by B. E. Baker
I want to die and I want to sink into the floorboards and I want to rewind time, but all I can manage is a sort of half smile and eyelid flutter in Jim’s general direction.
Dad turns toward me. “Wait, did you know this all along Holly, and you didn’t say a word? Or was this a surprise to you too?”
I try to smile, but I’m terribly afraid it looks more like a grimace.
“Jim doesn’t have a girlfriend,” the lawyer, Anastasia says. “He doesn’t even date.”
“Oh, well,” I say.
Jim walks around the table and grabs my waist with one hand, yanking me close. He lowers his head and plants a kiss right on my mouth. “It’s so good to see you, sweetheart, but I really am impressed that you kept something this huge a secret.” His eyes laugh at me. He turns toward my dad. “Would you believe that in the entire time we’ve known one another, she never mentioned she was from Europe, much less an actual princess?”
Dad shakes his head. “That’s my Holly.”
6
James
Paisley is a secretary. A wicked smart secretary who could have gone to medical school and instead hid behind Mary, content as an assistant. She loves kids, helps others all the time, and helps run Luke’s wife’s charity.
And she’s a princess.
I think the biggest shock is that it’s not even that surprising. It’s fitting somehow, that the first woman who has been a complete enigma to me is hiding an even bigger secret, even from her friends. There’s pretty much no way that Luke and Mary and their other friends know this. Right?
But Paisley’s royal status isn’t even the most bizarre, unexplainable event of the day. No, that’s definitely the fact that she told her family that I’m her boyfriend. She’s not delusional, because she looked like she had just licked the floor of a men’s bathroom. Physically ill.
She knows I’m not her boyfriend as well as I do, as well as my lawyer does. We kissed once, months ago. The only real explanation is that she was putting her family off in some way and my name came to mind. I told her I never have girlfriends, so she knew there was little chance I’d be married or dating someone else. And what were the odds that her family would ever uncover her lie?
Paisley has no way of knowing I’ve been thinking about her every day since we met. She can’t possibly fathom how many times I’ve almost texted or called her, or my reasons for not doing it.
“I might need a moment alone with my girlfriend,” I say. “I had no idea I invested in her family’s business, which means she didn’t either.”
Paisley looks like she swallowed a lemon.
“What did she tell you about us?” Cole asks.
“I didn’t know she was a princess until this very moment,” I admit. “It has been a day of exciting surprises all around.”
“So you actually have a girlfriend,” Anastasia asks.
“News to me as well, but I totally get it.” Cooper crosses his arms over his chest and admires Paisley a little too frankly for my taste.
“We’ll be right back.” I take Paisley’s arm, and to her credit she doesn’t pull away.
But she blushes furiously, and it only makes her look more adorable. “Please go ahead and get started without us,” she says. “We may need more than a minute.”
Cooper looks at me questioningly. He’s never started a meeting in the entire time he’s worked for me. I’m a certified control freak. “You can begin going over the books and discussing client lists,” I say. “It won’t take too long.”
Paisley pulls away the second we escape the parlor. “We can talk in the library.” She points.
This castle puts my grandfather’s outrageously lavish mansion to shame. I follow her into her family library, which is entirely covered with solid wood bookcases and old books. It’s also notably lacking any lingering smell from cigars, which I appreciate.
Paisley pivots on her heel and dives right in. “I’m really, really sorry. I’m sure this isn’t something you’ll understand, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more embarrassed. I know you never, ever lie, but well, some of us aren’t so perfect.”
“You told your family I’m your boyfriend?” My voice is a lot more bemused than I expected. Where’s my anger? Where’s my outrage? I guess I don’t really feel any.
“So here’s the thing.” She wrings her hands adorably. “I haven’t been home in a while.” She coughs. “Like eight or nine years.”
Oh man. I thought I was bad.
“And Mom wants to throw me this party.” She collapses into a dark leather wingback. “She went on and on about all the eligible bachelors and the list kept growing and growing.”
“And you’re gay?” I ask. “So you needed some kind of cover? I mean, I can see how being set up with all the princes and lords of Europe would be a terrible trial for a single girl.”
Paisley groans. “It really is. Have you met many princes?”
I snort. “No.”
“Look, I’m clearly not gay, not after I threw myself at you. And it’s humiliating that I used the name of a guy who didn’t even call me, but while I’m confessing, you may as well know that you were the last guy I felt connected to, so when my mom kept naming more and more people, I panicked and it just popped out that I had a boyfriend. Then they wanted a name, and if I took too long to think of my own boyfriend’s name, they’d have figured me out.”
“You threw yourself at me?” I can’t quite keep the smile off my face.
She swallows. “I kissed you.”
“Yes, you did, and I enjoyed that.” I sit down next to her slowly. I don’t believe in fate. I don’t believe in God, or destiny or kismet, or karma.
Or, I don’t think I do.
But this feels too odd to be coincidence. She picked my name from the proverbial hat. She could have made up any name at all, but she told her parents my name. And I’ve invested in fifty companies in the last six months, but only two dozen made the cut as companies I might salvage instead of chopping.
