I glanced at my watch again, frowning as I calculated that Edward was now thirty minutes late to his appointment. He had sent me a text this morning telling me he had a stop to make before coming to the orphanage and to go on without him. The planning committee had waited for a time but became restless and started without him about fifteen minutes ago, but it was clear that they were wondering where their star royal family member had gotten to. I was wondering the same thing. Surely, it didn’t have to do with what had happened between us last night.

After he left, I had looked at the pictures, unable to help myself. Though some were completely out of focus and not even aimed at anything, I saw what he said he saw. I saw a woman enjoying herself—becoming confident—despite the curves, rolls, and flaws that were visible. I saw the way I had looked at him in the first photo he had taken, and then later when his hand was caressing my hip and my blood was singing with what was to come. It was the look of love. Clear as day, written on my face in that one photo. And I was petrified of what that meant.

I groaned inwardly and shifted in the chair, not believing this. I couldn’t be in love with him! Of all people, we were like oil and water. He was a member of the royal family, for god’s sake! If his family didn’t accept him now, they wouldn’t ever if we actually decided to make whatever we had together more than just a professional partnership. His words about us being good together had haunted me well into the night, my curiosity wondering that maybe I should have let him do what he wanted, to get it out of both of our systems. Perhaps that’s all it was—simple and dirty lust. But I still couldn’t let myself slip into the role of common conquest. My heart was too fragile for that.

And now there was a cloud of uncertainty around us. We would have to talk about it, and I wasn’t sure what I dreaded the most—his telling me he felt the same, or that it was just a passing phase and he was slumming it.

The door burst open and Edward strode in, giving all of us an apologetic smile. “Sorry I’m late.”

I narrowed my eyes as he winked at me. The cocky son-of-a-bitch… I allowed my displeasure to shine through as he walked past and took his seat with the rest of the committee. What had he been doing? Was he really going to stick with this, or was it all for show?

My phone rang, and I picked it up immediately, giving them all an apologetic smile as I walked out the door. “Hello?”

“Rose.”

“Brent,” I scowled, my ex’s voice not giving me the same thrill it had a year before. “How on earth did you get my number?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“What do you want?”

“What are you doing with that asshole?” he said, anger in his voice. “It’s all over the front page of the Sun, Rose. I know it’s you in the photo.”

I swallowed, my anxiety starting to peak to an incredible height. “What do you mean?”

“Apparently you need to get a copy for yourself then,” he laughed harshly. “What are you doing with him?”

“That’s none of your business,” I shot back. Oh god. I was being paired with Edward by the press. That couldn’t be good. “Just leave me alone. We’re through.”

“We’re through when I say we are.”

I wanted to hang up, my finger hovering over the icon that would terminate the call. But his menacing tone, that cruel laugh, told me he was up to something. “What do you want?” I asked, cautiously, hoping my instincts were wrong.

“I want compensation,” he replied. “That bastard got me arrested and embarrassed me in front of everyone. I want him to give me what I am due, or I’m going to the press.”

This certainly wasn’t the best time for Edward to receive bad press, not now when we were actually making progress. “You don’t have anything,” I said nervously. “Just leave it be. Chalk it up to a misunderstanding. They let you out, didn’t they, with only a caution?”

Brent gave a low chuckle, one that had fear snaking up my spine. “Oh, Rose. I believe I have something very damaging for your little prince. Some interesting pictures came across my Dropbox last night. Some that I am sure the press would eat up given the chance. They’ll be begging me for every. Single. One.”

The blood drained from my face as I realised what he was talking about. Nausea rolled around in my stomach like a ship cast adrift.

We’d set up a shared cloud storage account when we were still together, and it was the one I’d used to share with him all the photos I’d taken before he could join me on the trip. Fuck! I wanted to scream the word out loud, but with the committee only next door, I knew I couldn’t lose my temper. Why hadn’t I thought of setting up a new account? Or at least removing the sync? As soon as I plugged my new camera into my laptop, the photos synced automatically to the account, giving Brent copies of one of the most intimate times of my life. And ammunition that could destroy Edward’s burgeoning good name and reputation.

“I never knew you had it in you, Rose,” Brent continued as I tried to form words. “Certainly a side that you never showed me… but maybe if you had, I wouldn’t have gotten so bored.”

