The Proposal Problem: A Billionaire Royal Hangover Romance

by Natalie Knight

  Here’s the other thing about Chloe: she’s so damned addictive that I start fantasizing about her at the drop of a fucking hat. And when I do, it spirals into this shit.

  Mushy stuff. So fucking distracting.

  It’s so distracting, in fact, that I nearly miss the look on Cassie’s face when she sits down and turns her face to meet Mr. BadBoy for the very first time.

  What I expect to see is a coy little smile, maybe a giggle or a wink. If she was being really bad, I can imagine that she might lick her lips—whatever salacious thing Cassie thinks works best to play the role of a notorious seductress.

  She’s seen the James Bond movies. And failing that, she’s seen enough of Kim Kardashian’s Instagram account to fill in the gaps.

  What I actually see is the last thing I expected.

  Not sexy. Not sultry. The furthest thing from it, in fact.

  It’s a look of pure fucking horror. Her eyes are wide, her mouth is gaped open, and she looks like she’s about to murder this guy right fucking there.

  “What the fuck, Cassie?” I mumble to myself, furrowing my brow.

  Worst spent hundred bucks of my life.

  It’s like she heard me say it, because next thing I know, she’s somehow managed to spot me.

  Our eyes meet from across the room, and suddenly she’s shaking her head like any second now she’s going to need someone to hold her earrings while she throws down.

  What the hell just happened?

  34

  Chloe

  My heart’s beating so fucking fast I’m at risk of passing out.

  I keep glancing at my phone and my watch. D-day—or maybe it should be called D-time—is nearly here.

  It’s such a pity I can’t sit where Ethan’s sitting right now. It should really be me who meets the elusive Ms. Winters.

  For a while I had toyed with the idea of dressing as a man. I mean, there are plenty of films where the man dresses as a woman. I could have been the Mrs. Doubtfire, except, of course, I was going to pretend to be a man.

  As I reflect on this, I realize it’s a lot easier to transfer yourself as a man into a woman. We’re not really built to pretend to be men. Life was fucking unfair.

  Of course I should have thought this through a little more clearly, but heck, the whole thing just sort of happened.

  I mean, when I started this persona of Mr. BadBoy, I never thought it would involve needing to meet someone in person, and a woman at that.

  Fuck.

  My fingers go to my mouth, and I start chewing on my fingernails. I feel as if I’m standing outside the principal’s office. I haven’t fucking chewed my nails in like forever.

  “Keep breathing. Chloe, keep breathing,” I tell myself and look around.

  There’s no one who could possibly fit the description of Ms. Winters.

  I check my phone again. No message. She should be here any second now.

  What if she was late, or worse, didn’t show at all?

  Just then, a woman starts walking toward Ethan—a young elegant-looking woman. This must be it.

  In my excitement, I jump up and down on the spot.

  As she gets closer, I frown. She seems familiar. I feel as if I know her.

  What the fuck was Cassie doing here?

  Of course, she must be looking for Ethan. I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. Preparation, fucking preparation was the key to success.

  Why had I not thought to lure Cassie away?

  On tenterhooks, I watch the events unfold.

  I wish I were a fly on Ethan’s shoulder right now to hear what excuse he gives her or what story he’ll tell her to get rid of her.

  Shock horror. My eyes can’t believe what’s unfolding in front of them.

  No. Please. No.

  Jelly seems to invade my knees, and the world goes a little blurry.

  This can’t be happening.

  How do I get the attention of that fucking sister of mine? She’s about to ruin everything.

  Cassie is not moving, on the contrary, she is sitting down.

  Grrr.

  Fucking twin sister.

  Why is Ethan not getting rid of her? Surely he should be able to come up with some excuse, even if it’s a lame one?

  Doubt starts to nibble on my insides.

  Maybe I should have let her in on the secret?

  I sigh. Its’ too fucking late for that.

  And then suddenly, a little light flickers within me. The more I ponder, the brighter it burns.

  Was Cassie Ms. Winters?

  I almost laugh out loud. So absurd is the idea, or is it? Now I’m thinking in fucking double negatives.

  There’s only one thing to do.

  I leave the safety of my hideout and head to their table. For some reason, the two seem to be getting on remarkably well. Obviously, Cassie’s not the least bit suspicious why Ethan’s sitting there with a cocktail in hand.

  Someone steps in front of me.

  I’m taken aback by the rudeness and trip over a chair. It takes me a few minutes to regain my balance.

  “What—” I stutter and see Aaron also walk toward the same table I’m heading to.

  Now I’m totally at a loss of what the fuck is going on.

  “Ethan,” I start, and then I turn to my sister. “Cassie, what are you doing here? I thought…”

  What did I think? Obviously, whatever the fuck it was, it was incorrect. Truth be told, I hadn’t thought anything when I asked Ethan to stand in for Mr. BadBoy. I thought he would sit down and meet Ms. Winters.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  And what is Aaron doing here? How does he fit into the mix?

  “Don’t raise your voice with me.” Cassie flares up.

  Ethan turns to me.

  “What—” My mouth opens and shuts like a fish gasping for air when it’s held out of the water. It does not make sense.

