"No, of course you are right, but I bet you're the only graduate student in this complex."
He shrugged again, uncaring if she was right, or not. The few friendly acquaintances he'd made in the master's program lived elsewhere. Where any of the other students lived was of no interest to him.
"So, I got a disturbing phone call today."
"Did you?" And why was she telling him?
"Yes. I have friends in a lot of areas of journalism."
"Good for you."
She gave him a wry look. "Don't be a smartass, Tor, I mean Your Highness."
"You could call me Prince Tor."
"I could." She shook her head. "Look, that's not important. The friend that called works for a tabloid."
"And he's your friend?" Tor asked with disgust he made no effort to hide.
"Yes, she is. It's helpful to have friends in that part of the industry, especially when the woman I think of as a sister has a high public profile."
"If you say so."
"I do. And it worked in your favor this time."
"My favor?" he asked with disbelief.
"Yes, yours. Look, I don't know how to tell you this without hurting you."
"Hurting me?" he scoffed. "Not likely."
Blythe frowned. "Lisette, the girl you've been dating, she's offered an exclusive to the tabloid my friend works for."
Fury rolled through Tor, but he kept it locked inside. "Lisette and I never dated."
"Hooked up, whatever."
"We never did that either." Yes, he'd been thinking about it.
Tor had gone as far as to talk to Else about announcing that while they were still close, they would both be seeing other people.
"That's not what Lisette told the reporter."
"I see."
"I'm not sure you do. Because of your relationship with Else Kirkson, this could cause a really ugly scandal."
"Did you tell Holger?" Tor asked, trying to work out why Blythe was there and why he hadn't already gotten an irate phone call from his kingly brother.
"I came to you first."
That surprised him.
"We need to get the palace PR team on this right away." Tor scowled. "I knew she was trouble, but I thought I had it handled."
Which is what he told his brother, when he called Holger moments later.
For some reason, Blythe was still there and Tor, who hated exposing his personal life, did not mind her overhearing the conversation.