Gamble on Engagement (11 page)

Until…

I finished up in the stall and headed to the
sinks to wash my hands. And then I looked into the mirror.

Turns out, my friends had found the time to
paint my entire face with Jessica’s little sister’s bath crayons.
My face was a kaleidoscope of color. I had a blue moustache, giant,
green clown eyebrows, lips and perfectly round circles on my cheeks
the color of ketchup, and yellow stars painted everywhere else.

At least they hadn’t printed a nasty word on
my forehead, I suppose.

~~~

I told my story at lunch.

I guess I did a pretty good job since Prince
Leo was practically rolling on the floor. Although, he might have
been a little too amused at my misery, truth be told. I mean, the
incident was well over a decade ago and after watching him
clutching his stomach at my humiliation, some of it oozed out from
that dark little place in my brain, shoving the shame front and
center. Prickles danced under my armpits. I tried to adjust my
position nonchalantly, to stop them, but I think I just ended up
looking like I was trying to move some gas around in there or
something. Luckily, Leo was still too busy laughing to notice.

I took several sips of my wine, waiting.

And waiting.

When he finally caught his breath, he was
practically exhausted.

“Well, I knew my story was a little funny,
but I wasn’t sure it was that funny,” I said, trying to regain my
composure.

“Oh God,” he said, “that is priceless. My
mates and I used to pull pranks on each other in school. They would
have loved that one.”

“Really?” I said, smiling, praying that I
could get him to reveal one or two.

“Sure,” he said, “you know, the usual…
buckets of water on the tops of doors, water balloons from the
roof, that sort of thing,” he said, with a wave of his hand.

But I was not ready to wave the conversation
away just yet.

“So you were a prankster in school?” I said,
raising my eyebrows, digging into my wild rice pilaf and
scallops.

“Oh sure, isn’t everyone?”

I shrugged. “Not everyone, I don’t think. I
wasn’t much of a prankster, I just got pranked a lot.”

He started laughing again. “Yes, it would
seem so.”

“Who did you prank?” I couldn’t help but
ask, wondering if he was one of those kids who just liked to
torture his friends, or who liked to pick on the underdog.

“Oh, you know. The guys. Oh, and there was
this one kid, Melvin. He was a riot to get. He’d always freak right
out. It was hilarious.”

Hmmm… not looking too good for the Prince.
“He was one of your friends?”

“Not really. He was just this kid whose
parents lived in India or something and they sent him to private
school here.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Do you know what he’s up to now?”

“Haven’t got a clue,” Leo said. “He’s
probably an owner of a big telecommunications company or something.
Always was a smart one, that Melvin.” He smiled, like he was
remembering the kid fondly, though I couldn’t help but wonder if
Melvin would feel as fondly about the whole situation.

“So if Melvin wasn’t a close friend, then
who were your friends?”

“Ah, you’re gathering info for the book, I
see?”

I smiled conspiratorially. “Well, it is my
job.” I thought I might throw in a wink for good measure, the books
did, after all, say to do whatever it takes to get the story, but I
wasn’t really sure if I was a winking kind of girl. Maybe after a
bit more wine. I settled for another smile, hoping my flirting
skills were up to par. I mean, I did somehow land Jake, but I still
had absolutely no clue how that little miracle happened.

Oh right, I had to win a contest. Oh yeah,
and then I had to win another contest to actually go on a date with
him.

So… luck. That was all I had going for me
apparently. Luck.

Suddenly my smile was starting to feel a
little forced and… quite painful, actually. I may have even looked
just the slightest bit possessed. I loosened my smile a little,
telling myself to calm down. I had a whole book to write, for
Pete’s sake. This one little tidbit of info wasn’t going to make or
break it.

But at least I was finally getting
somewhere. Perhaps I could track down good ol’ Melvin and see what
his take on the whole situation was.

“Josie?” Leo asked.

I blinked. Crap, I’d forgotten I was still
staring at him with the ridiculous smile on my face.

“Oh sorry, I guess I was just trying to
picture you as a kid, pulling pranks.”

