“Bullshit. You can breathe just fine,” she said, blowing hair from her face as she buttoned another one of a hundred tiny satin buttons. Why had I allowed her to talk me into this damn dress?
“You’re a brutal little thing.”
“Who are you calling little? And I am a Prince raised by four tough brothers. I not only know how to take a lick or two but also give them back.”
“Hey. I thought we were friends.”
She yanked again, laughing as she did. “We are, which is why you need to stop fidgeting. This needs to be perfect.”
“It is perfect.” I glanced into the mirror, taking a deep breath. This was my wedding day. I wasn’t entirely certain how I felt about getting married to anyone, let alone a brute like Alexander Prince. I should be happy, but there were so many reasons the joy was clouded. For the obvious reasons of course, including that we weren’t a traditional couple.
The dress was exquisite, everything I’d hoped for as a little girl when dreaming about the perfect wedding.
“I hope he likes the way I look.”
“Give me a break. You know my brother. We’ll need to stop him from ripping it off before the ceremony ends.” Emmeline stopped fiddling with the back of my dress and headed toward the unopened bottle of champagne. “I think we both need something to calm our nerves.”
“Why are you nervous?”
We both knew why. We were doing our best to ignore the obvious.
“I’ve never been a bridesmaid before.” She grinned as she tore off the foil around the bottle of Kristal, giving me a little naughty look like she was going to shake the bottle. When the cork popped and liquid spewed out, we both laughed and grabbed our crystal flutes.
“Don’t worry. I’ve never been a bride before.”
“To firsts.” She held up her glass in a toast.
“To firsts.” We clinked glasses and I realized Alexander was never far from my mind. This was an important day on many levels. Yet, I was still uncertain of how I felt.
“You’re nervous.”
Sighing, I moved toward the window, staring out at the landscaping. “Isn’t every bride?”
“What’s wrong? This goes way beyond being nervous.”
The bubbly tasted delicious, reminding me of the bottle I’d shared with Alexander just the night before. When we’d discussed how the day would go. “You do know we aren’t a traditional couple. Right?”
“Oh, you mean because he saved your life then took you against your will. Something like that?” Her tone was filled with amusement.
Just one big, normal family.
“Well, yes, and the fact I was tasked to put him in prison.”
“Think of it this way. You’ll have something to talk about every anniversary and imagine the stories you can tell your kids.” When I didn’t laugh right away, she came to join me at the window. “Do you love my brother?”
“I don’t know how to answer that. We’ve known each other for less than three weeks. How can anyone love someone else that quickly?”
“Think Romeo and Juliet or the couple fromLove Story.”
I gave her a hard look. “Not very comforting since one or more people in the relationship died.”
She giggled. “Semantics. Try it on for size. Tell me how you do feel about him.”
“That sounds like a test.” I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. “Fine. He’s infuriating and maddening, which are entirely different. He makes me angry and full of desire almost every time we’re in the same room. Yet when we are, the way he can’t keep his eyes off me creates a wave of white-hot heat sweeping all throughout my body. When he touches me, I tingle all over. He can simply walk into a room and he leaves me breathless. Every kiss is as if he’s dying of thirst. Every time we make love it’s just… amazing.”
My voice was breathless, barely a whisper.
“Wow,” she said after a few seconds. “If that isn’t love then I don’t know what is. Maybe you won’t have a traditional relationship, but what’s so wrong with that? We aren’t a normal family, but we are. If that makes any sense. We love and respect each other, and you bet my brother is an insufferable asshole at times. And maybe you think he doesn’t love you, but I have neverseen him so possessed and so concerned about anyone’s safety or simply needing to make them happy.”
