The Playboy's Princess Page 3

  She threw the rest of the mail down on the counter to look at later and ripped open the envelope. A quick scan of the handwriting told her she didn’t recognize it, and the signature at the end, Drew Malik, was also unfamiliar. She wracked her brain but couldn’t think of anyone she knew by that name. Of course there was Aaron Malik’s son…Jade thought his name was Drew. She’d seen him stumbling drunk on TMZ a few nights before. But what would he be writing to her for? With her curiosity piqued, she started to read the letter.

  Dear Jade,

  Thank you for taking the time to share all of your concerns with me. I agree that advertising for a bride is a horrendous thing to do. I assure you I had nothing to do with it. My friends placed the ad in the newspaper as a semi-joke.

  I find myself in a situation where having a wife would be greatly beneficial to me, and my idiot friends were trying to help me out. I assure you I don’t take the idea of getting married lightly.

  Since we seem to have a similar view on this, I was thinking maybe we could get together and see if an arrangement could be made to benefit us both.

  If you’re curious, or interested to hear my proposal, please meet me at the Griddle Café on Sunset at 7 p.m. on Friday night. I’ll wait for you, in hopes that you’ll come.

  Drew Malik

  aka “The Asshole”

  She stared at the letter and re-read it three times before she gave up trying to understand it. The letter didn’t confirm if he was Aaron Malik’s son, but one thing was for sure—this was the same Drew she’d written that letter to two weeks ago. Jade didn’t know whether to believe he’d had nothing to do with the ad. And she certainly couldn’t think of a reason why it would be advantageous for him to have a wife.

  But he was right about one thing: she was curious.

  Chapter Three

  The Proposal

  TONIGHT WAS THE NIGHT. Jade still hadn’t decided if she was going to meet Drew or not. He’d said he’d be waiting for her, which in a way made her feel like she should go. She knew how bad it felt to be stood up. But did she really want to face a guy who thought of marriage as a joke? On the plus side, if he pissed her off, she could throw her coffee in his face—she’d always wanted to try that.

  Would she or wouldn’t she? Should she or shouldn’t she?

  Her mind was made up when she got home and stood naked in her bathroom for nearly ten minutes, waiting for the shower to get hot. Eventually she gave up and settled for a freezing cold shower. She couldn’t live like this anymore.

  As she toweled herself dry, her stomach rumbled loudly, and she sighed, knowing she didn’t have any food in the cupboard. She worked full time, but the majority of her wages paid her rent and tuition loans. There wasn’t a lot left over for luxuries like food. In his letter, Drew had said his proposition would benefit them both. Could she interpret that to mean that she would get some kind of payment for helping him?

  She changed into a pair of jeans and a sweater that didn’t have any holes and ran out the door before she changed her mind. She wasn’t sure if it made her a prostitute for offering a service for payment. It felt wrong. But she shook her head to clear the thoughts; she didn’t even know what he wanted from her. Surely it wasn’t sex. And she knew she wouldn’t do that anyway. She would rather starve.

  Her car door creaked as she opened it, and her heart clenched in the daily routine of would or wouldn’t the car start? She buckled her seat belt and rubbed her hands on the steering wheel.

  “Come on, Gertrude, you can do it,” she said as she turned the key.

  The car sputtered but came to life. Jade quickly put it into gear and pulled onto the street before the engine stalled.

  “Good girl!” She found it helped to encourage the car.

  Her mind raced the whole way to the Griddle Café. She’d heard of the place but never actually eaten there. There was a long line of people standing outside in small groups, chatting as they waited for a table. She checked in, giving her name, and followed the balding man as he led her into the tiny, crowded space, ignoring the grumbles of the other people in line. Her stomach rumbled at the smell of pancakes and coffee as she squeezed her way through the tables.

  She realized she didn’t even know who she was looking for. She scanned the room and saw several teenagers, some couples, an older man reading a book, and one guy sitting on his own who was about her own age. He looked familiar, the way a radio personality did…You’d seen their faces on billboards, but you didn’t know them personally. It was Drew Malik…the actor’s son. Shit!

  Slowly, she started to walk toward his booth while trying to casually smooth her hair. As she got closer, he smiled and stood up.

  “Are you Jade?” he asked.

  She nodded and sat down, in shock. She hadn’t actually expected the Drew Malik from the letter to be Drew Malik. What was she going to say to him?

  “I’m Drew,” he said, smiling, and held his hand out for her to shake.

  Jade moved her hand forward, almost hesitant to touch him. Drew was handsome, and not just normal guy-in-the-street-that-you-look-at-as-he-walks-by handsome. He was movie star handsome. His blue eyes sparkled as he smiled at her, and his perfect white teeth shone in the dim lights of the diner. He looked almost exactly like his father.

  “I’m glad you came,” he said when he released her hand and ran his fingers through his messy brown hair.

  Jade tried to open her mouth to speak, but no words came out. All kinds of dirty thoughts ran through her mind, and she was frightened that if she did say something it would be about how much she wanted to suck on his luscious bottom lip. Suddenly the idea of prostitution wasn’t as repulsive as it had been.

