Page 3 of Guarding the Princess
I hate being told to keep quiet. I’d never want my best friend to feel like she couldn’t speak truthfully. “No, girl, no. Always speak your mind. What did you think of him?”
“Well…” She draws out the word and I brace for the worst. Good thing too, because she unleashes in that loud voice of hers. “He was all wrong for you! He obsessed over that app. It was the only thing he talked about! People’s eyes glazed over when he talked and he never noticed. He was messy, Charlotte. Just unkempt and a mess all the time. It was off-putting. On a scale of one to ten, you’re a solid ten. I’ve always told you you could get paid a heck of a lot more if you just modeled for a living. Zeke? He could barely pull a four. I’m sorry. I know that’s super mean, but he just wasn’t right for you.”
“Wow. Why didn’t you tell me?” I had no idea she felt that way about him.
Her voice drops. “Honestly? I was a little distracted by Jake when you started dating Zeke. I figured you two would fizzle out quickly. Then I got married and next thing I knew you’d been dating for six months like it was serious. By that point I couldn’t say anything to you. I had to let you figure it out on your own.”
I lie back down and snuggle under the covers. Now I’m really glad I didn’t tell her I asked him to marry me. What was I thinking?
“Charlotte? Are you mad at me?”
“No. Gosh no! I’m glad you told me.” A thought forms in my head. A crazy one. “Does Jake have any baseball buddies looking for a girlfriend?”
“Oh, honey, I wouldn’t bark up that tree. It’s pretty hit or miss. Mostly miss.”
I scrunch up my nose, trying to translate. “I’m not barking.”
She snickers. “Sorry, forgot about the phrase thing. No, I just meant you should look for a boyfriend elsewhere.”
I sigh, totally and completely defeated.
“Why do you want a boyfriend so badly anyway? What about being a fierce and independent single woman like you always used to tell me? There’s nothing you can do as a couple that you can’t do alone, girlie.”
My lips tip up in a weak smile. If only she knew the full extent of my predicament. “Yeah, I know. Thanks for the encouragement.”
“It’s pretty late here. I’ll mail you out a box of goodies tomorrow morning.”
Now my smile is real. “I’d love a box.”
“Muah!” She makes a kissing noise into the phone and hangs up.
When Rhys and Jake were fake dating last year, they broke up—or fake broke up, I couldn’t keep track—and Rhys had come up with a new business plan. Even though they got back together, she went through with it. A breakup box for girls fresh out of a relationship. I really hope mine has chocolate, or cookies, or maybe those mini cupcakes with frosting. I don’t need tissues as I’m not crying over Zeke, so hopefully she doesn’t pack those.
I’m not devastated Zeke and I broke up. In fact, I’m a little relieved. I’m devastated I have to go back to being a robot. A queenly robot, but a robot just the same.
Although, I do have a whole month to find a replacement fiancé.
Anything is possible.
2
Ryker
“I’m too young to feel this old,” I grumble into my coffee.
I’ve only lived on this planet for twenty-six years, with the last six of those years as a personal bodyguard to famous rock stars. I get in, I do my job, I move on to the next. I don’t linger. People tend to irritate me after a short length of time so the transient nature of guarding rock stars when they’re in Southern California on tour suits me just fine.
Which is why I must have lost my ever-loving mind when I took on this job two weeks ago. Guarding a princess from a tiny country I’ve never heard of while she plays make-believe in Los Angeles? Shoot me now. My only explanation is I was lured in by the resume builder of guarding royalty.
I take my first swig of coffee, surprised by how good it tastes even though I’ve had her make me a cup every day now for fourteen straight days. I usually just made coffee in a coffee pot with the cheapest grounds I could find at the grocery store. My own coffee tasted like dirty water after the snow melts off the highway compared to the stuff Charlotte’s slinging behind the counter of Hit Me, the coffee shop where she works.
I need the caffeine, not because she keeps crazy hours like the rock stars I’m used to, but because despite my best intentions, I actually like the girl. She isn’t some stuck-up rich girl with a tiny dog and oversized sunglasses expecting everyone to treat her with unearned respect. She’s hardworking and the opposite of flashy. She tries to blend in with the wallpaper here at work and everywhere she’s gone in the last two weeks. Always keeping quiet and removing herself from situations that might put her in the spotlight.
The crazy thing is, no matter how much she wants to blend in, that’ll never happen.
She’s gorgeous.
Like Hollywood actress or runway model gorgeous.
