The Playboy's Princess

by Joy Fulcher

  When they left the cinema, there was just as much media outside as on the way in, but most of the general public had left, which helped calm Jade’s nerves. She was still getting used to being Drew Malik’s wife, and being Aaron Malik’s daughter-in-law was another terrifying step into the limelight she wasn’t prepared for.

  “Drew! Can I ask a question? Drew!”

  Drew nodded in acknowledgment and held his hand out to Jade. She slipped her fingers into his, and they walked over to the reporter.

  “Drew, good to see you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What did you think of the film?”

  “It was fantastic. I think it’s the best my dad’s done in a long time.”

  “And, Jade, what did you think?”

  Jade’s eyes bugged, and she chewed her lip. Drew smirked. She’d been lucky on the way into the movie. He’d been able to field all the questions, and no one had addressed her directly. But Drew didn’t jump in to save her. If they were going to be married, she was going to have to learn to deal with the media. She tried her best to remember the lessons Cassandra had given her and took a deep breath.

  “It was excellent. Aaron was really good. Although I’ll be more careful at family dinners now and make sure to check him for concealed weapons.”

  The reporter laughed. Out of the corner of her eye, Jade saw Drew smile, and he squeezed her hand.

  “So tell me, what’s married life like? Is he sleeping in the doghouse yet?”

  Jade laughed and snuggled into Drew’s side. “It’s great. I’m very lucky. This guy is a keeper.”

  She leaned her head up, and Drew took the cue, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. The reporter looked like Christmas had come early.

  “Come on, there must be one little secret you can tell us about him,” he pushed.

  Jade thought for a moment, looking up at Drew’s face. Drew froze, his eyes wary.

  “Well, he…”

  “Drew, can you join me for a moment?” his mother called from further down the carpet, cutting Jade off.

  He looked over his shoulder and nodded.

  “Join me when you’re done here, okay?” he asked Jade.

  “All right.”

  He kissed her cheek and walked over to his mother.

  Jade turned back to the reporter.

  “So, you were saying?”

  “Oh right,” Jade said. “He snores.”

  The reporter laughed. “Awesome. While I have you, Jade, do you have a response to the statement Tully Whittaker made about your marriage? Did you really agree to that arrangement?”

  “What arrangement?”

  Jade hadn’t heard anything about Tully in weeks. She hadn’t even seen her since bumping into her in the bar at her bachelorette party. She’d been at the wedding, but Jade had barely seen her except for glimpses in the crowd.

  The reporter pulled a magazine out of his satchel and handed it to her. She flicked through the pages until she saw a picture of her and Tully. It was from the bachelorette party, when the paparazzi had cornered them in the bar. Jade scanned the article. It said that the two had become close friends, bonding over their shared love of Drew, and had agreed to an arrangement where Tully and Drew got to spend one night together a week.

  Jade read the words, and her mouth dropped open. She wanted to ask Drew if he’d seen this and kept it a secret from her, but when she looked over her shoulder, he was deep in conversation with a group of people.

  “Can I keep this?” she asked the reporter.

  “Sure. Is it true?”

  Jade snapped the pages shut. “No, it’s not true.” She stomped over to Drew with the magazine tucked under her arm. He smiled when she approached and introduced her as his wife to everyone he’d been speaking with.

  Jade played the dutiful daughter-in-law for the rest of the night as they all had dinner together, but she kept as quiet as she could, only speaking when spoken to. It didn’t go unnoticed by Drew, who questioned her as soon as they got into the limousine to go home.

  “What’s up with you?” he asked.

  “Nothing.” She slumped down in the seat, the seat belt cutting into her neck.

  He reached over and stroked her cheek, pulling her chin up to look at him. “Something’s up.”

  Jade sighed. “Are you fucking Tully?”

  Drew’s hand dropped. “Where did that come from?”

  She handed him the magazine, open at the article about her, and waited for him to read.

  “This is just tabloid trash. Something you have to learn being in the public eye is that things will get reported about you, and most of it’s not true.”

  “Most of it? So is this true?”

  “No. Have you seen Tully around once a week? I’ve actually barely seen her since I met you.”

  “If you want to sleep with her, you can. You’re free to do whatever you want.”

  “Jade, don’t sulk. There’s nothing going on.”

  “All I’m saying is that it would be fine if there was something going on.”

  “Okay, I get it,” he snapped.

  They turned away from each other, each staring out opposite windows until they got home, and then they went into their own bedrooms without saying another word.

  Drew stewed on her words as he changed out of his suit. She’d been so adamant that she didn’t care if he fucked Tully. It was almost as if she wanted him to.

  The sound of her shower let him know that she was occupied, so he snuck out of the house. He drove into Hollywood and went to his favorite bar. He ordered a drink and continued to think. Perhaps she wanted him to start seeing Tully because she was seeing someone and felt guilty about it. Maybe she’d lied and was seeing Sam behind his back.

  That thought upset him more than he liked, and he drained his drink. He thought about the last sex he’d had, with Jade in Australia. Three months was the longest he’d been abstinent since he lost his virginity. Well, if she wanted him to do it, then he would.

