” she responded, turning her eyes on me. Damn, they were unusual; one a brilliant pale blue while the other was a pale green. I’d never seen something so amazing that up-close and personal, and it made me want to continue to stare into her eyes for the longest time. Looking at her, I took in her curly dark hair, her nicely rounded face and the way her lips twitched with impatience as she waited for my response. While her features weren’t over the top smoking, she was still gorgeous.

Figuring I would let her stew just a little longer, I slid my gaze down her front, taking in the t-shirt that clung to her impressive rack. Over and down the slight curve of her belly to the point where her jeans started. The flare of her hips made my mouth dry. I knew I’d gone over the appropriate time allotted that one could stare at a woman’s body without being reprimanded, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to feel those curves under my hands. Shit.

Now I was getting hard thinking about popping that top button of her jeans and pressing up against her.

Clearing my throat, I willed my excitement away and tried to concentrate on her face, seeing the irritation flaring in her unusual eyes. “Are you done ogling me?” she asked sharply.

“If I were ogling you,” I started, giving her a slow grin, “you would be melting into a puddle at my feet. Though, come to think about it, you do look like an ice-lolly that’s been left out in the sun too long.”

She snorted and looked away, crossing her arms under her breasts. Damn those things, they were fucking gorgeous, even clothed like they were. “You’ve got two seconds,
Your Royal Highness
.”

I ignored the drawl of the blasted title on her lips and shoved my hands in my pockets. “I need a photographer.”

Her eyes swung back to me and she just stared. That was obviously the last thing she thought I was going to say. “Don’t you normally avoid the press?”

“It’s a long story, but the short of it is that I need to clean up my image,” I said quickly before I changed my mind. “And I need someone to document it for me.”

Rose laughed, a deep throaty laugh that had my cock twitching again. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” I said roughly, hating the fact that I was that attracted to her already. That was going to complicate things. “I need you to do a fluff piece—or two—on me, taking some photos of me being like a royal and then selling the stories to the right magazines or newspapers.”

Her laughter died and she cocked her head to the side. “Why not hire a professional for that? They can do both. I can’t write worth a lick.”

“You are the only one who won’t take this to the press,” I said, figuring the only way to get her buy-in was to be straight up with her. “Look. I need someone I can trust. You took a pretty provocative picture of me the other night, and it’s yet to circulate the tabloids… so I figure—”

Her cheeks bloomed a dusky pink like her namesake as she glanced down, and I couldn’t help but grin at the thought of her checking out my junk. So little miss photographer was embarrassed that she took a picture like that. “You do still have the picture, don’t you, Rose?” I asked softly, curious to know.

“I don’t see why that has anything to do with this,” she forced out, clearing her throat.

I took a step closer, invading her personal space. With my hand, I reached out and captured one of her curls between my fingers, feeling the softness of the strands and then catching the vanilla scent that wafted from them. I knew right then, her hesitation confirming it for me, that she was the perfect person for this job. She would give her whole heart to whatever task she put her mind to. It was another of the many reasons why I was starting to like her.

“You kept it for your own,” I finally stated, whispering the words into her ear as I tugged on the curl lightly. She looked up, and I was struck by the fire that was in her eyes now, a need I hadn’t anticipated, one that reflected my own in their depths. I suddenly wanted to kiss the hell out of her, to feel her lips on mine. Would she moan under my touch or would she rake her nails across my back in an attempt to pull me closer? Fuck, I wanted to know. I leaned in and she drew in a breath.

“Rose?”

She jumped out of my grasp so quickly that I stumbled forward, nearly pitching into the filling sink. Straightening, I turned to see her mum entering the kitchen. “Edward, you shouldn’t be in here. It’s an absolute mess!”

“I was helping Rose clear the table,” I said, putting on an apologetic smile that I knew would win over any mother (except my stepmother, of course). “It was the least I could do for your wonderful hospitality tonight.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” she said, bringing her hand up to her throat. “Won’t you come sit for a cup of tea before you go?”

“I must go, don’t want to overstay my welcome,” I said, looking back at Rose. Her cheeks were still flushed, and she was eyeing me warily, like she didn’t know what to think. Hell, I didn’t either. I had lust raging through my veins for her, and I didn’t understand why.

“Rose, you need to see our guest out, and you are welcome here anytime,” her mum said, shooing us both out of the kitchen with her hands. “I will take care of the dishes.”

Rose shot her mother a dirty look before storming out, her fists clenched at her sides. I fell in step as we walked to the front door. She threw it open and walked down the broken concrete path towards my car. It was a sweet ride, a custom black R8 coupe that I’d purchased just six months ago. While I preferred to take a cab or have one of the royal drivers pick me up, I still enjoyed driving the beauty every chance I got, plus it helped in my little getaways when I wanted to drop my royal guards.