  Cassie shoots me her “don’t judge me before you hear the whole story” look.

  And my eyes blaze at her, giving her my “you better have a fucking good reason for being here” look.

  “It’s not my fault,” Cassie starts before Ethan can say anything.

  “And you,” I say as I turn to Aaron, rage, confusion, and anger taking hold of me. “I thought you have business to attend to?”

  Annoyingly, he does not reply to me but instead fixes Ethan with his most steely look.

  “Wait.” Cassie’s now sounding close to tears.

  I feel other patrons’ eyes on us, and I waver in my confidence. We should not be causing a scene in front of other hotel guests.

  “Aaron here,” she says as she points to Aaron, “approached me earlier and asked if I could stand in for him. He said something about impersonating a woman called Ms. Winters. He said…” Cassie starts to sob.

  With renewed annoyance, I turn to Ethan.

  “And you, what’s your role in all of this?”

  Ethan shrugs.

  “Cassie here asked me to be someone called Mr. BadBoy. I was to meet a Ms. Winters here. Turns out I’m meeting the woman of my dreams.” He winks at Cassie, who tries to smile at him through teary eyes.

  “I mean, if there ever were any doubt about the two of us being together, I’d say the universe has just spoken.” He reaches over the table to take a hold of her hands. “I think we can safely assume we were meant to be together, like peas in a pod.”

  I’m just about ready to throw up at so much fucking sentimentality it’s not funny.

  Cassie’s nodding.

  “It seems as if Aaron here asked me to be Ms. Winters and meet this Mr. BadBoy. And you,” she adds, pointing at me, “asked Ethan to be this Mr. BadBoy and meet Ms. Winters here.”

  My jaw hits the ground.

  I turn to Aaron for some sort of explanation, but he says nothing.

  Instantly, I’m taken back to the moment in the plane where I asked him what he did for a living.

  What had he said again—something about there being
plenty of time to get to know each other later.

  Of course later has not come.

  I feel myself go weak at the knees. I feel betrayed—a bit like the woman who finds out her best friend cheated on her with her man.

  Was this really happening?

  “It seems like we both tried to pull something off that was never going to work.”

  I look up at Aaron. There’s a rushing in my ears as if the ocean has taken up residence in there.

  What the fuck?

  Instead of a replying to him, I turn to my sister.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I don’t mean to sound accusing, but I know I do.

  She raises her eyebrows.

  “What didn’t I tell you? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Silence hangs heavy between us.

  “Look,” Ethan starts, but Cassie shoots him an ominous look.

  “Yeah. You could have told me first. I’m still confused about what’s going on, but I assume you’ve been masquerading as some dude called Mr. BadBoy. If you’d care to share such delicate information, this might have been able to be avoided.”

  You know she’s right, an inner voice pipes up, but I drown it out.

  Someone’s popped my balloon.

  Tears threaten to spill, and I can’t even say why.

  Betrayed.

  I feel betrayed the way Caesar would have when he found out Brutus was trying to kill him to get to the throne.

  Okay.

  That’s a bit of a drastic analogy.

  But fuck, I can’t believe Ms. Winters is really Aaron.

  “You,” I say as I turn to him, but I’m not sure what to say. What will I accuse him of? Not telling the truth is what I can accuse him of.

  But then I haven’t told him the truth either.

  Fuck, girl, this is different. You asked him.

  Unable to process all of this right here, right now, I turn on my heels and leave.

  Space. Air. Space.

  I need those in about that order.

  My feet cannot carry me out fast enough.

  With too many eyes staring at me already, I try and retain some dignity and resist the temptation to break into a run.

  Part of me wants to turn around, look at all of them again, and make sure this is not some horrible nightmare, but I keep walking.

  One foot in front of the other, and before I know it, I’ll be out the door.

  Just a few hours ago, everything was perfect. I thought Aaron and I were finally going somewhere. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

  Who would’ve thought the weekend would end like this?

  35

  Aaron

  At first, I just stand there staring at the couple in front of me. I’m perplexed to say the very least.

  Dumfounded, yes, no fucking doubt about it.

  “What’s happening?” Finally, I’m able to blurt out words, but they’re weak.

  Ethan and Cassie stare up at me and I’m trying to process this new development.

  There’s no fucking way…

  Well, let me take that statement back for a second.

  Ethan completely fits Mr. BadBoy’s profile. I mean, I’m talking a total fucking dead ringer. I’ll even go as far as to admit that if I didn’t see Chloe rushing in at the exact same moment, I might believe it.

  This scenario definitely borders on believable, but Chloe’s frantic appearance leads me to believe that something else must be running amuck here. She never does acts that way, so to make her lose her cool, there’s definitely something.

  Ethan as Mr. BadBoy? It didn’t make any sense, but now that I’m beginning to realize there’s something more at stake, I wish it could stay that way. I can tell this is not going to be good, and I’m not sure I’d want to know what is really going on.

  I actually pinch myself to determine whether I can wake up from this nightmare unfolding before my eyes.

  Nope, it’s real. All right…

  Chloe rushes up to meet us as I stand at the table like a fucking fool, trying to think of something clever to say but I’m coming up empty.

