Page 34 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love
“Your new boyfriend is so cool,” Stacy said as the music stopped for a brief moment.“How did you two meet?”
“Oh...”Hallie was suddenly too embarrassed to tell that story.“We met, that’s the important thing.”
“Come on, where was it?”Amber asked, sensing her weakness.
“Actually, I picked him up at a café,” Hallie replied.As long as the story had some small seed of truth in it, she could probably get away with a slight fabrication.
“You didn’t!”Stacy exclaimed admiringly.
“Yep.”
“Savage,” Amber said with grudging respect.
“The moment I saw him, I just couldn’t resist him,” Hallie said, and this time there was some truth to it.It was Luke’s antics first drew her attention, but she had been fascinated by his good looks as well.
And maybe she had to be honest with herself, a guy who was making a scene in the middle of the street seemed more exciting than any of the guys she had known.
After a while Luke rejoined her again, which was a bit of a surprise.
“Had a nice chat with the boys?”she asked.
“I think they threatened to beat me up.If this is the real Texas, I like it.”
“You’re insane,” Hallie said, shaking her head.
“Come on, lighten up.Were they serious, though?”
“What do you think?”Hallie asked.Underneath his façade, he seemed a bit shocked by the whole thing.“Maybe better to stick around and be my fake boyfriend, just to be safe.”
“Okay Hallie, you’re a nice person, and you wouldn’t lie to me just to take advantage of this situation...would you?”
Hallie enjoyed watching him sweat.For once, it seemed like she had the upper hand in their battle for control.Not only that, but as far as she knew those guys, they were pretty serious about protecting ladies in a chivalrous fashion.
“They weren’t kidding,” she said.“If you want to stay here, you better act right.People around here aren’t going to respect you if they find out you’re cheating on me.”
“Forget cheating,” Luke said, looking back at Rob with suspicion.“I believe their exact words were ‘if you hurt her in any way’, so I suppose ‘breaking up’ with you is out of the question.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Hallie said, a victorious smile on her lips.“You’ll have to wait until I break up with you.And as you’ve probably guessed, that won’t be until I’m sure my parents are extremely pleased with me and everything I do.”
Luke heaved a dramatic sigh.“Then I guess I’m all at your service.”
Hallie felt so confident that she didn’t even mind when Eloise came over to them.
“Mind if I dance with your boyfriend?”the young woman asked.“He’s easily the best dancer here!”
“If he doesn’t mind,” Hallie said, “Go right ahead.”
She did enjoy watching Luke dance, even if it was with Eloise.A lively song came on, and Luke expertly twirled his partner around, showing off his fancy moves again.
Hallie tried not to get carried away with her thoughts.Being good at cooking and at dancing still didn’t make him a good person.
As if echoing her more cynical feelings, Terry appeared like a devil at her shoulder.For a while, they watched the couple dance, Terry frowning suspiciously.
“Who was that woman?”Terry asked.
“What woman?”
“You know, the one who came by in her business suit.She was looking for Luke, it seemed.”