She slowed when she reached it and swivelled around to face me with her hands on her hips. “Okay, so now you have made friends with my mum and hijacked my family dinner, not to mentioning ruining my blind date who no doubt thinks I have a fetish for threesomes, so what’s next? I just want to be prepared.”

“Are you going to take the job?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest in an effort not to grab at her. That wouldn’t make this any better for either of us. I was already imagining bending her over the hood of my prized possession and taking her hard to sate this lust that had reared up.

She sighed in frustration. “Even if I did, I have no camera to snap any pictures, remember? You effectively put me out of a job for at least a month or two.”

“Well, that’s why this job is perfect for you because…” I said, walking over to the passenger side and throwing open the door. She watched me curiously from the other side as I reached for the bag that I had picked up on the way over. I pulled it out and handed it over the top of the car. “Here. I’m sorry for breaking your camera. Take it, it won’t bite, I promise.”

She took the bag warily, gasping as she pulled out the camera inside. “Oh my god. This is a four-thousand-pound camera.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t ask how much it cost. The guy at the store ensured me that it was the best on the market that he had in stock.” I had stopped by the store on my way over, figuring I would sweeten the pot. By the look on her face, I was right on the money. She was handling it like it was made of glass, much like I had handled the car that stood between us when I had first gotten it. I knew absolutely nothing about cameras, but I figured what the hell. I had broken hers, and from what I had learned about Rose Mathis, she couldn’t just up and buy another one, at least not right away.

She swallowed and shook her head, putting the camera carefully back into the bag before handing it back over the top of the car to me. “I can’t accept this. It’s too much. I don’t even know you!”

“I can’t take it back,” I challenged, tamping down the desperation I was feeling. If I couldn’t get her to bite on this, I was in deep shit. I needed this, and I had thirty days to show my father I could be the perfect royal son, or I was back out on the street with no future and no place to go. Despite our differences, she was the only one I could trust. “Please. Consider it a signing bonus. I will pay you well for your time, Rose. More than you will make taking photos at your sister’s club.
It’s one month. Where else can you make ten grand in one month?”

Her mouth dropped open as she stared at me. “Did you just say ten grand?”

“And the camera—you can keep the camera regardless,” I replied, stepping back from the car and rounding the front of it quickly. “I have never asked anyone for help before, but I am asking you. I’m putting my life and my future in your hands. How can you say no?” I added with an earnest smile. And though she probably thought I was full of shit, every word of it was true. Yes, I could hire a professional—even a whole team, if I wanted to—but I didn’t. I wanted her as part of the package too.

She closed her mouth and clasped the camera bag to her chest, a good sign. “You’re not shitting me, are you?”

I shook my head then crossed a finger over my heart. “I’m desperate. I need your help, Rose. I’ve been given a month to fix my image, and you are my best shot. And about the only fucking person I can trust to keep this a secret.”

“Why is this so important to you?” she asked. “What’s at stake?”

I sighed. “Everything.”

I
stared at the ceiling
, the house silent around me. It was way past my bedtime; my body-clock was going to be all screwed up in the morning if I didn’t get some sleep, but my mind was still reeling from the night’s events.

A real live prince sat at my mum’s dining table and ate her spaghetti without complaint. That in itself was hard enough to believe. But the conversation that had followed, well… I was still trying to process that.

The kitchen incident had taken me out of my comfort zone—like far out, shot up into the sky and across the universe out. The way his eyes had hungrily devoured my body had me thinking that there was more between us than just the bizarre encounters we kept having. First the club, then the restaurant and now in my home. I bit my lip and threw the covers over my head, burying myself beneath them, the warm air almost suffocating me as I thought about Edward. Had he really been looking at me like he could eat me up, or was it all something I was conjuring up? Was I hoping against all hope that an actual prince would fancy me? Oh god.

Turning over and sticking my head back out, sucking in cool breaths of air, I punched at my pillow and stared at the expensive camera sitting on my cluttered dressing table. I still couldn’t believe he’d given me the camera and that I now owned something so unbelievably expensive. After he’d dropped his bombshell, I told him I would think about his offer and get back to him in the morning. The funny thing was, I had already made up my mind. I knew the moment he asked me to help him that I was going to take the crazy, convoluted job. And of course, the little devious minx that I normally kept buried deep inside knew it wasn’t the money or the camera that had swayed me.

It was the way he had elicited nearly every emotion within me in the space of a few short hours. And the way his eyes had softened when he’d uttered that single word ‘
everything’
when I’d asked him what was at stake.