  “Would you like anything? Coffee?” he asked politely.

  She nodded, and he waved over the server, asking her to bring two coffees.

  “So, what do you do?” he asked.

  “Excuse me?” Jade forced herself to concentrate and to stop staring at him.

  “I feel at a bit of a disadvantage. I’m sure you know about my life already from the media, and I know nothing about you. What do you do?”

  “I’m a princess,” she replied.

  Drew laughed and waited, but when she held her neutral expression, he frowned. “What?”

  “At Disneyland. I’m one of the princesses.”

  Drew’s eyebrows raised. “Seriously? You wear the dresses and the crown?”

  She nodded.

  “Which princess are you?”

  “Can’t you guess?” she asked, her voice a little flirty, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. That’s it, girl. Just be cute and casual.

  “You’re the sexy mermaid one!” he cheered.

  “Well, I’m not sexy at Disneyland. But, yes, I’m Ariel.”

  The waitress put two cups of coffee down on the table, and they each drank, allowing their conversation to fall away.

  “You must think I’m very strange.” Drew chuckled, sounding just as nervous as Jade felt.

  “What? Oh…no, not at all,” she said meekly.

  “You seemed to think so in your letter,” he countered.

  That snapped Jade out of her trance. She smiled shyly, keeping her eyes locked on the Formica table top. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

  He laughed again. “It was actually quite refreshing, and I want to assure you again that I didn’t place that ad. I swear it was my friends.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, why would they do that?” she asked and immediately felt nosy.

  “It has to do with what I wanted to talk to you about tonight. Maybe I should start at the beginning?”

  Jade nodded and reached for the coffee cup that had just been refilled. She brought it up to her lips, blowing on it gently before taking a sip.

  “My grandmother died recently…”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she blurted, cutting him off. “I did read about that in the paper.”

  “She lived a good life,” he said with a shrug of his shoul
ders. “In her will, she left me a house and a trust fund.”

  Jade nodded to show her understanding, although why the son of Hollywood’s biggest action hero needed a trust fund was beyond her.

  “There were certain stipulations laid down in the will about when I could access the money. I was willing to wait until I turned thirty and it came to me by default, but the house she left me is in shambles and needs a lot of money spent on it before I can move in.”

  Jade was utterly confused. She couldn’t understand what his grandmother’s will, his trust fund, or a run-down house had to do with her. She couldn’t see how she could possibly help him with his situation.

  “So, that’s where you come in, Ariel,” he said with a smile.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

  He laughed. “Well, not you specifically; any woman could help me. But I’m hoping it will be you who agrees to do it.”

  “Go on,” she said, her curiosity piqued.

  “If we were to…get married,” he said cautiously, looking at her with a guarded expression, “I would get my trust fund and be financially independent. I would, of course, offer you compensation.”

  “You want me to marry you for money?” Jade asked, trying to make sure she understood.

  “Well…yeah.” He gave her a sheepish grin.

  “How much money are we talking about?” she asked.

  “Eighteen million dollars.”

  Unfortunately, Jade had taken a mouthful of coffee right at that moment, and she spat it all over him and the table. “I’m so sorry,” she said, mortified.

  He mopped the coffee off his shirt while she dabbed the spots off the table.

  “Don’t worry about it. My offer to you is a payment of half a million dollars when I receive the fund, which would be our wedding day, and another half million dollars as a settlement on the day our divorce is finalized. In total, you would receive one million dollars.”

  She stared at him dumbfounded, and then she blinked her eyes a few times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

  “You want to give me a million dollars for being married to you?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She began to wonder if Clare had set her up on some new reality television show and her face was currently being broadcast to millions of people all over the nation…maybe even the world. Was that guy at the next table wearing a hidden camera in his glasses?

  “For a year,” he added. “After that, we go our separate ways and never have to see each other again.”

  Jade’s instinct was to stand up, throw her coffee in his face, and walk out, but the empty feeling in her stomach and the knowledge that she would be going home to another cold shower made her stay in her seat.

  “We’d have to date for a little while so my family believes we really are a couple,” he continued when she didn’t say anything.

  She continued to just stare at him, unsure what to say. There was a part of her that thought this whole idea was crazy, but there was another part, the hungry part, that thought it might be nice to have money to buy groceries and move into a nicer house. And she couldn’t deny how much she would enjoy seeing people’s faces when she said she was getting married.

  “What are you thinking?” Drew asked nervously.

  “I’m considering what you said.”

  They both sat in silence as Jade spun the coffee cup slowly in her hands. After a while, Drew cleared his throat.

  “Why don’t I give you some time to think about it? Here is my cell phone number. Give me a call once you’ve made up your mind. The offer is there if you want it.” He grabbed a napkin and wrote a string of numbers on it.

  She folded it slowly and placed it in her pocket before standing up and giving him a weak smile.

  “Thanks for meeting with me, Ariel,” he said.

  “I’ll call you soon,” she replied, half in a daze, and walked back out onto the street.

