Page 11 of An Inconvenient Plan
He worked, he stewed, he grumbled at his sister and sisters-in-law, who just wouldn’t shut up about how cool it was that Hailey would be meeting her dream prince tomorrow. It was like they had to rub it in, trying to get a reaction out of him. What was the big deal about being a prince? The guy was born into it. Not like he had any choice in the matter.
Finally, Mad asked Hailey if she could take Rose on a walk before they all left for the night. Now he could speak privately to Hailey without all the barking. He crooked his finger at her to join him at the far end of the bar away from her friends.
She looked away, pretending not to notice his request.
He stifled a groan of pure aggravation and made his way over to her. Now he had to whisper or her friends would add in their two cents. He didn’t want to put on a show. This was too damn important.
“Enjoy your mojito?” he asked.
She eyed him suspiciously. “Yes. Why? Did you do something to it?”
She always thought the worst. Maybe he deserved it. He had given her a hard time before—teasing her, trying to best her in competitive one-upmanship, rejecting her sexy drunken invitation. She’d even said she’d learned not to trust him after he’d pulled that switcheroo date with Jake. Josh had figured financial security was important to her because she was way into her work and had shown such an interest in his billionaire twin and his company. It had gotten his back up because the one thing Josh didn’t have was financial security, and there was Jake, looking just like him and offering what Josh couldn’t. So he’d taken Jake’s place, tortured himself over her enthusiasm for every braggy luxury thing he could think of, and then pulled the plug on the date, unable to stomach her interest in his twin. Of course, now he knew she thought he’d been a boring braggart as Jake, but at the time it had felt like she preferred Jake. He’d been an idiot, trying to compete with his twin over a woman he wanted but didn’t want to want. His visceral repulsion for the beauty-queen thing in battle with his primal lust made him do really stupid things. It was him, after all, that she’d paraded around as her date at weddings, so he must’ve passed muster right from the beginning. He ground his teeth. All he could do was try to earn back her trust.
“It was just a regular mojito.” He lowered his voice. “Maybe you could stick around after closing. Just to talk.”
“We can talk now,” she said in her normal voice.
Her friends were listening. None of them were looking this way, but they’d stopped talking to each other.
“Privately,” he whispered.
She did not whisper back. “Anything you have to say, you can say in front of my friends. I have no secrets.”
His temper flared. She was making this too hard, being completely unreasonable. Unless…she wasn’t getting what he was trying to do here. He’d thought he’d explained how important it was that they talk, how they needed to get on better footing. Why wasn’t she getting it? She was smart and genius-level diabolical with her cheery battle tactics. Was she completely done with him?
He dropped his voice to a guttural growl that was more demand than request. “I want youalone. Tonight.”
Her lashes fluttered down, her fingers rubbing the side of her neck. A good sign—almost flirty and definitely less confrontational. “Oh.”
His fingers tingled with the urge to touch her, stroke her soft hair, her cheek, her neck. He glanced over at her friends, who immediately turned away.Nothing like an audience when you’re trying to connect with a woman.“So?”
She looked into his eyes for a long tense moment, taking his measure, he figured. Trust him, not trust him. He remained perfectly still, gazing back at her steadily. Finally she spoke in a soft voice. “I don’t want to keep rehashing things, and I’ve got a lot to do with the prince arriving tomorrow—”
“Yup.”
He started cleanup, tucking glasses under the bar, avoiding the curious eyes of the women. This sucked. She was closed against him. The prince would surely take advantage with Hailey fangirling all over him. Hailey’s words tormented him in an endless loop.He’s been my go-to fantasy forever. He’s the total package. I wouldn’t kick him out of bed.
Mad returned with Rose, and the women left, telling him goodbye. Hailey nodded once at him, gave him a small smile, and left. She was at least a little warmer toward him since the article had come out with his praise in it. He’d told her at the time he’d meant it, but she hadn’t believed him. That was how much she mistrusted him. How was he ever going to regain her trust if she wouldn’t spend time with him?
He scrubbed the bar top with a rag. He’d grown since his relationship with Clarissa. She’d made him more self-aware, showing him how his subconscious manifested in his real-world decisions. And she’d given him some relaxation techniques for his occasional rough night. Unfortunately, Clarissa hadn’t been right for him in the long haul. She was too good—angelic level of good. He’d tried to meet her where she was at, in her enlightened hippy lifestyle, knowing all along it just wasn’t him. Worse, his newfound self-awareness made him realize what he really needed in a partner wasn’t an angelic enlightened woman like Clarissa, but someone with sharp teeth that took a bite out of life. Someone with claws and fire and a warrior’s spirit.
He needed his equal.
It hit him like a slap. He’d just described Hailey.Shewas his equal.
That meant she was supposed to be with him. They belonged together. Dammit. If he hadn’t been so hardheaded about Hailey for so long, he would’ve seen what was right under his nose. And now he had a prince to work around and a lot of bad blood to wade through to get her to even consider him. There were so many ways it could go wrong between him and Hailey, but the idea of ceding the battlefield now that the smoke had cleared was an impossibility.
All he needed was a strategic plan to win the war, victory to them both. The flip side, a loss, would damage him, Hailey, their parents, everyone they considered family. The stakes could not have been higher. All of his warrior instincts fired up, ready to charge ahead.
5
Hailey was beside herself preparing for the royal visit. She’d managed to get through two morning appointments with clients, nearly jumping out of her skin while waiting for them to make their choices on menus and tableware. All she could think wasGet out of here! I need to polish Ludbury House until it shines! The prince arrives at five!As soon as she finished her last appointment, she wolfed down a late lunch and inspected every room of Ludbury House, even the upstairs rooms, where the bride and groom had dressing areas. She felt like a butterfly bouncing off the walls. Rose must’ve picked up on her nervous energy because she was on edge too, barking at every little sound all day long.
At four thirty, she stopped fluttering around the mansion and rushed to the bathroom to touch up her hair and makeup. She wore a new-to-her pale green silk and organza dress with white shoulder straps and a white band across her mostly bare back. The dress had been a steal from the consignment shop in Greenport, where most of her wardrobe came from. The dress ended at her knees, and she’d paired it with nude suede strappy heels. Sophisticated and sexy.
Not that she was prepping for seduction. She justreallywanted this job. Planning a wedding for a princess would be fantastic. Not to mention how wonderful it would be to mention Princess Silvia Rourke as a client in her marketing down the line. Anyway, it wasn’t like the prince would be interested in a scrappy businesswoman clawing out a living. She might fantasize about him based on his pictures, but she had no delusions in that regard.
She headed back to her office, sat at her antique replica mahogany desk, and then just admired the saved picture of Prince Phillip on her laptop. Dark brown rumpled hair, stunning blue-green eyes, chiseled cheekbones to die for, stubbled jaw, magnificent muscular body in a casual white T-shirt and black jeans. Swoon!