Her family owns one of them. The same family that thinks I’m her boyfriend. I can make her tell them the truth, or I can kiss her a little bit and go home. Absolute worst case, there’s no way to salvage this company and I kiss her, then she slaps me when I ruin her family legacy, and I go home.
Still. The kissing.
“I don’t ever lie,” I say slowly.
She leaps to her feet and begins pacing. “I know that. I mean, I remember you said it, okay?” Her hands clench into fists. “So we will go back in there, and I’ll tell them I lied. Everyone will get a good laugh, including your hot lawyer, who might be your real girlfriend for all I know, and then I’ll go back to my room, throw my shredded pride in the garbage bin, and start trying on outfits so my mom can parade me in front of a hundred single dukes and counts.”
If I had any reservations left, the image of her preening in front of a bunch of snobby lords eliminates them. “I’m going to be here for a while,” I say. “At least a week. If the party happens while I’m here, I’ll be happy to go as your date. No reason to cause some big scene or confess to your family.”
She freezes in the middle of the room and slowly turns toward me.
“I never lie,” I say. “And I’ve never had a girlfriend. But there’s a first time for everything, right? Might as well knock out both at once.”
Color rushes to her cheeks and her chest rises and falls quickly, like a small bird’s.
“Are you alright?” I stand up and take a step toward her.
“You’d have to be convincing,” she says softly.
My heart races. Convincing? What is she saying?
“I mean, we’ll have to sell it.”
“Sell it how?” I ask. “By knowing things like your distaste for chocolate?”
She looks up at me, and when our eyes meet, my breath catches. “I don’t like chocolate when there’s too much, or when it’s alone. Like a whole piece of cake. But I like it in some things, like chocolate chip cookies
. Things like that.”
“And?”
“You’d need to be comfortable being around me,” Paisley says. “Casually touching my hand, for instance. You’d have to act like you want to. . .”
“To what?”
She stands on her tiptoes and presses her mouth against mine, and I forget where I am. I forget my name. I forget what I’m doing here. There’s only her mouth against mine, her breath blowing over my face when she pulls away, and my arms wrapping around her back to lift her back up again.
This time I kiss her with purpose, without being in a hurry or putting on a show, and I don’t want to stop. I never want to stop. I pull her closer, crushing her soft curves against my chest, and pressing harder, more insistently. My mouth covers hers entirely, my heart accelerating, my nerves tingling.
Finally she presses a hand against my sternum and shoves. She blinks several times in a very satisfying way and brushes off the front of her skirt. “I think we can sell this. It’s only a few days, anyhow, right?”
A few days. Because that’s the real motivation here, getting her parents to leave her alone. I almost forgot.
“And you should probably stay here, at the castle. I mean, if you were my boyfriend, you’d definitely be staying close to me, so you could get to know my family.” She inhales sharply. “Although that might be kind of horrible for you.” She sounds worried.
“You need time with your family,” I say. “We can tell them that I don’t want to intrude.”
“Right.” She swallows. “Of course. Probably for the best. My family can be a little overbearing.”
“You don’t say.” I suppress my smile. Paisley’s a little pushy herself, and a princess to boot. It’s like meet the parents, extreme edition. “Will they be upset that I have zero titles?”
She licks her lips, which only makes me want to kiss her again. Her eyes follow mine to where I’m looking and she clears her throat. “President is a title, or CEO. Or, you know. Whatever you are. And it’s a title you earned yourself, which makes it more impressive in my opinion. But either way, they’ll love you, I’m sure. We better get back.” She glances up at me quickly, her eyes scanning my face. And she giggles.
“What?”
She rubs her lips against one another. “Do I still have lipstick on?”
I shrug. “I think so.” Her lips look perfect. Delicious, even.
“Well.” She giggles again. “So do you.” She steps into my personal circle again, and I breathe in her smell. Violets. Definitely violets. Her hand reaches up and rubs against my mouth, and I want to bite her finger.
But I shouldn’t. I don’t. This isn’t real, which I would do well to remember. “Well, if I’m presentable again, we should get back inside.” I straighten my tie and turn for the door.
Paisley follows.
“Speaking of getting back in there,” I say. “Should I be calling you Paisley?” I raise one eyebrow. “Or Holly?”
She grimaces. “Call me Paisley. But know that my family will insist on using Holly.”
“There’s a story there it feels like your boyfriend would know.”
“My name is Holly, but Paisley is my middle name and I prefer it.” She opens the door. “Simple.”
“And you left home and moved to America without telling anyone you’re a princess. . . because?”
“That’s not a simple explanation.” She marches across the hall, around the corner, and into the parlor, and I scramble to catch up with her.
One step before we reach the door, she halts abruptly. She pivots on her heel and looks up at me. “Are you about to destroy my family’s business?”
I sure hope not. “I need to see more data,” I say. “But I’m here in person to look for ways to avoid doing that. And it was my intention to look for ways to save Berg Telecom before I had any idea you were here. In this one particular instance, I’m not here as a wolf.” I lower my voice. “We might even be on the same side.”