  Drew pressed the button in the keyless entry for his convertible, and the lights flashed once. He settled into the soft leather seats and pulled out into the Hollywood traffic. Jade had not been what he’d expected at all. He’d hoped she would be about his age and attractive, that would make the sell to his parents that the marriage was real, but he hadn’t expected to actually like her.

  She was beautiful in a unique way. Most of the girls he spent time with wore stylish labels and full makeup. Jade had worn clothes she looked comfortable in, and her hair fell in loose waves down her back. He’d never dated a redhead, but he’d found himself mesmerized by her hair, the way it shone with gold and chocolate streaks, depending on how the light hit it. She’d smelled like raspberries, not French perfume.

  He thought back over their conversation as he drove down Santa Monica Boulevard toward Beverly Hills, trying to gauge her reaction. She’d said she would call, but what would she say?

  “She’ll say yes,” he said aloud to himself. “She has to. No one would turn down a million dollars.”

  A year of her life wasn’t that much to give up, was it? She’d certainly be well compensated for the time. Although she didn’t appear to be someone who was motivated by money. Her clothes had been simple, and he’d never seen her out at the clubs. He knew he would have remembered her.

  His cell phone rang just as he pulled up into the driveway.

  “What do you want, Tully?” he answered, seeing the name flash on the screen.

  “Drew! Come out with us tonight.” She already sounded drunk. Her voice slurred when she said his name.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Does it matter? I’ll be wearing a very short skirt, just for you.”

  Drew groaned. There was nothing worse than when your hook-up wouldn’t take a hint.

  “I think I have plans tonight,” he lied.

  “What are you? Some old married guy? Man up and come out with us.”

  Drew felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. He wasn’t a married man, but he might be soon. This might be one of his last opportunities to go and have fun before he started playing the role of husband, if everything went according to plan.

  “All right.”

  “Yes!” she hissed, dragging the word out. “We’re at SkyBar.”

  “I’ll be there soon.”

  He ran up the stairs, waving off his parents’ questions about where he was going in such a rush. After a quick shower and begging Caroline to iron his blue shirt before she went home, he was back in the car, driving to Sunset Boulevard.

  Drew knew he looked good. He got his looks from his father and his knowledge of how to dress from his mother. He knew the shirt he wore made his eyes look intensely blue. He knew that rolling the sleeves halfway up his arms made his biceps look more defined under the material. He knew that slicking his hair back made him look more sophisticated. He used all the cards in his deck. Drew was going to have a wild night before it was time for him to settle down.

  He knew Jade would say yes to his proposition. She had to.

  Chapter Four

  The Beginning of Deception

  JADE WAS SO CONSUMED by her thoughts that she drove past her apartment block and had to double back. She didn’t know what she should do. The idea of getting a million dollars for not doing much was appealing, and she was seriously tempted. But there was a part of her that was holding back. Getting married for money just seemed so underhanded and deceitful, and she wasn’t sure if she could do it. Especially after the letter she’d written condemning Drew for his casual approach to finding a bride. It would make her a hypocrite.

  As Jade climbed the stairs to her apartment, she tried to put her thoughts into some kind of logical order. She had a good job, and if she kept working hard, she’d be next in line for the promotion from Princess Ariel to Minnie Mouse. Everyone wanted to be the mouse. They were the most trusted character actors and always the most popular with the kids.

  Her mind raced as she put in a load of laundry, washed her face, and got into her PJs. She woul
d just convince herself she wasn’t going to accept Drew’s offer, and then her stomach would rumble, she’d remember she’d be having two-minute noodles for dinner again, and she’d reconsider. Then, just when she was satisfied that she could marry Drew and take the money with no regrets, her conscience would kick in, and she’d be back to square one.

  She was surviving without that million dollars, and she would continue to be fine. Even if she had to move further out of the city to find a place with cheaper rent. The longer commute would give her time to think about and plan for her future. There was always a silver lining.

  With her mind made up, she plopped down onto the couch with a sigh. The spring that’d been threatening to break for the past few weeks used that exact moment to burst out of the thin material lining. With a loud boing it flew out of the couch, cutting her thigh with a stinging slice as it went flying across the room.

  Jade watched the spring slide across the floor toward the front door and sighed again. The pain from the new cut on her thigh throbbed, her stomach rumbled, and now her couch was broken too. Everything overwhelmed her, and before she could stop herself, she burst into tears. She didn’t know why her life had to be so hard. She worked, she paid her taxes, and all she wanted was a hot shower, a couch that wasn’t poking her with broken springs, and a decent dinner every night. She didn’t think that was too much to ask, but maybe it was.

  Drew’s beautiful blue eyes and crooked smile danced before her own watery eyes, and she took a deep breath. She had an easy way out. Suddenly the choice didn’t seem so hard anymore; it was a matter of survival. The survival of her sanity.

  She rifled through her bag until her hand clasped her cell phone and the napkin Drew had written his number on. Her fingers fumbled as she tried to dial too quickly, and she had to actually stop herself and take a deep breath before she was able to dial successfully.