Page 96 of Mr. Not Quite Perfect

And Travis rolled his eyes. “You may have heard of Dominic Westchester.”

“Oh?” I said, staring at him. “How?”

“He’s related to the king of Spain.”

“Oh wow,” I said, staring at him.

“Oh, not really,” Dominic said, shaking his head, looking smug.

“Very far relation, like third cousin, right?” Travis said.

“Something like that,” Dominic said. “But you know how I feel about the monarchy.”

“True.” Travis looked at me. “Dominic doesn’t believe that the monarchy should exist in any form anywhere anymore.”

“It’s archaic,” Dominic says. “Who’s to say that a bunch of people who inherited titles based on their blood should be able to rule over us? What gives them that right? They’re not gods.”

I stared at him and laughed slightly.

“What’s so funny?” he said.

“My best friend, Poppy, would disagree with you one hundred percent.”

“Oh,” he said. “She’s a royalist?”

“You could say that.” I nodded. “She loved all things about the royal family. She’s a historian and has studied the British monarchy, the previous French monarchy, the Spanish monarchy, the Japanese.” I pause. “Do they have a monarchy, or is it a dynasty?”

“I think they have an emperor,” Travis added, and Dominic rolled his eyes.

“Well, well, I’ll just remember not to bring up monarchy if I have a conversation with your friend.”

“Yeah,” I said, laughing. “I don’t think that will be a problem, though. She’s gone exploring in LA today. She wants to get a dress for the party tomorrow.”

“Oh, she’s coming as well?” Dominic looked surprised as he looked over at Travis.

“You don’t normally bring your assistants to the parties.”

“Yeah, well, I thought I’d let Molly and her friend Poppy experience what it’s like to hobnob with the elite of Hollywood.”

“The elite of Hollywood?” Dominic rolled his eyes. “I also have a problem with celebrity culture. I mean, just because someone’s been in a movie or walked down a catwalk doesn’t really make them the cream of the crop, if you know what I mean.”

“I do,” I said, laughing. “I’m surprised to hear you say that, though.”

“Why is that?”

“Because you seem like the sort of guy who—”

“Are you flirting with my friend, Molly?”

Travis took a step closer to me and looked out at my face.

“No, I’m just saying—”

“She can see how handsome I a.,” Dominic chuckled, looking at me and then looking at Travis. “She made an assumption that I likely date beautiful women, and many beautiful women are actresses and models. And I’m not going to lie. In fact, I’m quite nervous because tomorrow, five different women I’ve dated in the past five months will be at the party and…”

He made a face. “I’m dreadfully worried that one of them will cause a commotion, but I’m still going.”

He looked over at Travis. “I mean, if Travis isn’t worried, then why should I be?”

---