The Playboy's Princess Read online

  The phone rang, and then rang again. After six rings, she was starting to think that he wasn’t going to answer. She was about to hang up when his voice came on the line.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi…Drew, this is Jade.” Her voice was nervous, but the decision was made.

  “That was fast,” he said, sounding shocked.

  “Yeah…I was just thinking about it and—” she started before he cut her off.

  “Before you turn me down, if it’s a matter of the amount of money, I’m willing to negotiate a higher fee,” he stated.

  “No, no…it’s not that. I was actually calling to accept.” She closed her eyes and cringed internally.

  “Oh, well, I feel stupid now. You just called so quickly after we’d met, and I assumed that you weren’t interested. So…you accept?”

  “I accept.”

  “Tim, who’s that guy that fixed our refrigerator?” Pam asked across the dinner table.

  “The fridge repairman,” Tim replied as he stuffed more mashed potatoes into his mouth.

  “His name, jackass,” Pam said, rolling her eyes.

  “How am I supposed to know? I looked him up in the phone book and called the number, that’s all,” Tim protested.

  “You talked to him the whole time he was working and then had a beer with him afterward,” Pam said, exasperated.

  “I don’t remember,” he replied, shaking his head. “I can’t even picture who you’re talking about.”

  Clare, Stuart, and Jade all gave each other subtle smiles; they knew what would be coming next. Pam took a deep breath and put her fork down gently.

  “Tim Harrison, you are just trying to be difficult. You know exactly who I’m talking about. He was overweight, kind of balding. His name was Billy or Bobby or something.”

  A huge grin spread over Tim’s face. “Bobby McBaldandfat?” he asked.

  Stuart laughed and spat beer across the table, causing Clare and Jade to burst into laughter as well.

  “Oh, that’s mature!” Pam sneered as she started stacking the plates. “I’m trying to help Jade out by suggesting someone to fix her fridge, and you have to go and be your typical moron self.”

  “Oh, come on, Pammy. I was only joking. I honestly don’t remember the guy’s name,” Tim said, trying to calm his wife down.

  For the two years that Tim and Pam had been together, their friends had witnessed many arguments exactly like this one. However, they knew after a few sweet words from Tim, Pam would turn into a big messy pile of goo. It made Jade sick…with jealousy.

  Jade thought of Drew and how they would be getting married soon. It seemed so surreal. Jade…getting married. Of course, it wasn’t a real marriage. They wouldn’t be in love or get to make up from little domestic spats, but it was still oddly comforting to know that soon she would be paired. This could be the last time she’d be a fifth wheel at dinner, at least for the next year.

  “Why don’t you boys go and watch whatever game involving a ball is currently on TV, like I know you’ve been dying to do all night, and leave us girls to chat?” Clare said, rubbing Stuart’s arm.

  Both boys shot out of their chairs and disappeared into the living room so fast that if they were in a cartoon, they would have been blurry lines surrounded by clouds of dust.

  “Coffee?” Pam asked.

  “Yes, please,” Clare and Jade said at the same time.

  Pam disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes and came back out with three cups of the best-tasting coffee in the whole world. Jade wasn’t sure how Pam always made such delicious coffee, but she wouldn’t be surprised if she turned on the news one day and saw that Pam had been arrested for drug cooking.

  “The remote control is broken!” Tim yelled loudly.

  “No, it’s not. You just don’t know how to use it,” Stuart said with a laugh.

  Pam rolled her eyes and got up to close the door that led to the living room so they could have some privacy.

  “Can I ask you a hypothetical question?” Jade asked tentatively.

  “Always,” Clare said with a smile before taking a sip of her coffee.

  “Well…how soon do you think is too soon to get married?”

  Both Clare’s and Pam’s mouths dropped open.

  Pam gasped. “Have you met someone?”

  “Who is he?” Clare demanded. “Why don’t we know anything about him?”

  “Calm down!” Jade hushed them. “I’ve just met a guy this week, but it might lead somewhere.”

