The Billionaire Prince’s Fake Girlfriend by Leslie North

7

After the Cobblestone Gala, Ben and Jane retreated to his suite in the palace. The party had been surprisingly fun after they’d talked to Patrick. He thought he’d be consumed with their new lead, but he’d wound up wandering around, showing off Reinia to Jane, even slow dancing with her on the event’s canopied dance floor. It was easy to talk to her, easy to tangle his fingers with hers as he guided her around, showing off his island.

Not why she’s here, he chastised himself. Not why you’re here, either!

He sighed, tossing himself on his bed. They’d changed out of their formal wear, and he felt more comfortable in jeans and a shirt. She’d shifted to a pair of shorts that showed off her legs, surprisingly long and lovely on such a short woman. He smirked at the thought as she stretched out next to him with a black T-Shirt that had a silver direwolf image from Game of Thrones emblazoned on it.

“All right,” she said, stretching her wrist and breaking out her laptop. “Kate, at university with your father. We’ve got some points of cross-reference. And we know that she married someone else, but might have moved to Reinia at some point. All right!”

So the two dug into the list they’d gotten from the paper. There were several Kates on the list, but none seemed to match his father’s university attendance, although they might be missing something.

After two hours, Ben rubbed at his sandy eyes, feeling disgruntled. “You know, there’s no guarantee she was at that party,” he realized with a groan. “Even if she was in Reinia at the time. Or London. Or already married. Or not. And we’re not sure if it’s Katherine or Kathleen or even Katrina. God, it’s like every time we get a lead, it opens a new can of worms!”

“Take it easy,” Jane soothed, even as her face looked contemplative. “You know, we know her name is Kate, and we’ve got an idea of when she would’ve had the baby. Maybe we’ve been approaching this the wrong way.”

“What do you mean?” He propped himself up on one elbow, studying her.

She bit at her full lower lip. “I mean, she might’ve had the sonogram when she was in London, since she did live there, but what if she had the baby in Reinia? The hospitals in your country are extremely well-funded, and surely your father would have wanted them to have the best care, and maybe wanted their daughter to have dual citizenship as well.”

He frowned as he did the calculations. “Probably,” he said. “It’s as plausible a possibility as any of the others we’ve come up with.”

“So we don’t need to break into that clinic in London to get her birth record,” Jane said, then laughed. “We just need to break into the birth records here and track her down.”

He stiffened.

“Of course, you weren’t really thrilled with the idea when we were in England,” Jane added ruefully. “Besides, I don’t even know which hospital...”

“Actually, you’ve got a good point,” he admitted, as his mind raced through the possibilities. If his half-sister had been born in Reinia, some thirty-five years ago... There were some smaller regional emergency rooms and clinics, but odds were good she’d have been born at the Reinia National Hospital. It wasn’t a large country, after all.

Which meant that she’d be in the National Hospital Records.

He blinked. “That’s actually a great idea,” he breathed.

“It is?” Jane looked startled, then grinned. “I mean, of course it is.” She winked at him.

He was too fixated. “Technically, birth records are public,” he said. “But they don’t let just anyone go through them. It takes a lot of paperwork.”

“Paperwork you don’t want to fill out because you don’t want a public paper trail,” Jane finished with a nod. “You don’t want anyone else to find out about your half-sister. So we’re kind of back where we started from.”

“No, no,” he mused. “You’re right. We could... sort of borrow the records.”

Now her eyes widened. “Are you saying you’re okay with us breaking and entering?” She sounded a cross between scandalized and excited.

“We’re not going in like cat burglars,” he admonished, reluctantly smiling as she burst out into trilling laughter. “But a certain amount of espionage will probably be necessary. There’s only one hospital where she would’ve been born. We just need to go through their records, quietly, with no one the wiser.”

“That means we’re going to need to know the location of the records, how they’re set up, and then a way to bypass any security protocols in place,” she mused, obviously thinking through the plan. “We’ll also need one epic, cinematic distraction. I’m talking Ocean’s Eleven level distraction.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. Then he blinked as an idea struck him.

“We don’t need a huge distraction. We’ve got me.”

She tilted her head. “What are you talking about?”

“Here’s another rule of royalty,” he said with a smug grin. “If you ask, anyone in your country will pretty much let you do whatever you want, whenever you want.”

