I stared at the front page of the paper and smiled, touching Edward’s face gently as he grinned up at me. The news of Edward’s involvement in the orphanage’s fundraiser had made it to the press, and he was on the front page again. His smiling picture had been one of mine, one that showed off his handsome features and that strong jaw that I was so fond of. The fluff piece that followed would make anyone proud, talking about all the good Edward was going to do with the money they were about to raise. And while I had written it, it had been Edward’s own humble and honest words I had interjected into the article. I fully believed that he was going to accomplish all of those things. Edward wasn’t a type to say one thing and do another.

Sighing, I laid the paper down and looked at my mum’s kitchen wall, my eyes tracing the designs of the wallpaper. Mum was out at her book club meeting, and my dad, well, I had no idea where he was, but the house was as silent as a tomb for the afternoon. It was a perfect opportunity for me to think about my next steps and how I was going to weather this scandal that was on the horizon—there was nothing like coming home to be around familiar surroundings to help you figure your life’s shit out.

To say that I had been rattled when Edward proposed to me yesterday was a bloody understatement. The thought of being his fiancée had sent me over the edge—I was head over heels and in too deep to think straight, so I’d run. I loved him, and it was killing me. Could I pretend to be his fiancée? Yes, I could. But could I let him go when the time came and the scandal was over with? Doubtful. I could pretend to, but my heart would be ripping itself apart, and I didn’t think I would ever be able to come back from that.

So what was I going to do? That was the question of the decade, unfortunately. I didn’t think I could talk it out with anyone else for fear they would slip up, and the press would find out that it was all a sham.

“Rose?”

I shot out of my chair. “Bloody hell, Harriet! You scared me half to death!”

Her eyebrow arched and she stared at me, puzzled. “I can see that. What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“Yeah, well, I asked first!” she said and laughed, sticking her tongue out and taking a seat opposite. “I came to borrow Dad’s toolbox, I need to put up some frames at the club. Your turn,” she prompted.

“Eugh, it’s a long story.”

“Are you waiting for mum?”

“No, not really. I just, I dunno. I came here to think.”

“Everything okay with your flat? I’ve been meaning to bring over your housewarming present, but I’ve been run off my feet, and it looks like you’ve been quite the busy bee, too,” she said and looked at the paper that lay between us.

“The flat’s fine,” I replied, deep in thought.

“Oh, come on. Tell me. You used to tell me everything to the point of distraction. Don’t stop now… It has something to do with Edward, doesn’t it?”

“He asked me to marry him,” I said, just blurting it out.

If the whole situation had been different I would have fallen off my chair with laughter. Harriet’s face froze for the longest time, her eyes comically wide. She opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again.

“Yeah. Welcome to my world.”

“Mum’s going to die.”

After Harriet’s initial shock I explained the situation the best I could, telling her everything, even though I was hesitant to. But talking it over was probably the best thing I could’ve done. It was crazy, she made me see that. But I still wanted to say yes. I was being selfish and thinking maybe, just maybe, I could make him fall in love with me, too. I could make him see that I was all he needed, not his family nor anything else that he had in this world. I could make him happy.

I cleared my throat nervously as I rode the lift to Edward’s flat, my stomach in knots. After a restless night’s sleep I had come to a conclusion on what I was going to tell him about this proposal. As far-fetched as the entire idea sounded, I was actually going to agree to be his fiancée for however long he needed. It was the only way that would keep both of us from being dragged through the media, and I didn’t want Edward to have to go at it alone with his family. It was my fault that the pictures were even being considered as leverage against him, and I needed to be by his side to stand up for him when the day came that he had to face his family.

The doors opened, and I walked into his living room. He was standing near the couch, a packet of papers in his hand. He looked up as I approached, his handsome face splitting into a grin. “Good morning. So, am I talking to my future bride, or…”

“Good morning,” I said, holding out the coffee and greasy breakfast rolls I’d picked up along the way. “Maybe, but first, breakfast.”

He brushed my hand with his fingertips as he took the cup that was still in the holder and the bag, setting them on the table. Oh, how I longed for him to touch me again, like the other night.

“Thanks. Fine, if you don’t want to tell me, we can just live with the elephant in the room.”

He sighed and got right to business. “Today’s a busy day. I was going over the last-minute requests for the fundraiser. I can’t believe we are down to seventy-two hours now.”

I smiled as I heard the undertone of excitement in his voice, thinking it was amazing to see how far he had come in the weeks I had known him. He was genuinely excited about this fundraiser for the orphanage. “I accept,” I said suddenly.

He spluttered on the sip of coffee he’d just taken—granted, I didn’t have the greatest timing in the world, but I couldn’t keep it in any longer. Not after hearing the joy in his voice about the orphanage.

