"I'm sorry about this," Jasper lamented as he led her down the staircase. "It's just that Marcus saw me sneak you in, and never saw you uh … leave."

Eleanor shot him a dirty look. He had no idea what he had done.

His fellow employees, many of whom she suspected were naturalized British subjects- her subjects- would take one look at her and call bullshit.

Was Jasper really that daft? If, by some miracle, they did not immediately recognize her or hit her with an 'oh my god, has anybody ever told you that you look exactly like Princess Eleanor?!' she was going to have to keep her story straight. "You'll definitely be making this up to me later, Jasper. You could have at least brought me a drink before conning me into meeting your coworkers!"

Jasper laughed, but didn't offer her any further response before grasping her wrist and forcing her to stop on the small landing just before the foot of the stairs. Turning to face her, his smile faltered upon the realization that the poorly-veiled apprehension in her voice was genuine. She wasn't smiling. "How about I make you a drink instead? I know I've ruined some of your day, but the way you were saying my name earlier made it sound like you might have forgiven me."

His fingers released her wrist before trailing up her bare forearm to rest cup her elbow. "We don't have to stay late. I don't want to stay here any more than I have to," his voice lowered to just above a whisper, his blue eyes bore deeply into her own in the dim light and Eleanor couldn't find the strength to look away. He seized the opportunity to continue. "Or, I can take you home."

That was something she hadn't expected. An unexpected turn. He was more careful. She could swear he almost sounded sad.

"No!" exclaimed Eleanor. She was sure her eyes must have transformed from green to black in alarm. There was absolutely no way that she would allow him to drive her home, or call one of those Uber things. Eleanor knew she couldn't bring him back to the palace with her; her entire family would eat him alive without flinching. Besides, he was still completely unaware to her real identity.

Dealing with Robert was one thing.

Dealing with the press if they were to get caught was another circle of hell they would have to endure all together. 'The Princess' new mysterious American beau!' She could see the headlines now. D-Throned had eyes and ears everywhere. Crenshaw had built his empire on destroying her family with his salacious expose's designed to feed his base; their favourite meal was insider scoop served hot. This particular insider turned out to be the Queen Mother herself; a stipulation of sorts from a lucrative arrangement that she finessed from the gossip rag to keep her name in a good light. "I mean, no, you can't come home with me," she tried to clarify, but was failing miserably. Telling him she still lived at home sounded oddly pathetic, even if she did have an entire wing of Buckingham Palace to herself these days.

Her cheeks were burning up with each passing second, and naturally the bastard smirked before squeezing her hand reassuringly. "If you want me to leave you outside of Harrods so your driver can collect you, just say the word."

Eleanor eyed him suspiciously. "Why is it we must have a drink here, then?"

To her surprise, he pulled back and shifted his weight uncomfortably. "The women … the sales girls," he tried awkwardly. "Harper, really. She won't stop. She thinks I'm playing hard to get when the reality is I-"

Before she could stop herself, she burst out laughing. He wanted to use her as a scapegoat because he was tired of being chased by an annoying bitch downstairs.

In hindsight, fucking so quickly probably was not part of his original plan, but it was definitely part of his endgame- just as it had been hers. It had been since Eleanor first laid eyes on him through the shop window; as if he himself were the most precious item in the bloody building. The way that he was looking at her right now was making her feel like it was she was the precious jewel he was protecting. Even if he didn't know it, Jasper Frost was doing a fine job of guarding her body with his own.

The thought only made her smirk widen.

He was staring at her with both eyebrows raised waiting for her to explain her outburst.

"Let me get this straight," she began once she collected herself. "You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend so a shop assistant will stop pestering you?" Her tone was full of mock seriousness as she flung her long hair over her shoulder.

"I said nothing about a girlfriend," he dismissed.

"But that's what you were implying, wasn't it Jasper?" Eleanor shot back, folding her arms across her chest.

"Are you always this stubborn? Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Matilda, will you please pretend to be my date-"

"-girlfriend-" she corrected.

