Dirty Prince

by Vanessa Waltz

  Who cares? I’m making ten thousand dollars a month. “We have chemistry,” I shrugged. “I’m not going to avoid this amazing experience just because something bad might happen. I’ll probably never have this opportunity again.”

  Natalie relented. “Well, I hope it’s worth it.”

  The doorbell rang. “Who’s that?”

  Flustered, she ran to answer the door. “Ben. We wanted to have dinner—” she opened the door. “Hi, honey!”

  Ben’s voice boomed through the apartment, and I abandoned my packing with a sigh. A plastic smile on my face, I went to greet Natalie’s boyfriend.

  “Hey, Ben. How’s life?”

  “Good!”

  Tall with Norwegian features like fair skin and blonde hair, Ben’s blue eyes sparked as he swept me into a hug.

  “So, I heard that you’re dating a billionaire?”

  He cackled as I glared at Natalie. “How’s the law firm?”

  Lucky for me, he happily seized on the topic and talked about it for a while. Still filled with anxiety over the trip, I tried my best enjoy the rest of the night. Tomorrow, Luke’s driver would bring me to SFO. He also paid for my passport’s rush processing, and it arrived on Monday. Until a courier dropped off the one-way ticket from San Francisco International to Heathrow, it was hard to really believe I was leaving.

  I’ve never been on a plane. It was going to be awesome.

  After Ben left, I finished packing and double triple checked everything. Unsure about the length of the trip, I filled two suitcases and a backpack. I was ready to leave hours before the driver came to pick me up the next morning, and Natalie worked from home acting as anxious as I felt. She didn’t help matters by constantly fussing over me.

  “Where’s your ticket? Did you pack your passport?”

  I quadruple-checked my backpack. “They’re both here.” It was ten o’clock, the time Luke said he would pick me up. What if he changed his mind?

  “Did you pack Chapstick?”

  My stomach lurched. Crap. “I don’t know.” I sprinted to the bathroom and skidded to a halt as I heard the doorbell ring.

  Natalie bolted to the door and wrenched it open.

  A pleasant, deep voice filled the room. “Hello, you must be Natalie. It’s a pleasure.”

  I heard Luke’s voice down the hallway and jumped, feeling close to laughter. I rummaged through my drawer and seized a tiny tube, and then I walked towards them both, my heart hammering my ribs.

  I could tell that Natalie was taken aback. She replied back a few seconds later than she should have. “Nice to meet you.”

  He was looking hot, as usual. I had never seen him wear jeans, but he wore a fitted pair that showed off his long, muscled legs and a shirt that made me want to run my hands all over his body. He smiled at me over Natalie’s shoulder. “Ready to go?”

  Mute, Natalie turned around with her face frozen in impolite shock.

  He’s a dreamboat. I nodded at him.

  He smiled at both of us, bemused by our mute voices. “Um, I’ll just get your bags.” He stepped in and grabbed one of the suitcases. Lifting it easily, he turned around to reveal a perfectly carved ass.

  “God,” I moaned as I watched him load the suitcase in the car.

  “You weren’t kidding,” she commented in a breathless, dreamy sigh as she watched Luke.

  The driver took my suitcase from my hands and hurried down the steps to help Luke.

  “I guess this is it,” I said as Natalie’s eyes misted over, and a lump formed in my throat in response. “If you cry, I’ll cry.”

  She seized my neck painfully and pulled me into a fierce hug. “I’m not crying,” she said in a thick voice. “Call me when you get there, and be safe for God’s sake.”

  Luke climbed back up the steps with the same smile. “She’ll be safe with me. It was nice meeting you, Natalie.”

  I gently disengaged myself from Natalie’s death grip and shouldered my backpack. “I hope you have a good holiday. I’ll be back soon.”

  I took Luke’s outstretched hand and descended the steps, turning back to smile and wave at Natalie’s panicked face. Once inside, I moved over the smooth leather interior for Luke.

