Mr Spencer (Mr. 2)

I shake my head. “No, only when I’m out and about. Once I’m home safe, everyone relaxes.”

“Okay. What about if you stay in a hotel?”

I twist my lips as I listen.

“Yes, I’ve got it.” She holds her hands up in the air. “You stay in a swanky hotel where your suite is the only room on the floor. The guards come out with us or whatever throughout the day or night, but you specifically instruct that they stay at a distance so that nobody even knows they are there. Then, once the guards escort you home for the night, there is no security risk because nobody else can get to your floor without a key. They will stay in their rooms on the level below.”

I stare at her.

“And then if you meet someone, I can take them up to your room after the guards have left, because I will have the only other key that gets me

to your floor.”

Excitement simmers in my stomach. “Are you serious?”

“Why not?” Her eyes are alight with mischief.

“Could this really work?” I whisper.

She shrugs, and we both smile goofily at each other.

“But what job will I get?”

“Well, it has to be in a fancy building that could compliment what you are supposed to be doing there. The guards and your family need to think you are doing the same job that you do here.”

I nod as I think. “In reality it has to be a shitty job that has no responsibility. I don’t want to let anyone down when I leave.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll look for one for you when I get back to London. Are you going to tell work on Monday?”

“Are you really serious about this?”

“Deadly. Fuck it, let’s go crazy.”

“I’ll have to speak to my guards.”

“Okay, ask them. But you know they will have to do whatever you want, anyway.” She looks over at me and smiles mischievously. “Are you ready to have some fun, Lottie Preston?”

The nerves dance in my stomach at the sound of my new fake name. “It may not happen yet,” I warn her. “There are a lot of what ifs in this plan.”

“But if it all pans out, will you do it?”

I imagine Spencer walking away and leaving me the other night without so much as looking back, and I know it’s always going to be like this. Nobody will ever touch the precious Charlotte Prescott unless they want to marry her. Dealing with my family just isn’t worth it. Who wants that kind of pressure on a first date?

“If the guards can go, and you can find me a job, you’ve got yourself a deal,” I say flatly, convinced there’s no way in hell that this will all come together.

She holds her glass up in the air and I clink it with mine. “I’m going to make this shit happen if it’s the last thing I do.” Her eyes already sparkle with victory.

I smirk. “Deal.”

* * *

“Hello, this is Charlotte Prescott speaking,” I say into the phone. It’s Monday afternoon, and I’m at my dreary job.

“Okay, you got it. You start next week!” Beth squeals excitedly through the phone.

“What?” I frown.

“I got you a job, and you start on Monday.”