positive sway over your life. But somehow, you manage to wriggle out of it. If I find out that you are not really engaged, I'll make sure that Stellan kicks you out of the RAF and the royal family."
It's surprising to me how easily I lie right to her face. "You're being too serious about this whole thing. Pippa and I are engaged. I would've told you all eventually, it just so happened that--"
She interrupts me, cutting me off. "You have a month. One month to set a date and plan the engagement party. If not, I'll be all over you. I will use Stellan to bring about catastrophe for you. That's a promise."
I open my mouth to respond, but she just takes the glass of scotch out of my hand, throws it back into her mouth, and slams it on the bar as she stalks out of the room. The gauntlet has been thrown down, that much is for certain.
Now all that remains is just the little matter of actually telling my fake fiancé that we are getting married.
I swallow thickly, tightening up my tie.
7
Pippa
I’m standing in my little apartment in Copenhagen, staring blankly at the peeling bright yellow paint on the kitchen wall. I reach out and trace my fingertips along a seam above the stove, a silent sigh on my lips.
It was a long day at Politiken, a day full of finding out with some disappointment that all of the big bosses have been fired. There is no one left to stand up for me. I feel like I’ve been wrung out and all my mental energy has been drained away. Now I’m just waiting for my little microwave burrito to be heated through so I can eat and pass out.
My phone chimes, stirring me. I look at it. Lars’s photo pops up, a dark haired devil with a cocksure grin. It bite my lip.
I am a fool for even thinking about what spending a night in his bed would be like. Being underneath his big body as he growls commands and pulls moans from my lips…
It’s forbidden. And yet still, my heart squeezes at the very mention of his name.
I know he’s my best friend.
I know I should cherish what we already have.
I know I shouldn’t long for him to touch me.
And yet, even getting a text from him excites me beyond reason.
I shiver as I check the text.
I’m coming upstairs.
Goosebumps break out over my skin. I close my eyes and hold my cellphone close to my now rapidly-beating heart.
A few second later, I hear the slide of a key being turned in the lock on the front door. I’m much too tired for any visitors tonight. But Lars has always done exactly what he wanted, exactly when he wants.
This is no exception.
Screwing up my face, I press the pause button on the microwave. Lars walks into my shoddy little apartment, ducking his dark head slightly as he enters. He’s so tall that my building’s prewar design is really at odds with his height. When he straightens up, he looks at me with his trademark devastating smirk.
I cast a look over his tuxedo, which makes him look ridiculously fetching.
“Hello, Pippa,” he purrs.
I swallow, my eyes widening. “Lars.” Pushing back several strands of my long, curly copper hair, I watch as he closes the door behind himself. I spread my hands down the skirt of my gray silk dress, drawing a breath. “It’s awfully late. Shouldn’t you be on a date with some unnamed mystery blonde?”
His smirk deepens, his aquamarine eyes sparkling. “I was in the middle of a date when I was summoned unceremoniously to the palace.”
I fidget. “Why are you here, Lars?”
He wanders toward the living room of my cramped flat, leaving me to follow. He looks around the tiny couch and the ancient television that is stacked atop several light blue milk crates.
Every surface is covered with reading material, books and magazines and newspaper clippings. Piles spill into piles; the television screen is actually blocked by a towering stack of literature. I admit that I’m a bit of a mess and I’m ashamed to say that there is nowhere for him to sit.
Wrinkling my nose, I automatically start to clear off the sofa, my cheeks burning. I gather an armful of books, but I’m not sure where to put them.
“Let me just find a place for these…” I murmur, casting my gaze around the small space. I find a spot on the very top