Page 1 of Undecided Heiress

James

Reminder: Undecided Heiress is Act II in the Expect the Unexpected duet. This book cannot be read as a standalone.

“James?” Anna whispers to herself. I’m frozen in place, and she clears her throat. “I’m sorry, have we met?”

Blinking twice to ensure I’m not dreaming, I pull her to the side to allow commuters to pass. How is she even more beautiful in person? “You’re... real?”

“Yes? Last time I checked, at least. Are you?” she chuckles, eyeing me curiously. “This is going to sound strange, but do we know each other?”

“In my dreams and… a book, apparently.” Bewilderment etches her features, but I know she recognises me, too. If only I didn’t need to get to… “Fuck! I’m going to be late for work. May I call you later?”

“I have to get to work, as well.” Without an ounce of hesitation, she pulls her phone from her bag and hands it to me, teasing, “I’ll have you know, I don’t accept gentleman callers after half past two.”

It’s her, but how?

I type my number, then call myself from her phone. There’s no way I’ll allow her to slip through my fingers that easily. Once I feel mine vibrate, I end the call. “How is this possible?”

Anna shrugs. “I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. I’m standing in front of a man from my dream, and my favourite novel has been changed.” She shakes her head, chuckling, “I may as well enjoy this hallucination, talking to a fictional character on my morning commute. I’m sure I’ll need to be sectioned this afternoon.” As I hand her phone back to her, she adds, “Are you sure we don’t know each other? We’ve never met before?”

“You’ve also had a dream? And I was in it? I’ve had the same dream every night for two weeks, one where I’m a prince, and you’re…” I resist the urge to touch her, stuffing my hands into my pockets. She may be familiar, but I’m a stranger to her outside of the dream. “Well, you are in it as well. And there’s a… piano.” If this isn’t my imagination, she’ll remember how I spread her wide and feasted on her until her legs were shaking.

Anna’s eyes widen, and I bite my lip to hide my smile. “A piano?” she enquires. “Does anyone happen to sit atop this piano?”

I take a small step closer and lean in to whisper beside her ear. “Forgive me if this is overstepping, but a lot more than sitting happened.”

As I pull back, her breath hitches, and she mumbles, “It’s supposed to be a fountain, a library, and a number of other places. Not a piano.”

“So I’ve heard,” I quip. Having her right here in the flesh steals my breath away; she’s even more stunning than in my dreams. “Meet me tonight?”

“Perhaps. Message me later… Prince James.” She gestures with a nod behind me. “I have a train to catch.”

“Of course.” I step back, allowing Anna to pass. My soul tugs nearly out of my chest as I watch her walk away until she looks back once, a mischievous smile dancing on her lips.

Anna’s real.

And she’ll be mine.

Anna

How is this happening? It was this morning a dream…

Sitting at my desk, staring blankly at the computer monitor, I’m still in disbelief. It was strange enough waking up to find out that my favourite book changed a few weeks ago, but for James to be real? That’s beyond unexpected—it’s impossible.

I pull up the internet browser and begin typing in James, but as I type in his last name, it only shows the results for Undeclared Heir. Checking my phone, he must’ve been too busy flirting to bother including it in my contacts. Worse, he put ‘Prince James.’ I have no idea what he does for a living, but Prince James won’t be yielding any correct search results.

Tossing my phone onto my desk in defeat, Jen knocks on my office door. “What has your knickers in a twist?”

“Remember how I told you about my weird dream about the book?” I sigh, and she nods, closing the door to give us privacy. “Well, he’s real.”

“What do you mean ‘he’s real?’” she laughs and takes a seat across from me, sitting back and crossing one leg over the other.

“I was at Piccadilly Circus, about to hop onto the District Line, when I turned the corner too fast and bumped into a man who looked exactly like the one from my dream. But then…” Jen leans in, so I pause for dramatic effect. “He said my name.”

“No. Fucking. Way. You’re full of shit.”

“I can’t believe it myself! And he had the same dream I did. Look, he put his name in my phone; said he wants to meet me tonight.”

As I’m scrolling to pull up his contact as proof, there’s an incoming text.

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