by Thorne, Gigi
He’s chasing after me! I fly through the corridor and around the corner, out into the courtyard. When he grabs my hand to spin me around, I shake my head. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“You can’t do what?”
“You. I can’t do you anymore. It’s…” I bite at my lip and his face crumples like I just broke his heart, but how could a dirty little secret break the almighty prince’s heart. “I’m sorry,” I whisper and turn to leave.
This time, he doesn’t chase me. I never expected him to.
* * *
_____
I woke this morning with my stomach churning. Maybe it was premonition, because when I checked my phone I had a message from Mary: You’re fired! Expect a NDA this afternoon. Prince Alex has been advised to deny everything, and we hope you’ll do the same.
Fair enough. Fucking a client is grounds for termination. I decided against reading the newspaper, or looking at the internet, because I was certain there would be several colorful articles about the prince being caught with his pants down in the utility closet of a sacred church. And my name would be listed as number one offender.
By midmorning, I’m in the bathroom hugging the toilet. I guess a scandal of this proportion and the imminent end of a career is enough to make anyone sick. To top it off, I’d typed up enough NDAs to know how the wording would go, and I knew that I’d never be allowed around Alex again.
It shouldn’t matter, but it does. I’ll never again kiss him or fall asleep in his arms, and while it’s only been a few weeks, I can’t imagine my life without him. Stupid, I know. This is what I get for reading all those damn fairy tales as a little girl. Prince Charming fell for Cinderella after just one dance. I fell for Prince Alex after just one kiss…but, in my defense, it seems more logical that my story would end with a happily ever after.
Another wave of nausea washes over me and I cling to the toilet, expelling what little there is in my stomach. After I flush the toilet, I wash my face and brush my teeth before trudging into the living room.
I watch three reruns of Absolutely Fabulous and manage to devour a bag of chips. Just as I dust the crumbs from my shirt, the blare of a foghorn sounds from my phone. I close my eyes, take a breath, then glance at the text message dancing across the screen.
Alex: All in or nothing…
My eyes water as I struggle with a response. What can I possibly say to him that won’t seem foolish? Before I decide on a response, there’s a knock at my door.
“Lily,” Alex’s voice comes from the other side. “Are you home?”
My heart hammers against my ribs and a prickly heat flushes my skin.
Bang. Bang. Bang. “Lily. Please.”
I don’t even realize I’ve left the couch until I’m standing at the door, pulling it open. The second my gaze lands on his face, my chest tightens. Deep circles sit below his eyes, and a sad frown is etched on his face. “I don’t know what happened.”
The memory of him calling me his dirty little secret plays on a loop. “I don’t want to be anyone’s secret, Alex,” I say.
A deep crease sets between his brows. “I don’t want you to be.”
“Then why did you say it yesterday?”
“Because that’s what I felt like you wanted to be.”
I shake my head. “Why?”
“Why would you want anyone to know you were with an asshole like me?”
My heart flounders in my chest. My sad prince, always too good but never quite good enough in his own eyes. “Alex…”
“I love you, Lily.” He sweeps a hand over my cheek. “I fucking love you.”
My pulse hammers in my ears. This is the least rational thing I’ve ever done in my life, but since when has anyone claimed love was rational? “I love you, too.”
With a smile, he presses a reverent kiss to my lips, threading his fingers through my hair as he pushes me inside.
“All in?” he asks when he pulls away.
“All in.”
Scooping me into his arms, he carries me to the bedroom and tosses me carelessly onto the mattress. Within seconds, we’re both undressed and he’s inside me, moving slow and steady, whispering that he loves me in my ear.
I never expected to find love with a dirty-mouthed prince, but I guess the unexpected things in life are what make it worth living.
Epilogue
Alex 9 months later
The doctor places a swaddled, tiny Princess Elle into Lily’s arms. With tears in her eyes, Lily kisses the top of Elle’s head and my heart balloons in my chest.
We found out a week after she was fired that she was pregnant. Oh, the scandal that was. Imagine having to get permission from my mother to marry the lawyer I was screwing in the closet of Westminster. But, to my surprise, she saw that I loved Lily, and granted us her blessing—at least that’s what I told Lily. It sounds much better than my mother screaming that marriage was the lesser of two evils. “Marrying a commoner will look good to the press anyway,” she said with a flourished wave of her hand.
I didn’t care how it looked to the press. Only to Lily. And I only cared that she was mine.
Leaning down beside them, I kiss Lily then sweep a delicate hand over Elle’s downy blond hair. “She’s so perfect,” I whisper. “Thank you for loving me.”
“Thank you for giving me this life.” Her eyes water.
Lily looks so natural with our baby in her arms—the perfect wife, the perfect mother. I have a life I never thought I would. One where someone sees me for more than a prince or a publicity stunt.
Lily loves me flaws and all. She fell for me when I was an asshole after all. And let’s be honest, Prince Charming doesn’t have shit on me…
* * *
The End
Who is Gigi
Gigi Thorne is a group of Amazon, USA Today and NYT bestselling authors who came together under one name to write bite-sized romance for the naughty girl.
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Also by Gigi
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Buckle Up, Buttercup
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Cowboy Confidential
Wrangle Me
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