Page 151 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love
Chapter 83: The Genie
“Kind of a lousy wayto spend Thanksgiving, don’t you think?”Luke asked.
Hallie shrugged.“Fighting with my family is always lousy.I’m sorry you had to leave because of me, though.And now you’re alone on Thanksgiving, like me.”
“I’m fine.We don’t even have Thanksgiving in Sarkadia.”
Maria came back and asked for Luke’s drink order.He said, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
“I like that,” Maria said, giving Hallie a ‘meaningful’ look as she went to mix the drink.
“What kind of holidays do you have?”Hallie asked in idle curiosity.
“We have the Winter Sled Festival.It’s all about sliding down snowy hills and grabbing lollipops.”
“Did I hear you correctly?”Hallie was surprised to find herself cracking a smile.
“Yes, grabbing lollipops that are planted upright in the snow,” he said calmly, making her almost certain he wasn’t making it up.“It’s kind of a winter sport.”
“Sounds fun!”
“My favorite is the Spring Balloon Festival,” Luke said wistfully.“All the flowers are blooming, and people ride hot air balloons over the mountains.”
“That sounds awesome too,” Hallie said.Suddenly, the image of alpine flowers scattered over mountain sides burst into her mind’s eye.She could almost smell the fresh spring air...
Maria returned with a glass of rum and coke.
“Mmm,” Luke said, savoring his first sip of the dark, sparkling liquid.“This is good stuff.But as much as I enjoyed living in Texas, I miss my home.I was going to wait to tell you this, but maybe it’s better you know now.I’m returning to Sarkadia soon.”
It made sense that he would leave now, allowing her to start her life over with a blank slate.Hallie couldn’t help feeling a sense of loss, even though he was the person she trusted least in the world, even less than Terry.
“I guess that means I’ll be out of a job,” Hallie said, trying not to sound too disappointed.
“On the contrary,” Luke pointed at her invoking the image of ‘Uncle Sam’, “I want you to come with me and finish the project.”
Hallie realized this wasn’t the worst night of her life after all.She had always wanted to travel and see the world, and she had imagined her career taking her to different places.Now those dreams were all coming true.
Of course, it was Luke making the offer, so she realized it was like one of those scenarios where the genie from the magic lamp makes some fool’s dream come true in the most ridiculous way possible.
“Is this really about work?”she asked.
“Of course it’s not all about work,” Luke said, his eyes lighting up mischievously.“You could come as my fiancée...my fake fiancée.”
Hallie nodded her head.“Of course, it sounded too good to be true.Why would you want a fake fiancée?You’ve seen how well this fake relationship turned out for me!”
“Maybe I want to play a prank on my parents too?Imagine their surprise when my fiancée is a commoner from Texas!That’s what they get for sending me away.”
“I thought you said your family has suffered enough,” Hallie objected.
“This is actually good for them,” he replied calmly, “It’ll open their mind to the idea that there are other people in the world, not just royals and nobles.”
Hallie knew that this was the most high-profile job she had ever worked on.In fact, it was the only job she had ever worked on, other than the family ranch.
