When I imagined how I would be spending my Friday night, the last thing I would have pictured was myself and Declan squeezed into a tiny flat while three girls threw a variety of disguises at me so we could all go to a dive bar without my getting noticed or photographed. Usually after a match—especially one that I won—I’d be in the VIP area of my favorite club, bottles of champagne and gorgeous women surrounding me while I basked in my victory and soaked up the applause.

And that match had been a nail-biter. Fuck, I still didn’t quite believe I’d won. But somehow, my serve was faster, my volleys more accurate, and my backhand had come off like a dream. I wasn’t kidding about Emmy being my lucky charm, because I’d never played like this before in my life.

I looked over at Emmy, who was still in her work uniform, her brow wrinkled as she examined the options she had laid out in front of her. She looked adorably focused, like she was solving a puzzle, and I had to fight the urge to go push that piece of hair out of her eyes and kiss her senseless, right here.

Screw the VIP room, I thought. Screw champagne and tennis bunnies. This is where I wanted to be. This is who I wanted to spend time with.

“OK, let’s try this one.” She came over and handed me a baseball cap and a pair of black framed glasses. I let her put them on me and watched as she stood back and assessed her work. Emmy sighed. “It’s a shame about your face.”

I arched an eyebrow, and she laughed. “I just meant, it’s too handsome. Even if they didn’t know you were royal, girls would still stare.”

“That’s me,” I said cheerfully. “Too fit for my own good.”

“And modest, too.” Emmy stuck her tongue out and laughed. I got this weird, nice twist in my chest. I liked making her laugh. I liked spending time with her. I liked her.

As far as realizations went, it was fairly mild, but it was a big deal for me. Because while I enjoyed dating, and enjoyed the company of women, I was never one to stick around long enough to figure out if I liked them. It wasn’t just about my training schedule, either. Something always gave me a reason to move on—before things got serious. But with Emmy, things were already different.

I wanted to know her. And so far, what I had learned only made me like her more.

“What is that?” she asked me, pulling me back to reality.

“What is what?”

She pointed at my face. “That expression. You looked like you were somewhere else for a moment.”

I put my hands on her hips and pulled her against me. “Nope,” I said. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

She blushed, but before I could kiss her, her friend—Paige—called for her from the other room. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Emmy shot me an apologetic look and went to find out what her friend needed. I turned to Declan, who had been watching the whole thing with the kind of detached disinterest that he had perfected in the years of being my bodyguard. I adjusted the glasses.

“What do you think?” I asked. “If this is my Clark Kent disguise, that makes me Superman, right?”

“I think this is a bad idea,” he told me. “Especially after what happened the other day.”

I brushed him off, even though I knew he was right. It was risky. Even in a disguise, even in a dark dive bar, there was still the chance I could get recognized. But Emmy wanted to go out, and I wanted to be with her. To see London with her. Through her.

“You’ll be with me the whole time,” I reminded him, though I was secretly hoping there would be a chance for me and Emmy to sneak off and head to the flat I owned. The one where I didn’t need a bodyguard at the door. Where my coach couldn’t come barging in the next morning unannounced. Where we’d have privacy. Privacy to do . . . whatever we wanted to do.

But I wasn’t in any rush.

At least I wasn’t until Emmy and her girlfriends came out of the bedroom, and my jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Emmy was wearing a form-fitting black dress covered in gold polka dots. It was a simple pattern but it did amazing things to highlight her figure. The fabric hugged her curves, the neckline lower and more daring than anything I’d ever seen her in. And now that I’d seen her without a shirt, without a bra, all I could do was picture what I knew was underneath the tight, silky-looking dress.

Bloody hell.

Once glimpse, and all I wanted to do was pin her against the wall, shove the skirt up around her waist, pull the neckline down so I could take her tits in my mouth and bury myself deep inside her, making her cry out as she came.

Someone cleared their throat and I realized that I had been staring. Very blatantly staring. Like, “could have made something burst into flames” staring. But who would blame me? The woman standing in front of me was a vision.

I forced a neutral expression onto my face as I approached her, shaking my head.

“What?” she asked, looking nervous at this new reaction.

“I just don’t know.” I took her hand and gave her a little spin, appreciating how the dress spun up above her knees, giving me a better glimpse of her gorgeous legs. “I thought the whole point was to blend in.” I leaned in, my mouth close to her ear. “All eyes will be on you tonight.”

She looked up at me, her lips painted crimson. “The only eyes I care about are yours,” she said, her voice husky.

“Don’t worry, love,” I assured her. “I won’t even blink.”

* * *

Aces and Eights was loud and crowded and dark. In short, it was bloody perfect. No one even glanced our way when we entered. I slipped my hand into Emmy’s as her friends headed to the bar. I could sense Declan behind us, but with the crush of all the people around us, and those dorky glasses on my face, it didn’t feel as obtrusive as it sometimes did.

“Wanna play pinball?” I asked, jerking my chin towards the direction of the machines.

“I don’t know,” she grinned. “I feel like you’re going to kick my butt.”

“I’ll be gentle,” I told her, sliding my hand along the curve of her hip. “I have other plans for that butt of yours.”

She gave me a look, one that was so hot that it nearly had me pulling us out of the door and racing to my flat. Turning to me, she put her hand on my chest.

“Maybe we should make a little wager,” she suggested, playing with the buttons on my shirt.

