The Doctor Prince and the Outsider by Cami Checketts
1ST CHAPTER - THE NINJA PRINCE AND THE INVESTIGATOR
Chapter One
Ellery Monson kept one eye on Prince Derek August of Augustine as she worked her way through pull-up after pull-up after pull-up. Her arms trembled, her grip threatened to give out, her fingers cramped around the metal bar and she wondered if they’d ever straighten fully again. She could not quit and she prayed she didn’t look and smell as sweaty and disgusting as she felt, because he was walking her direction.
“You’ve got this,” Derek encouraged as he reached her side, ever the encouraging cheerleader for their crew of American Ninja Warrior trainees and hopefuls. Hoorah was an easy job for the ninja prince as he was the top ninja in the world currently, everyone liked him and wanted to be around him, and he must take sunshine pills for breakfast.
“You’re so impressive, my Beloved Boston Beauty,” he said, teasing her with the nickname the ninja warrior commentators had tagged her with. “Give me two more.”
She adored his lyrical accent, though she’d never tell him that.
Ellery was too spent to even give a teasing reply like the prince had come to expect from her. After Derek had gotten to know Ellery and her boss and fellow competitor Jason during the American Ninja Warrior finals throughout March, April, and May he’d moved to Boston and trained in their gym them.
She’d been initially and intensely drawn to him but though she loved to flirt and tease she’d maintained an emotional and physical distance, turning down every date and focusing on a professional relationship between them, despite the rumors around Boston and on social media.
She hoped they could push each other to even greater speed and success at the finals next year, not date like she secretly longed to. She didn’t have time to date anyone, she’d heard from Derek’s own lips, “Ellery is a challenge, and one I will win,” so she knew he was only after her for the win and he won at everything.
She couldn’t let him win her heart. She was no match for a prince. From her social status to her lack of higher education to the way she spoke and dressed she would think Derek would realize he should be pursuing any of the other thousand women chasing him around Boston.
She cranked out one more pullup, slowly, slowly pulling her body weight up. She lowered, letting her arms blessedly straighten and … she was spent. She couldn’t have pulled herself up if her mom’s life depended on it. Horrifically her mom’s life did. Ellery worked twelve hour days as a personal trainer, front desk girl, cleaner, whatever she could do to earn a buck at the exclusive ‘Warrior Gym’, fitting in her own training for America’s Ninja Warrior early in the morning and every spare minute she found.
Beating the Ninja Prince next May and winning the million dollars would mean she could pay off several medical bills, credit cards her mom didn’t know she’d used for medications they couldn’t afford, and stash away extra for her mom’s expensive MS medications, the seventeen-thousand dollar for ninety day BTK inhibitor was the worst hit and their crappy insurance definitely wasn’t paying for it.
She made great money when she had personal training clients but no trainer at the gym was booked twelve hours a day. She’d even been paid to do a couple of commercials during the ninja finals, which had helped a ton as she’d had to take work off, live in a hotel during competitions, and pay a neighbor girl to check on her mom when Aunt Elise was at work at the diner.
Sadly she’d been horrific at the commercials—too stiff and awkward—and nobody had asked her to do any more. Her mom thought she was so ‘beautiful, hard-working, and inspiring she should be a social media influencer’. That was all a laugh. The times she’d tried to do selfie videos were amazingly even more awful and uncomfortable than her commercial experiences. At least with the commercials somebody had told her what to say and they’d held the camera.
As it was, she could barely pay she and her mom’s rent in low-income housing in Chelsea, five miles north of the exclusive Beacon Hill area where the gym was, pay for her mom’s medicine and doctor’s visits, keep up on credit card and medical bills, and buy food. She’d never be able to save enough for the experimental treatments that might keep her mom from a wheelchair, and their health insurance didn’t cover nearly enough.
And the absolute stud of a princely man who won the million dollars in May, and donated it to Mothers without Borders without a second thought, was standing next to her as the weight of the world, and the weight of her own body, bore down on her. Discouragement weighed so heavy on her that her grip started to slip. She was going to drop and not complete the last pullup. She was going to fail. Her mom wouldn’t receive the treatments she needed and they’d be booted out of their apartment. Aunt Elise would let them live with her but in a one-bedroom it would be tight.
Firm, manly hands wrapped around her waist. “Come on, Ell. You don’t know the meaning of the word quit.”
How little he knew.
Derek didn’t exert too much pressure but just enough to help her creep up, up, up until her chin cleared the bar. She released the bar and he lowered her easily to the ground.
He kept his palms around her waist and didn’t step back. Her heart rate skyrocketed beyond what was safe for a woman who needed to stay detached and her stomach swooped. Those eyes were too blue for any woman’s sanity. Especially hers. She teased with him constantly and tried to pretend she wasn’t attracted to the gorgeous, wealthy, and confident prince.
