Theodore Fitzcharles III, former Crown Prince of Thalania, propped the door open with a leather shoe that was no doubt designer and gave her a pained grin. “Hey, princess.”
She looked from him to the half-cleaned vomit to the mop in her hand. For one second, Meg seriously considered whacking him with it just to rumple him a little. Even when he had her pinned to a couch and was fucking her within an inch of her life, Theo never ceased to look perfectly put together. The man was downright pretty, though he was too masculine for that adjective. His face was all sharp angles and full lips and blue eyes that held stories she could only guess at. Tonight, he wore a plain white T-shirt that looked like it might have been ironed at some point, and a pair of jeans that probably cost more than Meg’s monthly rent. She couldn’t even hold it against him, because it was so purelyTheo.
No, she couldn’t hold that against him.
But shecouldhold the fact that he’d been MIA forthree fucking monthsagainst him.
She considered the mop in her hands again, but ultimately decided going after him with it would just prove how angry she was. Meg dunked it into the dirty water and went back to cleaning. “Didn’t expect to see you again.”
“Do you normally leave your number when you don’t expect to see someone again?”
He had her there, but she’d never admit it. She’d left her number when she still thought the night had passed with two strangers whose only real sin was being so rich it blew her mind. It was only when she snuck down the hall that she’d learned the truth. Theo was the exiled prince of Thalania. An exiled prince came with more baggage thanshe had, and that was saying something.
But she hadn’t gone back for her number.
She still wasn’t sure why.
Her excuse of not wanting to face them in the light of the morning didn’t hold up to three months of absence. Meg scrubbed harder at the mess on the floor. “Ifit was an invitation—and it wasn’t—then it was one to call me. Not stalk me to my place of business and show up after hours when I’m alone and defenseless.”
He laughed. The bastardlaughed. “Defenseless, Meg? Never. If there’s anyone defenseless in this scenario, it’s me.”
The words proved what she’d already suspected—he wasn’t going to be any more honest with her now than he had on that night three months ago. If he’d told her who he really was in the club, she might still have gone home with them, but at least she would have done it with eyes wide open. But he hadn’t been honest—neither of them had. She opened her mouth to tell him to get lost, but that wasn’t what came out. “Where’s Galen?”
Theo shrugged. “He had a few errands to attend to.”
Another suspicion proved correct. “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he?” Theo might play to his own set of rules, butGalen had one priority: Theo.He’dmade it very clear that he had no intention of continuing anything with Meg. It was the one comfort she’d had. She and Galen outvoted Theo.
At least they had until he showed up here without his shadow in tow.
Theo gave another of those shrugs that meant nothing at all. “Contrary to what you seem to believe, we’re not attached at the hip.”
“Could have fooled me.” She waited, but he seemed content to lean against the doorframe and watch her, so Meg gave a shrug of her own and got back to work. Ultimately, his presence there changed nothing. The second she walked out of that apartment three months ago, she’d decided to leave everything—everyone—in it behind. “We’re closed.”
“Meg.”
She didn’t want to look at him. That way lay dragons. He was too attractive, too magnetic, and he knew it. But she couldn’t resist him murmuring her name in that tone of voice. She just didn’t have it in her. Meg sighed and met his gaze. “It’s been three months, Theo. You said you’d be gone a couple weeks, tops. Even if I was interested, and that’s a bigifat this point, the opportunity has passed.”
“I’d like to take you out for dinner. Or a drink.”
His ability to steamroll right over what she’d just said was a neat trick, but not one she planned on indulging. “Goodbye, Theo.”
“Wait. Fuck, Meg, just … wait.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and, for the first time since he appeared, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. As if maybe he hadn’t slept much since she’d seen him last.Doesn’t matter. Itcan’tmatter. He let his hand drop and pinned her with a look. “Shit got complicated after we left New York, and we had to jump through some hoopsuntil things calmed down. I wasn’t going to come back here or risk contacting you until I knew it was safe.”
She splashed water onto the floor and got back to scrubbing. “Theo, I had fun that night. So much fun. But that’s all it was—fun. Your life is complicated. My life is complicated. There is such a disconnect between the two, it’s absurd.”
“Who the fuck cares about the disconnect?Weconnected. You and me and Galen.”
She couldn’t argue that, so she didn’t try. This Theo was hard to deny, but she remembered all too well how he got when those blue eyes went calculating. He’d been raised the Crown Prince of Thalania, which meant he’d been raised to lie from birth. He wanted her, and he’d say whatever it took to claim her like some kind of trophy. She was a girl who grew up in a trailer, and he was a guy who’d grown up in a palace. There was no way he could see her as anythingotherthan a trophy.
He sure as hell didn’t see her as an equal.
What could she say to get through to him? “Theo, what does that apartment cost you a month?”
His gaze went shuttered. “I don’t see how that matters.”
“That answers my question.” She laughed a little, the sound as broken and sad as the room they currently stood in. “I’m a year away from getting my master’s degree and I can’t even pay my tuition no matter how hard I hustle. I have no doubt that your problems are real and present and more than valid, but it’s like worrying about how to fly a rocket to the moon when I can’t even afford a car. We live in two different worlds.”
“Princess—”