She grabs my tie and tugs me down. I’m expecting another kiss, but she turns her head at the last moment and whispers in my ear. “I don’t think of you as a wolf, for what it’s worth. You’re much more of a hawk.” She spins around and goes into the parlor.
My first relationship may essentially be a lie, but somehow, it feels like the most real thing in my life.
7
Paisley
My eyes aren’t actually bleeding. It just feels like they are after reading the horrifying numbers documenting the total collapse of my family’s business.
My dad might be lucky he can barely see.
“Dad, Berg Telecom still makes phones exclusively for landlines?” I shake my head. “In the past ten years, it never occurred to you to branch out?”
Dad lifts his chin, his English so clear it’s barely accented at all. “People still use landlines. We have several.”
But they’re dying off day by day, and sitting in front of my father, I’m aware in a way I never was before that he is, too. He won’t be here forever, even though it felt like he would. Eventually, my dad will be gone. Judging from what I’m looking over, Berg Telecom will be gone sooner than that, a business our family has run for over a hundred years.
Jim sits back in his chair and looks at Cooper. “I won’t soften the truth. The numbers aren’t quite what we hoped to see.”
Cooper looks down at his lap.
“But I’d like to spend a day or two visiting the plants.” Jim shifts toward me in his chair. “Paisley, can you go with me? Introduce me to the place?”
Cole laughs.
“Uh, I haven’t been here in quite some time,” I admit. “It might be better if Cole took you.”
“Would you come along?” he asks quietly. “Maybe you’d have some insight. We might even enjoy doing something like this together.”
Because I’m his girlfriend. I can’t quite help my smile.
“I hate to be the wet blanket,” Anastasia says. “But we’re scheduled to leave first thing tomorrow. We’re expected in Vegas for a dinner meeting with Ghostfiles. Remember?”
Jim stiffens. “We’ll need to postpone. This is going to take several days at least.”
“Uh, wow,” Cooper says. “Really?”
“I won’t need you both here, of course,” Jim says. “But I’ll need to spend a little time getting the lay of the land.”
“Can we talk in the hall?” Cooper asks.
Jim shoots me an apologetic glance and stands. Anastasia and Cooper follow him into the hall. Neither of them looks very happy. They close the door, so I can’t make out much of what they’re saying. A few words: girlfriend, change, ridiculous, waste of time. I didn’t like the lawyer before, but now I want to step on her foot.
I doubt my family is catching as much as me, since English hasn’t been their predominant language for the last decade, but it’s clear to everyone that Jim’s team isn’t happy at the idea of delaying their other plans.
“Does anyone else have the distinct impression that Jim is changing his plans because Holly’s my daughter, and not because of the company’s bottom line?” Dad asks in German.
I seriously doubt that, since I’m not really his girlfriend, but I don’t bother arguing.
“I hate his lawyer,” Cole says in Alemannic, a common dialect in Liechtenstein. He’s probably worried Jim might speak German, which I doubt. “She’s terrible, and she clearly hates everything about Berg Telecom.”
“Jim has taken very little and turned it into quite a lot,” I defend him in German. “His family had a lot of money, but they didn’t share. I trust that he knows what he’s doing, which means his team knows what they’re doing.”
“Thank you, liebste,” Jim says from the doorway.
Heat floods my cheeks. I shouldn’t be embarrassed. It’s not like I was really defending him, but of course, I’m expected to stand up for my fake boyfriend. But he called me sweetheart in German. Which means he might have understood most of what we said.
James Fu
lton is already turning out to be more than I expected.
“You speak German?” I ask.
He nods and replies in stiffly accented German. “Not perfectly, but I did a study abroad in Berlin. Before I was kicked out of Harvard.” He doesn’t hide things. He wasn’t kidding about that.
My dad, the original master of hiding anything distasteful, looks at his hands. I wonder how much he can actually see. I’ll have to press that issue later.
“I’d be happy to go with you and Cole to see the factories.” I stand up. “If you’re still planning on being here long enough.”
Jim closes the space between the door and my seat and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “When is your mother throwing your big welcome home party?”
Cole’s face brightens. “Next Saturday is Henri’s birthday party in Luxemburg,” Cole says. “So Mom’s a little upset, but Wednesday night is the only one that will work if we want anyone important to come. That’s why she’s not here. She’s stuck organizing a party in only three days.”
“I can stay through Wednesday,” Jim says.
“Wonderful,” my dad says. “Serena will be delighted to introduce you to everyone.”
“I can hardly wait, but for now.” I yawn.
“Did you fly in today?” Jim asks.
I nod, my eyes bleary. “Hence the bags under my eyes.”
He laughs. “I did, too.”
“I need to get some sleep as soon as possible.” I hope the bags aren’t too bad, but now I’m worried they’re ghastly.
“Surely you need to eat something first,” he says.
“Mother will have dinner ready soon,” Cole says. “You’d be welcome to eat with us.”
“I’d love that,” Jim says, “but I probably ought to review some things with my team before they leave tomorrow, and we’ve already checked into our rooms at the hotel.”
“Right,” I say. “But you’d also be welcome to stay here later if you want.”