“You’re unreal tough,” Derek said. “You inspire me every day.”
Why did he have to be so nice?
“And you inspire me,” she said, “To kick your butt in the finals next year.”
“Always so spicy.” Why didn’t he let her waist go? Fire burned from his fingers through her thin t-shirt and into her skin. His blue eyes lured her in and she felt herself swaying toward him. She needed water, a protein shake, and a taste of his lips.
He leaned down and those eyes become all-consuming.
“Hands off my top trainer, prince among men,” her boss and fellow competitor, Jason, teased as he walked passed.
Derek chuckled. The two men were close friends. Jason and his wife Presley owned the gym and she adored both of them.
Derek sadly did release her, took a step back, and inclined his head to Jason’s retreating form. “Jason, Presley, and I are going to grab some food. My treat. Can you come?” His eyes pled with her to say yes.
“No.” She shook her head quickly, wiping her face with a hand towel to avoid the quick flash of disappointment in his eyes. He’d school it quickly. He always did. How many times had she told him no—to lunch and dinner invites and a huge variety of fun date offers.
Free food she could use, spending more time with Derek … not a good idea. She saw his handsome face and fit body six days of the week. It was too much for her. The intense crush she’d initially had on him had morphed into friendship and deep-seated desire for more than friendship.
Luckily she knew her place and responsibilities in the world. She needed to run the five miles home before it got dark, and if it was a bad day make sure her mom ate and took her medications. MS was slowly robbing her mom of her physical functions and eventually would impair her mentally as well. The symptoms came and went so some days her mom could fix dinner, do laundry, and even clean a bit. Other days she didn’t get out of bed and her sister Aunt Elise would run over and help her get breakfast and lunch, but Aunt Elise worked from five to midnight most days at the nearby Denny’s.
“I’ll walk you out,” she offered.
“Very gallant of you,” he teased, a twinkle in his eyes.
“I’ve learned from the best, being constantly surrounded by royalty.”
He chuckled. “Don’t let the prince title fool you, I’m just a regular Joe.”
“Not with that accent you’re not.”
“I hate to reveal this to you, but everyone in my country shares this appealing accent.”
His deep voice and luscious accent were each so appealing, her pulse sped up from him walking up to her at the gym and saying something as simple as, ‘Are you finished with the cable machine?’ Add that special way he looked at her with those gorgeous blue eyes of his and she was in danger of falling for him and saying yes to one of the many invites he issued every day.
The other females at the gym thought she was playing hard to get. If they only knew she was impossible to ‘get’. She didn’t trust men or relationships and taking care of her mom, staying afloat financially, and winning the million dollar prize money was her life’s focus. Maybe after she won … No. She couldn’t think like that. Taking one day at a time was more than enough and dreams of dating the Ninja Prince would rob of her focus and her sanity.
She pivoted and walked toward the front entry. Derek stayed by her side, waving goodbye to fans and friends alike. He was so friendly. She wondered if other people knew that he had two Augustine security guards who were his constant shadows, as per his brother General Raymond August’s instructions.
Derek had shared a lot of his princely life with her, even the loss of his ‘mum’. She’d shared very little besides her mom had MS. He didn’t know her dad had left shortly after her mom’s diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. She’d been eight. He had a new family now. Somewhere in Ohio. She got a phone call that she tolerated after she won a televised event. Apparently her half-sister Chelsea was a fan. She’d never met the twelve year old girl, or been invited to visit her dad and his family. When she was younger and had naively asked if she could come see him, he’d gotten uncomfortable and said it would be too hard on his wife. Maybe he’d learned something over the years as leaving his first wife as a single mom with no skills or income and a debilitating chronic illness hadn’t seemed to be too hard on him.
Nobody, especially not Derek, knew the pressure she felt to provide, or the stress knotted inside her gut.
Grabbing two water bottles from the fridge behind the receptionist desk, Derek handed her one.
“Thank you.” She took a long swallow.
“Anything for you milady,” he said, his blue eyes piercing and saying he meant it—he’d do anything for her.
Would he kiss her? Her entire body heated up at the thought. Good heavens. She didn’t except ‘anything’ offers from any man. Even if he was a prince. She knew if she asked he’d help her financially. It was just the type of guy he was. Wealthy didn’t begin to describe the prince’s financial portfolio. Not only was his family insanely wealthy but he had endorsements and sponsors and she’d heard YouTube alone paid him half a million last year. No wonder he donated his championship winnings to charity.
No way, no how was she asking any man for financial help. She had ‘daddy issues’ nobody could understand. She and Pastor Miles tried to work through them on occasion. To date it hadn’t been very effective. More faith would certainly help.
All she knew was she wasn’t trusting her future to any man, no matter how perfect he seemed. She’d tortured herself with the home videos and pictures from her parents ten years of marriage. Her dad had appeared to be a perfect gentleman and a committed husband. Until he’d left.
