an alluring dark pink. The blonde ducks her head. “We were wondering why you are here at the bar all alone. Do you want some company?"
My smirk deepens. I know just how good looking I am. I know that I’m a prince. I hold all the cards here.
“I wouldn't say no to that offer."
The seats on either side of me are unoccupied and the girls slide onto the leather stools, the blonde on my left and the brunette on my right. This isn’t the first time that this exact thing has happened. I sit back, raising my hand to signal the bartender.
“Let me get you both a drink,” I say.
The blonde smiles widely at me while her brunette friend looks on, still red as a beet. While the bartender makes them a couple of fruity cocktails, I sit back and take in the blonde’s cleavage and short, tight skirt.
“Are you two in school somewhere?” I ask.
The blonde is in the middle of sipping her drink so the brunette clears her throat. “We’re in our first semester at the Copenhagen Academy of Fashion. Do you know it?”
I dip my head in a nod. “Ja. My friend Pippa went there for a year.”
The blonde arches a brow. “Your friend probably dropped out because it’s hard.”
I frown at the way she used the word friend to mean… something else. I sip my water, feeling myself check out of the conversation. Looking bored, I shrug. “She left to pursue journalism, if that’s what you mean.”
The brunette cuts in, giving her friend a sharp glance. “I’m sure that Anya didn’t mean anything by that. We are both having the damndest time with our course loads, that’s all.”
Anya shoots her friend an irritated glance. “Thanks, Katya. But really, who wants to talk about our boring lives? You’re a real, live prince. What is that like?”
I find myself checking my watch, wondering when Pippa will be here. “What part, exactly?”
My eyes are already roving the bar, looking for something more interesting than these two can offer. I know exactly how the rest of this conversation will go, down to the moment when the blonde leans in and whispers that we should leave together. I’m not against it, and certainly I have no problem with women expressing their sexuality.
Quite the opposite, actually.
It would just be nice if one of these women did something surprising for a change. Something more stimulating than batting their eyelashes and subtly toying with their hair.
It’s nice. It’s just been done so many times before.
“Ummm, what is King Stellan like? Ohh, and Queen Margot! You must love spending time with them.”
My gaze wanders to Anya again. I put zero thought into how I’m going to answer that question.
“Stellan is the same asshole he’s always been. And Margot is as sweet as sugar for putting up with him.”
She laughs, leaning in and putting her hand on my forearm. “That’s amazing. Tell me, how is it that you are still single? I mean, you’re very handsome and very eligible…”
My gaze slides over to the brunette, who has pulled out her phone and isn’t paying attention anymore. I take another sip of my water. “I don’t know. I’m only twenty five. That leaves me plenty of time to settle down, I think. Besides, I’m incredibly choosy about the girls I sleep with.”
That’s just a bald-faced lie, but it slips past my lips unchecked and unheeded. Anya laughs again, gripping my arm.
God, I’m so tired of how meaningless this conversation is. So deeply, deeply exhausted.
I open my mouth to excuse myself, looking out across the bar. And that’s the moment when I see Pippa.
She’s wearing a billowy beige lace dress with a dramatic slash of cleavage in the front, an enormous black faux-fur coat, and black high heels. Her beautiful copper hair is wound in braids around her head; her blue-green eyes stand out even from this distance; her delicate pink mouth is twisted in an almost-grimace as she heads straight toward me.
For a moment, my stomach flip flops. The two girls I was talking to are all but forgotten as I rise, sure that my height will call Pippa’s attention more than my black leather jacket, black cotton t-shirt, or dark jeans ever could.
I would wave, but I’m certain that I would look like a complete fool. So I just stand for a second, a head above the next tallest person here.
It does the trick. She looks my way. Our eyes clash.