“I decided to take you up on your offer,” I said rambling, gripping my cup tightly in my hands. “I mean, if it’s still on the table, that is.”

He didn’t say anything for a second or two and I tried not to fidget under his intense gaze. What if it wasn’t still on the table? Oh, shit, he’s changed his mind, and any second now he’s going to start laughing in my face.

“Are you sure?”

I nodded.

“In that case, let’s do this properly.” He slowly sank to one knee as he dug into his pocket. The trembles returned all over again. It was like déjà vu, but this time he held up a tiny, square box and my mouth dropped as he opened it. “I’ve never asked someone twice, let alone once, to marry me. But Rose Victoria Mathis, will you do me the greatest of honour of becoming my wife?”

The ring sat glittering in its cushioned box, but I only had eyes for him. Whether this was real or not, this was a dream come true. One that could I wake up from, yet I didn’t care. I allowed myself to enjoy that one singular moment, a true royal prince proposing to me— plain ol’ Rose Mathis—and was surprised that tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision. He looked so earnest, so, damn believable that my heart squeezed painfully in my chest at the sight. If I didn’t answer him soon, I was either going to bawl all over him or keel over from a heart attack!

“Yes,” I finally said, blinking back the tears.

Edward got up off the floor then and plucked my coffee cup out of my hand before wrapping his strong arms around me. “You don’t know how happy this makes me,” he said, his eyes boring into mine.

I squeaked out an incomprehensible word as his lips descended on mine, the heat and intensity of his kiss taking my breath away. His lips moulded against mine as my hands clenched the front of his t-shirt, pulling him close. His hands drifted up my back, caressing the skin under my thin shirt as a ball of sensations swirled around my stomach and lower even, a pool of intense need gathering between my thighs. Edward pulled back, a lazy grin on his face as he looked at me, my lips still tingling from his kiss.

“This is going to be one hell of a ride, Rose.”

“I second that,” I said, stepping out of the circle of his arms. Oh god. One kiss and I was ready to throw myself at him! I wasn’t going to survive this. “So, um, how do we go about doing this?”

Edward’s smile grew wider as he reached for his phone. “Easy. We plant a tiny seed, and then it blooms from there.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked, eyeing his phone. I knew he utilised social media, but would it spread like we needed it to before those pictures surfaced?

“I’m going to phone in an anonymous tip to the press,” he said, scrolling on his phone. “Then we are going to our meeting with the fundraiser board.”

I swallowed hard as he put the phone up to his ear, already nervous about accepting this crazy plan of his.

Edward spoke low into his phone and then ended the call.

“Here you forgot to put it on,” he said, holding out the small box to me.

I took the box with trembling hands, the symbol of our engagement. I opened the lid and looked at the ring inside, taking it in properly this time. A moderately sized brilliant sapphire winked up at me, surrounded by tiny diamonds and set in a delicate white gold setting with intricate filigree on either side. “It’s truly beautiful,” I breathed, taking it out of the box.

“It was my mum’s,” he said quietly as I held up the ring in the morning light. “She wore it on her ring finger until the day she died. I think my father gave it to her, but I’ve never been able to prove it.”

I looked at the ring then, a wealth of emotions building in my chest. This was obviously something very important to him, and it just felt all kinds of wrong for me to take something so precious. “I-I can’t take this,” I said, placing it back in the box and shutting the lid.

“You can and you will,” he fired back, refusing to take the box out of my hand. “It will look good on you.”

I bit my lip, trying to be strong and to not break down into tears. In some ways we were very much alike, but I didn’t know how to tell him, at least not just yet. We had to deal with one crisis before I dropped a bombshell in his lap.

Edward walked over and took the box out of my hand, opening it and extracting the ring. I watched as he picked up my hand and slid the ring over my knuckle, his warm fingers gliding over my skin lightly. “See?” he said, holding my hand in his, his thumb rubbing over the ring. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? It’s perfect.” This man was going to be the death of me.

I shook my head, mainly because I was unable to say anything at all, and he dropped my hand, stepping back. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable about this, Rose,” he replied. “You have to know how much I care about you, and I won’t do anything you don’t want to do. I won’t put you in a position where you feel like you must defend yourself in front of my family. We are a team.” Edward then gave me a half-hearted smile. “Come on, we have to go.”

“I, uh sure,” I finally said after finding my voice, the ring warm against my skin. After this was all over with, he was going to get this precious ring back. There was no way I was going to keep it. “I just need to freshen up first, and then I’ll be ready.” With my heart fluttering, I locked myself in Edward’s bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. This was really happening, and there was no way to turn back now—he had made the call, and the press would be on us in a matter of minutes. Pull it together, Rose. You can do this. I nodded to myself. There were worse things than being engaged to the person you’d fallen in love with… I didn’t need to put on an act. I just needed to be me.