“You can’t do this, Brent. This is a violation,” I finally forced out, “of my privacy.”

“It isn’t when I have access to it,” he said. “And don’t even bother deleting them from your side. I’ve already made copies. So let lover-boy know what’s what, and I will be in touch, Rose.” He ended the call and I stood there, speechless and stunned.

Brent was the type of man who had a vindictive streak. I didn’t realise how bad it was till now, but there was no doubt in my mind he would go through with the threat if I didn’t stop him somehow. The tabloids would give him anything to have those pictures. It didn’t matter Edward was not even naked in them, it would still cause an almighty scandal. One that would prove that the bad boy was still present and accounted for. “Oh god,” I breathed and collapsed onto the wooden bench outside the meeting room, putting my head between my thighs. “What have I done?” How was I going to even face him? How was I going to explain that I had just ruined his life?

The meeting lasted an hour. I fidgeted outside the room as I tried not to throw up everywhere, trying to come up with the right words to explain to Edward what had transpired. He was going to be pissed that all his hard work was about to blow up in his face.

The door opened and Edward walked out, his eyes searching until he found me. “There you are. Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked immediately, a frown appearing on his face. “Are you all right?”

“We need to talk,” I blurted out, tears springing to my eyes. He took on an anxious expression as the tears trickled down my cheeks. He reached for me, pulling me against him. I sank against his chest, allowing myself a brief second to have him hold me before he hated me forever.

“Don’t cry, please. Listen,” he started, rubbing my back comfortingly. “I’m sorry about last night. I should have never pushed you that far or said the things I said to you.”

“Edward,” I started as he leaned back and framed my face with his warm hands, a lopsided smile on his face.

“Rose, you are probably the closest thing to a friend that I have right now, and I really would hate to lose that.”

My heart wrenched tightly in my chest, seeing the earnest look on his face. He was killing me. I desperately wanted to stay in blissful ignorance forever, to forget Brent and everything else that was going on and to simply stare into his eyes. I loved the man, and I was going to ruin him at the same time. He was going to hate me for this, but I had to tell him. He deserved to know what was going on. “Edward, we have a problem,” I said softly, my eyes searching his. “I fucked up. We really need to talk. But not here,” I said as I noticed a few of the committee members lingering by the exit.

Surprise flared in the depths of his eyes as he released me, clearing his throat. “Of course. Shall we go to my flat then?”

I nodded and allowed him to lead the way, climbing into his car instead of going to mine. I could always come back and get it when he kicked me out of his place. We drove in silence until we reached his residence, not even saying two words to Jim as he opened the door. I could feel the tension in the air when we climbed into the lift together, a thousand apologies running through my mind as we entered his place. I didn’t even know how to approach this, so I just figured there was no reason to sugar-coat it.

“I’ve ruined your life.”

Edward turned toward me, wariness on his face as he looked at me. “What? Is this about the photo in the paper today?”

I shook my head, thinking of all the other damaging photos to come. “I-I’m about to ruin your life,” I tried again, tears springing to my eyes once more. “I’m about to ruin everything you’ve done, Edward, and I am so sorry for it.”

“What are you talking about, Rose?” he asked calmly. “You’re not making any sense.”

“The p-pictures,” I forced out. “Last night. Someone else has them, and they are threatening to go to the press with them. You will be ruined. It will be the scandal of the century… sex photos of royal. Oh, god.”

Edward’s jaw worked, and I wiped my eyes, so scared of what he was going to do next. My heart was breaking at the thought of being solely responsible for his demise with his father, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Edward’s face was clear in those photos, however innocent they were. No one was going to believe that nothing else happened between us or the reasoning as to why they had happened. “Who?”

“My ex,” I said, my voice breaking. “He still had access to the Dropbox account, and I forgot to delete them before they synced to my account.”

“You didn’t give them to him then?” he asked, his voice quiet.

“What? Of course not!” I said immediately, hurt that he would think I would do such a thing. I thought I’d already proven to him that I was no blackmailer, nor did I want to see my boobs or nether regions plastered all over each and every front page in England… or worldwide, for surely that was what would happen; a story like this would be unstoppable.

