Page 88 of The Thing About My Prince
“Again, in my defense, I met him right when I had a mountain of research to do for an article on sweatshop labor that took every last drop of my time and energy.”
“Which brings me to my next point. You are not one to jeopardize your work or career for anyone. And you know full well that banging Prince Oliver could do exactly that.”
“I wouldn’t describe it as abang.”
“Which leads me nicely to my next point. Before you make any decisions about how to handle this, maybe you should have real, not spurting-in-your-hands, sex with him. You know you should never make a decision until you’ve gathered all the data.”
“So you’re saying I should sleep with him again? For research?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She tilts her head and raises her eyebrows. “But also because you clearly really fucking like him.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
OLIVER
“Whoa, man,” Chase says when I finally stop talking. “That wasa lot. Also”—he pauses to release a loud yawn that rattles my ear pods—“I’m in LA.”
“Shit.” I look at the time on my phone and count back eight hours. “Sorry. It’s only seven fifteen with you?”
“Yeah. Just here for a few days. And I had a painfully late night because the studio guy, who’s on the brink of agreeing to take my movie, wanted to go to the opening of this cool new bar after we’d had dinner. So I kinda felt obligated to. Didn’t get to bed until two.”
Chase Cooper is very much an early-to-bed, early-to-rise guy. I doubt he’s seen two a.m. since he was in college.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, mate. I’ll go. We can talk another time.”
“No, no,” he says. “It’s fine. It means I’ll have time for the gym before today’s meetings.”
I could not be luckier to have this man as my friend. In fact, all three of the guys I bought the Boston Commoners with have turned into the best, most real friends I’ve ever had. They were the first people outside my family who I’dtrust with my life. Hell, I trust these guys a lot more than some of my family. Especially now I know there’s a mystery spy in the building.
“Okay, I’m sitting up now,” Chase says, amid some shuffling noises. “So, it’s official—I’m awake and at your service. And my first question is, do you think she slept with you because she hopes you’ll give her better material for the book?”
“Gee, thanks, mate. You mean, the only reason any woman on the planet would want to shag me is because there might be something in it for them? My sparkling personality, gorgeous bod, and legendary lady skills aren’t enough?”
“I’ll back you up on the personality thing. But I don’t want to think about either of the others for even a nanosecond. Where are you anyway? You sound all echoey.”
“My childhood bedroom. It’s been empty a long time. I needed to call you from somewhere quiet and out of the way where no one is likely to hear me or stumble across me.”
“Out of the way? When you were a kid, did they put you in a room in a far-flung corner of the castle where you couldn’t bother anyone?”
I gaze out of the window at the garden. “Um, never thought about it like that. My sister was in the next room though.”
“So they put youbothin a far-flung corner of the castle where neither of you could bother anyone? Sounds like something from a dark fairy tale to me. One where the kids grow up and seek to right the wrongs inflicted by their parents.”
“Wow. Definitely never thought about any of it like that before.” And is that what I'm doing? Trying to right things I think are wrong? That’s the exact opposite of the selfish asshole, waste of space the press thinks I am. Or at least the character they’ve created who sells their papers.
“Anyway,” Chase says. “The matter at hand. Sleeping with the enemy.”
“I’m not sure Lexi is the enemy. For a start, she’s writing this book for me. So she has no choice but to be on my side.”
“Have you ever met a reporter who was on your side?”
I try to think.
“See,” he says when I don’t reply. “Both you and I know they never are.”
“But shehasto be. Because if she doesn’t write a good book, she doesn’t get the new job she wants.”
“Well, if you’re her meal ticket to a new job, wouldn’t she want to get the juiciest stories out of you she possibly could? And isn’t it possible she’d sleep with you to try to sucker you into giving them to her?”
