Book 3 || Taming Prince Charming || Harry Styles

Chapter 17

Her view.

Tarquin runs over to the group and gives a couple of girls a hug and then steps back.
"This is Cassidy, everyone. Harry's fiancé."
"Hi." I smile at the group in front of me.
There are three boys and three girls, all looking at me with curious expressions.
"Hi." A tall brunette with beautiful big brown eyes steps forward. "I'm Kendall. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
I freeze as her eyes look into mine with a stony expression that doesn't match her tone.
"So you're the famous Cassidy." She looks me up and down and smiles sweetly. "Not what I expected. At all." She steps back and then walks over to Tarquin and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Where have you been, Tarq? I've missed you."
"My parents have me at the palace with aunt Anne and uncle Desmond to help around the palace now that Louis' kicking back in London."
"He's so lucky. I can't believe they let him go."

Another boy with dark brown hair speaks up. "I've been working at my father's law firm for the last six months. I told him that I needed time off to work on the band, but he just won't listen."
"Mother told me I need to go to Switzerland for finishing school." A girl with long red hair speaks up. "I told her there's nothing that needs finishing about me. She said that obviously there was because I didn't have a husband yet." She rolls her eyes. "As if I need a husband. At my age!"
Everyone nods their agreement and then look at me for a quick second with an embarrassed smile.
"How old is everyone?" I ask politely, not wanting to be a bitch.
"We're all twenty and twenty-one, except for Kendall, she's twenty-three." Tarquin answers.
"I'm the odd one out." Her voice is sharp as she gazes at me. Her fingers play with her long brown hair and she shakes her head back and forth.
"I'm not royalty, not related to royalty, and my parents don't have any money." She smiles at me. "You could say I'm the odd one out of the group."
"Don't be silly, Ken." Tarquin rubs her shoulder. "You're the queen of the group."
"That's true." She grins.

I stare at her slender figure. She's wearing a pair of white shorts and a flimsy black top that shows her flat stomach. She stretches and her top moves up her body, close to exposing her braless breasts.
"How did you guys meet?" I ask curiously.
Kendall doesn't seem to be the sort of girl who would normally hang out with someone like Tarquin.
"Well, I--" Kendall begins with a huge smile.
"We met through Louis." Tarquin cuts her off and grabs my hand. "Come, let's go grab some food. Louisa's cooks make the best croquet-monsieurs, and you just have to try one."
"Okay." I nod and I can see that Kendall is displeased at being cut off.
A part of me wonders what she was going to say.
Maybe she dated Louis and it ended badly. Maybe that's the reason why he's in London.

"So how do you like everyone so far?" Tarquin asks me excitedly, his whole demeanor changes as we reach a wooden table filled with food.
"I haven't really met anyone. I don't know how I feel." I say as I reach for a glass. That isn't technically true. I already know that I don't like Kendall, but I'm not going to say anything as it will look more like petty jealousy.
"Oh." Tarquin looks disappointed. "Everyone's so excited you're here. We all want to get to know more about you."
"Get to know more about me or me and Harry?" I say finally and pause for a second. "If it's the latter, I'm not sure they'll be getting the info that they need." I'm starting to feel really annoyed. Is it really such a stretch that Harry would be with someone like me? It's starting to feel quite offensive. Everyone is saying how lucky I am to get Harry, but I haven't really heard anyone saying how lucky Harry is to have me. Granted, I'm not a princess, but I think I am a pretty good catch. I'm pretty, I'm fun, and I'm smart. He's lucky that he has me as a fake fiancé. I'm not even sure if Harry appreciates how lucky he is either, which makes me feel even more used.

"I'm sure they want to know about you and also how you and Harry met and all that good stuff."
"I'm not in the mood. I'm not going to be talking about Harry and me." I shake my head and take the plate he offers me.
"Did anyone ask you to talk about Harry?" A feminine voice says behind me, and I turn around. Kendall is standing there with a disgruntled look on her face. "You're not the only girl he's been with and I, for one, doubt you'll be the last." Kendall looks me up and down. "I'm sure that you're just a rebound for him as he's trying to get over his ex."
"What ex?" I say, and immediately regret it when I see Kendall grinning at me.
"He didn't tell you about his last girlfriend? The girl he wanted to marry?" She raises an eyebrow. "She's the reason why he went to London to teach." She smiles and runs her hands through her hair again before giving me an evil smile. "Oh well, least said, soonest mended. That's what you folks on the farm say, right?"
"The farm?" I frown.
"Oh, you're not from a farm?" She looks at my clothes pointedly. "I thought that was why you had such poor fashion sense."
"You thought I was from a farm?"
"What other reason would you have for wearing those clothes?" She asks me softly and I freeze. I realize she's trying to wind me up and insult me. A part of me doesn't want to take it. A part of me wants to slap her hard. That would take the satisfied look off of her face, but I know that isn't really something I can do. I know that word would get back to the palace and everything will be twisted. It will become a story about me being violent and hitting some poor innocent girl. And that would be just another reason of why I'm good enough for Harry.

"Kendall, leave Cassidy alone. She'll think you don't like her if you keep that up." Tarquin frowns at her and she shrugs.
"Oh, I guess we don't want her to think that now, do we?" She laughs lightly and leans forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You know I'm just a little pussycat."
"Yes, I do." He grins and I can tell from his indulgent look that he's enamored with her. He's definitely not someone I can bitch to about Kendall. I'll have to call Anna when I get home. I know she'll understand.