Page 14 of The King's Fake Bride

“It would’ve been nice to know who you are.” Amy stops her pacing, spinning on her heel and snatching a piece of bacon from the cart. She takes an angry bite, chewing as she resumes her trek across the room. “This is ridiculous. As if I needed my life to be more complicated.”

“I’m sorry.”

She brandishes the piece of bacon at me like a sword. “No you’re not. If you were really sorry, you would’ve told me who you were right away.”

“You’re right.” I cross one leg over the other, my hand on my ankle as my foot bounces. “But I need something from you.”

“Oh, first you lie to me and now you need something from me?” She scoffs and shoves the rest of the slice of bacon into her mouth.

“If there was anyone else I could ask, I would, but there’s not.”

She gives me a flat look. “I find that hard to believe, considering you live in a country where people literally have to do what you want.”

I grit my teeth, scrubbing a hand over my jaw. “I guess you’re right about that.”

“I know I am.” She sits down on the edge of the bed. “What do you need?”

“A fiancée.”

Amy’s eyes nearly bulge out of her head, all the color draining from her face. “Excuse me?”

“A fake fiancée,” I say, rushing the words out as fast as I can.

She laughs until tears roll from the corners of her eyes. “Are you high right now?”

“No.” I get up and drag the chair over to sit in front of her, less than a foot of distance between our knees. “I know this sounds insane, but I need help. My people hate me because I’m not my older brother and I have a terrible reputation.”

“That’s not a selling point.” She stops laughing, her smile fading. “Why is your reputation so bad? Did you kill someone?”

“No!” I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to search for the right words to explain everything to her.

It’s got to be a delicate balance of not scaring her off while convincing her I need her help.

“I’ve slept with a lot of women.”

Amy chuckles darkly. “Great. The first thing I’m doing when I land in New Jersey is to get an STD test.” She looks at me with glassy eyes. “You know, something like that might have been nice to know last night. I probably should’ve asked, but here I was, this idiot who thought she met a nice guy on a beach. Someone who didn’t want anything from her, and yet here you are, one more person who wants something from me that I don’t think I have to give.”

Yet, there’s this look in her eyes as the tears dry that makes me think she might agree to help me.

“I’m clean.” I cross the room and grab my phone, pulling up my most recent test results and passing them over to her. “And before you, I hadn’t slept with anyone in months. I was busy with my brother’s death and taking over the throne.”

“I’m sorry about your brother.” She presses her lips together, takes the phone and looks at the test results before handing it back to me. “Why do you need some foreigner to pretend to be your fiancée?”

“Because you don’t treat me any differently even though I’m the king. Even now that you know, you’re still giving me hell like I suspect you would give any other person.”

The corner of her mouth twitches. “Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

I shrug, sitting down in the chair. “It can’t hurt.”

“What do I get if I agree to this asinine plan of yours? And I’m not saying that I will. I’m just considering it since my life is as dry as the Sahara and I could use some fun.”

Her cheeks turn a brilliant shade of pink as she gets up and goes to stand near the patio doors.

As she stands with her back to me, spine stiff, I can’t help but admire her curves. Maybe it would be a better idea to get back in bed with her and call this whole thing off.

“If you agree to do this for me, I’ll fund your bakery. Anywhere in the world.” I grab the rest of my clothing from the ground and get dressed as I speak, needing to be able to make a quick getaway if she refuses.

Amy turns around, her mouth dropping open. “Really? You would do that?”

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