“Are you okay in there? You haven’t fallen down the loo, have you?”

“I’ll be out in a minute,” I called quickly and dug out my compact from my purse. I dabbed a few shiny areas on my forehead and nose. There were going to be a lot of photos taken today, and most of them not by me.

“Ready,” I said as I emerged from the bathroom.

It was his turn to nod as he grabbed up the papers on the table and motioned toward the lift. “After you.”

Edward stood close to me as we rode the elevator down, but he didn’t touch me as if to let me have some privacy to process it all, including the kiss. And what a kiss it had been! Now I was wearing his ring, a mark that I was officially off the table. My Mum was going to go ballistic that I didn’t tell her up front, but I couldn’t take the chance of her telling all her friends before Edward even found out.

The doors opened and I stepped out, Edward right behind me.

“Ah, sir, it’s a madhouse out there!”

Jim was standing by the exit, the frosted glass only revealing shadows beyond the door. “I don’t know what you did this time, but they are up in a frenzy over it.”

Edward laughed and reached for my hand, holding it up so that Jim could see the ring. “We got engaged.”

Jim’s eyes widened as he looked at my hand, holding out his own toward Edward. “Well, I would say that is news. Congratulations and many years of happiness to you both.”

“Thank you,” I forced out, feeling like a fraud already. Edward’s hand squeezed mine reassuringly as he shook Jim’s hand, clapping the man on the back. “So it’s a madhouse out there?”

Jim nodded. “They came around five minutes ago.”

“Just what we needed,” Edward said, looking down at me. “You ready for this? And don’t worry—you look stunning.”

I squared my shoulders and nodded, figuring there wasn’t going to be much of an option at this point.

The cat was out of the bag, and now we had to put on the show. Piece of royal wedding cake… I hoped.

I couldn’t survive this.

A few hours into our day, I became sick and tired of the press constantly documenting our every move. That and my mobile ringing constantly with calls from every person I had known since childhood. It seemed that word had certainly gotten around about our ‘engagement’, and Edward and I had just became a hot topic on every news channel and radio station. There was nowhere to hide. I had gone from a normal person who was just existing in this world to a nationally recognised face in the span of a few hours.

I climbed into the car and shut the door on the shouting crowd that was gathering on the pavement, resting my head against the seat as Edward gunned the engine and pulled quickly into the street. While his meetings had gone as well as we could have expected, this whole media storm had put a damper on anything else. How did one get used to this? I used to think being famous would be glamorous and exciting, but not anymore. It was exhausting, people wanting a piece of you till there was nothing left. How on earth did Edward manage?

“I have a feeling we will end up having to ditch the car and settle for a chauffeured ride,” Edward was saying as he turned the corner. “At least they won’t be able to pinpoint us so quickly.”

“Seriously, how do you do this?” I asked, looking over at him. “How do you put up with this?”

He shrugged as he shifted gears, his eyes on the road. “Maybe I don’t. But I’ve gotten used to it, I guess.”

“Well, you are a saint then,” I muttered as I looked out of the window, noting some familiar scenery. “Where are we going?”

Edward cleared his throat and stopped at the stop light, causing me to look over at him. “I figured you would want to explain this to your parents in person.”

I was touched that he had even considered that fact. Of course I wanted to explain this to my family, but the thought of him coming with me and helping with the explanation was far more than I had expected. “I, thank you,” I said softly as he moved through the light that was now green. “That’s very nice of you.”

“It’s nothing,” he said, his jaw tightening. “Besides, you will likely find out that your conversation will be a hell of a lot easier than mine is going to be.”

I thought about explaining myself to the future king of England and potentially my father-in-law, and I shivered inwardly. Could he still call for my public execution? I already knew he hated my guts and thought I was a low-life from the way he’d insulted me on our first meeting, but I didn’t think he would call for my head.

Edward pulled his car outside of my parents’ home, and I was dismayed to see that the media vans were already camped out on the street, the reporters immediately descending upon the car as soon as Edward cut off the engine. “Oh my god, we really could do with your royal guards right about now,” I breathed, overwhelmed. He nodded. “I’m on it. But in the meantime, we can’t wait here.”

“My parents are going to kill me.”

“Knowing your mum, she will take it all in stride,” Edward said dryly, reaching over to touch my cold hand. “It will be fine, Rose, I swear it. If we have to move your parents for a time, we will. No one will harass or hurt them.”

I swallowed hard as he pushed open his door, forcing me to do the same and step out into the bright lights that awaited me.

“Rose, was it love at first sight?”

“Who will design your wedding dress?”

“Have you met the king yet?”

