Royal Playboy: The Prince's Choice

by Leila Haven

  We had dwindled the numbers down to six and now I still had five dates to go. One every night this week before I had to make another decision on who to cull and who to keep. I wasn’t sure now how I was going to do it.

  The date between Melody and I wasn’t scheduled for another three days. I couldn’t handle going that long without seeing her. I had to know if I still felt the same way about us.

  The next morning, I had all kinds of urges to visit her. I could easily slip out of the palace and turn up at her hotel unannounced. I just needed to see her, to speak to her. To make sure she hadn’t changed her mind.

  But I couldn’t do that anymore. She had told me in no uncertain terms that I had to stay away from her. I was to treat her like all the other women in the competition and that meant staying away. After all, I wouldn’t dream of seeing the other ladies alone outside of the palace.

  My date that evening was with a blond called Holly. I couldn’t even remember her being at any of the other events. She was pretty, with curls and long eyelashes. She didn’t giggle much, unlike all the others. She was probably the most serious of any of the women I’d met.

  “So you must be close to making a decision,” she said toward the end of the night. “It’s been weeks, you have to have some ideas.”

  “It’s a very big decision,” I replied. What was I supposed to say? If she was looking for a promise tonight, she would be sadly disappointed

  “I understand.” She paused and I thought I had dodged her question. Apparently I was wrong. “But you must have some preference. It’s okay to tell me, I won’t say anything to the others.”

  “I really don’t know.”

  After that, the date went downhill. Holly didn’t appreciate my answer and she seemed to be looking for me to confess my love for her that night. She didn’t understand anything that was going on.

  I walked her to the gate because it was my duty but I’d checked out of the date hours ago. The moment I saw her into her taxi, I went straight to my room and tried to forget the whole thing.

  The pressure to get married was weighing heavily on me. I hated the situation, I never wanted to find a wife this way. I wanted to have time, I wanted to find her on my own with no royal interference. They’d decided everything else about my life, I just wanted this one thing to be mine.

  But it wasn’t.

  And I couldn’t change anything.

  My father was sick and as much as I hated to think about it, he wasn’t going to last much longer. The rules were that I had to be married before I could take the throne. There was nothing I could do about those things.

  I laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling. The pillow smelled faintly of Melody’s perfume. I inhaled the scent, trying to lock it into my memory. She wanted to be a contender in this crazy competition but she didn’t deserve that either.

  Thankfully, Melody would be my next date. It was the only one I was truly looking forward to. I dressed in jeans with a nice blue shirt to go with it. Every other time I’d seen her it was in my formalwear. I wanted to show her that I could be like a regular person too.

  I fussed over the preparations all evening, making sure the staff had done their jobs. We weren’t going to have a formal dinner in the palace like with the others, it felt like we were beyond that. Instead, I’d organized a picnic in the forest area of the grounds.

  Fairy lights were strung through the thick trees, lighting everything just enough for us to have a romantic evening. A heavy blanket was on the ground with our dinner in glass containers. I’d placed a few cushions on the blanket in case the floor got a bit hard.

  The best part of the picnic area was its seclusion. Everywhere else in the palace didn’t feel private. But down here, in the woods, no eyes would watch us. We could speak freely without inhibitions.

  The sound of footsteps made me snap around to face the noise. Our butler had walked Melody down to greet me. He handed her over and nodded before returning back to the palace.

  Melody wore a short white dress that hung just above the knee. It cinched on her waist and showed off her awesome cleavage. Images of removing the dress and exposing her beautiful body flashed through my mind and made my cock come to life.

  “You look lovely tonight,” I said, trying to break the ice. She looked more than lovely but I was supposed to behave. “Thank you for coming.”

  “Thank you for having me. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting all this.” She gestured to the lights and the blanket.

  “I wanted something special for you.” I took her hand and guided her over to the blanket. She took off her shoes and stepped onto the plush material. “Make yourself comfortable and I will serve dinner. I hope you’re hungry.”

  She sat in silence, taking everything in around us. I started opening the dishes, handing her a plate and spoon so she could choose what she wanted to eat.

  “You look good tonight. It’s nice to see you in something casual,” she said.

  “All those suits and jackets are not me. This is more like it. I can actually breathe and be more like myself when dressed down.”

  “It’s funny how clothes can change the way you feel.”

  “It is.” We shared a smile and I knew that getting through the dinner without pinning her to the ground seemed impossible. My hands were supposed to stay to myself, yet they were itching to touch her.