“Bye Prince Derek,” Alecia rushed back to her station at the front desk with a stack of clean hand towels in hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She blinked prettily at him, hope and desire oozing from her tone.
“Good evening.” Derek inclined his head to Alecia and then held the door for Ellery. They walked out into a warm summer evening. She’d be sweating even more running in the heat and humidity than she had been from Derek’s words and look.
Sipping the water bottle, she knew she shouldn’t wait for Jason to find Presley and walk out, or they’d all try to convince her to go to dinner with them. Women literally flung themselves at Prince Derek, she had no clue why he kept asking her to go. He turned down constant offers from beautiful women, many who frequented the high-dollar gym just to see him. Jason teased that his friend was great for business.
“How’s your mom feeling?” Derek asked.
Always so considerate.
“Yesterday was a good day. We’ll see when I get home.” Her mom didn’t want to ‘hamper’ Ellery so she didn’t let her check in during the day. She always tried to push Ellery to live her life, date, go have fun, but Ellery refused. Her mom had taken care of her, with MS, working as a dental assistant during the day and cleaning offices at night until she had to quit her day job and Ellery was mostly doing the commercial cleaning by herself by the time she graduated high school. She would never leave her mom or let her down like her dad had.
“I hope it’s a good day.”
“Thank you.”
She glanced askance at him. He rubbed at his jaw. His tell that he was nervous. Her stomach pitched and she felt nervous as well. What was he nervous about? The perfect prince and reigning champ had nothing to be nervous about. He was on top of the world, and Ellery was at the bottom of the garbage heap.
His security guards were down the street a bit, blending in with some foot traffic waiting for hot peanuts.
“Can you walk with me to my car?” he asked.
“Sure.” She should’ve said no. She should’ve taken off. Instead she fell into step with him around the corner to where he parked his shiny, navy blue Bugatti Divo. It was an exquisite low-slung sports car. She’d Googled it once. Five point four million dollars. In a vehicle. She couldn’t believe he parked it on the streets of Boston. But Beacon Hill was the wealthiest area around and what did he care if it got damaged? He’d just buy another one. And she couldn’t even afford to buy a bar of Lindt chocolate for a special treat.
They stopped at his car. He turned to her, and the look in his eyes was inspiring and terrifying at the same time. Whatever he wanted to ask her … he wasn’t going to take her standard no for an answer. Her heart raced out of control. She clutched her hands together.
“Everybody believes you and I are a couple.”
It was a statement, but she still felt the need to treat it like a question.
“Nah. I’m sure the show encourages the rumors to up ratings. Don’t let them get in your head and stress you out, your better than that.” She teased and grinned.
His blue eyes were piercing, he took a step toward her, and he didn’t take up the tease.
She backed up, unfortunately running into his car with her lower back and legs and setting off the alarm. She jumped.
Derek quickly pushed the button to silence the car and dropped his keys back into his pocket. He stepped closer again, resting his palm behind her on the car’s hood. His body brushed against hers and the summer evening had nothing on the heat inside of her.
She glanced around, needing an out. His security guards looked to be nonchalantly chatting as they ambled past them. They’d be back. The rest of the area was too quiet. Where were Jason and Presley? Had he set this up with them to give him a minute to ask his question?
Looking back at him, she went weak in the knees at the vision of his blue eyes hyper-focused on her.
“I am ‘stressed’ about it,” he said in that lyrical accent, deep and smooth and mouth-watering. “Stressed about us dating actually.” His smile was warm and inviting. How could she say no to that smile?
He held up his free hand. “Before you say no about agreeing to date me, when regrettably you’ve never even agreed to dinner.” His smile was charming and she should’ve escaped but she didn’t want to. “I want to ask you something.” He paused and she nodded, leaning against his overpriced car for support. “Are we friends?”
“Yes,” she managed.
“Can I ask a favor of you, as a friend?”
He knew she wouldn’t agree to dating, even if he had no clue her reasons.
“Yes.” She sighed heavily and dramatically. “I’ll drive your Bugatti … if you insist.” She held out her hand for the keys.
He barked out a surprised laugh and quickly fished the keys out of his pocket, placing them in her hand and wrapping his hand around hers. “I insist. Where are we going on a drive?”
She shook her head. She should’ve realized he would react like that. “I was teasing.” She turned her hand over, dropped the keys into his palm, and yanked her hand back. They were so close she couldn’t tellingly wrap her hand around the one he’d held and somehow preserve that feeling. “I don’t have a driver’s license.”
His eyes widened. “You don’t … why?”
She shrugged, her defenses rising. Who would’ve taught her how to drive and who would’ve paid for the fees? If she was in dire straights now throughout childhood and teenage years she’d lived in abject poverty.
“Public transportation or my own legs work just fine,” she said shortly, hating that she was short with him when he was always so kind to her. “Now what favor do you have? I need to get home before it’s dark.”