  “This week?” Pam clarified.

  “And you are already thinking marriage?” Clare squealed excitedly.

  “I don’t know. We just have a connection…and it’s gotten serious really fast…and…” Jade stuttered, trying to think how to make the story believable.

  “You’re pregnant,” Pam said matter-of-factly.

  “No!” Jade yelled, almost knocking over her coffee cup. “I’m not pregnant. But if I were to get married soon, do you think that would be…I don’t know…What would you think?”

  “Does he treat you well?” Pam asked.

  Honestly, Jade had no idea how Drew would treat her. They’d met in a diner for a fifteen-minute meeting and then talked on the phone for five minutes. She was going to have to lie.

  “He treats me great,” she said.

  “Does he feel this connection? Is he thinking marriage too?” Clare asked eagerly.

  Seeing as Drew was the one who had thought up this whole marriage thing, Jade was confident she could say he was thinking about it too. And that wouldn’t even be a lie.

  “He was the one who brought it up,” she said.

  “He proposed?” Clare squealed.

  “Not exactly, but we have talked about marriage,” Jade clarified. “I just wanted to know if you thought it was crazy.”

  They were both silent for a moment, and she prepared herself for the backlash that she assumed was about to hit. Pam and Tim had been together for four years before they got married, and Clare and Stuart were high school sweethearts.

  “I think if you love him and he treats you well, then there is nothing wrong with getting married quickly…but what’s the rush? Why not get to know each other a bit?” Pam questioned.

  “No, don’t wait! I love the spontaneity of it. It’s so romantic,” Clare said wistfully.

  “But you wouldn’t think I was crazy?” Jade asked, wanting to make sure that if she told them within the next few weeks that she was getting married, they wouldn’t freak out on her.

  “We’d have to meet him before we could say for sure,” Pam answered, with Clare nodding her head in agreement.

  “I think that can be arranged,” Jade said.

  “Just as long as he’s not like Subway Guy,” Pam said thoughtfully.

  “Or Chipmunk Guy,” Clare added, giving Jade a meaningful look. “But Pretty Boy was hot.”

  “Ooh, what if he’s like Construction Guy? Didn’t you say he was awesome in the sack?” Pam asked.

  Jade shifted in her seat. Having her previous bed-buddies listed off wasn’t her idea of a fun night. “Yes, Construction Guy was a great lay,” she said, sighing.

  “This new guy needs a name too,” Clare said.

  “What’s something defining about him?” Pam asked, her eyes lighting up.

  Jade found it funny how her friends never used guys’ real names. They all had nicknames.

  “I’ve got it!” Clare jumped out of her chair. “Commitment Guy.”

  “Commitment Guy?” Jade asked, scrunching up her face in disapproval.

  “Well, you’ve only known him a week, and he’s already talking marriage,” Clare said, defending herself.

  Pam smiled with an air of having the perfect suggestion and knew she couldn’t be wrong. “How about The Groom?”

  “Don’t you dare,” Jade warned. The last thing she needed was the girls calling Drew “The Groom” to his face.

  “Okay, well, give us something to go with, then,�
�� Pam insisted.

  “He has really dreamy eyes,” Jade said.

  Clare clapped her hands and squealed. “That’s so it. Dream Guy.”

  After another cup of coffee and Tim doing a victory lap around the house cheering “Dodgers! Dodgers! Dodgers!” Jade headed home.

  Drew Malik. Andrew Malik, son of Aaron Malik. Jade felt like she’d just had some crazy dream. And yet, the voice message on her phone asking if they could meet up again proved it was real. When she talked to him, he seemed so normal, but he wasn’t.

  “He’s famous,” she reminded herself.

  Jade found it fascinating to see who became famous and who didn’t. There were some extremely talented actors and musicians who were completely ignored by the media, and then there were people like Drew Malik, who showed very little interest in having a career of their own and were only famous by association. As far as Jade knew, Drew had never acted in a movie or TV show. The only reason he was famous was because he was the son of someone famous.

