The Playboy's Princess Read online

  Jade thought about the timeline he was proposing. One year of her life would be wasted on this. One year of celibacy or one-night stands. One year she would never get back. What if she met the man of her dreams during that time? Could she say to him, “Sorry, I’m married to a guy I don’t love, but I’m going to divorce him in a few months. Will you wait for me?” He would think she was crazy.

  On the other hand, the million dollars Drew was promising was very enticing. So enticing that twelve months didn’t seem like such a long time. What was one year, really? Twelve months, fifty-two weeks, three hundred and sixty-five days. A million dollars over one year; that worked out to be over eighty thousand dollars a month. Surely she could give up just one tiny year of her life for that kind of money. And it wasn’t as if she had a guy—or even the prospect of a guy—that would be put out by the arrangement. She might not even meet anyone in the next year that she was interested in.

  “A year is doable,” she said.

  Drew gave her a toothy grin. “Great!”

  “Where would I live?” she asked, wondering if he was going to ask her to move in with him.

  “Well, when we’re married, we’ll have to live together. After the wedding, when I get my inheritance and the house can be fixed up, we can live there until we separate. Until then, you can stay in your apartment. Is that okay?” He chewed his lip as he waited for her response.

  “That sounds fine,” she replied. A part of her had hoped he would ask her to move in sooner than the wedding; it was still three months away. Her apartment was barely habitable, but she would just have to make do.

  “I really think this is going to work,” Drew said with a smile.

  “What do we do if someone suspects us?”

  “Nothing. We deny it. No one can prove that we’re not in love. It’ll be our word against theirs. Don’t worry. We’re going to pull this off,” he assured her. He handed her an envelope. “Here, why don’t you read this over? Give it back to me once you’ve signed it. If there’s anything in there you think we should change, we can talk about it.”

  She opened it and peeked inside; it was the contract.

  “What are you going to tell people about me?” he asked curiously.

  “I’ve already told my two best friends that I met someone. I thought it would be better to tell them as soon as possible so it appeared we had been dating longer,” she said. “Was that okay?”

  Drew stood up and dropped some money on the table to pay for their drinks.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Jade said, putting her hand out to give the money back to him.

  “That’s what boyfriends do,” he replied, giving a wink.

  They walked out of the café together and down toward her car. Jade would be heading south, and Drew was going to Beverly Hills, so it was time to say good-bye. She felt her chest tighten slightly as they both came to a stop next to her car.

  She felt the urge to kiss him as he stared into her eyes.

  “You have really pretty eyes,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  “I’ve never seen eyes that green.”

  Jade blushed. “That’s how I got my name. Mom was going to call me Emma, but when she held me in the hospital, she said my eyes were so green she had to call me Jade.”

  “It suits you.”

  Jade blushed even further, looking down at the ground.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Drew said before reaching up and brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

  She shied away, and he chuckled softly.

  “You might want to work on that flinch, Ariel,” he told her. “You should look like you enjoy me touching you.”

  “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting it,” she lied.

  He leaned forward, pressed his cheek against hers and whispered, “We need to appear comfortable around each other, so I might touch you even when we’re alone, just to help us get used to it. Is that okay?”

  Jade’s chest started thudding again, and she gulped before nodding her head. Surely he could hear the pounding in her chest and see how nervous he made her. Her eyes closed involuntarily as a spicy scent wafted around them and she breathed him deeply; damn, he smelled good. His warm cheek pressed against hers for a second longer before he pulled back slightly and pressed his lips to where his cheek had just rested.

  “I’ll see you soon,” he said softly after he kissed her cheek, and then he was gone.

  The wind whipped her hair around her face as she stood on the street and continued to breathe in the delicious scent that lingered after he walked away. She raised her hand up and lightly touched her cheek in the spot where his lips had been just a moment ago, smiling.

  “Shit!” she said loudly, annoyed with herself for allowing Drew to affect her so much.

  Just in that moment, an old man walked past and mumbled something about the youth of today being riffraff and using foul language. Jade didn’t pay any attention to him, though, because she’d just realized she was starting to get a crush on her future husband. That was not good.

  Chapter Five

  Slam Dunk

  JADE WAS PRETTY. Drew wasn’t blind. He was well aware of how attractive she was. From their first meeting, he remembered her moss-green eyes and her strawberry curls, but what he hadn’t remembered was the way her whole face lit up when she smiled, or how fucking amazing she smelled.

  As he walked away from her on the street and headed home, he thought about the fact he would get to kiss her and touch her whenever he wanted with no strings attached. Well, he supposed being married was the biggest string of all; it was a fucking steel cable. But they weren’t tied to each other; they had a clear plan that would allow them to part easily.

  There was no doubt he was attracted to her, but that was a good thing. His parents and friends would never believe he was attracted to an ugly girl. As shallow as that sounded, it was the truth. He hoped his attraction would make things easier for them. He was drawn to her, which he prayed would make it easier for people to believe they were falling in love. He already wanted to touch her, so hopefully their affection would look natural—if she could hold back her flinching. Drew smiled; it really was adorable how nervous she was around him.

