CHAPTER 7
“Your plan for the princess isn’t going to work,” Ned told Gary as soon as he returned to the movie trailers.
“What do you mean the plan isn’t going to work?” Gary asked. “We’re all set. I have my media sources ready to run with the story of how we have a real live princess as a consultant on our movie. She’s a real looker, too. That’s going to really grab some attention. You should see her in the pictures. We just need to cut her bodyguard out. That guy barely left her side.”
“Pictures? What pictures?” Ned demanded, shocked. “I told you we couldn’t take any pictures of her.”
Gary laughed. “I thought you just meant in front of her. That’s why I had my guys use their telephoto lens so they were far enough away she couldn’t see them.” Gary, excited, got out his phone and showed some pictures of the princess to Ned. “The photographer sent these to me already. Amazing, right?”
Ned felt sick to his stomach seeing the shots of the princess looking carefree and smiling. She was waving his baseball hat, surrounded by some actors. It made him feel even worse that she looked so happy, like she’d just won the lottery.
“See,” Gary said, grinning like a kid at Christmas. “Everyone’s going to eat this up!”
“No, they’re not,” Ned said emphatically as he took Gary’s phone and started deleting all the photos of the princess. “I gave her my word. No pictures. Period.”
Gary grabbed back his phone. “Ned, what are you doing?! What is wrong with you? We only invited her here so she could help us get press for our movie.”
“That might have been the original plan, sure, but she really made a big difference with all her insights today. Our movie is going to be a lot better because of her.”
“Great,” Gary said. “It’s a success story…”
“But we’re not using any photos of her or telling the press,” Ned interrupted. “We don’t need to plaster her picture all over the press. Our movie will speak for itself.”
Gary’s eyes widened. “You like this girl!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ned said quickly as he turned his back on Gary to open his trailer door. He didn’t want Gary to see the truth, that he was right. He didn’t know how it happened so quickly. One minute he thought the princess was a giant pain, and the next, he found himself wanting to know everything about her. He’d never met anyone like her before. It wasn’t because she was a princess. It was because she was smart, funny, and feisty. She was everything he never knew he wanted.
But Gary wasn’t letting up. He followed him into the trailer. “I saw the way you two were looking at each other. The way you were laughing and flirting. Be real. What do you think is going to happen here, Ned? Do you think you two are going to ride off into the sunset together? That only happens in the movies, buddy. Get a grip. She’s a princess. She’s leaving to go back home. Stop acting like a hormonal high schooler. We have to focus on wrapping up this movie. We’ve both sunk a lot of money into this. Our careers are on the line.”
Ned turned and locked eyes with Gary. “I mean it, Gary, no pictures. No press. Got it?”
The two men stared each other down.
“Got it,” Gary finally said before storming off.
***
An hour later, when Ned was leaving the set to meet up with the princess, he ran into Simone.
“Where are you going so fast?” she asked.
“I’m meeting Izzy for dinner,” Ned said, instantly regretting his words when he saw Simone’s smile fade.
“Izzy?” she asked.
Ned heard the jealousy in Simone’s tone and knew he needed to pivot fast. Even though they weren’t dating anymore, Simone was still possessive of him, and he couldn’t afford to upset his star actor now.
“It’s the princess’s nickname,” Ned offered nonchalantly. “It’s a working dinner. We need to go over some last-minute things. Have I told you how amazing you were today?”
Simone’s expression softened. “Yes, but you can tell me again.”
Ned laughed. “You killed it. This was some of your best work so far.”
“Thank you,” Simone said, stepping closer to him until they were almost toe to toe. “And about…Izzy. You need to be careful. Everyone can see you have a thing for her…”
“Simone, I…”
Simone put up a hand to stop him. “Don’t. We both know you’re a horrible liar. I’m just warning you, Ned. You’re not thinking with your head right now and that could hurt the movie.”
“Simone, do you honestly think I would do anything to jeopardize this project?”
“Normally, no. But what I saw today between you two wasn’t normal. It’s like a romcom movie playing out right in front of us. We all have a lot at stake for this movie to be a success. I don’t want to see you get hurt professionally or personally.”
Ned knew from experience Simone was upset because she didn’t like knowing he could fall for someone else. He also knew she could be dangerous if she told anyone else about her suspicions of him falling for the princess. He needed to fix this. Now. He put his arm around her and leaned in closer. “Can you keep a secret?”
Simone nodded eagerly. “You know I can. You can trust me with anything.”
“I know,” Ned said. “You’ve always had my back, and I appreciate that. The reason the princess was here all day and I’m meeting her tonight has nothing to do with any feelings I have for her. It’s all part of our plan.”
“Your plan?” Simone asked with growing interest.
“Yes,” Ned said as he looked around to make sure no one else could hear them. “Think about it. Having a princess on the payroll can only help sell our movie. I’m only spending time with her, so she thinks we’re using her suggestions, but we’re only really using her for the PR.”
Simone’s face lit up. “That’s brilliant.”
“I know,” Ned laughed. “Now, can we get back to focusing on you. You are my star. I need you to get some rest tonight because we have a big day tomorrow, okay?”
Simone beamed back at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll dazzle you like always.”
“I know you will,” Ned said before giving her a friendly kiss on the cheek and walking away. He let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully he’d put out the fire with Simone by telling her the original plan he’d had for the princess, the plan he’d just told Gary was canceled. But Simone didn’t need to know that.
Still, he couldn’t help thinking about what Gary and Simone had said about how it was obvious he was falling for the princess. He couldn’t deny he was drawn to her. She stirred up feelings he hadn’t felt in a very long time. He took a deep breath and told himself what he was experiencing could also just be the adrenalin rush of working together on a movie he felt so passionate about.
One thing he did know, he already felt protective of the princess, and there was no way he was going to let Gary exploit her to help market their movie. When she’d agreed to do the film, she had shared with him how bloodthirsty the paparazzi could be if they smelled a story. He had promised to protect her identity, and a promise was a promise.
He smiled, thinking about their upcoming dinner. He knew he could have emailed the princess the pictures and videos of the castle to get her thoughts, but he genuinely wanted to spend more time with her for reasons that went far beyond just the movie.