The Queen looks at me, her eyes slightly narrowed, and I can tell that the Queen is not amused.

“Mom,” I continue saying. “I’m going to help you guys out.”

“But the last time I heard, you weren’t even dating someone. And now you say you might have a… fiancée?” She shakes her head.

“Listen, I know how it sounds. But trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

She purses her lips. “Like the time you tried to sell the royal horse to pay for a new videogame system?” The Queen looks a little disappointed, which is surprisingly effective, despite her small stature. It’s a running joke in Bellestan that Big Bran married Tiny Ana. My mother still is beautiful, with wide green eyes just like mine, and thick dark hair, just like mine. I take after my father in a lot of ways, but my mother likes to say that I got her beauty.

I sigh and smile at her despite myself. “You’ll never let that go.”

“You were ten years old, walking around the streets of the capital trying to find a buyer. You were all alone, holding up a picture of a horse.”

“I know,” I say. I’ve heard this story a million times before. Hell, I remember doing most of this. I didn’t get a normal childhood when I was a kid, for obvious reasons, and I just wanted something normal in my life. I thought I could trade something abnormal, like one of the royal horses, for something a little kid would actually like.

“You’re lucky the guards finally found you,” she says, smiling at me.

“Or else I would have ended up kidnapped and held for ransom,” I recite from memory.

“That’s right.” She sighs and smiles at me. “What’s this girl like?”

“Her name is Mila,” I say. “She’s smart, beautiful, and poised. She’ll fit in great at court.”

“And this is for real?” she asks.

I hate lying to my family. I really, really hate it. But I know that if I tell them the truth, they’ll never let me bring Mila.

“It will be,” I say, which isn’t entirely a lie at least.

“Fine,” Mom says, sighing. “I trust you, Branimir. But please, just be careful. Things here aren’t great.”

“Is it really that bad?” I ask her.

She nods slowly. “I hate to admit it, but they really are. Your father is worried sick.”

“He sounded worried. I can’t believe people are buying into Blaz Perko.” I make a face, totally disgusted even saying his name.

“Neither can we, but it’ll help a lot when you come home.” She smiles and perks up a bit. “I’ll be happy to see you.”

“Same, Mom. I should get going. Send Dad my love.”

“Of course.” She waves and the Skype call ends. I shut my laptop lid and lean back in my chair, staring out my office window.

Mila is just outside, presumably doing her job. It wasn’t awkward at all this morning, though I could tell she had something in her mind. And she damn well should have it on her mind. I made a pretty crazy but amazing offer to her last night, and I think she’d be nuts if she passed it up.

But it’s hard for her to understand what she’d be getting into. She has no clue what it means to be part of a royal family, let alone a commoner and a foreigner thrown into the mix. It’ll be difficult, but I’m completely positive that she can handle it, if only she decides to do it.

And I can’t believe how badly I want her to accept. I know I could walk outside right now and find probably a hundred different women that would gladly pretend to be my fiancée if only to live the royal lifestyle for a little while. But the fact that Mila is resisting it makes me want her even more and makes her that much more fascinating to me.

I’ve had plenty of women in my life. I’ve had models, actresses, singers, you name it, I’ve taken her. I had to admit, I’m slowly growing weary of the same old pretty face waking up next to me in the morning, even if it’s a new woman every time. Mila isn’t like those girls, she’s from a totally different background and actually wants to make something of herself. Mila is beautiful, fucking gorgeous, in fact, but she doesn’t seem to really realize it. She’s so understated and poised, I just can’t fucking resist her.

All because of that conversation with my father, and she happened to walk in at the right moment. The way the morning sunlight hit her hair just seemed to suddenly unlock her for me, make her suddenly appear in a way that she hadn’t before. I’m noticing her now, and I don’t want to stop.

I go about my day, doing the work that needs to get done, though I know I could delegate a lot of it. When I’m gone, I have perfectly capable people working underneath me that can handle all of this stuff, and if there are any decisions big enough that I need to be involved, they’ll call or email. I know going away won’t affect the company, but I do feel a little bittersweet about it.

Five o’clock rolls around and I hear a soft knock at my door. “Come in,” I call out.

Mila enters, looking a little timid. “Can we talk?” she asks.

