Page 110 of Tabloid Princess

Why would she do that? Oliver was everything. I’d known him weeks, but my soul told me he had no parallel.

“I told you. She wanted a prince. I don’t think she cared which one.”

“So that was it?”

“Oh no. It was expected I should get over it, that the wedding would continue.” He paused, his face turning to the window. “I refused. It took me a while, but then I had to say how I felt. Her family were made very comfortable to just disappear.”

“Shit, Ollie, if the press knew about this...”

“I know.”

He reached a hand for me. “I’m sorry they printed that you were the cause. They are desperate to find a story.”

“Wrong story.” I managed to force a smile on my face.

“Oh my goodness.” I had a blinding moment of clarity. “This is why you came to Bright Futures. Why you were splitting the charities. It was because of what John did.”

I processed this for a swift moment.

“We wouldn’t have met if it hadn’t been for that.”

“I think if I’d met you, even before what she did, I think you still would have made me pause.”

“Don’t be silly. It would have been completely different.”

“Not for me.”

His words made the world tilt at a dangerous angle.

I needed to say something. The monster ridiculed me.

“You know I have zero experience, right?” My cheeks flamed. “At that kind of thing.”

“What kind of thing is that?” His lips curved into a delicious smile.

“Uh, you know.” He shifted towards me, but I slipped out of his reach. “Stuff.”

He laughed, almost folding over at the middle.

“It’s not that funny,” I grouched.

“Leia,” he whispered my name, crooking his finger in my direction. That instant desire to follow his command kindled within me. I stepped up, heart thudding. “I just want you.”

His tone told me everything. He didn’t want me to stand in his kitchen and drink juice. He didn’t want to talk, to make small aimless conversation.

He wanted me.

The way that I wanted him.

Like my existence hinged on the expectation of his touch.

Twenty-Two

It was late before we got back from Guildford. He’d made everything so normal, for Daisy especially.

My heart did a strange thing in my chest where it expanded and grew.

The car idled in the darkness with the lights off. He should leave before anyone saw, but I desperately held on to any time with him. Daisy slept on the backseat, occasionally filling the car with her gentle snores.