Page 3 of Royal Extra After

“Right?” Princess Isabella smiled back at her. “Is that ice rink from the movie nearby?”

“It’s not too far,” the actress said.

The princess smiled back at her. “What’s your name?”

“Simone. Or Princess Lorna for this movie.”

“Both of you, stop.” Ned interrupted them.

But Princess Isabella kept going. “When I heard there was a movie being shot here, I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…”

“To sneak on to my set and hold up production?” Ned demanded, not amused.

The princess met his icy stare. “Yes,” she said calmly. “And you should thank me for stopping you before you shot this tea party all wrong, ruining your movie. The next thing you’ll tell me is that you’re shooting everyone drinking tea holding their little pinky up because you think that’s proper etiquette.”

Ned and Simone exchanged a quick look like that’s exactly what they’d been planning to do.

Princess Isabella is horrified. “Seriously? Holding a pinky up is never done. I don’t know who started the whole pinky thing in America, but it’s wrong. So wrong. We don’t ever do that.”

“Never,” Benson agreed.

Ned eyed the princess. “And you’re an expert in all things royal because?”

Benson jumped to the princess’s defense. “Because she’s…”

“Because I just am,” Princess Isabella said. She lifted her chin proudly. “And I really think…” But her voice trailed off when she saw two photographers with huge, long telephoto lenses on their cameras heading their way. She stiffened. Her smile disappeared.

Benson looked equally concerned. He had already taken her arm and turned their backs to the photographer as he started ushering the princess away.

“We’re leaving now,” Benson said in a tone that said he wasn’t messing around.

This time the princess didn’t argue. When she dropped a glove, and it blew toward Ned, she stopped to retrieve it, but Benson urged her forward. The two photographers were quickly approaching.

“Leave it,” Benson said as he picked up their pace.

When the princess glanced over her shoulder, she saw Ned watching her. He looked more confused than ever. She wanted to stay. She wanted to learn more about the movie and him, but she knew it was impossible.

Benson glanced at her as they took a path leading out of the park. “I know you’re disappointed,” he said.

“Massively,” she sighed.

“But you know what those photographers would do if they found out it was you.”

She nodded sadly. “Yes, I know. We had to leave. We didn’t have a choice. I never have a choice…”

Gary, the movie’s producer, walked up to Ned with the photographers. “What’s going on?”

Ned, still processing what had happened, picked up Princess Isabella’s glove. “Nothing. Just some fan that thought she knew more about our movie than we do,”

What Ned didn’t add was that the princess had intrigued him. Not just because she was beautiful. It was her feisty spirit and self-confidence he’d most admired. He chuckled, thinking how she had no filter. From what he’d seen, she seemed to do and say whatever she wanted. It was a trait he admired and envied. Unfortunately, lately, most of the women he’d dated were all trying to get something from him. They would say whatever they thought he wanted to hear to get it and would never stand up to him like the princess had. He knew this was his own fault for dating people in the business. But with his hectic work schedule, those were the only people he had a chance to meet.

He glanced over at Simone, who was adjusting her tiara. They’d gone on a few dates, but when the spark wasn’t there for him, he’d decided they were better off as friends. He wasn’t sure if Simone was happy about getting friend-zoned. She’d never said anything about it.

“Do you really think my outfit is all wrong?” Simone asked, concerned. “She seemed to know what she was talking about.”

“She has probably just watched too many episodes of The Crown. Now everyone thinks they’re a royal expert,” Ned said.

But Simone wasn’t convinced. “Gary, you’re the producer. What do you think?”

---