“Lovely.” Adela marks it down in her diary. “Well, that means we need to pick our wedding venue, so I’ll set up a time immediately. And I’m sure Henrik will keep you up to date on appointments, interviews, and public appearances. We’ll work closely with your office to ensure we don’t inundate you with too much, but we’ll need to act quickly. Thankfully, we’ve already hashed out some choices right here.”
“What about a wedding party?” I ask. “I haven’t really heard you mention anything about one.”
“Ah,” King Theo says, stepping in. “We don’t have wedding parties here in Torskethorpe. Traditionally, the focus is on just the bride and the groom. Now, if you require a wedding party, we could possibly break tradition.”
I shake my head. “Not necessary. I was just wondering if I had to ask Timmy to stand by my side.”
“Who is Timmy?” Adela asks.
“My best friend,” I answer. “He lives in Miami still. He’s the one I shared the bikini truck business with.”
“Ah, okay, well if you want him involved in any way, we can see to it.”
“That’s okay. I think he’d prefer to just take it all in. I’m sure I’ll be the same way.”
“Well, then, you let us know if you change your mind. This might be a day for the country, but this is also your special day, and we want to make sure we’re meeting all of your expectations.”
“I appreciate that,” I say, then turn to Keller. “Do you have anything you need?”
“Just you,” he says, his eyes on me.
My God . . .
If we weren’t in a room with the king and queen and a wedding planning committee, I would mount this man right here, right now. Those committed eyes of his, fixated on me and only me, and the conviction in his voice displaying exactly what he wants, send shivers through my body, reminding me just how lucky I am.
I’m going to give him the blow job of his life tonight!
“There’s one thing I know for sure,” Adela says as she stands from the couch. “The country will be enamored with the new couple. I know just sitting here in your presence, I am.”
With Adela wrapping up her meeting, we all stand, shake her hand, and she takes off with her assistant, leaving a tidal wave of to-do lists in her wake. When the door shuts, I let out a deep breath and sink back into my chair.
“Wow, that was a lot.”
Keller takes a seat next to me and puts his arm around my shoulder, bringing me into his chest. He kisses the side of my head. “We’ll get through it together.”
“Yes, you will.” Theo takes a seat as well. “Which brings me to a few things we need to talk about. First of all, Lilija, your friend Timmy has been cleared to stay with us for however long he wants. I’m sure Henrik has already reached out to him with some appropriate dates, and he’ll work in some visiting time.”
“Really?” I ask, perking up. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my friend Timmy, the only true friend I had in Miami.
“Yes. Also, we’ve spoken to Pala, your aunt and the Queen of Marsdale. She’s quite thrilled about the engagement and has made it a point to come back to Torskethorpe to meet you. She wants to bring her daughters as well. They are both around your age.”
“Wait,” I say, perking up even more and now sitting on the edge of the seat. “You mean I’m going to meet my aunt and my cousins?”
Pala is Theo and Katla’s firstborn. She met a man in college, Clinton, and they fell in love. Turned out he was the only heir to the throne of Marsdale. Pala abdicated her position with Torskethorpe to be with him. At the time, it wasn’t a big deal because she had three other siblings, but once her siblings started dropping like flies, it became a huge problem. Hence the position I’m in.
“Yes, we haven’t finalized the plans,” Katla says, her hands twisting in her lap. “But they’re coming. It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen them, so we’re all a bit nervous.” Katla is probably the most nervous since her relationship with Pala was strained when Pala chose to abdicate.
“It’ll be wonderful. I’ve never had cousins, so this is . . . this is magical.” Feeling like I’m on cloud nine, I ask, “Is there anything else?”
Theo tenses and nods. “One more thing.” He directs his attention toward Keller and clears his throat. “Given we’re sticking to the Torskethorpian traditions of this engagement and marriage, we need to address one thing.”
“What is it?” I look between the two men, and I have the general sense that Keller knows what Theo is about to say.
“One of the traditions that dates back for generations is that the bride is to be a virgin.”
I snort loud enough for the footmen outside the door to hear me.
For the walls to rattle.