  Instead of the town car, Luke had arrived in a limousine. It looked wildly out of place in this shitty neighborhood. Across the street, a woman smoking in her plastic lawn chair stared at us, the cigarette burning in her fingertips. I shook my head and gazed at the interior. A dark glass partition separated the driver from us. There was a champagne bottle on ice in the limo, TV screens, and blinking yellow lights on the ceiling. This is so cool.

  The ugly streets of Concord rolled by the long window. I couldn’t believe I was leaving it all behind. I looked around at Luke, whose arm was stretched over the leather. He was studying me quietly, perhaps regretting the whole thing. I couldn’t imagine a more unlikely couple.

  “We should think of a backstory for ourselves. People are bound to ask.”

  He looked at me thoughtfully. “Before we do that, I want to make something clear.” Any hint of humor dropped from his face. “This will never be anything more than a business relationship.”

  “I know that.” I raised my eyebrow. Where was this coming from? Was my attraction to him that obvious? “What makes you think I would want to be with you?”

  Now he looked like he had been punched in the gut.

  Yeah, serves you right, you pompous jerk.

  He quickly recovered and a smug grin flashed on his face. “Don’t you?”

  Electricity shot up my spine; I was in dangerous territory. “Maybe I wouldn’t want to be talked down to all the time by your old boy network, boarding school buddies. Or your family.”

  He looked stung. I was joking, but perhaps there was a little bit too much truth to what I said.

  “No one would do that while you were with me.”

  “Of course not,” I shot back. “They’d do it when you weren’t around.” I turned away from his face and wished there was something to drink. It’s ten in the morning, I reminded myself.

  Silence stretched between us as I cringed, waiting for him to reprimand me or do whatever it was billionaires did to their inferiors. You shouldn’t talk to him like this. He’s not your buddy.

  “You’re very blunt.”

  An apology was already falling from my lips, but Luke silenced me with a reassuring nod. “I like it, even though it might be a little hurtful. I’m usually surrounded by sycophants. I expected you to be one of them.”

  It was strange to feel unpleasantness in my gut and pride glowing in my heart at the same time. “Do you want me to be a sycophant in front of other people?”

  He shook his head and laughed. “Just be yourself.”

  Be myself? Was he crazy? “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “Jessica, I picked you because I like the way you are. They’ll understand that. The only thing is we need to come up with a background.”

  I tried to bury the glowing feeling in my chest. “Well, I could just use Natalie’s background. It would be easy to remember. Her parents are both dentists. Their names are Rita and Tom.”

  Luke nodded as he typed something in his smartphone. “My father’s name is Giacomo.”

  Giacomo Pardini. I committed it to memory. “What about your mom?”

  “Mary,” he said stiffly.

  A shadow crossed over his face and I was afraid to ask more. Looks like I’m not the only one who doesn’t like talking about myself, I thought as Luke’s frown became even more pronounced.

  I looked outside and was startled to discover that we were already driving over the new Bay Bridge. Soon, I’ll be sitting on a jet with nothing between me and the ground but thousands of feet.

  “What airline are we taking? It didn’t say on the ticket.”

  He looked at me as though I had made a poor joke. “It’s my private jet.”

  Oh, right. I felt a stab of nerves as the limo rolled into SFO. “I suppo
se this would be a bad time to mention that I’ve never flown before?”

  “You have got to be kidding.” He scowled when he realized I was serious. “Shit. This is going to be a nightmare.” He ironed his face with his hands and then suddenly his head perked up. “Please excuse my language.”

  I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or yell. “Hey,” I said a bit defensively. “I’m not terrified of planes or anything, I’m just saying that I’ve never flown before. Whoa—”

  A wall of people holding cameras blocked our exit from the car, madly clicking away. Holy shit.

  “Paparazzi?”

  “Yeah. Look alive,” said Luke in a neutral voice.

  Clearly, he was used to this sort of thing.

  It was daylight, so at least we didn’t have to walk into blinding camera flashes. The driver opened the door and their screams blasted into the car, which had been silent only a moment ago. He slid out of the car first.

  “Mr. Pardini!”