“Well,” he said, leaning closer. “I was a
pretty cute kid.”

With those looks, how could you not have
been?

Which was what nearly came flailing out of
my big mouth, but luckily I hadn’t had so much wine yet that I was
blurting things. I set my glass back down without taking another
sip… just in case. I just nodded instead.

I tried to go back to eating, but there was
something holding my gaze. Oh yeah, it was the Prince. Just like…
staring.

And I hated to admit it was very, very
flattering.

And very wrong!

Of course, the only reason I was still
sitting there really, was because I had to get my story. And
really, there was no other way to get the story than to get to know
Leo.

Really well.

I mean, it’s not like I would ever let it go
too far. Sure, I’d have to pretend to be flattered for a while,
which, given the circumstances (little old me being flirted with by
a Prince!), should be extremely easy. Plus, you know, I just had to
think about my boyfriend for approximately a second and a half
before all thoughts of other men were whisked neatly from my
thoughts.

Even if the man in question was a very
good-looking Prince.

“You know what we should do?” Leo asked. “We
need to get out of here for a while. Have a night out on the
town!”

Ugh, I’d just had a night out on the town
that could never be topped. But Leo was so enthusiastic there was
really no way I could say no, until the stark and scary Miranda
promptly popped into my head. “That sounds really great,” I said,
“but I can’t. I’m not allowed to be seen with you. I’m bound by a
contract.”

The Prince crinkled his face in confusion,
which, by the way, made him look even cuter. “Seriously? Miranda
made you sign a contract?”

“Of course. I mean, I have to remain
completely incognito the entire time I’m around here. I mean, I can
watch you out in public, from a distance,” I said, quickly adding
in case of any stalker suspicions, “you know, so I can get a sense
of your daily life or whatever. But in no way am I to be seen with
you.”

The Prince took a bite of his rice,
completely lost in thought. “So,” he said, taking a drink of
Shiraz, which was just one more thing that was quirky about the
Prince. I mean, everyone knows you’re not supposed to drink red
wine with seafood, but he just drank what he drank because he liked
it, not because it was the way it was supposed to be done. “You’re
saying you can’t be seen in public with me, right?”

I nodded, quite enjoying the Shiraz
myself.

“But… what if it wasn’t you?”

Okay, so he was a Prince and all, and I was
supposed to be polite and everything, but I could not stop myself
from saying, “um… so how would we go out on the town together if I
wasn’t actually there?” I gave him a look that clearly said he was
not having the best moment of intelligence.

“Easy,” he said, a huge smile forming. “All
you need is a disguise.”

“Oh yes, I’d look very incognito in a trench
coat and Aviator sunglasses.”

He laughed. “Actually, I think that would be
quite cute, but that’s not exactly what I had in mind.”

I decided to let the cute comment pass and
tilted my head, confused. Surely he couldn’t be serious. “Okay, so
what
did
you have in mind?”

He got up. Which I thought was totally
weird, since he hadn’t even answered my question. “Follow me.”

“Um, okay…” I said, setting down my fork. I
figured there was really no reason to leave such a delicious glass
of wine sitting there though, so I grabbed it for the walk.

In this castle, who knew how far we might
have to go.

I still didn’t know if I would ever be able
to find my way around the crazy maze, but Prince Leo seemed to know
exactly where he was going. I mean, it was his house and all, but I
still couldn’t figure out how he did it. After the little incident
with Miranda finding my things, I’d never trust myself without my
blue light again.

Finally, about a half a glass later, we
arrived at our apparent destination.

Leo flung the double doors open and stepped
inside.

The room was much the same as the one I was
using, except the décor was very different. Everything was set up
like a beach resort, wispy white curtains, which I could only
imagine would flow delicately in a breeze if the huge patio doors
had been open, and the room faced out to the pool so it was almost
like you were at some spa getaway instead of in the heart of the
English countryside. I personally adored the English countryside,
or at least what I’d seen of it so far, but even I couldn’t argue
the serenity of the pool that looked like it had been carved out
over centuries of natural evolution. Small, potted palm trees and
various other tropical plants were tucked in every corner, lending
a feeling of being on vacation to the suite.

