Page 6 of Some Like It Royal

With a graceful curtsy, she dipped toward the stage and her gaze roved over the audience. He could almost imagine she hunted for him in the shadows and when she paused to straighten, her chin came up. “Yes,” she said in a clear, true voice. “My name is Princess D’tente.”

It was a stupid name, he grimaced at it, but he’d wanted her to take the message in it.

“And at long last, I am reunited with my family.” She paused again, but this wasn’t in the script. Her smile faltered and fell away.

Her gaze arrowed straight at him, where he sat, arms braced on the back of the seat in front of him.

“You son of a bitch.”

Yep. That definitely wasn’t in the script.

Chapter3

Alyx

Livid, Alyx stormed down the steps, stage right. Everything about the audition had seemed a bit odd, from the part advertised, to just how closely the description fit her. But she’d hoped—really, prayed—that this would be the breakout part for her. Even if it wasn’t, stage time could be invaluable and give her weeks of developing a rapport with an audience.

Still, warning bells rang when she’d arrived and found no one else prepping to audition. The red-alert klaxon went off when she scanned the lines they wanted her to perform for the cold reading. A princess, found again, making a splashy entrance to society via a masquerade ball.

The stage lights hid Daniel from her, but as her eyes adjusted and he leaned forward, she recognized the man’s silhouette. It belonged to the idiot knocking on her car window. How she made it down the stairs without tripping in the uncomfortable heels, she didn’t know, but she strode up the aisle toward him on a wave of righteous fury and indignation.

“Miss Dagmar, before you tear into me—as you have every right to do—let me tell you that you were absolutely magnificent. You wear the role of princess like you were born to it.” His compliments failed to dull the rage boiling in her belly.

“How dare you?” She paused to gather her breath and shook with the outrage coursing in her veins. “How dare you play a game with my career? I took time off from myjobto come down here and perform a farce.”

“Actually, you took time off to answer an audition call. I didn’t twist your arm. I made that listing very specific and you are perfect for the part.” He met her ire with utter calmness.

It only served to infuriate her more.

“There is no part, is there?”Dammit. She’d needed tonight’s tips for the immersion class. Now she would have to reschedule because she wouldn’t have enough by Friday.Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She should have trusted her instincts, but the part sounded wonderful and she couldn’t wait to wear the clothes and transform herself.

All for a lie.

“There is a part. The same part I told you about.” Wow, the man just did not give up. “A part you werebornto play.”

Bowing her head and hands on her hips, she fought to get her breathing and temper under control. To her horror, tears actually burned in her eyes and she blinked furiously to keep them back. She would not break down in front of the hunk with the crackpot offer. “I told you no. I said thanks, but no thanks. What part of that answer are you having trouble with?”

“All of it.” He shifted, leaning a hip against an aisle chair and releasing her from the tension of his nearness. A tension she’d failed to notice until he gave her the space to breathe. “Alyx, I can make things happen in your world. I can change it and you can change mine. It’s an equitable deal.”

“I don’t know you and so far, what I’ve learned hasn’t impressed me.”Liar.The advertisement for the audition was an act of pure genius. Despite her anger, she couldn’t help but be flattered.

“Then get to know me. Meet my attorney. Look at my bank statements. Come to my office. I am exactly who I say I am and Ineedyour help for exactly the reasons I’ve described.” He leaned forward, the darkness of the theater framing his earnest expression. “You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

“Why?”Why am I not just walking away from this guy? Why do his eyes seem to say he is telling the truth?She didn’t have answers to her own questions, much less why he wantedher.

“Because youarea princess. If you need proof, I have that too.”

Need proof?Yeah, she needed proof.

Was she actually considering doing this? She rubbed a hand against her cheek, turning to look across the empty seats. Leaving seemed the safest bet, but the lengths he went to just to get her in this theater…

“Alyx. You live out of your car. I hate that. If nothing else, let me pay you for the time it takes to consider the idea. Enough to get you a place to live.” Contrition and hope struggled in those sentences and she forgave him for the deception. Maybe just a little bit.

“What’s the name of your attorney?”

He straightened, a smile flaring briefly to life on his lips. “Martin Grange. He’s a partner at Grange, Dubbin and Grange. His number is?—”

“Stop.” She held up a hand. “I’ll get the number. You stay here.” With as much grace as she could muster, she spun on a heel and strode to the stage, up the steps and through the wings to the dressing room where she’d left her phone. She glanced back—checking his location twice before she went into the wings. Daniel stayed right where she bid him.

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