  He called Tully, and she agreed to meet him at the bar. She was at another bar just a few blocks over so it didn’t take her long to arrive. She sauntered in, smugness all over her face.

  “I knew you’d get bored of her eventually. I didn’t expect it to be so fast,” she said, sitting down next to him.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Tully.”

  “I know you called me here.”

  He didn’t have anything to say to that. He already regretted calling her. She wasn’t the woman he wanted to be with. But he didn’t send her away.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Good-Bye

  JADE OPENED HER EYES to the sound of thudding. After living in her apartment for a few years, she’d grown used to the usual sounds of traffic and sirens during the night, but this was a new noise, something unfamiliar.

  She crept out of bed, hissing as her feet hit the cold wooden floorboards. The sound was coming from across the hall. Carefully she opened her door and peered out into the hallway. It was dark except for a sliver of golden light coming from under Drew’s bedroom door. The thudding was louder now, and it was accompanied by a new noise—a woman moaning.

  “Yes. Fuck me harder,” the woman groaned, clearly audible through the closed door.

  The thudding sound, which Jade assumed was the headboard smacking against the wall, sped up. Jade felt bile rise in her throat. Drew was having sex while she was in the house.

  She didn’t know what to do. She stood, barefoot, in the hallway for several minutes, torturing herself with the symphony going on in his bedroom. Each thud of the bed was like a hammer hitting a nail into her heart. And yet she couldn’t move away. Her feet were rooted to the ground as her tears fell onto the floorboards.

  When the house finally went silent and she heard Drew’s husky voice murmur, “You know how to let yourself out, right?” she slipped back into her room.

  She went to the window and waited, staring through the darkness until a wo
man appeared from the front door and danced down driveway to hail a cab, her blond hair glittering like gold under the street lights. Tully Fucking Whittaker. Drew had lied to her.

  Jade lay back in her bed but couldn’t sleep. She kept her eyes open because every time she closed them, she saw Drew’s flushed face. She wished she didn’t know what his sex face looked like. She stared at the ceiling until the orange light of dawn lit up her room. She showered and headed downstairs, grateful that the pain in her chest had dulled to a hollow numbness. The newspaper was waiting on the front stoop as it always was, and she scanned the headlines while she waited for the coffee to brew.

  Going about her normal morning routine was a challenge. Her thoughts kept darting back to the night before. Drew didn’t owe her anything. In fact, she’d told him she wasn’t interested. At the beginning of their arrangement, they’d both agreed that one-night stands were acceptable. She’d told him that again in Australia, and again last night. She had no reason to be mad at him. And yet her heart ached.

  After she’d had two cups of coffee, her stomach rumbled, and she decided to go for a walk to get some breakfast. There was a small café around the corner that made the most amazing cream cheese muffins. Her aching heart felt like she deserved a treat.

  Jade ate her muffin as she wandered aimlessly through the streets. As much as she wanted to avoid thinking about what she’d heard the night before, it was the only thing on her mind. It wasn’t as if she was in love with Drew. In fact, she’d worked very hard at not falling in love with him. She’d just hoped that he would have more respect for her than to bring a girl into her home. She’d let his promise that nothing was happening comfort her. She should have known better.

  She eventually found herself back at Drew’s house. She looked up at the door, and despite the fact she’d lived there for over three months, it suddenly felt alien to her.

  The brass knocker shaped like a fleur de lis glinted in the sunlight, but she couldn’t bring herself to reach forward and open the door. She felt like she needed a little time before she faced Drew. She was about to turn and walk down the street to find something to do, anything that could occupy another hour of her time, when the door opened.

  “Oh, there you are,” Drew said, looking relieved. “I couldn’t find you anywhere, and your room was empty.”

  “I just went to get a muffin.” Jade was surprised at how steady her voice was.

  Inside, her stomach rolled and her heart clenched in a vice. So much for that comforting numbness. She’d been so stupid. Seeing him now, with his messy bed hair and his I’m-happy-to-see-you smile was all too much for her. She loved him. She couldn’t lie to herself any longer. She fucking loved him.

  He glanced down at her empty hands and frowned. “You didn’t bring me one?”

  “No, sorry.”

  She pushed past him into the house and made an escape attempt for the staircase. Maybe if she locked herself in her bedroom for the rest of the day, she could sort through her feelings and work out how to move forward. The only thing she could think of was to get away from him, but she knew that was just the hurt and panic talking. When she calmed down, she was sure that she could be more rational.

  “Hey, what’s up with you?” he called, following her to the stairs.

  “Nothing.”

  “Jade.” He grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. “Seriously, what’s up?”

  The metal of his wedding ring burned against her arm. She jerked free of his grasp, and he gave her a stunned look.

  “I just want to go to my room, okay?”

  She turned to go back up the stairs, but he raced ahead of her and blocked her path. He folded his arms across his chest and stared her down, moving from side to side to block her attempts to get past him.

  “Get out of my way,” she seethed.

