Page 39 of That Prince is Mine
“Of course, Your Highness.” Sophie rolled her eyes deferentially.
“I like her, too,” he said as they walked to their car.
“I know.” She stared straight ahead, but he felt a featherlight nudge of her elbow on his arm. “And she likes you.”
Michel didn’t even know what it felt like to have true privacy, but if anyone had to invade his privacy, he was glad that it was his badass friend.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“I have a confession to make,” Michel said close to her ear as the lights dimmed for the previews. “I’ve never been to a movie theater.”
“What?” Emma spun in her seat to stare at him. “Never? Not even once?”
She added Never been to the movies to the list of their outrageous incompatibility. Filthy rich, Lives in another country, and Has a bodyguard were the other items on the list. Never had Peruvian food and Has a hard body didn’t make the list for obvious reasons. Since she couldn’t gather enough evidence on their last date, she’d had to come on another date with him. Hopefully, this would be their last.
The fact that Michel had a bodyguard because he was from an “influential family” made her succumb to the temptation to google him. But the only Michel Chevaliers she found—who were alive—were older, white-haired men. None of them from Rouleme. She wasn’t too surprised to find nothing on her Michel, though. If his father was so overprotective that he needed a bodyguard, it didn’t make sense for him to risk exposure with an online presence.
Speaking of bodyguards… she turned and waved at Sophie two rows behind them. The badass bodyguard gave her a regal nod of acknowledgment. They barely had time to say hello before taking their seats, but Emma already liked her. She wouldn’t play high-stakes poker with the woman, but Sophie Bellevue had kind eyes.
“Never, ever.” Michel closed the three inches of space between them with a soft kiss and leaned back with a lazy grin.
“Do you not like movies?” She swept her tongue across her still-tingling lips.
“No, I quite enjoy them.” He reached over and grabbed some of her popcorn. “When I have time to watch a movie, I usually do so in our… home theater.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” she quipped, and mentally added Has a home theater to the list. “I bet you don’t have movie theater popcorn at your house.”
“No, we don’t.” He chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed. “Did you say this isn’t real butter?”
“Nope.” She munched on some popcorn saturated with fake butter. “It’s some sort of mysterious butter-like substance. Kind of icky but oh so delicious.”
“I’ve been missing out.” With a broad grin, he nabbed another oily handful from her popcorn bucket. There was no doubt he was from a different world, but she couldn’t help but notice that he seemed enthralled by hers.
“You know it.” Smiling back at him, she offered him some of her blue raspberry slushie.
Emma watched mesmerized as he leaned close and took the straw between his lips. It was indecent how sexy he made everything look. Or she might just be hyper horny for him. She definitely did not recognize this side of herself.
“That’s quite interesting.” He coughed into his fist and smoothed his expression to hide his utter disgust at the syrupy drink.
“Nah, it’s gross.” She giggled at the relief on his face. “But it’s a nostalgia thing. Even though my taste buds have outgrown it, I still get slushies whenever I come to the theater because it made me so happy when I was a kid.”
“Gross or not, I like things that make you happy,” he murmured before turning his gaze to the screen.
Her heart fluttered wildly in her chest. God, the things he says. But she couldn’t let herself get distracted. She had to compile a bulletproof list of why they were incompatible so she could return to the matseon circuit as soon as possible. Every day she spent dating this man meant more time for the Crones to sully Auntie Soo’s reputation. Her godmother didn’t deserve that, and Emma couldn’t afford to lose any clients to their smear campaign.
She shook her head. There was nothing she could do about that right now. She might as well enjoy the movie as well as her date. She saw no reason not to have fun while compiling her incompatibility list.
Emma sighed and leaned back in her seat. She loved watching previews. They were the best morsels of a movie stitched together to hook you in mere minutes. Unfortunately, she didn’t catch a single one, because she couldn’t take her eyes off Michel, the lights of the silver screen playing across his handsome face.
But she pulled herself together—unwilling to waste the fortune it cost to watch a movie—and laid her head on Michel’s shoulder to make herself stop ogling him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tucked her close to him. With a happy sigh, she turned her attention to the feature film. A space opera with major Jane Austen vibes. It was excellent.
They took their time getting out of their seats and filing out of the theater. As they stepped out into the night, Emma realized she had to cross out Never been to the movies from her list. This was going to be harder than she thought.
“So how did you like your first time at the movies?” She linked her arm through his.
“Other than the sticky floors?” he deadpanned.
She bumped him with her shoulder. “Haha.”
