What happens in Vegas. Right?

Wrong.  

Some things don’t stay in Vegas. One of those things would be screwing a guy you see day in and day out. One who is technically, in a roundabout way, your employer. That shit does not stay in Vegas. You fuck a hot prince once. You’ll fuck him again. And again. And again.

In the banquet hall. The gardens. The broom closet at a charity event…

Alex slams me against the wall, his mouth greedy and pressed to mine. There’s a loud clatter when the collection of brooms and mops fall to the floor. 

I shove his face away and attempt to button my blouse. “This is ridiculous.” I go to move and trip over a mop bucket. “In a broom closet at Westminster.” 

“Don’t pretend you don’t like this.” Alex steps behind me and shoves my skirt around my waist, teasing my wet slit with his finger. “Do you really want to open that door?”

“No…” 

That's all he needs. He slams his cock inside me in a single drive. My cheek presses to the door, the noise from the people outside barely audible.

Alex grabs my hair, yanking my head back to kiss me and I whimper, giving in to his wants and my needs. He takes me from behind, hard and angry, but he kisses me the way the prince kisses the princess in a fairy tale, like she’s all he needs. 

Each brutal thrust brings me closer to coming undone until I'm scratching at the door and pushing against him in an attempt to bury him deeper. 

“Your pussy’s so tight,” he whispers. 

He reaches around and grabs my clit, rolling it between his thick fingers and sending me over the edge. My muscles clench, my breath catches, and I succumb to the relaxing bliss that washes over me like a wave. 

Before I come down, he’s panting, repeating the word fuck over and over in a guttural groan. He stiffens behind me, his fingers digging into my hips before his head drops to the crook of my neck. “I love fucking you,” he breathes. “You’re my dirty little secret.”

And just like that, my stomach bottoms out. I’m no better than any of the other girls before me. I’m just a plaything to a dirty royal.

He pulls out and I clench my jaw, waiting for the emotions I let seep into my heart to subside, hoping that the sting caused by his words will go away. 

I used to think people could only hurt you when you gave them the power, but somehow, Alex just took it without asking.

I tug my skirt back into place and smooth out the wrinkles. Alex runs a hand over my hair to help it look less freshly fucked.

His hand trails to my jaw and I pull away from his touch. His brow wrinkles. “Don’t do that.” He goes to kiss me, but it’s too much. I’ve always prided myself with keeping my emotions in check, but for some reason, they’re bubbling over like a pot of boiling water. Tears sting my eyes, and I panic, swatting at the them before the spill down my cheek. 

“Lily.” He goes to touch me again.

Without thinking, I yank open the door. Several people in the hallway glance in our direction and Alex shoves his cock back into his slacks, his cheeks reddening as he adjusts his belt. 

I take off down the hall, crying like an emotional wreck.

“What are you doing?” His dress shoes click over the stone floor.

He’s chasing after me! I fly through the corridor and around the corner, out into the courtyard. When he grabs my hand to spin me around, I shake my head. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“You can’t do what?”

“You. I can’t do you anymore. It’s…” I bite at my lip and his face crumples like I just broke his heart, but how could a dirty little secret break the almighty prince’s heart. “I’m sorry,” I whisper and turn to leave.

This time, he doesn’t chase me. I never expected him to.

---

I woke this morning with my stomach churning. Maybe it was premonition, because when I checked my phone I had a message from Mary: You’re fired! Expect a NDA this afternoon. Prince Alex has been advised to deny everything, and we hope you’ll do the same.

Fair enough. Fucking a client is grounds for termination. I decided against reading the newspaper, or looking at the internet, because I was certain there would be several colorful articles about the prince being caught with his pants down in the utility closet of a sacred church. And my name would be listed as number one offender. 

By midmorning, I’m in the bathroom hugging the toilet. I guess a scandal of this proportion and the imminent end of a career is enough to make anyone sick. To top it off, I’d typed up enough NDAs to know how the wording would go, and I knew that I’d never be allowed around Alex again.

It shouldn’t matter, but it does. I’ll never again kiss him or fall asleep in his arms, and while it’s only been a few weeks, I can’t imagine my life without him. Stupid, I know. This is what I get for reading all those damn fairy tales as a little girl. Prince Charming fell for Cinderella after just one dance. I fell for Prince Alex after just one kiss…but, in my defense, it seems more logical that my story would end with a happily ever after.

Another wave of nausea washes over me and I cling to the toilet, expelling what little there is in my stomach. After I flush the toilet, I wash my face and brush my teeth before trudging into the living room.

I watch three reruns of Absolutely Fabulous and manage to devour a bag of chips. Just as I dust the crumbs from my shirt, the blare of a foghorn sounds from my phone. I close my eyes, take a breath, then glance at the text message dancing across the screen.

Alex: All in or nothing…

My eyes water as I struggle with a response. What can I possibly say to him that won’t seem foolish? Before I decide on a response, there’s a knock at my door. 

“Lily,” Alex’s voice comes from the other side. “Are you home?”

My heart hammers against my ribs and a prickly heat flushes my skin. 

Bang. Bang. Bang. “Lily. Please.”

I don’t even realize I’ve left the couch until I’m standing at the door, pulling it open. The second my gaze lands on his face, my chest tightens. Deep circles sit below his eyes, and a sad frown is etched on his face. “I don’t know what happened.”

The memory of him calling me his dirty little secret plays on a loop. “I don’t want to be anyone’s secret, Alex,” I say.

A deep crease sets between his brows. “I don’t want you to be.”

“Then why did you say it yesterday?”

“Because that’s what I felt like you wanted to be.”

I shake my head. “Why?”

“Why would you want anyone to know you were with an asshole like me?”

My heart flounders in my chest. My sad prince, always too good but never quite good enough in his own eyes. “Alex…”

“I love you, Lily.” He sweeps a hand over my cheek. “I fucking love you.”

My pulse hammers in my ears. This is the least rational thing I’ve ever done in my life, but since when has anyone claimed love was rational? “I love you, too.”

With a smile, he presses a reverent kiss to my lips, threading his fingers through my hair as he pushes me inside.

“All in?” he asks when he pulls away.

“All in.” 

Scooping me into his arms, he carries me to the bedroom and tosses me carelessly onto the mattress. Within seconds, we’re both undressed and he’s inside me, moving slow and steady, whispering that he loves me in my ear.

I never expected to find love with a dirty-mouthed prince, but I guess the unexpected things in life are what make it worth living.