Page 15 of A Wise Prince

I lean against the bathroom door with the clothes in my hands. I look down and shake my head. I’m one hundred percent sure he stole these from his sister, which means I’m holding the princess’s clothes in my hands.

I have officially never been more mortified in my entire life, ever. And that is saying something because I once tripped while walking into a state dinner at the White House, and it was photographed and reported on every major news outlet.

The image of a half-naked Prince August is now burned into my retinas for all of time. I have seen him on many tabloid covers, but I always assumed he was airbrushed because real men don’t look like that, or at least they don’t in my experience…which is pitifully little, but still, I wasn’t expecting him to look like a carved-from-stone god.

I slowly dress, opting to go commando. I toss my underwear in the trash can and pull my hair back into a braid to keep it off my face. I look in the mirror. At least I look respectable. I could get away with this walk of shame without being completely humiliated…maybe.

I take a breath and open the door. Prince August is sitting by a table, drinking from a glass. I freeze. He is perfection. His abs flex as do his biceps as he brings the glass to his throat. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows the orange juice. I’ve never wanted to be a drink so badly in my life. His pants ride low on his hips, giving me a view of that V in his lower abdomen that has my mouth watering with wonder.

“You could take a picture. It’ll last longer,” he says to me without looking my way. Asshole.

“I was just wondering if you always walk around your home half-naked,” I retort, fist-pumping myself in my mind for my quick comeback.

He turns and walks toward me. He leans in so close that I think he might kiss me but instead he just grins. “Normally, I’m completely naked,” he says in a low gravelly voice. He pulls back and winks at me before heading into his bathroom. “Help yourself to food,” he calls out as he shuts the door.

“Holy shit,” I say to myself. I grab a slice of fruit and down some juice. I’m starting to feel better until I remember that I am AWOL. Shit. Jackie is definitely going to kick my ass. I head toward my phone which I see is sitting on the bedside table. When I open it, there is a stream of text messages and voice mails. I listen to the last one first.

“I hope he’s a nice piece of ass because I’m about to call your father,” she growls. Fuck.

I hit reply and the phone rings.

“I swear to fucking god, Kate! I had to track your damn phone and then confirm with palace security that you were there. You are fucking lucky that I haven’t called your father or my boss to report this incident,” she screams into the phone. I hold it back and grimace.

“Sorry,” I squeak.

“Sorry! Sorry! Seriously, you bail on me when fucking Jared is present and then spend the night clubbing it up with Terrance, who you can thank for answering his phone, and now you are shacked up with Prince Fuck-a-lot and you expect a ‘sorry’ to be enough! I don’t get hazard pay!” Jackie yells.

I’m about to answer her when the phone is grabbed out of my hand. I jump in surprise as Auggie holds the phone to his ear.

“Hello, this is Prince August. I assume this is Jacklyn Sanchez? Yes. I’m very sorry. I meant to have my security informed of our whereabouts but when Jared arrived, Terrance and I decided it was best if Kate was not present,” he says as though this is a normal conversation. Nothing, and I repeat nothing is normal about this. I sigh. What I wouldn’t give to be normal again. I barely remember what that was like.

“Yes, I see. Of course. Thank you,” he adds as he disconnects the call.

“You OK?” he asks me.

I nod. “I should have told her. Thank god she didn’t call my father, or we’d be engaging in World War III right now.”

“I’ve heard that your dad can be…a challenge,” he replies with a smirk. I’m beginning to think that smirk is like a resting bitch face for him.

“His reputation precedes him, then,” I say as I hold out my hand for my phone. He places it on my palm but allows his fingers to caress mine as he pulls away. I know he can see the goose bumps that form on my skin from just that slight touch. I look away pretending to look at something on my phone.

He clears his throat. “I will have our security drive you and Terrance home.” A knock on the door tells me Terrance has already been contacted.

“Hey,” he says, looking between Auggie and me. I can see the hurt in his eyes. I swallow. The last thing I want to do is hurt Terrance’s feelings.

“Hey. Auggie was kind enough to find me some clothes, so we can get going,” I say to him.

“Oh, uh, sure.”

I note he’s still wearing his outfit from last night. Auggie presses a button on the wall and a moment later an older woman is at the door.

“Harriet, please see Terrance and Kate to the security entrance. They should have their evening wear in dry cleaning if you could grab that for them on the way there. Security will be seeing them home.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” she says with a slight nod.

“Thanks for a fun night,” Terrance says as he holds out a hand. I can see the look in his eyes and this handshake is some kind of peace offering. My curiosity has my mind racing with thoughts of why they may have not been friends previously.

“Sure thing,” Auggie replies as they shake.

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