I could feel the desperation in his voice, see the tightness in his eyes. Something else was really going on here, and of course I suspected that it had to do with his most recent antics as of late, but that wasn’t all, I thought. And those antics? I’d been a part of and inadvertently caused them. I owed him. It was my fault he had been arrested, my fault that he was searching for a way to improve his image. I couldn’t deny that fact. So I owed him, and this was how I was going to pay him back… and if he insisted on giving me a ludicrously expensive camera, too? Well, like he said—I could consider it a bonus of sorts.

I sighed and turned away from the camera, my thoughts on how I was going to survive a month in his presence. A healthy distance between us at all times was what the doctor ordered.

He was unbelievably hot, undeniably sexy, and extremely dangerous for my heart. He was Brent but to the nth degree. I would have to be on my guard constantly with a man like him.

Edward, I gathered from all my research and of course that time I witnessed a certain act in a certain bathroom, was a playboy. He was the type of man who loved them and then left them just as quick. He wasn’t a man who was looking to settle down or for the white picket fence and kids. Not that I was looking for that, either.
Not yet, anyway
. But I was worried, oh so worried that I could be getting myself into something I couldn’t control.

So why was I agreeing to this, knowing that I would be subjecting myself to him? It was that one damn word again—‘
everything’
—the word that had tugged at my heart long after he had driven away in his expensive car. It was the way he had treated my mum respectfully and made a night so perfect for her that she would be talking about it for years. It was the fact he was a bit of an outcast like me. And I had seen the gentler side of the bad boy royal that had made me want to find out more, a side that I could almost bet hadn’t been touted much.

A month to prove himself? That was going to be easy if he could manage repeat performances of tonight’s endeavours. But the lingering question of
why
still hovered in my mind. What had brought this on? Why now? What had happened to cause this sudden need to turn over a new leaf? And most importantly, why did he act the way he did? Those questions continued to float around in my head, and I knew I was only going to find out by doing one thing. “I’m really going to do it,” I said softly to the darkened room, my resolve crumbling.

After all, he was royalty… it was my duty as a proud citizen to do what I could for my king and country. And before I closed my eyes to sleep, finally content with the decision I’d made, I vowed that I wasn’t going to let him down;
I would be the best damn photographer I could be. I was going to help this bad boy become a good guy in a month. It was going to be highly entertaining and one hell of a month, that was for sure.

He had everything to lose, and instinctively I wanted to do everything I could to help him. I just hoped I didn’t live to regret it.

* * *

I
stared
up at the flat with some trepidation as well as excitement buzzing through my restless body. After an uneasy night’s sleep with visions of him floating around in my head, I’d awoken somewhat grumpy and not in the best of moods. I hadn’t even said I was going to help him, and already he was making me lose sleep! But in the early morning hours, I had resigned myself to the fact that I couldn’t turn down ten grand. It was way more than I would make in a year at the rate I was going. I was going to help him, and heaven help me over the next month.

Shouldering the nice camera bag he had provided with the camera that I was absolutely in love with, I entered the building at the address he’d given me. I was immediately stopped by a security guard dressed in a full uniform, his buttons gleaming in the morning light. “Can I help you, miss?”

“I’m here to see Edward, er, I mean Prince Edward,” I replied, taking in the stark white lobby around me. Even the furniture was white, with no splash of colour to be seen except the man standing before me in his decked-out threads, blocking the lift.

He eyed me with a critical gaze. “Is he expecting you? I will need to see some identification.”

“I believe so,” I said slowly. I knew the royal family didn’t live in this building save for one black sheep prince, and by the way he wandered around the city without bodyguards, as if he were immune to everything and without a care in the world, I wouldn’t have guessed he would have such a champion in the man before me. But I supposed perhaps even the prince thought it better to have a little bit of security at the place where he rested his head.

The security man made a great show of checking his watch, shaking his perfectly combed head in the process. “It’s only half past seven, miss. I can almost guarantee that the man you are looking for isn’t expecting you quite this early.”

I stood my ground. “Well, if he wants my help, he will get an early rise from now on,” I shot back, the irritation over my own lack of sleep kicking in. We had to get started immediately if I was to change his image in a month.

He looked at me for a sly second and then chuckled, sweeping to the side with his hand extended towards the front desk of the entry hall. “Well now, I do believe you are right. I personally can’t wait to see what he’s going to say when you inform him of that. But first, your I.D. and I’ll get you logged in.”

“That’s it?” I asked, surprised that he wasn’t going to pat me down and check me out for weapons. “All of that, and you’re going to let me go with that answer?”

He leaned forward and gave me a wink, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “Miss, anyone that can come back with that answer is okay in my books. And between you and me,” he said, his voice hushed, “it’s about time the young sir had someone to get him out of bed rather than in it.”