  All of her.

  My tongue wanted to join in too.

  We started eating, the food as divine as it always was. The kitchen staff were outstanding at the palace. They never failed to deliver. I’d told them only this afternoon that I wanted to hold a picnic and they’d changed their plans just for me. They were exemplary.

  “So how have your other dates been?” Melody asked. I really didn’t want to be talking about the other women while I had her all to myself.

  I chewed slowly to buy myself some time and formulate an answer. “They have each been interesting in their own way.”

  “What did you do with them?”

  “We ate in the dining room and had dinner together.”

  She nodded to herself and looked at her plate, avoiding my gaze. I would have paid a million dollars to know what was going on inside her head right now. It was a guarantee that I had no clue.

  “Did you like any of them?” Melody continued. Her fishing for information was never going to end well. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I didn’t want her to know the absolute truth either. I didn’t want to hurt her in any way.

  “One was nicer than the other.”

  “Have you had a date with Violet yet?”

  So that was the one she was particularly worried about. I guessed it was reasonable, Anna had been pushing her the whole time. “Yes, my first date was with Violet.”

  “And she was the one you liked better than the other?”

  “Yes. How about we talk about something more exciting? How did you spend your day today?” We couldn’t keep going down the same path. It only led to trouble.

  Apparently Melody didn’t have the same belief. “So Violet is your first choice?”

  “I haven’t made any choice, Melody. Please can we change the subject?”

  She wouldn’t meet my gaze again and remained silent for a very long time. I had really been enjoying her company until that moment. My mind reeled trying to find something I could do to turn her mood around.

  Clearly she was worried about the other women. Yes, I had to go through the process to make sure I was making the right decision. But my heart would ultimately decide and not my head.

  “I used to hide in these woods when I was a child,” I started to fill the void that had grown between us. “I would disappear for hours and nobody would be able to find me. Eventually my father would call off the search because he knew I would return when it was dark. The woods at night were too scary for me.”

  “What did you do in here all day?”

  “You really want to know the answer? Because I warn you that it is embarrassin
g and you may think much less of me.”

  “Now I want to know more,” Melody said teasingly. Success.

  “Okay, but I did warn you.” I paused for dramatic effect. “I used to pretend I was a pirate and I had to find buried treasure. So I would wander all through the woods looking for the perfect spot.”

  “And did you ever find it?”

  “No, I didn’t bring a spade with me so I wasn’t going to get my hands dirty and dig.”

  The smile I earned with my story was worth it. Melody’s face lit up with it, transforming it into something astounding.

  “That’s the smile I’ve been waiting for,” I said, poking her ribs to make her giggle too. I shifted all the empty food dishes to the side so we had the blanket all to ourselves. “You look so gorgeous when you laugh.”

  She regained her breath and composure. “This whole thing is so weird, don’t you think?”

  “What do you mean?” I questioned.

  “The whole finding a wife deal. Aren’t you sick of it yet?”

  “Very much so,” I sighed, looking up through the trees at the beautiful stars for a moment before I returned my gaze back to Melody. “But, until the process is over I am not allowed to be relieved of my duties.”

  “It is normal for your family to hold a competition to find a partner?”

  “No, I believe this is the first.”

  “So why now?”

  I trusted Melody, but I wasn’t ready to share the horrible situation with her yet. I wasn’t ready to talk about my father with anyone yet.

  “I guess my parents think I’m getting too old to be single. My mother wants grandchildren before she’s too old to play with them.”

  “You’re only thirty-two.”

  “Apparently that’s old.” I shrugged nonchalantly and hoped that would be enough questions for the night. I laid down on the blanket and looked up at all the fairy lights twinkling in the trees, just like the stars above them.

  A few moments later, Melody did the same. I found her hand and held it tightly. Surely that would have been an action approved by Anna. I couldn’t keep my hands off completely.

  “This really is beautiful,” she sighed. “And dinner was delicious.”

  “Just to make sure, you’re not going to let me remove all your clothes and fuck you until you scream with pleasure tonight, right?”

  “Right,” she said, looking my way with a confident smile.

  “Just checking.”

  We laid together, wriggling closer and closer until Melody was cradled next to me, her head nestled in my shoulder. I never realized how nice just cuddling was before. The warmth of her body against mine – clothed – was comforting. I still wanted to fuck her badly but it would have to wait for another time.

  I didn’t want the evening to end but it did start to get cool in the woods as it approached midnight. Melody yawned and that was my cue to get her home. Although, the thought of waiting for her to fall asleep and carrying her up to my bed was tempting.