"Girlfriend," Jasper repeated, reaching for her intently to bring her back into his embrace. "Just enough to get her off my back. Please,"

"And you'll get me on mine later if you're lucky," replied Eleanor as she reached up to run her thumb along his rough cheek.

"Oh, I intend to," he whispered huskily against her ear; his lips grazed along her hair as his hand moved from its place on her waist to roughly cup her backside before he spun her towards the exit.

Jasper's hand was quick to rise from her ass to the small of her back as he pushed the door open. They were immediately greeted by a round of 'hellos' and surprised looks from nearly every set of eyes in the room.

"Told you he snuck a woman upstairs!" a faceless, loud-whisper rang out over the chatter.

Immediately, Eleanor's jaw dropped as she turned to Jasper, whose fingers had since gone rigid against her back.

"Thank you Marcus," Jasper was quick to retort through gritted teeth; Eleanor, meanwhile, took the opportunity to chance a quick look around the room; her body was tense with apprehension.

All it would take was one lingering glance…

"Not that it's any of your concerns, this is my friend, Matilda Roberts."

"How about that drink, friend?" she murmured. Eleanor placed her hand on his arm

"It would be my pleasure," he agreed as both of their eyes honed in on an open bottle of Grey Goose was sitting on a nearby display case.

Thankfully, the windows at the front of the store had a grate over the front for security, thus keeping them shielded from the prying eyes of the public and their smartphones. For the first time since this whole ordeal began, Eleanor felt like she could relax and have some real fun.

"It's Matilda, right?" The leggy dark haired woman Jasper had raised an eyebrow to earlier was now at her side. More than once had she caught her staring at them. Only now that Jasper left her side to use the bathroom did she find it the right time to strike.

"Yes, hello," she lifted her red plastic cup to her lips as they locked eyes. The other woman stuck her hand out and Eleanor stared at it. Did she honestly-

"I'm Harper. Harper Day, I'm the assistant store manager." Harper seized the opportunity to introduce herself, and Eleanor realized that yes, she was going to have to shake this woman's hand and pretend to be impressed by her assertion of dominance. This had to be the bint Jasper was desperate to pry away from his dick.

Seizing her hand and gripping it firmly, Eleanor smiled sweetly. "Pleasure," she replied.

"So, how did you meet Frosty?"

Eleanor blinked and stared at her. Was she that fucking stupid? Or was she trying to be funny? Frosty? As in Frosty the Snowman? "Excuse me?" she replied incredulously, pulling her hand back.

"How did you meet Jasper? Jasper Frost?" Harper laughed, although it didn't quite meet her eyes. "A poor play on words, I guess. He's usually so stoic; I'm dying to know how it is you two met. He's never mentioned anyone before."

Eleanor fought the urge to roll her eyes; this one was really laying it on thick. Perhaps if she played dumb enough with this Harper, she could convince her to let it slip what was in the basement vaults that she could make a pitch for with Jasper later.

Later, after she sexed him into a coma. After she sexed him into such a heightened state of bliss and contentment, she would reveal her true-self to him.

"It was a spur of the moment type thing," she said, offering her a brief smile before reaching for the bottle of vodka behind her. She had been raised to drink alongside men; choosing to splash it over ice instead of mixing. Eleanor could feel the other woman's eyes on her as she mixed her drink.

"On Tinder?" Harper inquired bluntly.

Eleanor averted her eyes and bit her lip. "Mm…" she hummed, "yes, that. Jasper and I met on the Tinder; he's only told me his last name the few times," she lied hastily.

"Clearly I'm looking in the wrong post code," she winked reaching to tuck a lock of her short, wavy brown hair behind her ear."Where is it you live?"

"SW1," replied Eleanor distractedly. She cast a look over her shoulder, and she could see that Jasper had finally made his reappearance, and was talking to the man he had introduced as Marcus. "Excuse me," she added, and spun around with her drink still clutched tightly in her hands, determined to make her way to his side once again.

She could see why Jasper wasn't fond of lingering.

"...we met in Harrods on my break-"

He hadn't noticed her yet because he had his back to her, but she could hear the conversation between the two men. Eleanor stepped to the side, and hid herself alongside a tall antique display case that housed an assortment of heavy diamond necklaces.