  “Luke, what do you have to say about the merger with Hilton Hotels?”

  I took Luke’s hand as I got out of the car. The horde of paparazzi closed in around us and shouted his name, demanding to know where we were going and what was his opinion and who was the girl standing next to him? I clung to Luke instinctively and shrank from the men closing around us. He tugged my arm, but I was afraid to squeeze between the people clustered around us.

  I met his puzzled, blue eyes and his expression became one of concern. He pulled me against his chest and I loved his protective heat, and as Luke walked they parted from him. He said nothing to the screaming voices but beamed at them, as if posing for a photograph. A light flickered inside my head and I grabbed Luke’s shirt, forcing him to stop. Before he could utter a word, I hooked my hand around his neck and crushed my lips against his.

  They want a picture? I’ll give them some juicy gossip. I could imagine the headlines: Luke Pardini seen kissing blonde trollop at SFO!

  Okay, they probably wouldn’t use that word.

  The kiss made me feel more alive than I had in years. Heat simmered in my chest and I could hear them still clicking away, shoving their cameras in our faces, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to cling onto him and savor the moment for as long as possible. My hand rested over his chest and I could feel his lean muscles under my fingers. I raked my fingers through his thick hair and when we finally broke, it was to breathe.

  I didn’t know why I did it—I wasn’t really thinking, but my hand slid down his chest and around his abdomen. His body was so fucking hot, that I wasn’t really thinking straight, and I lightly stroked the curve of his ass. His nostrils flared and his eyes smoldered. He laughed a bit into my lips and pinched my waist with his fingers. I snapped out of it. I had been so caught in the moment that I didn’t realize I had taken a flying leap over our professional arrangement and had crossed into the territory of sexual harassment. I couldn’t tell if he was turned on or pissed off.

  A rush of self-loathing filled my guts. Jessica, you idiot. My little ass-grab would be plastered all over the tabloids.

  Luke turned away, the moment broken, and plowed through the crowd. The waiting agents at the airport took our bags from the driver, who left the moment Luke handed him an envelope.

  “This way, Mr. Pardini.”

  He kept a firm grip on my hand as we walked through the airport, and we bypassed the normal security to go through some sort of VIP screening process. As the agents loaded our luggage on the conveyer belt, Luke turned towards me. His cheeks were a bit pink, and it thrilled me. He leaned into me and I flushed under his accusatory stare.

  “So, care to explain what that was all about?”

  I thought that my cheeks would be stained permanently red. I lowered my gaze. “I was just acting for the cameras.” I cringed at myself as Luke’s dry laughter shook through my body.

  “Yes, you certainly were.”

  The amount of smugness in his voice should be made illegal.

  It was all right, though. At least he wasn’t mad. I got a bit carried away, but still, my guilt stayed with my all the way to the small jet was waited for us on the tarmac. I seized Luke’s hand and my nails bit into his palm.

  I looked at him in alarm as the driver opened the doors of the Porsche.

  “Relax,” he said unhelpfully.

  The scream of jet engines echoing throughout the yard, I climbed the steps to the jet. I chose one of the ten white leather seats near the middle, but I couldn’t decide whether the flight would be more terrifying with the window open or closed.

  The stewardess practically bowed to Luke as he entered the plane. He spotted me huddled into my seat.

  “Jessica, I need to do some work. Will you be fine?”

  I waved him off. “Yeah, whatever.”

  He chose a seat with a table and reached into his bag to remove his laptop. The door slammed shut and soon after that I felt the roar of the jet engine under my thighs. It’s so loud. Is it supposed to be this loud?

  The seatbelt light flared on and I quickly grabbed the belt, missing the buckle several times in my haste to secure myself.

  “So where do they keep the parachutes?” I said to Luke, who looked up from his computer.

  “Uh—there are none. There’s a floatation thing under your seat, though.”

  What? “Well, that’s stupid,” I said. “What if there’s an attack or an explosion and we’re plummeting down?”

  He looked at me coolly. “Then we’ll die.”