“There’s rumours going around that you and the prince have made a dirty sex tape. Care to comment?”

Edward hurried around the car and grabbed me, and I hung onto him for dear life, allowing him to pull me close as we walked up to the front door. It immediately opened, and we were ushered inside, the familiar smells of my parents’ home making me feel at ease for the first time today.

“Rose. Victoria. Mathis! How dare you not let us know about… about all this! I just… I can’t believe it.”

I winced as I looked at my mum, her hands on her hips, telling me that she was a bit put out about the hoopla that was going on outside of her house. “I’m sorry, Mum.”

“It’s my fault,” Edward interjected, giving my mum one of his devastating smiles as he wrapped an arm around my waist. “She didn’t tell you because of me. I asked her not to.”

Mum backed down then, patting her hair as she did when she was nervous. “Well now, of course I knew Rose had a reason for doing so. Her father and I are just a bit caught off guard, that’s all, er, Your Highness.”

“My humble apologies. And please, call me Edward. I insist.” Edward grinned as my father joined our small group, his eyes narrowing at Edward. I knew what he was thinking. He was traditional in the sense that he believed a man should come to the father first and ask permission before putting a ring on it. Harriet’s poor husband, Jacob, had sat through two hours of a lecture when he had asked for her hand. “Dad, I…”

The look on my father’s face shut me down in mid-sentence, and I felt Edward stiffen slightly beside me as he realised that my father was not a happy camper. He might be able to charm my mum with a dazzling smile, but my dad, well he was a totally different beast to vanquish.

“Is this really happening?” he finally asked, his expression not giving away anything he was thinking. “Did you propose to my girl?”

“I did,” Edward said. “And I am sorry I did not ask for her hand first. I couldn’t run the risk of anyone finding out until I made it official.”

“Do you love her?”

I stiffened then, my heart pounding in my ears. That was not something I wanted to discuss or even lie to my parents about. This was not a love match by any means, and I didn’t want to pretend that it was.

“If you are asking if I cherish her, respect her, and want to protect her with my life, then yes, I do love your daughter, sir,” Edward replied, his words taking my breath away. I couldn’t help but think how lucky some girl was going to be one day to have a man like Edward really saying those words about her. It made me feel cherished, special even, that he would put that kind of spin on love. The way he made it sound, love was a much deeper emotion than just a word or a feeling.

My father eyed him for one more minute before sticking his hand out, some of the tension in the air dissipating. “Then I say welcome to the family, son.” Edward shook his hand and then pointed to the mess out front. “I’m sorry about all of that. They tend to follow me around quite a bit.”

“Oh it’s fine,” my mum replied, giving a little laugh. “We will just have to get used to it. Rose, help me in the kitchen? Now.”

I gave Edward a grateful smile as I stepped away from him and followed my mum into the kitchen, the swinging door not even closing behind me before she rounded on me, her eyes wide. “Rose Mathis, you are going to be royalty! Oh my god, my daughter, a princess! I just knew it when he came to tea that first night that you captivated him! This is like one of those fairy tales I used to read to you when you were little. And you know, I told your father that we were looking at a perfect match in the making right there!”

“Mum,” I groaned as she grabbed me by the shoulders and wrapped me in a hug. “I don’t even know if his family will approve.” I didn’t know what else to say. I couldn’t very well tell her that all of this was fake to save her and my dad from being embarrassed by their daughter’s topless photos. She would definitely flip out then.

She pulled back then, a critical eye directed toward me. “They don’t know?”

“Well, I’m sure they do now,” I sighed, thinking about all the media, “but we haven’t told them directly, no.”

“Oh dear, well,” she replied, releasing me and smoothing her top down nervously. “I am sure once they meet you, they will love you like we do. I am so happy for you, honey. I was a little taken aback at the announcement, but your Edward, well, he’s just wonderful, and he loves you a great deal. I can see it in his eyes. And all those antics and naughtiness he used to get up to, well it’s in the past of course, ancient history… he seems to have grown up from what I can tell.”

My eyes started to water as I thought of what he had said to my dad. Sure I knew that I loved him, his kindness, the way he was totally misunderstood by everyone except me right now. I loved the fact that he thought of others and had a quiet nature about him when it was just the two of us. Oh, I was in deep! I rubbed a hand over my face, and my mum let out a squeal, reaching for it. “Is that your ring? Oh, it’s just simply gorgeous!”

I looked down at the ring I had grown quite used to on my hand and smiled tenderly. “It was his mum’s.”

“You’ve got a good one here,” she said, patting my hand. “I’m so proud of you, Rose.”

“Thanks, Mum,” I sniffed as she let go of my hand. I just hoped that she thought the same a few months down the road when this was all going to be a distant memory, a fond memory… and a heart-breaking one at that.