“Yes, but we’re trying not to tell them what we’re up to,” she pointed out. “If you charge in and say you want access to the records, there’s bound to be questions...”

“I know,” he said, waving his hand impatiently. “Which is why we won’t tell them that we’re looking for records. We’ll say…” He paused, thinking over possibilities. “We’ll say that I want to give a big speech to thank all the medical staff. Which I should, actually,” he added thoughtfully. “They’re an amazing group, and they provide incredible care. Anyway, we’ll make sure that all nonessential staff, including records room staff, attend the speech. And then, while I’m doing my song and dance, you’ll go to the records room, get the information, and get out, with no one the wiser.”

She looked impressed, which made his chest warm. “That’s not bad,” she conceded. “One problem: how are we going to get past security clearance?”

“Again, they let you do what you want,” he said. “I’ll say that I wanted to tour the facilities more, at my leisure, and they’ll give me a security card.”

“That could definitely work,” she agreed. “I’ll look up births and correlating mothers’ names for the time period that matches your sister’s probable birth date, maybe a few weeks give or take in case she was premature or late. This could definitely work.”

He smiled. “You don’t have to sound so surprised, you know,” he pointed out with a grin. “I may not be an investigative journalist, but I do have the occasional good idea.”

She shrugged dismissively. “Eh. Once in a while.” Then she shot him a cheeky grin.

“Oh, you’re going to pay for that,” he said, poking her, only to have her shriek out in laughter. He stared at her, startled.

“What? I’m ticklish,” she muttered.

He couldn’t help it. He grinned back, no doubt wickedly.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said, holding up a pillow to defend herself. “I give as good as I get, buster. Come at me at your own risk.”

Well, with an invitation like that...

He launched before he even realized he was moving, his fingers gently tickling at her sides until she yelped. The pillow came down on his head like a hammer, causing him to laugh in response. He kept tickling as she wriggled.

Unfortunately, she was nimble and determined. She managed to wrench herself free, then pelted him with the pillow until he was breathless with laughter. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so relaxed, especially considering they were in the middle of a serious investigation that had caused him so much upset. She was able to help him get out of his own head, no matter what. She didn’t realize just how good she was for him.

Hell. He hadn’t realized just how good she was for him.

“Mercy,” he finally choked out, still laughing.

She was straddling him, he suddenly noticed, her arms crossed under her chin on top of his chest, a wayward curl in front of her eye that she haphazardly blew at. It fluttered for a second, then fell back in her face. She was out of breath, warm and soft, and she smelled wonderful, like vanilla.

He wasn’t thinking when he reached out, moving the lock of hair out of her way, tucking it behind her ear. Then stroking her jawline gently, just a whisper of a touch, down her throat.

Her breath caught, and her eyes went wide, taking him in. Then, slowly, she tilted her weight forward, bringing her face closer to his, both hesitation and invitation.

He met her halfway, raising his head so his lips could touch hers, and he heard the tiny exhalation of relief and longing as she pressed harder, molding her body to his.

He gripped her harder, his hips moving slightly upward, his arms wrapping around her like he couldn’t bear to let her go. Her lips parted, and his tongue moved forward, twining with hers gently, advancing and retreating. It was possibly the hottest kiss of his life.

Then, as quickly as it started, it was over. She pulled back, looking startled.

“I... sorry,” she said, breathless. “I got caught up.” His body was hard as a rock when she scrambled off of him, her cheeks flaming with a rosy flush. “I... guess we should find the plans for the Reinia National hospital. So we know where to go, and where the records room is? And if there’s a way we can find out what the security protocols are, that’s probably helpful.”

He cleared his throat. “Sure. Yeah. Good idea.”

He was glad one of them was able to keep their eyes on the prize, he told himself. Because this was too important. He had to find his half-sister; that was, after all, why he’d gotten involved with Jane in the first place.

Not involved. You two are not involved.

He winced, grimacing at himself. No, he and Jane were just working together, keeping up a ruse so he could get to the truth. Then he’d face his family, and Jane?

Jane would leave. He’d probably never see her again.

He frowned, then grabbed his own laptop. He needed to keep that fact in mind... before he ruined what they were doing and stupidly believed in possibilities that were utterly impossible.