Shit, I would have to tell my family first, just in case I couldn’t talk Brent out of it. They were going to be so disappointed in me, and the thought of them turning their backs on me, disowning me, made me want to vomit. I couldn’t go through that again, and I couldn’t weather this scandal without them, either.

Edward finally lost some of the coolness he’d been clinging to and kicked the nearby chair, sending it across the room. “Dammit!”

I watched as he stalked across the room and threw open the fridge door, grabbing a couple of beers before slamming it shut. “Beer?”

I shook my head. I would be sick. “I’m so sorry, Edward,” I tried again as he popped the top and guzzled one of them. “I never meant for this to happen.”

“Don’t be sorry, Rose,” he said harshly, putting the bottles on the counter before walking toward me. I shrank back as he grabbed my upper arms, his touch gentle but firm on my skin. “You have nothing to be sorry about. It’s me that should be apologising to you, for putting you in this predicament. It was my idea to have our mini-photoshoot, after all. I don’t give a shit about my reputation. I’m more pissed that you have been dragged into this.”

“But you will lose everything,” I reminded him as his hands trailed down my arms to encircle my waist. His touch was devastation and salvation all at the same time.

Edward chuckled, anger and what I thought was lust etched on his face. “I doubt that. I might lose my father’s backing, his money, but I won’t lose everything, Rose.” He then leaned down and brushed his lips over my stunned ones, whispering against them. “I can fix this.”

“B-but how?” I asked, stunned that he was reacting this way. Didn’t he understand the implications? Didn’t he understand that he would be ruined?

His thumbs caressed my hip bones as he gave me a grin, one that sent sparks spiralling down to the pit of my stomach, easing and all but vanquishing the earlier nausea, replacing it with a warm glow instead. “Easy. We will announce our engagement. No one will think twice about the pictures then.”

It took a full second for the brunt of his words to sink in. “What?” I nearly shouted, stepping out of his arms, the mere suggestion throwing my feelings into a tailspin. “No, no that is not going to fix this. They’re still nude pictures of us—”

“Oh, it will. I know what the press are like,” Edward laughed, watching me as I paced his floor. “Just think. If we are engaged, everyone will think the pictures were a private moment between two people who are in love. Your bastard of an ex will look like the world’s most jealous person for intruding on our privacy and that of the royal family. Think about it, Rose. It’s the perfect solution.”

“B-but I’m not even royalty. I have no lineage, I’m just me,” I sputtered out. His family was going to hit the roof, not only at the announcement but also the scandal that was sure to follow. “This isn’t going to work.”

Edward looked at me, a strange look coming over his face. “Do you not want to be engaged to me?”

My mouth dropped open, surprised that he would even consider that as a reason. He was sought after by so many women that one would have to be stupid to not want to be engaged to such a man. And I’d had the benefit of seeing the hidden side of Edward, too, the side that no one else really knew existed.

Him as my fiancé? I wouldn’t want anything more. But reality was a fickle creature. No one would believe an engagement between the two of us was real in the first place. “It has nothing to do with you,” I finally said. “It’s too far-fetched to believe, Edward.”

He walked over and snatched up the paper lying on the table, thrusting it toward me. “Apparently not. I would imagine there are already bets being taken to figure out how long it’s going to take.”

I took the paper, my heart hammering in my chest as I read the headline. …Tamed the Black Sheep? Me? The picture was definitely not one of mine, which made me wonder how we hadn’t seen someone following us. Though it was an innocent picture, I could see where the mistake would lie. We had been discussing his next steps, our heads bent together as we had walked back to his car. To any passer-by we looked like a couple even though he wasn’t even touching me.

“My brother wanted to know what was going on between us just this morning,” he continued as I clasped the paper to my chest. “So it wouldn’t be such a surprise, Rose, if you could stomach the idea of being engaged to me.”

The hurt in his voice was evident with his biting words, and I sighed inwardly, wishing he could understand. This had nothing to do with that and everything to do with my growing feelings for him. Could I go along with a sham engagement not knowing for sure how he truly felt?

My eyes, full of renewed tears, widened as Edward took my hand and knelt down on one knee.

“Rose Victoria Mathis, will you marry me?”