  “I will as soon as you tell me what the hell’s wrong with you this morning.”

  “You want to know what’s wrong?” There was anger in her voice, a lot of anger. She’d been trying her best to keep her emotions under control until she’d gotten to her room, but his pushing had made them explode. “I don’t appreciate being woken up at two in the fucking morning by Tully screaming.”

  His eyes went wide, and he leaned back a bit, dropping his arms to his sides. She took advantage of his stunned silence and physically pushed him to the side of the staircase so she could get past. She heard him scrambling up the stairs behind her, and when she reached the landing, he caught up and held her arm tightly.

  “I’m sorry if we woke you up, but I get the feeling that a little lost sleep isn’t really why you’re upset.”

  “Of course it’s why I’m upset.”

  “Is it really? Or are you upset about why you were woken?”

  Jade sputtered, not able to form words. She hated that her emotions were obviously so plain on her face that Drew could see straight through her.

  “Because,” he said, not waiting for her to answer, “you’ve made your feelings about me perfectly clear. All we have is a business arrangement. You’ve told me that over and over again.”

  “I know that,” she snapped.

  “So, which is it, then? This seems like a bit of an overreaction to just losing an hour of sleep.”

  His eyes were boring into hers, looking for some meaning that she didn’t want him to discover. She couldn’t tell him that it hadn’t just been an hour of sleep, that she hadn’t been able to close her eyes without imagining the visual to go along with the audio she’d heard. She couldn’t tell him that she felt sick to her stomach just looking at his face because she knew he’d been kissing someone else just a few hours ago, or that the sexy bed hair he was sporting was the effect of another woman running her fingers through it.

  No, she couldn’t tell him any of that. Instead, she turned and ran back down the stairs, heading for the front door.

  “Jade!” he cried in frustration, catching her just has she put her hand on the door knob.

  He turned her to face him, and he was closer than she’d been expecting. His face was only inches from hers, and she hated that he smelled so good, like coffee and cinnamon. He pulled her out of the entryway and into the formal living room. They never used the room, and it added to her feeling of alienation in her own home.

  “Sit,” he commanded.

  She sat and folded her arms over her chest, looking determinedly at the ground. He sat next to her, annoyance radiating off him, but there was something else as well…Concern, perhaps?

  “Jade, please. What’s wrong?” His voice was softer than it had been on the staircase, and when she looked at his face, his eyes were big and full of worry.

  “Nothing. I’m sorry. I’m just tired and—”

  “Don’t give me that bullshit. You’re upset, and I want to know why. I’m your husband, damn it, and I deserve to know.”

  “Oh,” she laughed. “You’re my husband? Is that why there was another woman in your bed last night?”

  “I knew it!” he said, shooting to his feet and beginning to pace in front of the sofa where she was still seated. “You’ve never shown any interest in having a physical relationship with me since…well, since the honeymoon.”

  “I know,” she said miserably, feeling like a hypocrite.

  “So, do you?”

  “What?”

  “Do you have a physical interest in me? You have to know that if I thought having you was an option, then Tully wouldn’t have been here.”

  “I…I don’t know.”

  He glared at her, frustration and lust pouring out of his features. Suddenly he was on his knees in front of her, breathing heavily.

  “Is it an option?”

  “Drew, don’t.” She leaned back in the chair, away from him.

  “Is it an option?” he asked again with a bit more force.

  “Is what an option?” she whispered, trying to buy herself some time.

  He let out a low growl and pressed himself against her. “Y
ou. Me. Together. Is it an option?”

  Jade bit her lip. A part of her wanted to scream that of course it was. That it had been an option since their first meeting in the café. But even as she thought how to compose the words, the sound of Tully begging him to fuck her harder echoed in her ears.

  Drew didn’t wait for an answer. He leaned forward and claimed her lips. She resisted at first, leaning back into the couch until she had nowhere else to go. He moved with her, pinning her below him, and too easily, they were horizontal.

  “Tell me to stop,” he breathed into her mouth.

  She hummed wordlessly, but she couldn’t bring herself to push him away.

  “Tell me you don’t want this,” he tried again.

  She opened her eyes, and they stared at each other for a long moment. His burned with an intensity that helped melt away some of her hesitation. How much pain would it cause her to go along with this? She knew he didn’t love her, that he was just fulfilling a physical need. She knew she would be discarded just as Tully and every other girl on his very long list of conquests had been. How would she face him for the next few months until they were free of each other?

  “We shouldn’t.”

  He stopped his advance, his head falling onto her shoulder, and he took a few deep breaths. After a moment, he stood up. Cool air made her shiver when his body moved away.

  “I really don’t understand you, Ariel. Are you jealous? Because that would mean that someone else had something you wanted for yourself, but when that thing is given to you freely, you turn it down. You turn me down.”

  “You’re so conceited,” she spat, sitting up and smoothing her hair that had been smooshed into the cushions.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You are! You think that every woman should want you just because you’re rich. And, yes, I’ve helped that perception along by marrying you for payment, but that doesn’t mean I belong to you or that I’m at your beck and call.”