  “We should get moving,” I said quietly, not wanting to startle her in the quietness. “I’ll walk you to the gate.”

  “Can you carry me? I’m too tired to walk.” She said it teasingly, but now was my time to impress her.

  “Okay.”

  “I was joking.”

  “I know,” I said as I swept her up in my arms and started walking for the gates. She wasn’t heavy so that made it easier.

  Melody snuggled against me and all I could smell was her perfume. It was the same as the one still on my pillows. I wanted to inhale all of it, let it fill me the way she was filling my heart.

  I didn’t stop at the gate, instead I walked her all the way to her taxi and placed her inside. Her delicate little feet didn’t have to touch the ground at all.

  “When will I see you again?” she asked sleepily.

  I cringed. “Probably not until next week. I have the remainder of the dates to complete.”

  “Right.” She was wide awake now. And unimpressed. “I’ll see you around then.” She pulled the door closed before I could respond.

  That wasn’t the ending I’d wanted for the night.

  Chapter 12

  Melody

  ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉

  When I first woke up, I thought everything was great. I remembered the date with Rick and it was enough to make me tingle with happiness.

  Then I remembered the real situation. The other dates, the other women.

  I couldn’t do it anymore.

  Aunt Helen had already ordered room service and was eating toast by the television when I got up. “Good morning, dear. You were home late last night. How did it go?”

  “It was okay,” I replied.

  “What did he do for you? Was it a formal dinner like that last times you went to the palace?”

  Just as I was about to reply, there was a knock on the door. I went to it with dread, wondering what it was now. A bellboy had an envelope for me. I accepted it and closed the door.

  “Another invitation from the palace?” Helen asked.

  I nodded and opened it. “The queen has requested the presence of all ladies. Apparently I’m having lunch with the queen today.”

  “Oh, how exciting.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  I only had an hour before I needed to leave for the palace so I quickly got ready and filled Helen in on the details of the date. She gushed about it until the very end.

  The car was waiting for me downstairs and whisked me away to the palace. I was ushered inside and through to yet another room of the massive building that I hadn’t seen before.

  I could only describe it as a sitting room. Plush antique couches were placed around in a square with mini sandwiches and other finger foods placed on the table in the middle. Tapestries covered all the walls, no doubt they were hundreds of years old.

  The other women were already there and seated. I noticed nobody else was sitting next to Violet, even though there was room. Did they resent her for being the front runner too? The competition was making us all cuckoo.

  I took the seat next to her, not wanting her to be left out. She was a nice person, she didn’t deserve to be shunned. We couldn’t lose ourselves in the process, at least I couldn’t anyway.

  When we were all present and seated, the queen arrived. She was just as elegant and lovely as I remembered. We all stood for her entrance and she greeted us individually by name. When she reached me, she gave me a wink too.

  We sat and began our lunch. If I was ever sent home, I would definitely miss the food. The chefs in the palace knew how to cook and there was nowhere else in the country with food as good as it was here.

  “You’re probably all curious about why I called you here today,” the queen started. “I want you to understand what would be expected of you if you were to marry my son. There are duties that will need to be filled.”

  We were all silent because there was nothing anyone dared to say to her. The protocols here were a bit murky, caught between an informal meeting and a formal one. Technically, we could go to jail for saying the wrong thing to our reigning monarch.

  “Our engagements are very important and much be taken seriously. As a princess, you would be expected to attend a few of these each week. They include everything from official openings to visiting schools and inspiring children. Our main aim is to help the people of this country in every way possible. We serve them, not the other way around. It has been this way for several hundreds of years and I plan to keep it that way.”

  It was slightly different to the way she’d explained it to me but the idea was the same. We weren’t going to flounce around the palace and smile for cameras. We were going to work, just like with any other job.

  “There is no pressure from us that you have children straight away,” the queen continued, “However, when the time is right, you do need to produce at least one child. Succession rules state that only a male child can take the throne, therefore you may need
to have more. These decisions will be made between Richard and yourself.”

  That was reasonable. Nobody here would have the belief that children weren’t involved in this deal. I had always wanted to be a mother some time in my life so that wasn’t a big deal.

  For just a moment, I indulged the thought of being the winner of Rick’s heart. I could imagine little children running around the palace, one running into his arms so he could swing it around. It was a nice image, one that made me both warm and fuzzy, and terrified at the same time. What if he didn’t choose me?