Tangled Up in Princes (Royal Romances Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

were holding my phone hostage. Maybe you can afford to buy smartphones like they're candy, but I can't. Those things aren't cheap, you know."
    "The phone. Yes, the phone."
    He still held her mobile in his hand atop hers. She was waiting for him to return it, along with the apology she deserved. That's what he ought to do, of course. But if he did that, she'd leave. He didn't want her to leave.
    "I'm sorry," he said because he truly was.
    "Then release my phone."
    He found himself wishing Jamie hadn't left. Jamie could charm his way out of anything. Maybe Jamie could have talked Carrie out of being so angry.
    "I'd like to make this up to you."
    She narrowed her eyes at him, "Listen, I remember very well what I wrote in those messages to Jeannie. Yes, you are without a doubt the hottest man I have seen in person, but any interest I had in any further contact, of any kind, with you is long gone, so if you were thinking to have a -- what do you call it? -- a shag, here in this closet, you are about to find yourself sorely disappointed."
    He hadn't been thinking of that at all, but he was certainly thinking of it now.
    "No, I don't want that. I mean. Of course, I do, but—bloody hell. This isn't going at all as I'd hoped."
    "Give me my phone."--she gripped her phone and yanked--"Let go."
    "I will. I intend to. Just don't leave."
    "What?"
    "The phone, it's my only leverage right now. Promise me you won't leave, and I'll let it go."
    "I cannot believe I am in a Scottish castle in a laundry closet with a man who is holding my phone hostage. Of course, why shouldn't I believe it? This is my life after all. Fine. I promise I won't leave. For now."
    He opened his hand over hers and released her phone.
    "There. See. I kept my word."
    She stuffed her phone in her purse and crossed her arms in front of her.
    "Now what?"
    Now what? indeed. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He hadn't the slightest idea what to say to this woman. For God's sake, his father was the King of England. Surely, Edward could manage a simple conversation with a woman, even if she was the most intriguing one he'd ever met.
    "If I could convince you to go back outside and continue our walk and forget this part of our acquaintance ever happened, I would gladly do it."
    "I have no intention of going anywhere with you."
    "Of course not. I understand that, but that puts me in the unfortunate, to my mind, position of being forced to tell you who I am."
    She drummed her fingers on her elbows.
    "Right. You have your phone. Search for His Royal Highness Prince Edward of Wales ."
    She stared at him incredulously. She narrowed her eyes, studying him. Then her jaw lowered and she covered her open mouth with her hand.
    "You can't be."
    "You must not read the tabloids. Get out your phone and check. Go ahead. I'll wait."
    She withdrew her phone and thumbed in her request. He leaned against a shelf, waiting. Had he ever waited for a woman before? He didn't think so. Why was he so smitten with this one?
    Her eyes went wide as she stared at the screen. She looked up at him, and a blush stained her cheeks. That, that was why he was so smitten. Everything she said, everything she did -- it was so honest. Manipulation was entirely foreign to her.
    "How could I not have recognized you?"
    "People see what they expect to see."
    "I can't believe Amanda didn't recognize you. She's lived in London for two years. I once accused her of stalking Jamie."
    "People often don't recognize me without some scandalous headline over my head."
    She swallowed audibly.
    "You're a prince."
    "Yes, but I'm not the prince. That would be Jamie."
    "But your father is, in fact ..." she trailed off as though she couldn't bring herself to say it.
    "His Majesty the King. Yes, he is."
    "I called you an asshole."
    "Quite rightly."
    "Can I be arrested for that here?"
    "Here? No. If you'd said it in Buckingham Palace, then perhaps. Or at least, ejected from the premises by uniformed security."
    "Jesus," she