Page 9 of His Highness's Hidden Heir

“That last part is not true.” She sat back and exhaled, wishing there was somewhere far enough she could retreat to. A remote jungle in Indonesia, perhaps? “I’ve always tried very hard to be professional and a decent role model to the younger generation.”

“You’ve been acting from a young age, Ulmer said.”

“I was famous before I knew what acting was. I was a cute baby so Mom put me in commercials for diapers and whatnot. She didn’t need the money. Dad paid her support. He paid her to stay in Scottsdale, let’s be real. But I had a temperament for it.”

“Acting?”

“Being on set and doing as I was told, yes. I’m patient. A bit of a pleaser. I was then, anyway. I was cast in a soap opera and that led to Paisley Pockets.”

His brows went up again.

“A girl who shrinks and travels in pockets. That went for six years and it was very wholesome. Then I did some coming-of-age movies and campy comedies and had just landed a part in a superhero movie when the drugs were found. That was my first scandal and a huge setback career-wise. I tried to drop acting, actually, and went back to college, but notoriety followed me. Frat houses would claim I was at their party and it would turn into a riot when fans showed up and I wasn’t there. The dean asked me to leave. My father had just died and Hadley took over the agency. I needed to support myself so I let him talk me into doing a reality show that was bikini-based. The money was great, but it got me a fan base Ireallywish I could undo.”

“Like the stalker?”

She nodded jerkily. “Carmichael got off on a technicality. I could have appealed, but I had already lost three years of my life to him. And the cost.” She rolled her eyes. “There was no upside to staying in that fight. Half the time the press framed it as a stunt I had pulled because I was an attention whore.” Tightness invaded her chest. If only people knew how badly she would love to disappear into obscurity. “From a producer’s viewpoint, I was too expensive to hire because I need on-set protection. My image was blonde bimbo from the reality series so no one was considering me for serious roles. I couldn’t get work, but I needed security.”

“From Carmichael? Or are there others?”

“From everyone.” She lifted helpless hands. “Most of my fans are perfectly rational and nice, but the volume is challenging. I need walls and gates. Long story short, I became the face of a cosmetic brand that paid for all of that until they switched out some ingredients due to supply chain issues. It was something the FDA hadn’t approved. It reacted with other products and people started getting chemical burns.”

He swore under his breath.

“It was very bad,” she agreed, nauseated every time she thought of it. “I did everything I could to make it right. I took responsibility for promoting it and paid a huge fine. I sold a bunch of my assets to pay the legal fees because people wanted to sueme, even though I had nothing to do with creating the actual product. Anyway, I’m not allowed to put my name behind anything anymore, not that anyone wants it. That’s another drawback to hiring me. These days, every film has merchandising licenses attached to it. No one wants me to be the next action figure sold to children. I’ve made a million apologies and I’ve donated to every organization I can find, but the bottom-feeding gossip sites still frame me as a monster who doesn’t care who she harms so long as she gets ahead.”

“Tonight was another photo op? Is that why you danced with me?” His tone held a lash of cynicism.

“That’s why I stopped dancing with you,” she corrected frostily, but her insides shriveled. “I don’t want to be performative about giving to charity. I know how icky that is.” She hated that she was reduced to this. “But if my mistakes are going to be made into headlines, I might as well have some good press to balance it. Mostly I came here to meet a director who was supposed to attend. Bernadette Garnier.” She rubbed her eyebrow. “I have a project I genuinely think she would find interesting. One that could help me stage a comeback or at least keep the lights on a little longer. She wasn’t there, though.”

He sat in a comfortable slouch as he regarded her, so casually sexy it was difficult to look at him without more fantasies exploding in her head.

He couldn’t want her now, though. Not after she’d laid bare all her flaws and drawbacks. He ought to ask her to leave.

Ulmer stalked back into the room. He held a small valise and paused behind Magnus to send her a hard glare over the prince’s shoulder.

She held her breath, awaiting banishment.

“I’ll text if I need anything,” Magnus said without so much as turning his head.

Ulmer’s mouth tightened. Seconds later, the door closed firmly behind him.

“He’s not wrong,” she pointed out, still wobbly on the inside. “I’m accepting your help because I don’t have many friends left. I had to come all the way to Europe for achanceat work. You don’t want to be associated with me.”

“True.”

The single word was an arrow straight into her chest, stopping her heart and lungs before radiating a sharp pain through her entire being.

He rose in a graceful move that was so abrupt it took her heart on a fresh dip and roll, and offered his hand. “I’ll show you to your room.”

CHAPTER THREE

HERFINGERSHADgone cold. She noticed because his hand was hot. His firm clasp seemed to envelop her entire being as he drew her to stand. She felt lifted off the floor, as though she floated behind him as he led her down the hall.

Toherroom.

He paused in the hall where an open door looked into an empty bedroom.

“Use it if you want to. I’ll wake you in the morning when Vijay arrives.”

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