Marcus choked on his drink.

Eleanor held hers so tight the plastic began to crack under pressure..

"Have you gone mad, mate? You just met this girl and decided to bring her back here? Did you pay her off to pry Harper from your cock?"

Her eyes widened.

Although she couldn't see it, the same astonished expression was mirrored on Jasper's face. His fist slammed down on the glass display case he was leaning against. She flinched.

"Jesus, Marcus. Have some fucking respect, will you? I ran into her when I was on the phone. she was at the front of the Starbucks line, so I used her to cut in. Matilda's so fucking gorgeous I couldn't not ask her to have a coffee," he explained once he had calmed himself down. She was thankful that he was glossing over the more finer details of their meeting. Details she would make sure they both took to the grave. "And then, her purse was stolen, and I felt bad so I told her she could hang out in my office and I would drive her home."

Marcus chuckled. "I'm sure you will, Jasper. I'm sure you will."

"Starting to regret coming here, you know. I should have just gone to New York," he groaned.

She had heard enough.

Stepping out from her hiding spot, Eleanor cleared her throat as she moved into Jasper's side. He moved to adjust sling his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close.

"The damsel in distress herself," Marcus chuckled, raising his cup to her in a mock toast before taking a long drink from the cup. His gaze remained unwavering the entire time as Jasper scowled in silence next to him. "What is you do again, Matilda? You look familiar. Have you been in here before? You have such an elegant neck; any of our pieces in here would look stunning on you," his tone lowered as his free hand ghosted over his own collarbone for further emphasis. "Don't you agree, Mr. Frost?"

Jasper's hand tensed on her shoulder. Was he really going to hit on her right in front of him?

"Oh, no. I haven't stepped foot in here for nearly 5 years. My father commissioned a ti- a … necklace for my birthday. Family set, only girl … you know how rich people can be," she replied, attempting to remain vague.

"The rich do love their diamonds," laughed Marcus. "On the downlow- several historic pieces will be coming out of the vaults. Tiaras that were once possessed by Russian and German monarchies- pre-war, might I add- were updated and given to our royal family on loan for the Snow Ball at the palace. Gifts for his wife and sister. How kind. Also kind of them for allowing Mr. Frost here to use his own security at the event too. Thanks to King Robert's generosity, we've all gotten sizable bonus' this holiday!"

"To King Robert!" He hollered out suddenly, raising his cup.

"LONG LIVE THE KING!" A cheery, broken chorus broke out throughout the store mingled with several loud exclamations of 'hear hear!'.

Eleanor blinked in surprise; this was news to her. Robbie hadn't said a single bloody thing about giving her a tiara to wear. "Is that so," she said interestedly; Jasper slid his hand down her arm to rest on her waist to pull her attention back to him.

"How about I go and grab our coats?" said Jasper suddenly; his voice was suspiciously low, nonetheless Eleanor had an idea as to what- nay, whom- his eyes were focused on over her shoulder. "Stay here and finish your drink with Marcus," he told here. There was no room for argument.

Eleanor laid a dainty hand on his chest, and took a half-step towards him. "We really should get going, Jas-pah. We do have those reservations," she agreed, arching an eyebrow.

"Right," agreed Jasper, playing along. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she reached forward to boldly wrap a hand around the nape of his neck to pull him in close, and pressed her lips firmly to his.

It was obvious that the action had caught him off guard. For a fraction of a second, his lips remained stiff and unyielding beneath hers before he returned her kiss; drawing her bottom lip between his teeth. A ghost of tongue.

In that moment, time seemed infinite and neither she nor Jasper cared that they were putting on a display in front of all of his co-workers for the sake of one. In those few moments she had interacted with the other woman, Eleanor felt territorial. In her eyes, if he truly wanted Harper, he would have gone for it by now. Jasper Frost was a sickeningly handsome man who exuberated confidence and it would be hard for any right minded man or woman to not want to shoot their shot.

Unfortunately for all of them, including the man himself, she was a Princess.

