The blonde rubbing up against him completely sold the “guy in the club” look. Hazel was turned into him, her hands running over his arms, touching his waist, leaning into his ear.
Even drunk, she still had an elegance I couldn’t fathom, but the way she touched him, her hand moving down his stomach to his crotch, was anything but classy.
She was not hiding; she wanted him.
Irritation coated my skin. “Is getting laid part of the job?”
“What?” Theo’s head turned, following my snarl, a mischievous smile lighting up his face. “Good on them.” He chuckled. “He needs to have a bit of fun.”
“On duty?”
“I promise I will protect you.” Theo wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. Burrowing my face into his chest, I shielded my annoyance. Don’t be so uptight, Spence. Who cares if they hook up?
Theo squeezed me tighter against him, his mouth dipping to my ear. “I so want to be alone with you right now. Hell, I’m going to miss you while I’m away.”
“What?” I yanked back, my brows furrowing.
He cringed like he had let a secret slip, his head dropping.
“What are you talking about?”
“I was going to tell you when we got home.” Sheepishly, he gazed at me. “I really was.”
“No…” I stepped back. “You’re not doing this to me again. Please tell me you aren’t.”
“It’s not like that this time, I swear. This is only for a week. And I swear I didn’t know until Dad told me this morning at the meeting.”
“Theo…”
“I promise, Spence, I didn’t mean to keep it from you. Just with everything coming at us today, I forgot.”
“Forgot.” I blinked. “Forgot that you were leaving for a week?” I folded my arms. “When?”
He licked his lips, creating more annoyance to twist my spine. “Tomorrow.” He peered at his watch. “Actually today. In four hours.”
“Of course.” I rubbed my forehead.
“Are you mad?”
Closing my lids for a moment, I wanted to scream but took in a deep breath. I didn’t want to be this girl. The girlfriend who was always mad, needy, and demanding.
“I’m irritated you didn’t tell me. You want us to be a team, right?” I motioned to us. “You imagine this will advance between us?”
“Are you trying to ask about if I’m proposing to you or not?” He grinned cheekily, rubbing my arms and stepping in closer.
“No. That’s not…” Another deep breath. “You need to talk to me. Keep me in the loop. You can’t avoid talking to me because you don’t want to fight or upset me. That’s not how we are going to work.”
“I know.” He leaned his head back. “It’s just I knew you were still uncomfortable in the palace, and I felt bad about telling you you’d be alone for a week, and then today, all the parents meeting…”
“So, you didn’t forget.”
He glanced to the side.
“I’m so sorry, Spence.” He faced me again. “I promise I will be better about telling you.”
“Highness?” Dalton stepped up behind the prince. “The car’s ready; everyone is in place.”
My head jerked to the side, seeing Lennox was absent from his spot. Along with Hazel.
“Is my sister coming?”
Dalton’s lips pressed together. “No, the princess has firmly declared she is staying.”
Did I imagine the tinge of frustration in his voice? My imagination was getting the better of me.
After quick goodbyes to everyone, Dalton whisked us to the doors.
“I will warn you there are a lot of paparazzi and people out there. Someone must have leaked your location.”
“Bound to happen at a club.” Theo shrugged; no big deal to him. Though there were no pictures allowed in this private club, the means of letting the world know the location of the prince were endless. Social media really had changed everything. Everything was instant and in real time. The privacy you used to be able to have was long gone.
Waiting for the first sighting of the prince, the anticipation in the crowd strung energy through them like clotheslines.
“Theo!” A girl screamed when Dalton opened the door, setting everyone off like a charge exploding in the night. Theo darted out first, jogging for the large SUV primed at the corner.
Girls screamed, bulbs flashed, and the paps yelled Theo’s name over and over. The press at the polo match was afternoon tea compared to this.
“Theo, I love you!”
“You’re gorgeous!”
“Theo, marry me!”
Theo was the equivalent of a rock star. People did whatever it took to get to him, wanting to say they touched him, while the paparazzi got only inches from his face, their cameras blinding. They shoved against the line of bodyguards protecting Theo as Dalton yelled at them to move back. Didn’t they see their need to be the one to touch him could kill him? Would they even stop if they trampled him? This level of frenzy shivered horror through me.
“I got you,” a husky voice muttered in my ear, a hand going to my back. I peered at Lennox at my side. His face was serious, but his touch was soft. I didn’t respond, but knowing he was there and feeling the press of his hand on my back were calming. I felt stronger, like I was invincible next to him. “Let’s go.”
Gulping, I dashed out, following the path to the car, the shrieks as people spotted me stabbing into my eardrums like arrows.
“Spencer! Spencer! Spencer!”
“I hate you!”
“Spencer! Spencer!”
“Fuck you, you ugly gash!”
“You don’t deserve him!”
A plastic cup was chucked close to my head.
“Bloody hell,” I yelped under my breath as Lennox used his body to cover mine.
“You’re almost there,” he said in my ear, pushing me faster.
I hopped into the SUV, Lennox slamming the door behind me. I plopped next to Theo in the backseat, Dalton in the middle row. Theo’s arm stretched over the top of the seat, his leg crossed over his knee as if he was relaxing at the beach.
“Go,” Lennox commanded as he jumped into the passenger seat, the driver peeling away as girls pounded on the window, some paparazzi running for their cars or mopeds.
“Come here, luv.” Theo wrapped an arm around me, pulling me in, his mouth brushing my earlobe. “We’ll be home soon.”
Not one ounce of my earlier need and lust was left in my body. Adrenaline pumped in my veins, my limbs trembling, but all I could hear were the foul comments yelled at me.
“Don’t let them bother you. They just get overexcited.” He kissed my temple, acting like we were still in that sex-induced state, while I felt like I had been brutally stripped and raked over coals before being thrown in a frozen lake.
I had never thought I had thin skin, but tonight showed differently.
I would have to turn off and become anesthetized to it all.
It would be the only way to survive.
Chapter 16
My shoes shuffled down another quiet corridor, the lack of life watching me from the paintings on the walls. Though I swear, even the stoic figures of Theo’s royal family were rolling their eyes at the number of times I had walked by, chatting to them.