“Sod it,” Arabella says, her eyes growing wide. “This is you and me. We decide what our life will be—starting with our wedding. I’m done being pushed around. We’ll send an email to tell everyone the wedding is off. Then you and I elope, and when we get back from wherever we go—not Scotland because you clearly don’t want to go there for some unknown reason even though it would be totally romantic like a Regency romance novel, but whatever—we’ll live by our own rules.”
Hope fills my veins and I grin at her. “Really?”
“Really,” she says, flipping her legs so she’s kneeling and facing me. “Let’s climb aboard Matilda at dawn. It’ll be so romantic. We can sail off to the Cook Islands again and get married there. Just the two of us. And no one can say a word because they all contributed to the cause.”
I listen to her, feeling myself get swept up in the idea of being truly free. I nod at her. No more etiquette lessons. No more dancing with my bodyguard. Just her and I. Suddenly, I see our future so clearly and it’s amazing. “Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, let’s do this!” I tell her with a wide grin. “The rest of the world can just sod off. It’s you and me now.”
Arabella squeals with delight and wraps her arms around my neck, squeezing me tight, then gives me a hard kiss on the mouth that causes me to flinch in pain. “Oh God! Sorry!”
“That’s okay,” I say, tilting my head a little so we can kiss properly.
After a gentle moment of our lips together, she presses her forehead to mine and whispers, “I’ve never been so happy in my entire life.”
“Me too,” I tell her, even though there’s a tiny voice in the back of my mind that is saying this is not a good idea.
Chapter 26
Sneaky McSneakersteins
Arabella
“Canyou believe we got out without anyone seeing us?” I whisper as Will and I hurry down the path toward the pier, each of us with our Bearz backpacks slung over our shoulders. The sun is just starting to come up, bringing a beautiful pink glow to the water as it laps against the shore. Today is the start of a new life. I can feel it in my bones.
Neither of us even bothered to try to sleep. Instead, we stopped at my suite to pack a few things I’ll need, then we went to Will’s and finished preparing for the trip. Because we can’t bring much with us, we’ll have to stop for food on one of the other islands, but we have what we need—our passports, credit cards, and each other. We had to climb out of Will’s bedroom window to escape the security team, but now that Matilda’s in sight, I feel like we made it.
“I feel so alive,” I tell him. “Like, really alive for the first time since I jumped out of that helicopter in the Congo.”
He grins at me from under his nose splint. Poor lamb. “Just don’t start swearing at the top of your lungs. We’re not in the clear yet.”
I glance behind us and see that we aren’t being followed. “Where do you want to get married?” I ask him. “I’m thinking the first place we stop. We find a preacher and a beach and get it done.”
“Deal,” he says, grabbing my hand and helping me climb the one big step onto the wooden pier where Matilda is docked. “Oh, we should get a couple of rings too.”
“Oh, yes. That too,” I say, making a mental note of it. “And I wouldn’t mind stopping at a shop to get a dress. Not a real wedding dress or anything, just something new and pretty.” My heart squeezes a little at the thought of my dream dress back home in Avonia waiting for me. I guess I’ll never have the chance to wear it which is…a little sad, really. But, no matter, this is much better.
“Should I get a tuxedo?” Will asks, as he pulls the ladder down and waits for me to climb aboard.
“No, I’m picturing you in a white button-up shirt and some chinos. Bare feet.”
When I get to the top, I step to the side and wait for him to climb up to me. Oh, this would be so much sexier if he didn’t have that nose splint and the black eyes. But never mind that. It’ll add to the story we’ll tell our kids someday. Kids. I can hardly believe we’re doing this.
Will grabs my hand and leads me to the door of the cabin so we can drop off our bags and prepare the boat to sail off to our destiny. “I wonder if they read our email yet?”
Will yanks the door open and stops short. “I’m pretty sure they did.”
“Do you think so?” I ask, bumping into his back.
“Yup,” he says, his voice going up two octaves.
And that’s when I see them. Harrison, Libby, Arthur, Tessa, Emma, Pierce, Rosy, Gran, and my father all standing inside waiting for us. My shoulders drop. “I guess we weren’t as sneaky as I thought,” I mutter.
“Guess not,” Will says, holding tight to my hand. “You were right. We probably should have waited until we were out on the water to send that email.”
I glare at them, anger building in me at the very sight of them. They’re here to convince us to go through with the wedding. They’re going to expect us to carry on as if nothing happened. Well, I’m not going to do that, thank you very much. I’m thirty, dammit. Women my age chart our own courses. Well, along with their super hot, daring fiancés if they’ve got ‘em.