  Jade never left Drew’s thoughts as he walked, even as he entered the large foyer of his parents’ house. He must have had a huge smile on his face, because his mom gave him a strange look.

  “What’s made you so happy?” she asked.

  “I met a girl.”

  His mom’s face lit up, and she leaned forward in her seat. She patted the cushion next to her on the couch, inviting him to sit down.

  “Tell me,” she said quietly.

  Drew’s mother had never really been the hands-on type, but they had a good relationship and talked about the things that mattered. Unlike his father, who he barely had anything to talk about with.

  “Her name is Jade,” Drew said, sitting down next to her.

  He wasn’t sure how much he should play it up. He wanted her to think that he was dating Jade, but he didn’t want to be a gushing, sissy fool.

  “Do we know her family?” Laura asked.

  Typical. Of course his mother’s first question would be about her social standing. To be honest, Drew had no idea about Jade’s background. He made a mental note to ask her some questions next time they spoke.

  “No, I don’t think so. I met her last week, and I just saw her again. I gave her my number, and we’ll probably meet up again soon.”

  There, that sounded realistic…he hoped.

  “Is she in the business?”

  “In a way.” She wasn’t a film actor, but she was a character actor. Drew thought he could stretch it to say she was.

  “Where did she go to school?”

  Shit. He didn’t know anything about Jade or her life. He had her cell phone number and an address in the valley, but apart from that, he knew nothing about her. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought to get more information. The c
onversations they’d had on the phone hadn’t really gone into much personal detail, concentrating more on setting up the plan than getting to know each other.

  “Ahhh…we’ve only just met, so I don’t know much about her yet,” he said honestly.

  “Oh, well, I’d love to meet her,” Laura pushed.

  “When the time is right. Just let me get to know her and see if it’s something that might turn into a relationship. There’s no point in you meeting her if we only have one date and don’t like each other.” He knew he couldn’t seem too eager. He’d never brought a girl home before because there had never been anyone he’d been interested in longer than a few dates. He needed to make sure he wasn’t acting out of character, or his parents would be suspicious.

  “I suppose you’re right.” Laura sighed. “I just want to see you happy, Andrew. I want you to know love.”

  “Well, maybe this girl is the one,” he said, smiling.

  His mother patted his knee and nodded her head. “I hope so. May I tell your father?”

  “Sure,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “But there’s not much to tell yet.”

  His father was going to have to find out about Jade some time, so it didn’t matter if it was sooner rather than later. And, to be honest, Drew would rather not have to tell him himself, because he knew the mocking look he would get. His dad would assume Jade was just another girl that Drew was only semi-interested in and wouldn’t take it seriously.

  Well, Drew would show him. In a few months, they would be married, and Drew would have access to his own money. But, up until that point, he still had to support himself, and that meant charity work. He’d tried his best to think of something he could do, but working in a soup kitchen or volunteering at a church weren’t really things that would hold his interest. He knew his mom would have some advice as she’d been doing charity work for years, and he’d been waiting for some time to bring it up.

  “Mom, can I talk to you about something?”

  “Of course, honey,” she replied, her hand still on his knee.

  “Dad suggested I do some charity work, and I wanted your opinion on what I should do.”

  “Well,” she said, titling her head. “There are lots of different things you could do. I do charity work for homeless youths mostly, but I’ve also done fundraisers for AIDS research and animal shelters. The key is to find something you enjoy doing and see if you can find a way to help someone by doing it. You know, I believe many of the high schools take on volunteer sports coaches. Would that interest you?”

  “That sounds perfect,” Drew said, liking the idea. It wouldn’t even feel like working. Sports was something he could definitely help kids with.

  “I think I actually heard of a school in south LA that’s looking for a basketball coach. I could put in a call for you if you’d like.”

  “That would be great, Mom!” He kissed her cheek and stood up. “I think I’m going to have an early night.”

  “Good night, dear. Oh, and Drew?” Laura called as he walked down the hallway toward the large mahogany staircase that lead up to the wing of the house where his bedroom was.

  He stopped and turned back to look at her, cocking an eyebrow in question.

  “I have a good feeling about this Jade.” She smiled.

  “Me too.” He laughed as he made his way upstairs.

  After a quick shower, Drew pulled on a pair of old sweat pants and lay down on his bed. He hadn’t been able to get Jade out of his head. It was a conflicting feeling. Part of him was happy about that; it would make their ruse all the more realistic, but at the same time, he didn’t want to actually develop feelings for her. Yes, they would be married, but they had to keep it professional. The last thing they needed was for either of them to develop feelings and ruin the whole plan.

  No, he would make sure this stayed a business arrangement. It shouldn’t be too hard; all they had to do was stay focused.