My heart almost skips a beat. This is the moment I’ve been fucking waiting for all day. “Of course.”

She steps into my office and shuts the door behind her. She walks up to my desk but she doesn’t sit down, which makes me smile. What a fucking power move, and she probably doesn’t even realize she’s doing it.

“About your offer,” she says.

I smile slightly at her. “Are you here to accept?”

She hesitates then sighs. “Yes, but with conditions.”

My heart leaps and I can’t help but grin my face off. “I knew you couldn’t resist,” I say. “Is it for the job or is it for me?”

She makes a face. “I said with conditions, Bran. Do you want to hear them?”

“Sure,” I say, unable to contain myself. “Go ahead.”

“First, I’m not going to marry you. We’ll get engaged and all that, but no actual marriage. Okay?”

“Fair enough,” I say. “I couldn’t ask any more from you.”

“Good.” She nods to herself, like she’s trying to psych herself up. “Second, this is a business trip. We’re going to keep our relationship professional, at least when we’re not in front of the cameras.”

“Okay,” I say, grinning. That only makes me more excited. “But in front of the cameras, I’m allowed to feel you up.”

She makes another face. “Kissing, maybe. But no, you can’t feel me up.”

“You’re really going to deprive yourself of that?” I ask her. “Isn’t it every woman’s dream to be felt up in front of the paparazzi?”

“No,” she says flatly. “No, it isn’t at all.”

“Huh,” I say, pretending to be surprised. “I guess I don’t know women.”

She sighs, shaking her head. “Do you accept that condition?”

I nod, smirking again. “Yes, I accept.”

“Okay, and one last one. It’s related to that one.” She hesitates and a blush grows across her cheeks. “Absolutely, definitely, no sex. Okay? No sex.”

I stare at her for a second before bursting out in laughter. She blushes even deeper and crosses her arms, clearly annoyed at my reaction.

She’s so fucking cute, coming in here with that. Clearly she’s been thinking about me fucking her ever since our little date last night, and she’s realizing that she can’t resist it. I think she’s just making this condition so that I won’t come on to her.

But god damn, is she wrong. This is just going to make things so much worse. Now I won’t be able to stop thinking about having what I’m not supposed to have. She wants to make herself forbidden.

“Okay,” I say, composing myself. “No sex.”

“All business,” she says.

“All business,” I repeat, grinning. I stand up and extend my hand. “Do we have a deal, Princess?”

She hesitates before shaking. “We have a deal.”

“Good.” I hold her hand for a second longer than I need to, looking into her eyes, before releasing. “When we’re done, you can have any job you want. But until then, you’re all mine.”

“When do we start?” she asks me.

I reach into the top drawer of my desk and I pick up the box that’s been sitting there since this morning. I walk around the desk and face her before dropping down to one knee.

“We start right now,” I say. I open the box to show her the million-dollar ring I bought her.

She gasps when she sees it. “Holy shit.”

“Mila Lambert, will you pretend to be my fiancée?”

“Yes,” she says, gasping. “Yes, oh yes. A million times yes.”

We laugh together as I slide the expensive and beautiful diamond ring onto her finger. She holds it up and looks as it as I stand.

“This is outrageous,” she says.

“I know. But it’s fitting. You’re a Princess.”

“Fake future Princess,” she corrects me. “I won’t ever be a real Princess.”

“No,” I say, “But we can pretend.”

She hesitates, standing close to me, and I feel that fucking electricity arcing through the air. She looks at me and I know what she’s thinking. She wants to seal this deal with a kiss, and maybe let me slide my thick fat cock deep between her fucking legs. I can see it all flash through her mind, but quickly she gets herself together and turns away.

I look at her ass, and I know I made the right choice.

“We’re leaving tonight,” I say to her.

“Tonight?” she asks, biting her lip. “I’m not even packed.

“Go home, pack what you can. Whatever you’re missing, we’ll get you in Bellestan.”

“I haven’t even told my parents,” she says softly.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll pick you up at nine.”

“Okay,” she says, sighing. “I better hurry home.”

“Good. Hurry up.” I grin at her as she reaches the door. “For the next month, you’re going to be all mine.”

She gives me one last look before leaving, and I know what that look means.

She can’t fucking wait.