“Because we are concerned about your overall health?” I shot back.
“We were pretty healthy when we beat your ass during the revolution,” the teenager muttered as he rang us up.
Odette held back a snort, sticking a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth.
“For the record, I am not British,” I said, handing him a hundred. “But if I were, I would tell you that it has been over two hundred years, so find a new insult.”
“Why? And we can’t break a hundred right now,” he said, giving me back the money.
“That’s what you get for trying to argue with a teenager,” Odette teased, giving him her card. “I guess this is on me.”
“Sorry, your card is declined.”
The way her head whipped back in horror made it all worth it. “What do you mean, declined?” she questioned.
“I mean, it says to call the bank,” he said back to her.
“Here try this,” Iskandar said behind us, reminding us both he and Wolfgang were still here.
“You were saying?” I asked, eyebrow raised.
Her lips pursed as she glared at me. “Our movie is in theater eight.”
Right...the movie.
You can do this, Gale. It is only a movie. It is not real.
“Is it over?”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
I peeked back up at the screen only to see the melting, white face of some demon woman, causing me to scream and her to snicker. “You are not funny,” I whispered back at her.
“I can’t believe you’re this scared of horror movies.” She giggled, eating her popcorn as if we were at the park.
“Horror movies are meant to scare you. Therefore, I am having a natural reaction.”
“A.k.a. scared,” she whispered, her eyes glued to the horror show on the screen and not reacting at all.
“Shhh!” said someone from behind us for the third time so far.
Sighing, I sank back into the chair, praying for all of this to end.
“Don’t worry. I will protect you,” she said, taking my hand.
Oh, she was having a ball teasing me today. The smirk on her face was clear evidence of that. The more I looked at her, the more I found myself wondering what had she done to me in such a short time? I was a prince. Back home, women always saw me as a confident, charismatic, pleasure seeker. I despised the term womanizer, but there was no better one to describe my actions. I did not bend to women. Sure, I had gone on dates, but I never showed my fears to anyone. I never told them anything. I never held them outside of the bed. My relationships were simple. I wanted them, so they were mine until I no longer wanted them.
Yet here I was, holding her hand, showing my cowardly fears and being so unlike myself. Now I did not know which self was real. Was I still Prince Gale, the spoiled royal playboy? Or was I this domesticated man like Arty? Is that what wives did? Dear God, I cannot be like Arty. If that were the case, I was bound to end up holding her bags and caring for her pets like jewels.
“You made it.” She turned back to me, the smile on her face so wide her cheeks balled, and her eyes looked to sparkle...and I felt myself take in a deep breath. She tried to take her hand out of mine, but I just held onto it.
“Gale—”
I took her lips suddenly, swiftly and briefly before getting up. “Thank you for your protection.”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on, let’s go.”
Nodding, I got up with her, and before we were even out of the row, Iskandar stood at the end, but Wolfgang was not with him. He did not say anything until we were out of the theater completely, and the moment we were in the cold, he handed me a phone.
“Wolfgang is bringing around the car. The press has gotten word about the king. Your brother is on the line,” he said to me
“Is something wrong?” Odette asked, looking between us.
“Give me a moment.” I kissed the back of her hand before taking the phone and stepping a few feet from her. “Arty?”
“Forgive me for interrupting. I needed to speak to you. Are you all right?” His voice sounded so heavy and tired.
“Yes, everything is fine here. The press found out?”
“No. Luckily not. They just think he is sick with a cold and in bed. But at this rate, it will not be long. Someone is leaking information from the palace.” He let out another sigh.
“You have not found them yet.”
“No, but we will, and I will personally handle whomever it is. How is everything on your end? Iskandar informed me you both are in a relationship of sorts now?”
I glanced back over to her as she hugged herself. When she noticed my glance, she looked at me curiously. I shook my head.
“Yes, we are.”
“Thank God. That’s the best news I have been given in days. How much longer until you can convince her to marry and come home.”
“Arty, it has taken me days just to get to this far. She’s wary of getting close to people in general, let alone men.”
“You are not just a man. You are her future husband. Make her understand that. I want you to want romance, but do not forget, we still need her money.”
I rubbed the back of my head. “Rushing her to marry me so we can get her money...it feels dirty, Arty.”
“Why? She knows that is the reason, too. When did you start to become so sentimental about using women?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “I am working on it.”
“Good. Now please be careful and listen to Iskandar. The last thing we need is the press scaring her off. They know you are not in the city, for sure.”
“How?”
“How?” he repeated. “Because of how often you go out when you are here. That is how.”
“I feel a lecture coming on, so I am going. Goodbye,” I said as our car came around.
“I will speak to you later. Keep me informed,” he replied before hanging up.
“Sorry about that,” I said, walking back over to her.
“Is everything—”
“Oh, my God!” two random women nearly screamed, one pointing directly at me.
“You are here!”
Oh no...Panic rose in me, and I could see Iskandar coming around to block them from us when they brought out their phones. I grabbed Odette’s hand, already rushing to the door.
“Wait, can we please get a picture, Odette!”
I froze. Odette?
I looked to them again to make sure, but they weren’t looking at me. Instead, they were looking at Odette like she was the only person here.
“We are huge fans! We wanted to come to your show in San Francisco, but it was sold out. Can we please get a picture?” the other asked, stepping forward.
Iskandar looked to me with a question on his face about what to do. But Odette ignored us both, letting go of my hand.
“Of course,” she said to them and turned back to me, tossing me her purse. “Hold that for me.”
They all tried to take selfies at first before she directed them to give the camera to Iskandar. I watched in shock and awe as he bent over and took their photos while I stood there doing the exact thing I was worried about doing a few minutes ago, standing on the sidelines, holding her bag. This was definitely a new experience.
“Thank you so much!”