Page 44 of That Prince is Mine
While the two of them flirted shamelessly, Michel sipped his green tea—he was a sentimental fool—and enjoyed his brief reprieve. As anticipated, the smile melted off his cousin’s face as soon as their server walked away.
“Don’t bother telling me you’re not head over heels for her.” Gabriel resumed berating him as though there was no interruption.
“Anne is an excellent server, but head over heels might be an overstatement.” Michel adjusted the cuffs of his shirt.
“You’re not as witty as you think.” Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “People just feel obliged to laugh at your jokes.”
“What people? You’re the only person I joke around with,” he muttered.
The comment hit too close to home. Other than with his family and a select few friends, Michel could never be sure how genuine people were being—never know what effect his crown was having on their interaction. Which was precisely why he needed more time with Emma before he told her the truth. He needed to know what she felt for him was for him and not the crown.
“By people, I mean me,” his cousin clarified—taking the sting away from his comment—and promptly blew out a frustrated breath. “Goddamn it, Michel. I can’t believe you put me in this position. I hate being the voice of reason. It’s unbearably boring and frustrating.”
“We’ve only been on three dates.” Three incredible, unforgettable dates. But even so. He wanted more before he risked losing it all. “I still have much to consider.”
“You’ve been talking my ears off—nonstop—about this woman.” Gabriel threw his hands up. “What more do you need to know?”
“For one, I haven’t even met her family.” All he knew was that Emma was an only child and she lived with her father. He wanted to meet the man who had brought up such an amazing woman. “Maybe I should meet some of her friends as well.”
“Since when did any of that matter to you? If you’re going to start considering her family background and standing in society, you might as well marry Isabelle.”
“I had no idea the voice of reason was so irritating.” Michel pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t care less about background and standing. He just wanted to find out everything about Emma while he was simply Michel Chevalier. He ignored the small voice telling him that he was being selfish. And he didn’t want to listen to his cousin’s wise counsel either. “Please do shut up.”
“Fine. I’ll stop.” Gabriel ran his hand through his perfectly styled hair, making it perfectly mussed. “But don’t come crawling back to me when this whole thing blows up in your pretty face.”
“Pretty? That’s just blatant flattery.”
“Fuck you.”
“You mean ‘Fuck you, Your Royal Highness,’” Michel whispered even though the tables near them were unoccupied. “America has done a number on your manners, my dear cousin.”
“Pulling rank on me at a time like this is a sign of weakness.” Gabriel smirked, relaxing into his seat at last. Officially relinquishing his role as the reasonable cousin, he scanned the lobby, taking care to look extra bored, and failed spectacularly at pretending to not search for Sophie.
“She’s on the other side of the lobby today,” Michel said with a smug grin. “Want to go say hello?”
“That’s the last thing she’d want me to do.” Something vulnerable crossed his cousin’s face before his mask of cynical ennui returned. “Besides, I don’t want to distract the woman while on duty. That would be tantamount to putting your royal arse on the line.”
“My royal arse would be fine for five minutes.” Michel huffed a frustrated sigh. “Are you ever going to tell me what the hell is going on between you two?”
“Sophie might be under the impression that I abandoned her when I left Rouleme without asking her to come with me,” Gabriel said blandly as though he was remarking on the weather.
“What?” Michel had no idea what he was expecting, but that was not it. “What?”
“Which is completely unfair, since she never would’ve agreed,” Gabriel muttered, warming up to the topic. “She always made it clear that her loyalty lay with the crown.”
“You two were together all those years ago?” He floundered to wrap his head around the idea.
“Nothing clear-cut like that. It was new. We were young.” His cousin gave him a pointed look. “We’d only gone out on a few dates.”
Michel ignored the dig and leaned into his indignation. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me, all these years.”
“Of course.” Gabriel managed to look chic and sophisticated while rolling his eyes. “Because it’s all about you.”
Michel didn’t bother flipping off his cousin. He should’ve been there for him. “I could’ve helped you.”
“There was nothing you could’ve done.” Gabriel raked his fingers through his hair again, and this time a strand of hair dared to stick up out of place. “Like I said, she would never have come to the US with me.”
“How do you know when you didn’t ask?” Michel prodded gently, seeing that the conversation wasn’t easy for his cousin.
