Passenger Princess

by Morgan Elizabeth

To all of the girls who have been told they don’t belong somewhere. I hope you have the time of your life proving them wrong.

Will I change myself? Absolutely not. But will I play the game they’ve started with perfection and look good doing it? Absolutely. They’ve never met a woman who can play the game as well as I can, that much I can guarantee.

I know God has to be a woman because no man has a sense of humor this good.

“If there’s one thing I love, it’s a challenge. Literally won an entire pageant just to see if I could. But you? You might become my favorite challenge yet.”

I wonder what we must look like. It has to be a fun sight—a woman in pink wearing a giant tiara glaring at a burly bodyguard wearing all black.

I’m not the kind of girl who backs down. In fact, I’m the kind of girl who fights just for the fuck of it. The kind who will hold onto a grudge just for shits and giggles.

Something about her is enticing; she is the kind of person who is having a good time just being alive and makes you want to have a good time as well. The type of person who won't have a good time if you're not having a good time. The kind of person who makes it her mission to ensure you have a good time, too.

"A real passenger princess, aren't you?" "The only real way to travel," I say with a smile.

He sighs, and it makes me smile wider. Something about knowing I’m getting under his skin makes me giggle and fills me with sunshine.

“Ava, the thing has worms.” “She’s not a thing, she’s a kitten. And it’s just some tummy troubles,” I say. “Like mother, like daughter.” I lift her so her sweet little head is next to mine. “All the best girls have tummy issues, Jaime.”

“I enjoy living a life of delusion, thank you very much.”

“Why only romance?” “Because I like them and I don’t like other genres as much. I don’t believe in doing things in life just because it's what other people think you should be doing.” “Hmm,” he says. “Plus, who doesn’t love the idea of love? Of falling in love and falling in lust. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world. When you read romance, you get to watch it over and over in different ways—what’s there not to love?”

"No, sweetheart. If you were mine, I'd take you everywhere. Anywhere. Show you off any chance I got. A woman like you, you don't tell her what to do, what to wear. You let her do it, then prepare to watch her ass as she moves, stay alert while she lives her life, ensuring no harm comes to her. You make it so she never has to realize there's a world outside of her bubble that isn't sunshine and rainbows."

"This is how it works, Ava. I kiss you. Every time, I kiss you, and I do it in a way that you can never forget what it's like to be kissed by a man wholly and completely obsessed with you."

Ava Bordeaux is the first thing I think about the moment I wake up and the last thing I think about as I'm falling asleep, and it has nothing to do with my need to protect her. Not even a little.

She's an addiction—the sweetest dessert, the most potent liquor—and I'm already drunk on her.

"So yeah. I hope girls are watching. And you can take that quote and twist it however you want, but when I say it, I mean I hope girls are watching women stand up for themselves, and I hope they are taking notes. That's what the real Miss Americana should be, and that's the Miss Americana I'm going to be."

I've never had an assignment like Ava, and I mean that in so many ways. One who is so fucking mouthy. One who doesn't listen to a thing I ask of her. One with a penchant for trouble. One so gorgeous, it's distracting. One who is so goddamn tempting.

"She's a pain in my ass." "The best women always are."

I want Jaime Wilde in a way that supersedes every bit of logic.

I think if I could make a career of it, I’d be CEO of Making Jaime Wilde Blush.

I feel both completely at his mercy and fully in control at this moment, a queen being worshiped by her loyal subject.

"No, baby, I wasn't pissed because you were trying to get into the section. I was pissed because all I could think about was what it would be like to fuck you wearing nothing but that crown."

Jaime stands there, arms crossed on his chest, wearing an olive green T-shirt pulled tight against muscles and his broad chest, and a pair of black cargo pants looking like a real-life GI Joe doll to my Barbie.

Shoulders back, tits out, you got this bitch, runs through my mind, and I remember why I'm here, what brought me here. I'm Ava motherfucking Bordeaux. I won an entire nationwide pageant on a whim. I can handle a bunch of petty ass bitches who think they're better than everyone.

"What was that for?" "You looked too beautiful not to kiss."

"You so like me," I whisper. "I really fucking do," he says back.

In my world, you are a big deal. Everything else is background noise.

“In case I haven’t been clear, Ava. I’m wildly, obsessively, crazy in love with you. A stupid article or a job I don’t even like anymore does not change that. My job right now is to keep you safe, keep you happy, and make sure nothing touches you. You understand me?”

“You love me?” I whisper. “You’re a smart girl, Ava. You knew I was in love with you that first night.” I smile, letting the giddy excitement of Jaime Wilde loving me crash over me. “You know I love you too, right? Maybe not from the very first night, I’m not a psycho, and you were really grumpy, but—” I start, then giggle when he tackles me to the bed hovering over me. “Okay, okay, I have loved you since the moment you told me I was a blonde with a hot body. I love when guys are kind of mean to me. Probably some deep-seated daddy issue, you kn⁠—”

“I’ve been calling you princess, but maybe I should have been calling you queen all along. Let me kneel before your majesty.”

About the author: Jaime Wilde is the bodyguard of a pageant queen and father to Princess Peach. His goal in life is to convince the love of his life, Ava Bordeaux, to travel the world with him for the rest of his life as his wife. He went so far as to commission an entire fanfiction (he lied: he totally knows what fanfiction is, and yes, he liked that Omegaverse you sent him) and dragged her to Washington, where they had their first date, so he could ask her to spend forever with him.

"You said you love the idea of falling in love. I don't, Ava. I love being in love with you, and I love the idea of you getting your happily ever after every damn day. I love the idea of spending forever making sure you're treated like a queen and that you have everything you want in life. That you'll always have someone at your side cheering you on and watching your ass while you do it."

"Oh my god, you so totally love me," I whisper against his lips. "Yeah, I really do," he agrees.