  All Jade really knew about him was that he was a party boy, a suspected man-whore, and very rich…except that part wasn’t true.

  Drew wasn’t rich. He was desperate for her help to get his hands on money. If she’d turned him down, would he just find some other girl to fill her role? Probably. If the impression of wealth wasn’t true, then perhaps the rest of it wasn’t true either.

  She didn’t have Internet at home—she couldn’t afford it—but she had her cell phone. Her fingers tapped quickly on the screen as she typed his name into the search box. Was it wrong to do an Internet search on him? Would she learn anything she couldn’t just ask him about in person at their next meeting?

  “Anyone else can look him up, so why can’t I?” she mumbled under her breath and hit the search button.

  A list of web sites came up, along with a link to a photo gallery. She clicked the link first and scrolled through the pictures. Drew’s shining blue eyes stared back at her through the screen as if he was disappointed in her for looking him up.

  She shook that feeling away and kept scrolling. Most of the pictures were of him stumbling out of nightclubs. It looked like he spent a lot of his time partying, which lived up to his reputation. The photos of him when he was younger were mostly of a grumpy-looking teenager. He was usually with his parents, and he glared at the cameras.

  She clicked the back button on the browser and went to the first fan web site.

  A bright pink page covered in hearts and a collage of Drew’s face loaded. Jade scrolled down the page reading about sightings in Hollywood, clubs he frequented, and even some fanfiction written by a girl who fantasized about Drew dragging her into a toilet stall in a club bathroom. Jade bit her lip. Was that Drew’s style?

  A picture of Drew being wheeled into a hospital caught her eye, and she read the article below.

  Drew Malik, son of Academy Award Winner Aaron Malik, was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Hospital late last night. It is believed the actor’s son fell down a staircase in a Sunset Boulevard night club and was found unconscious. Friends called 9-1-1 and he was rushed to the hospital in West Hollywood with a suspected concussion. Aaron and Laura Malik were spotted arriving at the hospital shortly after their son. A witness in the club tells us exclusively that Malik Jr. was extremely intoxicated. This is another embarrassing event for the Maliks after Drew was arrested for DUI just three weeks ago. He is due to face court at the end of the month. This drunken fall won’t aid his case.

  Jade put the phone down and walked to the kitchen. As the kettle boiled, she thought about Drew’s life. What was she getting herself into?

  Jade’s stomach churned.

  Drew had called several times over the past few days, and she was surprised to discover they actually got along really well. He had a dry sense of humor that amused her, and she kept picturing his crooked smile when they spoke. They had agreed it was time, now that they knew they could get along, to meet up again and work out some of the details of their arrangement.

  She was standing outside the same café they’d met in last week, taking deep breaths. Butterflies were churning in her stomach, and her palms were sweating.

  Taking one last deep breath, she walked into the diner and saw Drew smiling at her from a booth at the far end of the counter. He gave a small wave as she walked toward him, and she instantly knew why she was so nervous; he was gorgeous. Drew was even better looking than she remembered, and she had to remind herself they had a business agreement, not an actual relationship.

  “Hi,” Drew said with a smile. His voice was familiar to her now because of their phone conversations, and when she heard it she felt much more relaxed. “Can I get you something, Ariel?”

  “Iced tea would be great,” she said softly. “And you know that’s not really my name, right?”

  Drew winked at her as he stood up and walked over to the counter to place the order. Jade watched him walk away and sighed a little louder than she would have liked when she saw how good his ass looked in those jeans.

  “She’ll be right over with it,” he said, sliding back into his seat. “So…how have you been?”

  “Pretty good. You?”

  “All right,” he replied with a shrug.

  Jade cringed. Small talk had never been her strong suit. She hated feeling awkward and was more comfortable just sitting in silence than trying to fill the space with pointless words.

  “I thought we should talk about some of the details,” Drew stated.