I raised my eyebrow. “A wager?”

She looked mischievous. “Just to make things exciting.”

I didn’t know how much more of this kind of excitement I could take, but I wasn’t one to back down from a bet.

“What are the terms?” I asked, stroking over her waist.

“Best two out of three,” she answered, after thinking for a moment. “If I win, you’ll teach me how to play tennis.”

“I’d do that with or without a bet, if you’re interested,” I laughed.

“Hmmm.” She paused with a wicked glint in her eye. “Then let’s make it more interesting.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re going to kick my butt?” I wanted to know.

Emmy gave me an innocent smile. “Winner gets a favor,” she decided.

“A favor.”

She nodded. “A request that can be made at any point and the loser has to fulfill it. Of course, it has to be within the realm of reason.”

“So I can’t ask for you to build me a rocket ship to Mars?”

She laughed. “I’m afraid not.” Emmy leaned a little closer to me. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to think of something you want,” she said, running her hand over my chest. “Something that I can give you.”

Blood rushed to my cock, and damn if I didn’t nearly drag her out the door right them.

“That is, if you win, of course,” she finished, smiling.

Challenge accepted.

I rolled up my sleeves. “I always win,” I said with confidence. “Let’s play.”

* * *

I should have known that innocent look was hiding the mind of a minx. Emmy was a pinball shark. And she wiped the floor with me.

“You planned that!” I laughed, after my humiliating defeat.

“What are you talking about?” Emmy gave me a wink. “Beginner’s luck.”

I’ve always been competitive, but I couldn’t have cared less about losing—especially when Emmy gave me a consolation kiss. We headed back to the bar and grabbed a table towards the back, away from most of the noise and the crowd. Declan was hovering a decent distance away, trying to keep his gaze from slipping to Emmy’s friend, Paige, who was in the thick of things, surrounded by blokes. I gave silent thanks for the rare distraction. Usually there wasn’t anything that could divert Declan’s attention. And while it was an excellent quality for a bodyguard to have, it was a bloody pain the arse for the person he was supposed to be guarding. Relieved from his prying eyes for a few brief moments, I took a long drink from my pint and assessed Emmy over the top of my glass.

“They always say it’s the pretty ones who are the most devious,” I said.

She gave me an innocent look.

“I never said I couldn’t play,” she responded, a wicked gleam in her eye.

It had been a damn pleasure to watch her. She had become completely focused, her brow furrowed, her eyes narrowed as she sent the ball spinning through the machine, her fingers pulling and flicking the levers with amazing speed and precision. I had found myself slightly distracted by the way her movements made her curves sway, her cleavage tantalizingly close to spilling out of her top, while her even, white teeth bit into her red, red bottom lip. A lip I was hoping to take another taste of by the end of the evening. Or sooner . . .

I glanced over at Declan, who had now directed all of his attention towards Paige, his arms crossed in annoyance. Not that I could blame him. The poor guy obviously fancied her, and she had given him nothing but the cold shoulder all night, choosing instead to drape herself over every other guy that came across her path. She was doing it so aggressively, that I was pretty sure it was because she wanted Declan’s attention. Which she had in spades.

And which I was going to take advantage of.

“Come on.” I put my pint down and grabbed Emmy’s hand.

She glanced over at Declan and the others, and seemingly reading my mind, grabbed her purse and coat and hopped off her stool. Pulling her tight against my body, I wrapped an arm around her waist, savoring the feel of her warm, soft figure against my side. We wove through the crowd silently, heading towards the back of the building. I had spent enough time in dive bars to know that there was always some back hallway or back alley where people could go to be alone. And alone was exactly what I was hoping for.

I gave myself a mental high-five when I pushed open a random door and we found ourselves outside the bar, in a narrow, quiet, and completely empty alley. Turning back to Emmy, I gave her what I hoped was a casual smile.

“It was a bit crowded in there, don’t you think?” I brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “Too loud to really hear anything.”

Her expression told me that she saw right through my ruse. But instead of turning to go back into the bar, she quickly arranged her features into a neutral reaction.

“You’re right,” she said with a serious nod. “Very, very noisy.” Leaning back, she placed her palms on the brick wall behind her, doing the same with one foot. She looked like something out of my fantasies—a beautiful brunette, posed seductively in a black, curve-hugging dress.

She was driving me crazy, and I wasn’t even touching her yet.

“So.” She reached out and took the fake glasses off my face, pushing my baseball cap back on my forehead. “What did you want to talk about?”

I moved towards her, placing my hands on her hips.

“Well, there are several interesting topics that have been on my mind.” I swept her hair back off her shoulder.

She shivered.

“Such as?” she asked, angling her head so her throat was exposed—that gorgeous soft skin begging to be touched. Or kissed.

So I did.

“The exchange rate between the dollar and the pound, for one.” I pressed my lips just beneath her ear.

“Mmhmm,” she responded with a little tremble, her hands sliding up my chest.

“Or we could discuss the proper way to pour tea.” I kissed down her neck, loving the taste of her, and how her body was already arching against me, hot and round and soft.

“Yes,” Emmy breathed, her fingers curling into the front of my shirt.

“Or we could debate the proper name for those delicious fried slices of potato that we eat with fish.” I gave her shoulder a nip.

“French fries,” she murmured.

I raised my head.

“Chips,” I countered, and then before she could argue, I brought my mouth down hard against hers.