“Let me drive you home.”
“No,” she all but growled at him. This Bugatti in her neighborhood? Laughable. His car would be hauled off to the black market or stripped and sold piece meal before even his tough security guards could intervene. “Please ask this all-important favor so I can get my run in.” She couldn’t say yes to him. Why was she encouraging him to ask?
“I don’t think you need one more run,” he said softly, searching her face. He was such a gentleman she’d never caught him checking out her body or anybody else’s for that matter. So impressive.
“When I’m the champion and you’re in third place, then you can tell me not to get an extra run in.” She gave him a saucy stare.
He smiled and shook his head.
“What’s the favor, Derek?” she asked. She loved saying his name and from the way his blue eyes lit up he liked it too. She loved that she was comfortable enough she didn’t have to call him Prince Derek. That a wealthy prince was pressed against her and his millions-of-dollar’s car blew her mind.
“Ellery …” He returned the favor, and then some. Her name on his beautiful lips in that sensual accent … yummy. “Would you come to Augustine with me for Ray and Macey’s wedding?”
Her stomach dropped out. Her palms got clammy. Her heart raced. She needed to run away, and now. He still had her pinned against the car.
Instead of shoving her way free, she stared up at him and envisioned what he was asking … Go to an enchanted castle for the private wedding of his prince brother in the most beautiful spot she’d ever seen pictures of.
Most of all, go with him? Holding hands, walking together, talking together, training together, kissing? Her stomach pitched the other direction.
“As your stiffest ninja competition?” She tried to tease but she was a mess clear through.
“You definitely are that.” He studied her. “But I’d love for you to come as my girlfriend as well. My family would all love you.”
“I … I …” Their gazes locked and she lost all reason when he looked at her as if she was his entire world. She couldn’t be his girlfriend, or his world. She couldn’t leave her mom. It had been a nightmare to leave her for competitions all spring. She couldn’t take time off work. It was all a no. “I don’t have a passport,” she squeaked out the first excuse that came to her mind.
Derek chuckled, raised his hand, and tenderly ran his knuckles along her jawline. She quivered from head to toe at the simple touch. “If that’s your only excuse you’ll need a better one. I’m a prince, remember? Your government will rush the paperwork at my request.”
Of course they would. Derek didn’t throw around his princely status, one of the many reasons she was drawn to him, but he could surely call in favors everywhere, even with the U.S. Passport Office.
She on the other hand couldn’t call in favors anywhere. She had no support beyond her mom and Aunt Elise. Everybody at work and in their elite ninja training group seemed to like her, but she kept her distance emotionally and they thankfully returned the favor.
“I have no idea what excuse you’ll accept,” she admitted.
“Don’t give me one then.” He leaned closer and her body filled with liquid heat. “Come with me, Elle … please.”
Ellery wanted to cave. She wanted to go anywhere with this man. But reality and her responsibilities were always forefront in her mind. “I can’t take the time off work.”
Derek deflated. He was enough of a gentleman to know how bullheaded she was about anyone paying her way, but especially men. She’d never even let him take her to dinner though he did bring her snacks and takeout often, and she accepted as graciously as she could.
“I’m assuming you won’t allow me to help you out financially?” he asked softly.
“You assume correctly.” Her back stiffened. “I need to go.”
He nodded and straightened away from her, his jaw tight, his muscular body even tighter. “Will you please think on the request?” he asked. “The wedding is on July twentieth, a week from Saturday. We could fly through the night Friday and return early Monday morning. My plane is very comfortable and you’d only miss one day of work. Your mom is welcome to come with us as well.”
She stared at him. Inviting her mom. Was he nuts? Neither of them would fit in at some fancy wedding. They each had a couple of passable Sunday dresses. The thought of what she’d need to wear to a wedding like that … impossible.
Yet from what she’d seen on social media, the bride, Macey, and his other sister-in-law, Aliya came from humble circumstances.
She wanted to explore his gorgeous country, his gorgeous castle, his gorgeous lips.
Instead she shook her head and then nodded and then threw her hands up in the air. “I’ll think about it,” she conceded, though she knew she wouldn’t. She wasn’t going to leave her mom. She wasn’t going to pretend she was dating a prince and fly to his home and attend a royal wedding on his arm, wearing a comfortable knit dress from Walmart next to his Brioni suit. What a joke.
He rubbed at his jaw and that arm flexed. It was quite an arm.
No. She backed away, lifted a hand in farewell, ignored the beseeching look on his handsome face, turned, and ran. If only she could outrun the picture of those blue eyes in her mind. If only she could outrun his kindness, patience, and allure.
She ran faster.
* * *
Find the Ninja Prince and the Investigator on Amazon.
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The Royal Major and the Personal Trainer
The Impulsive Princess and the Soldier