I stifled a laugh. We were going to get along just fine, I thought.

“Besides,” he continued. “I have a picture of you to confirm that you are indeed expected here, Ms. Mathis.”

He still asked me to hand over my barely used driver’s license, and he quickly verified my information before handing it back and wishing me luck on rousing the sleeping prince. I shook my head and started toward the elevator, pressing the button to go up. The doors opened immediately and I stepped in, turning back to face the man in the lobby. I sighed heavily as the doors shut, knowing that it shouldn’t have been that easy to waltz into the prince’s private domain.

His private domain.

My stomach rolled with anticipation as the elevator ascended to god knows where. I was about to step into the lion’s den, and I really didn’t know what to expect. Last night’s visit and our talk had been, well, interesting. After pressing a card with this address into my hand, he had driven off without another word, leaving the decision in my hands. And for the next hour I’d been forced to listen to my mum literally recount the entire evening’s events to my father as if he hadn’t been there.

While she had been over the moon about the royal visit, I was totally unsettled, especially by the moment in the kitchen where I could have sworn he would have kissed me had she not interrupted. The problem was, I didn’t feel weirded out by the fact but more intrigued. What did he kiss like? Was it tender or demanding? Would he grab the back of my head or would he cradle my face? The stupid questions had been endless, one of the many reasons I hadn’t gotten much sleep.

The doors opened and I took in the prince’s flat for the first time. The hardwood floors were in sharp contrast to the white walls, and while I expected rigidly stuffed and hard leather chairs I was surprised to see that the furniture was more for comfort than for showing off. An open kitchen with all the modern appliances was also visible from my vantage point at the main entrance, as well as a glass and wooden staircase off to my right that led to the second level, where I was sure my new client lay.

“Um, hello?” I called out softly, taking a few steps into the main living room. “It’s Rose, Rose Mathis. If there are any guards… please don’t shoot me.” There was no response save the ticking of an art deco clock on the wall not far from me and the sound of a gentle snore coming from somewhere up above. Maybe I had come too early.
Too bad.

Squaring my shoulders, I forced my feet to move towards the staircase. Well, I was already here, after all. I was going to have to face the prince’s wrath for waking him up. Slowly I climbed the stairs to the second floor, finding an open floor plan with a large bed dominating the centre. He was sprawled out on the bed, his arms flung out as if he were impersonating a starfish. He slumbered on, unaware that I was stepping into his personal space.

I felt awkward that I hadn’t made more noise and had taken it upon myself to saunter into his bedroom. But all those thoughts went out the window as I admired his well-formed chest and abs, getting a little weak in the knees at the thought of what else might be lying under the sheet that settled low on his hips. He was gorgeous and damn lickable, if you asked me.

I bit my lip, unsure what I should do to wake him up. Was a gentle shake of his shoulder enough, or should I beat him with a pillow until he opened his eyes? Was I brave enough to even touch him? My hands trembled at the thought. This was such a bad idea. I should just go back downstairs and wait until he woke up by himself. I could explain that way better than being in his bedroom. Swallowing hard, I reached out and touched his leg, covered in the silken sheets.

“Er, Prince Edward?” I said, shaking it a little. “Hey, wake up.”

He muttered and rolled over, the small indentation of his lower back and the top of his ass coming into view. Oh god. The temperature in his flat immediately rose ten degrees, or that could’ve just been my face burning up with embarrassment and desire. He was completely naked under that thin sheet. One good tug and I would have a view that I wouldn’t forget!

My cheeks flushed again with part naughtiness and wickedness as I averted my eyes from his glorious backside, wondering how I had thought this was a good idea again.
Oh yeah. Ten grand.
That would make anyone in their right mind do something like this.

Reining in my inner naughty school-girl, I decided to stick with the top half of him—the much safer half—and I walked over to the bed and placed a hand upon his shoulder, feeling his heat as I gave it a good shake. “Prince Edward, wake up. Please don’t make me douse you with cold water.”

His eyes finally opened, and for a split second, I saw a tender expression on his face that had my heart doing double-time in my chest. Oh, how long had I wanted someone to look at me like that in the morning or to even be excited to see me in that regard? But his expression changed nearly immediately. His mouth turned up into a lazy, cocky grin, his eyes becoming clearer as he looked at me. “You’re taking the job. I knew you would.”

“I’m taking the job on a few conditions,” I said, stepping back from the bed. “Can you, um, get dressed so we can talk about it?”

He slowly sat up, his hand rubbed idly across his chest and I swallowed. What was wrong with me? This man was not going to be in any way, shape or form part of my normal life. Period. I was here to do a job, not fantasise about his body or where his hand lay or anything else for that matter!