  He wiggled down into a more comfortable position on the bed and closed his eyes. His mother would probably have arranged for him to start work by tomorrow, so he wanted to get in as much sleep as he could.

  Hours later, he rolled over, and his arm slipped around something warm and soft. He half-opened his eyes and saw a large mess of red curls. Breathing in deeply, he recognized Jade’s sweet scent and smiled.

  “Jade,” he breathed softly as he snuggled in closer to her back.

  His fingers traced figure eights on the silky skin of her stomach as he lightly peppered kisses on the back of her neck. She hummed in contentment, reaching her hand back to run her fingers through his hair. Arousal swept through his body, and his hands traveled up her torso to lightly stroke the underside of her bare breasts.

  Jade pushed her hips back against his hardening length, causing him to hiss at the contact. Drew had no idea how she’d gotten into his bedroom, but he wasn’t going to fight it. She seemed to be as into this as he was, and they could just put it down as a bonding exercise.

  “You like that?” She laughed as she wiggled her hips over his cock, causing more friction than he was ready for, and he let out a soft grunt.

  “Shhh, don’t wake the baby,” she whispered as she rolled over to face him, her eyes seeing right into his soul as she sleepily smiled back at him.

  “Baby?” Drew questioned, confused.

  “Margaret…our daughter,” Jade said slowly. “What’s up with you?” Her hands gently cupped his face.

  Drew froze. They had a daughter…named Margaret, after his grandmother? He didn’t remember that, and come to think of it, he didn’t remember Jade coming into bed either, let alone her being naked.

  Drew looked around the room as the soft dawn light filtered through the windows. They weren’t in his parents’ house. From the look of it, they were lying in Gran’s bedroom in the house she’d left him. How had they gotten there?

  He broke out of Jade’s grasp and sat up. Suddenly everything went dark. He blinked a few times and looked around the room again. He was back in his own room at his parents’ house. He turned to look down at the bed, but Jade was nowhere to be seen. The only remnant of her being in the bed was the throbbing erection in his lap.

  He groaned loudly and fell back onto the pillow, swinging his arm over his eyes. The dream was so intense and realistic that he could still slightly smell her in the air. He had to put a stop to dreams like that right away.

  A shrill whistle blew from across the court, and Drew jumped. He was usually comfortable in basketball courts, but that was when he was playing with his friends and the only pressure was to win. Now he had a group of young boys staring him down.

  “Okay, guys, this is Drew. He’s going to be coaching you for the rest of the season. Let’s all give him a huge Tigers welcome!” the teacher called with more enthusiasm than should be legal.

  The boys all stared at their new coach. None of them looked impressed.

  “Uh…hi?” Drew said, feeling like an idiot. He had no idea how to talk to kids.

  “What a dick!” a young blond boy scoffed, and the rest of the group started to laugh.

  Drew noticed one boy in particular who stood back from the others a little. He was tall and looked to be about sixteen years old. His shiny black hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and his clothes were ratty and slightly too big for him—like hand-me-downs. In fact, when Drew looked around, all the boys appeared to be wearing second-hand clothes.

  “Let’s get started,” he said, trying to put as much authority in his voice as he could, and pointed at them. “You, you, and you are on one team, and you, you, and you are on the other. Go!”

  They all stood around for a minute, looking at each other as if deciding whether or not they were going to accept Drew as their coach. He knew he would have to take some action if he was going to lead these boys, so he grabbed the ball, dribbled it up to the hoop and did a slam dunk.

  “Are you ladies coming or what?” he yelled.

  All the boys smiled at
each other and raced out onto the court. The teacher nodded and clapped Drew on the back before handing him the whistle and heading back into one of the classrooms.

  The game began, and Drew had to admit those boys could play. He was sure if he was up against them, he would have to play at his best to win. He had to break up two almost-fights, and he blew his whistle more times than he could count for traveling and contact. Those boys played rough, but they were good.

  As the sun started to set, Drew began to get tired. His shirt was soaked with sweat, and he could feel it clinging to his back. All he wanted to do was go home and take a shower. He looked at his watch and saw it was almost six. They’d started playing straight after school at three, so that was three hours of coaching—not too bad for his first day.

  He blew the whistle loudly to get everyone’s attention.

  “Okay, next hoop wins!” he said loudly. Luckily the game was tied, so it made the boys play even harder, trying to get that final basket.

  Drew ran up and down the court as the ball was thrown from one end to the other and back again. The blond boy who had called him a dick threw the ball hard, trying to get it to one of his teammates at the other end of the court. The ball flew over the hoop, past the fence and out onto the street.

  “Ouch!” a woman yelled, and everyone on the court froze.

  “Shit. You hit someone, Dave,” one of the boys said.

  The tall boy with the black ponytail raced out to collect the ball, and Drew followed him, ready to apologize to the poor woman. When he got outside the fence, he was stunned to see Jade standing there, rubbing her head and talking to the boy.

  “Jade?” he asked.

  “Drew?” she replied, sounding just as shocked as he felt.