Page 29 of The Prince's Game
“How did you convince her to let you stay over at her apartment?” I texted Rachel the same question. She replied,I don’t want to talk about it.
“I can be very charming.” His smile edged on the devilish side more than the handsome side, reminding me of Evan.
“I bet. Just like your cousin.” The two men were more like brothers than cousins. They grew up together after Will’s parents died, and I gathered they were close. That was why Evan trusted him with the contract in Chicago.
“He likes you, you know. As I predicted he would. It’s why I chose you that first night despite him telling me to send you home. Now look at you two—signing contracts and going into business together.” Those blond eyebrows danced at me again. “You can thank me later.”
He jumped off the couch at the knock on my door, motioning for me to stay put. I crawled on all fours to the edge of the bed to look around the corner as he opened it to let Evan inside. He paused upon seeing his cousin, indicating he was surprised to see him in my room. Spotting me in my usual tank top and shorts had him raising an eyebrow at his cousin.
“Chill, E. I was asking her about Rachel.”
“That better be all you were doing.” He folded his arms and leaned against the wall at the foot of the bed. I scooted back into the pillows and wrapped my arms around my knees.
The blond rolled his eyes and went back to collapse on the couch. “Says the man dating fifteen, oh, excuse me, fourteenwomen.”
“Not by choice.”
“Yes, it’s a hardship. We get it.”
“Fuck you, man. It’s not dating when there’s a camera crew following me around.”
“Not stopping you from kissing all of them, though, is it?” Will’s carefree words pricked at my heart more than they should have. Not a good sign.
“That was for the show and you know it.” Evan took off his leather jacket, laying it on the chair, and put his shoes beside Will’s before sitting on the bed. His fierce gaze met mine. “There’s only one girl I’m kissing off film.”
I held up my hands. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t say anything.”
“No, but I’m saying something. What I’m doing for the show has nothing to do with us.”
“Except it has everything to do with us because the only reason I’m still here is to refuse your proposal. But, Evan, you can kiss whomever you want. That was never part of our contract, and I’m aware that we’re on a dating show that’s going to require certain things from you.” The words served as a reminder to myself more than to him. I needed to keep my emotions in check. Feeling nauseated at the mention of him kissing other women wasn’t a healthy starting point.
His full lips curled down. “Will, can you—”
“Yep.” He stood up before Evan finished talking, and put on his shoes. “Uh, yeah, good luck.”
“You don’t have . . .” My voice trailed off as the door closed.
15
The Marriage Game
“I’m not a philanderer, Sarah.”
“Uh, okay.”Says the man on a dating show that started with thirty women.“I didn’t say you were.”
“No, but Will just implied it. You need to understand that I don’t have sex or kiss women indiscriminately. This entire show is a fucking nightmare for me. I like to date one woman at a time, and I’m always up front about my feelings toward marriage. Long-term relationships might not be my preference, but neither is dating a dozen women at once.” His earnest expression coupled with the misery in his tone told he was telling the truth.
“We don’t have to talk about this, Evan. I don’t have any expectations here.”
“Maybe you don’t, but I do. You’re the only woman I’m kissing off camera. This is the only relationship, if it can be called that, that I’m in right now.” He ran a hand through his thick hair before letting his arms fall to his denim-clad legs.
Relationshipwas a dangerous word. I preferredfriends with benefitsas a term to describe what we were doing here. If he wanted to be monogamous about whom he kissed off camera, that was fine, but I wouldn’t let myself look too deep into it. This arrangement was temporary.
“Look, my father is not a good man or role model,” he continued. “He’s spent years tearing my mother down and blatantly cheating on her. That behavior is what I grew up watching—him screwing everything that walked while my mom cried behind closed doors. Then he had Wyatt with another woman, and my mom raised him as her own because that’s what Jonah Mershano expected.” He ran his hand over his face and shook his head. “I can’t believe I just told you that.”
The news about Wyatt being an illegitimate child wasn’t something I read, but from the way he said that last statement, I gathered it wasn’t well known. “If he’s not really hers, how can he be next in line to take over the company?” I hadn’t meant to ask it, but the words slipped out.
“Because my mother’s name is on the birth certificate, making him legitimate.”