  “And you’re okay with that?”

  “I’m okay with the logic of it.” He shook his head before returning to his laptop screen.

  I gripped the sides of my armrests as the plane lurched forward. I had to remind myself that the flight was nine hours long. Calm the fuck down! Maybe I could have one of those mini liquor bottles.

  What if I died without saying goodbye to Natalie? I opened my phone and sent her a quick text: Plane’s leaving now. You’ve been an awesome friend. I’ll call you when/if I land.

  There. If I died, at least Natalie would know how much I cared. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as the plane began to turn. Something bumped into my seat and my eyes flew open.

  It was Luke. He sat down in the adjoining seat in an effort to calm me down. It would have been sweet if only he would stop laughing at me.

  “This isn’t funny,” I said through my teeth. I reached over and shut the window.

  “It is, though.” His voice was strained with the effort of keeping from laughing.

  I groaned as the flight attendant’s voice spoke over the intercom, telling us to prepare for takeoff.

  He broke into fresh peals of laughter as I buried my face in my hands, then Luke lifted the armrest and pulled me into his arms. I relaxed as he snaked his arm around my shoulders. My face was nestled between his neck and shoulder. I breathed in the smell of his cologne and shivered in his arms. It was incredibly soothing. What would it be like to fall asleep like this, every night?

  “I think I know how to distract you.”

  It was working. All I could think about was how nice it was to be held like this. Then the jet suddenly soared forward and Luke let out a grunt as I seized a handful of his arm.

  “There, there. It’ll be all right.”

  His fingers were under my chin, making me tilt my head back. Then his soft lips kissed me gently, making me gasp. I couldn’t believe how sensitive my lips were. I felt desire radiating like a heat lamp, pounding all the way down my abdomen. He pulled back as I responded more passionately.

  Fire licked my face. There was no one here to see us, save for his flight attendants. Why was he toying with me like this? When he pulled away, I thought I could see some of my confusion mirrored on his face.

  I buried my face into his chest when I felt the wheels lift from the ground. It was the most curious sensation. At the same time that I felt the weight lift, pressure increased over my shoulders as we climbed into the sky. Luke reached ove
r and opened the window, revealing a field of blue beneath us.

  “See? It’s not so bad.”

  “I guess not.”

  “How come you’ve never been on a plane?”

  I snorted at the question. He might as well have asked why I didn’t own a yacht.

  “I grew up poor in foster homes where no one gave a shit about me. No one would have flown me anywhere.”

  He made a deep sound that rumbled through my back. “How ironic. My dad put me on a plane the moment my mother died.”

  Something cold went through me as I imagined a dark-haired nine-year-old boy, surrounded by strangers on an airplane, wiping tears from his eyes.

  “What did she die of?”

  I felt his sigh through my back.

  “She committed suicide.”

  My whole body stiffened. His hand still rubbed my shoulder, as if I was the one who still needed comfort. In a way, I did. I felt terrible. I wanted so badly to turn around and hug him. Luke’s voice was very even, but I could detect a note of resignation. She killed herself. She didn’t love him enough to stay alive.

  It would mess with anyone’s head.

  “That’s fucking horrible.” Against my will, I found myself wondering how she did it. Did he find the body? Why did he tell me this?

  He shrugged. “I’m over it. I think.”

  “There’s no way you’re over it,” I blurted. I felt a rush of self-loathing for not keeping my opinions to myself. “I’m sorry. I keep trying to filter my thoughts, but it doesn’t work.”

  He weakly chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s always sucking up to me, hoping I’ll advance their career or give them money or something. I’m sick of it. Besides, maybe you’re right.”

  “Why don’t you just cut ties with people who suck up to you?”

  “Because then I’d have to fire a good ninety-percent of my employees and cut ties with most of my family. I can’t just do that.”

  Sure you can, I thought. “Well, I promise I’ll never do that. I don’t think I’m capable. I was never taught manners, for one.” Bringing this up gave me a fresh wave of anxiety. “Seriously, you’re going to have to teach me.”