Eleanor was the Princess, and she didn't ever not get what she wanted.

As quickly as he accepted her kiss, he ended it. She reluctantly admitted to herself that was for the best; discretion was key at this point. The little bit of sky she had seen earlier was dark and her bodyguard, James, would definitely know she had slipped him by now. It wasn't the first time she had done it and likely wouldn't be the last, but they had an understanding. He would give her the space she wanted. All she had to do was

things became too heated and they began to make a spectacle of themselves, Eleanor knew he would well make it up to her later.

Assuring her he would be right back, he squeezed her hand, and took off across the store to head back to his tiny office.

Eleanor cleared her throat and took a long pull from her vodka soda. She was disinclined to turn her attention back to Marcus, but she was left with no choice. With Jasper gone and several pairs of eyes now on her, she couldn't afford to let everything fall apart now.

"How did you and Jasper meet?" she asked innocently. Eleanor assumed Jasper's spot next to the display case, hoping that he believed their facade was real enough to spill the tea on his so-called 'mate'.

"Harry, our former head of security, decided he wanted to retire right before the holidays. The bloody bugger supposed to go in February. I'm actually his second. I didn't want the job. Too stressful. My wife Gemma and I are having a baby now. So we had to bring someone in quick, and that someone turned out to be Jasper. He wanted a transfer out of the Vegas location. So he came overseas to talk to the manager for the position. Grumpiest bugger I've ever set my eyes on," Marcus began. There was a soft twinkle in his eye as he recalled the memory; almost as if he were sharing a private joke with himself over the incident.

"Jasper?" exclaimed Eleanor in surprise.

"Mmhmm," he confirmed. "I saw his CV. Smart as a whip. He got an MBA from one of those big schools in the States. Used to do security operations on the strip, apparently. He later said it was making him miserable watching crooks and cons from behind a screen and that's how he ended up at Harry Winston."

"So Jasper is from Las Vegas?" she said interestedly. A place she had been barred from. Only she, though. Her brothers were allowed. Her mother had been mortified that it was going to be her royal beaver on the cover of the American tabloids, but instead it was Liam, and his crown jewels. Liam and his friends had gone on an excursion. He was shady about what his ultimate destination was to the King and Queen; they would never approve. They were barely allowed to go to Monte Carlo as it were. Fortunately Albert, the Crown Prince of Monaco, was a close family friend and was always more than kind to keep their names out of his papers if the Henstridge Monarchy returned the favour.

Somehow, someone- in the haze of all the liquor and drugs- thought that it would be a good idea for the lot of them to play strip snooker.

Naturally, camera phones were involved and no less than ten hours later was her brother's untoned, royal ass all over the papers.

Eleanor smiled at the memory. For the first time in a long time, the wrath of Queen Helena Henstridge had not been focused on her.

"Yup," he confirmed, narrowing his eyes. "Didn't tell you that yet, huh?"

"I just assumed he was from New York," she replied dismissively. "I told that one we met on Tinder, though. Right, so Jasper. Grumpy. Guy from Vegas who likes protecting things," She flicked her eyes over in Harper's direction.

"He was headhunted by corporate in NYC. They wanted him there, in a bigger job. But he said no. Said Samantha didn't want to move."

Her eyebrows shot up in alarm. "Samantha?"

Samantha was a name she definitely did not recall hearing him say before.

Marcus cleared his throat, suddenly looking uncomfortable. Perhaps he had said too much. They both knew that this wasn't his story to tell, but it was too late now.

"Well," he began, lowering his voice. "They were supposed to be married. He used to work for her father, until he quit. She hung around a little bit longer, until money started getting tighter because they were no longer living for free under her father's roof. She shows up at the store one day, and tells him she didn't sign on for some guy who thinks protecting diamonds was a worthwhile career. Didn't matter if he was happier or not. And that, as they say, was that. Just before Christmas."

Eleanor drainked the rest of the contents of her cup and set it down on the shelf next to her. "So," she frowned, "she just left?"

"Rumour has it, he went back to her place to get his shit, and his dad was there..."