  Jade nodded, not sure what to say. The waitress brought over her iced tea, and she gulped down half the glass quickly.

  “I actually had a contract made up. I hope that doesn’t offend you, but it’s just a general thing that says that I will pay you for services rendered. Services being that you become my wife.”

  “I don’t mind signing a contract. What are the details?” When she thought about it, it seemed like a really good idea.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “Well, what will we tell our family and friends? Where will we live? Can we still see other people romantically?” Jade listed off from the top of her head.

  Drew shifted in his seat and leaned forward. “What do you think would be appropriate?”

  “Well, I think if people are going to believe it’s a real wedding, we’ll need to appear to be dating.”

  “I agree,” he said with a nod.

  “So, will we have official dates or just tell people that we’re dating?” she clarified.

  Drew thought for a moment. “I think it would be good if we could go on two or three dates a week. I know my parents will expect to meet you soon, so I think we would need to do anything that a normal couple would do. We’ll need to know each other well to be able to convince people that we’re in love.”

  “That’s what I was thinking too,” she agreed. Suddenly a thought popped into her head—anything a normal couple should do. Was he expecting her to kiss him in public? “How…affectionate should we be?”

  A slight blush rose up Drew’s neck, and he gave her the crooked smile that she remembered from their first meeting. It was something that she’d missed during their phone conversations.

  “What would you be comfortable with?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Are you comfortable with this?” he asked, reaching his hand across the table and trailing his fingertips lightly over the back of her hand.

  She stared at their hands and nodded. Her heart thudded in her chest, and she wondered if he could hear it.

  “How about this?” His hand clasped hers, and their fingers intertwined.

  She nodded again, admiring how the milky colors of their skin almost matched. His skin was smooth and slightly warmer than hers, and she shivered slightly as she imagined what it would be like to have more of his skin touching her. All too soon, his hand broke free and disappeared back under the table.

  “Well, I think that’s all we’ll need for now. As we start to see each oth
er longer, we’ll negotiate more affection as it becomes necessary,” he said.

  The cold, businesslike words and tone of his voice snapped her back to reality, and she looked down at her hand sadly. She would just have to keep reminding herself that this was not a real relationship.

  “I’ve also been thinking about your last question,” he said.

  “Huh?” Jade asked, shaking her head to bring her back from her thought process.

  “About us being able to see other people. Obviously, a year is a long time for either of us to be celibate. We could always help each other out with that, but I think that could become very messy, and I would like to try and keep this relationship as professional as possible.” He kept his eyes glued on the table and tapped the wooden surface with his fingertips as he spoke.

  Jade nodded. She knew he was right, and she wanted to keep it professional too, but it was hard not to think romantic thoughts while staring into his eyes.

  “So, I think that as long as we can be discreet and not get caught, then we should be free to live our lives. Obviously, none of our family or friends can know if we’re seeing other people, but a one-night stand in secret every now and then would be acceptable,” he posed.

  Again, she nodded. She actually didn’t think that being sex-free for a year was that big of a deal, but Drew had a very different lifestyle. She looked at him and wondered if he’d recently had sex…Probably.

  “You mentioned being celibate for a year. What kind of time frames are we looking at for this arrangement?” Jade said, sitting up straighter and trying to make sure she kept her words as formal and businesslike as his.

  “I’ve actually put a lot of thought into this. I was thinking that we could date for a month before getting engaged. It’s a short period of time, but it’s not unheard of to commit quickly. People do it all the time. Then I would give my mother two months to plan the wedding. She’ll say it’s impossible and beg for more time, but I’ll be adamant that we want to be married sooner rather than later. If she can see that I’m happy, then she’ll agree. We would marry and appear to be in love for a few months, fulfilling the fine print of my grandmother’s will. Then, over a six-month period, our relationship could appear to be breaking down before we finally separate. California divorce law states that both parties have to agree that the relationship has been broken for a period of six months to allow a divorce. Are you willing to put a year into this?” he asked. “I think that’s the quickest we can pull it off.”