“Nice room.”

Leo looked at me. “Thanks, I guess I should
have asked if you wanted it.”

“Isn’t it your room?”

He chuckled. “No, my wing’s a little less…
girly than this.”

Of course he has his own wing, what was I
thinking?

“This was an old girlfriend of mine’s idea a
long time ago. She needed a place to put all her… stuff.”

“Oh,” I said. “So what do you do with it
now?” I was really beginning to wonder what in the world he brought
me to his ex-girlfriend’s spa getaway room for.

He shrugged. “Nothing. It’s still holding
all of her stuff.” He flung open a set of closet doors, revealing
an assortment of costume jewelry and several wigs. He moved to the
next set and flung those open too. It housed shoes from floor to
ceiling, neatly arranged by color. The next several sets of doors
were stuffed to overflowing with clothes.

“Whoa,” I couldn’t help but say.

“Yeah, I know. I can’t seem to figure out
what to do with all this stuff.”

“Wait a minute,” I said, things finally
falling into place. “Is all this Melania Devoe’s?” I tried to pick
my jaw up off the floor, but I couldn’t help but feel a little
star-struck knowing I was in the presence of one of the world’s
leading supermodel’s things.

“Yeah,” Leo shrugged, as if it were no big
deal.

I guess to a Prince, it wasn’t.

“Why didn’t she take it with her?” I
couldn’t imagine leaving a treasure trove like this behind.

“She said she didn’t want it. We got into
this huge fight when she moved out and she said she wanted to start
fresh. I’ve been meaning to get rid of it all, but I don’t know
what to do with it. I felt a little ridiculous giving haute couture
to a charity.”

“Yeah, no… of course.”

It was certainly in my best interest, that
was for sure. Being able to have access to all this stuff was going
to give me a world of insight into the time in Leo’s life when he
was dating her. I immediately felt bad for hoping I would find
something scandalous and sordid in her things. In my defense
though, it would finally make something in the biography
interesting.

“So, do you think this could work for some
sort of disguise so we can get the hell out of here and go have
some fun?”

Cripes, I’d forgotten all about the disguise
thing. “You mean, you want me to…” my words drifted away as I
turned again to face the most beautiful, wall-sized closet I had
ever seen. Okay, the only wall-sized closet I had ever seen. And
Leo was trying to tell me I was allowed to go trolling through
there for a disguise?

I began to fan myself, setting down my wine
glass for fear I might drop it.

“Yeah, how long do you think you need? I
won’t take no for an answer,” he said, smiling that irresistible
smile.

About a million hours in here sounds about
perfect, I thought. Then shook my head, forcing myself out of the
fashion-induced trance. “Uh, maybe like, an hour?”

“Perfect. I’ll go get ready myself. Think
you can find your way back to the front entrance?”

I nodded, not entirely sure at all. But I
was still kind of speechless, so I couldn’t really admit that even
if I wanted to.

Leo left and I was alone with an absolute
drool-worthy shrine to the gods of fashion and accessorizing. I
grabbed my phone and dialed as fast as my fingers would move.

I heard the click on the other end of the
line and started talking without waiting for an answer.

“Oh my God, you will not believe where I am
standing right now!”

“In the Prince’s Throne room?” Mattie
answered sarcastically. “Oh, and hello, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I said. “No, I’m not
in the Throne room. Wait, do you really think he has a Throne
room?”

Mattie scoffed from the other end of the
line. “How am I supposed to know? You’re the one living in the
castle, for Pete’s sake. Go exploring!”

“I know, I want to, but I keep getting lost.
It’s a miracle I make it back to my room in one piece every
night.”

“I can only imagine,” he said.

I wondered if I should be offended by his
agreeing with me, but I really wasn’t in the mood to take any more
flak for my directionally-challenged abilities. “Anyway…” I said,
in a tone that clearly stated I was not amused, “… I am standing in
the closet… no wait, it’s more than a closet, it’s an entire wall
of closets of stuff that belongs to…”