  I’ve got nothing, basically. What do you say when you don’t even understand what’s going on?

  Chloe must be just as jolted into shock as well, because she doesn’t speak either. She just stands there and shakes her head, looking from Ethan to Cassie in disbelief. Yep, can’t believe it either.

  Cassie is the first to break the awkward silence, but I don’t even hear what she says over the ringing in my ears as all of this starts to make terrible, sick and twisted sense. If you can even say that.

  I stare at Ethan, who’s looking positively baffled. The poor fucking guy is caught in this shit storm. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t at least feel bad for the dude.

  Chloe is gaping at us, her mouth open like a fish.

  I can’t believe this is happening. Can somebody rewind time for me? Anyone? Bueller? Okay, it appears as if there’s no way out of this and I can’t just disappear into the floor like I desperately want to right now.

  “It seems like we both tried to pull something off that was never going to work.”

  I address Cassie because she appears to be the only person who’s able to talk right now. I chuckle nervously and place a hand on my hip.

  Cassie looks between me and Chloe as if she’s afraid of admitting anything confidential, but I think it’s safe to say that by now, we are all up shit creek without a paddle.

  Ethan decides to try join the conversation. Great.

  He points at Chloe and clears his throat, appearing sheepish but ready to come clean. Good for him, owning up to something he didn’t even do wrong. Can he make things look any worse than they are right now?

  “Chloe asked me to step in and pose as Mr. BadBoy.” He flicks his eyes apologetically at the table, an object that can’t respond to him in any capacity. He’s trying to make sense of things, to clear things out.

  “Why?” The moment I blurt it out, I regret it as it’s a stupid fucking question, because of course, Chloe had to ask a guy to step in. If she’s posing as Mr. BadBoy she can’t very well meet Ms. Winters (me) because it will blow her cover. The best guy to ask that is definitely Ethan, being in her confidence and all.

  I formulate the answer in my mind but Ethan dives right in and cuts to the chase for me anyway.

  “As Chloe here explained it,” he points to her again and looks at his girlfriend Cassie, “she couldn’t meet Ms. Winters because Ms. Winters would be expecting a guy.”

  I glance over at Chloe. Her face is drained of color and she’s as fucking white as a stark, brand new set of Pottery Barn sheets. Admitting this little act probably wasn’t part of her plan. Hell, it’s not part of anybody’s plan.

  “Same for me.” Now Cassie decides to come back and join in on all the joyous fun.

  Insert sarcastic tone here.

  “Aaron here,” and she glances at me with the same kind of apologetic gaze, “told me to pose as Ms. Winters.”

  “So here we are,” Ethan concludes, chuckling nervously and assesses each of us with a cautious glance.

  Nobody else besides him dares to speak another word for the moment. I’m still trying to process this new development and I almost feel numb.

  Cassie turns to face me.

  I just stare at her, unable to speak. What the fuck is wrong with me, why can’t I utter a single word right now?

  Cassie faces her sister, next. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “What didn’t I tell you? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Look,” Ethan starts, but Cassie shoots him an ominous look.

  “Yeah,” Cassie says. “You could have told me first. I’m still confused about what’s going on, but I assume you’ve been masquerading as some dude called Mr. BadBoy. If you’d care to share such delicate information, this might have been able to be avoided.”

  Technically, Cassie is right in this situation. I kept everything vague as possible, so the parties coul
d remain innocent. The less she knows, the less she could possibly divulge to others. The less chances of blowing it up.

  Well we can all see now how that completely blew up in our faces.

  “I’m just really confused right now.” Cassie throws her hands up defensively.

  “You,” Chloe finally says to me, but the look on her face cuts me to the core.

  Then without a word, Chloe spins on her heel, facing away from the two seated at the table and me as well.

  “Where are you going?” Cassie calls out to her sister but it’s too late. She’s already heading out the door.

  I know I should chase after her, but my legs won’t move. Great, so now my legs are following suit with my brain and just not doing any fucking thing at all. My legs won’t fucking move, no matter how badly I want to run.

  The thing I want to do most is to chase after Chloe. I’m still trying to process this new information. Fuck, how the tables are turning. I’ve never imagined anyone playing the same game, let alone playing it on me. And Chloe of all people? Well, surprise, surprise.

  It’s almost as if I’m frozen solid. Why won’t my fucking legs move an inch?

  Nope, they won’t budge.

  Yep, I’m completely fucking this up.

  Even Cassie notices.

  “Um, aren’t you going to follow her?”

  Cassie’s voice has an edge of panic to it, and her demeaner is demanding and frantic.

  I shake my head.

  “I...I don’t know what to do,” I state with honesty because now it’s all I want to be…be completely and totally fucking honest with everyone.

  “She’s probably extremely upset right now.” Cassie advises me of the obvious, as if I don’t already fucking know.

  “I’m still trying to digest how this all happened too.” I laugh even though there’s not much to find funny about this situation.

  I turn my head and look out the front entrance of the hotel bar. Chloe is gone, vanishing like a thief in the night.

  I turn back to face Cassie.

  “Where do you think she’s going?”

  “I don’t know.” Cassie shrugs and shakes her head.