Page 50 of Tabloid Princess

Definitely happy.

“Come on, Daisy, I need to talk to you.” I smiled at her forcing a bright smile on my face. “We need to talk princes and princesses.”

“Okay.” She nodded sagely, but her gaze lifted with a spark and my own heart crushed into a crumpled piece of paper in my chest.

This was all over now.

He’d done what he said he would and fixed the problem.

It was over.

Eleven

“So there is now a restraining order around your house?” Molly held her head in the palm of one hand, possibly to stop it falling off due to excessive wine.

I only planned to come out for one drink, just to prove that I could.

That was two hours ago.

I shrugged. “I guess so. I don’t know. It’s not like he’s going to call me and talk about it.” I took a sip of my wine. We were in the corner of the pub we’d been drinking at for years in Borough Market. It wasn’t a posh place, so the crowds were thin and most of the clientele were old men. I felt safe in the corner, although now the prince and his team had made their move, I expected to become old news pretty damn quick.

“How was work today? I hated not coming in.”

“Just as well you didn’t. It was crazy. I know you’ve hated seeing yourself in the news, but Bright Futures has had a boost that we couldn’t have dreamt of.”

“Was that because we weren’t dreaming free.” I couldn’t keep the tightness out of my voice.

My stupid slogan seemed almost bittersweet now.

“Leia, we are dreaming big now! The BBC are going to do a documentary on us. Janine is reaching out to old clients to see if they’ll feature.”

Isn’t that what Oliver wanted?

I shouldn’t think of him as Oliver. It was dumb, and stupid.

We both glanced up as someone loomed close to our table. I jumped out of my skin, my frazzled nerves shortening another inch. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Patrick, Molly’s brother.

“Bloody hell, Patrick, you scared the life out of me.”

He slipped into the seat next to mine and threw a casual arm over my shoulder, leaning in to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Am I allowed to do that now you’re famous?”

He brushed a hand though his blonde hair.

“You’ve never been allowed to kiss me,” I retorted, elbowing him slightly and shirking out of his hold. He’d invaded my space as he sat and didn’t seem keen to move over.

“Molly said we were due a date.”

Groaning, I rolled my eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed I’m having a bad week.”

“I can make it better.” He shot me a lopsided grin and I couldn’t help but smile back. Patrick was attractive in a brother to my best friend way. His blonde hair, blue eyes, and a general enjoyment for the gym made him popular with women.

Maybe it would be easier if I liked him in that way. Maybe then I could forget secret freckles and the musical singsong of my name.

I forced my head back into the present.

“You can’t blame the Prince for having superior taste.” Patrick swept a glance over me and I ignored the slight trace of hunger that lingered within its depths.

“Shut up.” I scowled at him. “So, anyway.” I ignored Patrick’s comment and went on telling Molly about my afternoon. “then I had to tell Daisy that all the things her friends had been telling her, that her new daddy was going to be a prince, was all rubbish.”