"No!" she exclaimed, clasping a hand over her mouth. In shock or disgust, she wasn't completely sure.

Marcus nodded his head solemnly. "It wasn't pretty. So, he came here and took Harry's job. Wanted to get as far away from them as he could, I think. Mostly keeps to himself and organizes shipments and transports and oversees everything here. I wouldn't want to be the bastard who ever crosses him, I'll tell you that, Ms. Roberts."

"I don't even want to know what you've been telling her," Jasper's voice rang out from behind her. Eleanor snapped her neck around to see him striding towards her wearing his own jacket, completely buttoned with his leather messenger bag slung across his chest as he held her trench and bag securely in his arms.

Eleanor couldn't help the wide, wicked grin that spread across her face as he approached them. Setting her bag down on top of the display case, he held her jacket up for her to slide her arms into. "Thank you," she said gratefully.

"My pleasure," he said lowly against her ear as he helped her pull her long, dark hair over the collar.

"I can't wait to hear the actual story of how you two met someday. I'm totally not buying the 'we just met in Harrods' story. Nope. Not at all," Marcus shook his head at the sight of them.

"You'll be disappointed," Jasper winked as she lifted her bag over her head and adjusted it across her body. "I'm famished, babe. I'm sure there are better places with better drinks."

Marcus scoffed, and then drained his own cup and slammed it down. "I should be going myself, I don't want to leave Gemma alone too late."

The two of them rushed through a half-wave of a goodbye- the kind of departure her mother would have been mortified to see in such a place- and were finally released into the cool London evening.

Eleanor exhaled loudly as Jasper steered them down the street. Their destination was unclear to her, but he was holding her hand all the same.

"It's mild. We can take a walk down along the South Bank," she suggested. "There's a Christmas market with all sorts of food stalls and pop up restaurants."

"Hmm," Jasper hummed next to her. "That is conveniently close to my condo."

"That's all the more reason for us to go then, isn't it? You did say you wanted to see more of the city. Marcus said you're a workaholic and that's why it was such a shock for you to be the company of anybody, let alone somebody as fucking gorgeous as me," she continued, squeezing his hand.

"Heard that, did you?"

She smiled sweetly as his icy blue gaze cast a quick look in her direction. His expression might have been stoic, but Eleanor swore that she could see the edges of his ears tinge a shade of pink that could only be associated with embarrassment. "Come on," she lamented. "I could have said no. I wanted to have coffee with you. I thought you were hot."

"Were?" he cocked an eyebrow.

"Shut up," she said dismissively and bumped his shoulder with hers before her tone became serious. "I see what you're doing, Jasper. because I do it. I throw myself into my work to make myself forget too. Marcus told me that you were a grump when you first arrived here."

He chuckled, although the lopsided smile on his face didn't quite meet his eyes. Jasper used his free hand to reach up and run his fingers through his coarse, blonde hair. "Some days, it feels like I'm banging my head against a wall. No matter what I do. No matter how hard I work. It's hard to be chipper when you haven't felt like getting up in the morning."

She and Jasper fell into a comfortable silence, each mulling the impact of his words.

When she and Beck broke up, all she wanted to do was disappear. She wanted to take off to Paris. Her instinct was always Paris.

But this time, Robbie was the King of England, not their father.

Robbie knew first hand how self-destructive she used to be, and her nightlife in Paris played a large role in that. How many male models had she been spotted with and linked to? In more ways than one?

Robbie forbade her to leave the country without his permission. That he would not stand for that anymore. He wasn't going to lose his baby sister to that lifestyle, and a rigorous, royal schedule combined with planning an entire charity ball should have been more than enough to keep Her Highness occupied.

It didn't matter how hard she worked; her heart was still lonely. Work would never be able to fill the void that had been there longer than she wanted to admit to.

Jasper was brave. He took the opportunity to start over. To give himself a fresh start away from everything that was causing him stress.

A second chance.

She envied him.

True freedom was something she would never experience. Right now, however, she had a taste. A taste that was making her feel things in her stomach, and it wasn't because he rearranged her insides earlier although it was certainly a perk.