“Right.” She turned to Nate whose attention had already drifted to a girl wearing a belly dancer costume. She seemed relieved. I led her out to the porch.

A large group of partygoers had gathered outside under the lights. The onion smell from the tacos was competing with the waxy smell of the candles Denver had lit on the patio table. From the amount of laughter and talking going on, it seemed everyone was having a good time. I should have been mixing in with the crowd, but I had something more important on my party agenda, namely getting to know Kensington.

Rodeo was sitting on the short wall that separated the inner yard from the rest of the property. He was sucking down beers and bullshitting with friends, but he caught a glimpse of us walking through the yard. His mouth pulled into an O shape when he saw that Kensington was with me. He shook his head in a disgusted gesture that was meant only for me. His mind was still heavy on the bet, but I’d all but pushed it from my mind.

Chapter 6

Kensington

The night sky was moonless and quiet, the perfect backdrop for stargazing. Something Dad and I had loved to do when I was younger. I actually missed it.

I glanced down at the flurry of satin dragging behind me on the cement walkway. I reached back and swept the long train over one arm. “Jeesh, the inconvenience of princesshood.”

“Love that fucking dress, by the way.” Cole tightened his lips. “Sorry, that word is sort of a big part of my vocabulary.”

He was embarrassed about cussing in front of me, and even though cussing didn’t bother me, I liked that he cared enough to regret it.

“I’m not actually royalty, so your colorful language is fine, even if not really befitting a prince . . . or princess, I suppose. Use it myself too, when necessary. Although, I’ll admit that when I pulled this dress out of my closet and tried it on in front of a mirror, I didn’t say love this fucking dress. I bought it last Halloween, and sadly, there were no princes at last year’s party. So I left the ball in my pumpkin coach and with both glass slippers in hand. Figured I’d drag it out and give it another go. Imagine my surprise when a charming prince greeted me at the door.”

“Knew I picked the right costume.” Cole glanced back toward the house. “So—Nate’s your date but not your boyfriend?”

“If he’d been introducing me to one of the energy drink models, believe me, he would have used the word date.”

I glanced sideways at his handsome profile. Lines creased the side of his mouth. He had one of those easy smiles that made you think he rarely frowned.

The patio led to a grassy area that had a trampoline, a set of dumbbells and some old chaise lounges. Past the grass was a long stretch of smooth dirt leading to a makeshift oval track complete with mounds of dirt for motocross. A small backhoe and tractor sat off the side of the track. Farther out were a ramp and a large square box filled with chunks of foam. Another ramp had been built near the back wall. The remnants of a failed grape vineyard stood parched and hopeless along the right side of the property.

“I heard you digging this track when I was riding. You’ve got yourself a regular man playground out here. Some people might consider it a waste of land, but I guess it suits your purpose.”

He led me toward the ramp at the back of the property. “Some people like to unwind with a beer and television after a long day of work. I like to play. My roommates and coworkers, Denver and Rodeo, both ride freestyle MX. They’ve both got a respectable amount of sponsors. Denver’s jumps are tight and impressive. Rodeo is a little more like watching a man break a wild horse. But he gets the job done.”

“And you? I saw you flying through the air a few times before our meeting out on the trail.”

“I’m learning some tricks. Mostly, I ride motocross”—he paused—”not professionally like your date but for fun. Probably could have gone pro if I’d had an attention span, which I don’t. Unfortunately, I’ve found that the higher the possibility of a broken bone, the higher the threshold of fun. It’s a grim fact of life, I’m afraid. But since you jump massive horses over fences, I guess you’ve already discovered that too.”

“I have had my share of visits to the emergency room. And I do like to unwind after the work day by riding. I’m still trying to visualize what a long day of work looks like for you.”

“Ah ha, the first dig about my social status. You don’t think I work, huh? Just playing and partying, the typical life of a rock star’s kid.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I always hate it when people judge me before they know me, and here I am doing the same.” There were a few plastic chairs sitting near the foam pit. Cole pulled them out, blew on them to get rid of the dust and motioned me to sit with a prince-like flourish of his hand. “Milady.”

“You really like to get into the part, don’t you?” I gathered up the satin train and sat down, suddenly hyperaware of just how exposed my legs were in the cut out dress.

Cole plopped, with a little less royal manner, into the chair. I smiled over at him. He had perfectly symmetrical features, the ideal California guy but with some ink and short cropped hair to break up the wholesome, just off the beach look.

Surprisingly, he seemed to be having a hard time looking directly at me as if he was shy around girls, which I was certain was not the case. “So, Cole King—ston, tell me about yourself. If you’re not the typical Beverly Hills born and raised type, then who are—?”

He finally worked up the courage to face me, and it was not the slightest bit disappointing. His gaze softened with some admiration as he looked at me, and I had to admit I was enjoying it. Gold crown or not, he could easily have rode up on any white horse and stolen away a princess’s heart with just his hazel eyes and his smile.

Cole reached over and tucked a curl of my hair behind the rhinestone clip. It was a gesture that caught me completely off guard, and it took me a moment to recover.

“I definitely didn’t have a normal childhood, and living with my dad, well it’s been an adventure, but mostly a good one. The only thing I really hated was how much time he had to spend away from Fin, Jude and me.”

“Your brothers?”

“Fin—Finley is a girl. She’s here at the party. She loves horses, by the way. And all animals, for that matter. She and her boyfriend, Rett, run a non-profit rescue barn in the valley. Some Pig, her pet pot belly pig lives in my dad’s house. He basically rules the place.”

“I always wanted a pet pig, and I wouldn’t have thought twice about having him follow me around the house. You’ll have to introduce me to Finley.”

“I will.”

“And your mom?”

He smiled. “Guess you aren’t big on tabloid reading.”

“No, but I have two parakeets, and I find tabloids make perfect bedding for the bottom of their cage.”

He looked at me for a moment that seemed longer than a normal pause. “I knew I liked you the second I met you.”

“To be technical, the second you met me you were flying over the handlebars of your bike. I doubt you could have formed much opinion at that time.”

“True. Revise that. I liked you the moment you walked up and asked if I was all right. I was waiting for you to stomp over and chew my head off. But you didn’t.” He sat back. “Anyhow, each of us have a different mom. Jude’s died in an accident, and Finley’s doesn’t stick around town much. My mom used to be Dad’s accountant.”

“I’m an accountant for my dad’s business. Do you see your mom much?”

“Sometimes. She works in New York, and I don’t really like it on the east coast. Too many snow days for playing.” He waved his arm around the yard. “Sunshine and a lot of dirt, it’s all I need to be content. My dad fought to get custody of all of us, but I think we would have stayed with him anyway. And not for the reasons you might think, like the expensive houses and big parties. My dad is cool. There’s no other way to describe him. He made some mistakes and probably exposed us to too much of the grittier life of being a rock star, but at the same time, he’d help us build forts out of sheets and furniture and even climb under with us to tell ghost stories and eat peanut butter crackers. We were always his number one priority, and we all knew it. I should say know it. We’re adults but we are still his main concern.” There was so much genuine emotion in his face when he talked about his extremely famous dad that it was easy to see how much he loved him. “Dad grew up in a poor part of England. His dad left when he was little, abandoning his mom with three young boys and little else.”