She straightens, the smile dropping from her lips. “Wait. Is this a good something or something bad.” She shakes her head. “I mean, if someone tried to hurt you…”
“No, it’s not like that at all.” I gather my hair together at the base of my neck and pull it over my shoulder. “It’s just the opposite.” I take a deep breath. “I did go through the wrong door, but Vander was on the other side. I crashed into him.”
“Crashed?”
I nod. “Like lightning.” I remember the feel of his arms coming up around me and the panic that rushed through my body. “At first, I didn’t know what had happened but then something clicked into place. It was strange because I didn’t know him. I mean, I don’t know him, but he felt familiar all the same.”
Hayley smiles. “Maybe you knew each other in a past life.”
I try to school my skeptical features. I know Hayley visited a psychic in the market at Abu Daher when she’d first arrived, and the man told her that she and Malik had spent many lives together. I’m not sure I believe in all that stuff, but I can’t deny how I felt when Vander took my hand in his. It felt like we fit.
“Anyway, he didn’t know who I was—”
“Really?” she cuts in, skepticism coating every last letter of the word.
Picking at a thread on my robe, I think back to his reaction. “I really don’t think he knew. He thought I was one of the princess’ attendants. I told him my name was Addy.”
Hayley giggles. “You should have said your name was Lexie.”
The thought of Vander bumping into Lexie leaves me cold and I shiver outwardly at the thought. Am I just a naïve little lamb thinking what happened was rare and special? “He seemed shocked when he discovered I was the princess.” And not at all happy about it. Maybe he was worried I’d get him in trouble? “We were kissing and then his phone alarm went off—”
“Kissing?” Hayley asks with a shriek. “Back up, I’m missing a lot of this story.”
A hot flush washes over me. I lower my voice. “Shhh. These walls may have ears. And yes, there was some kissing.”
Hayley sets down her cup and tents her fingers against her lips. Her eyes sparkle. “And?”
“And then his phone alarm went off.” I twist my wrist with a flourish as if I'm a magician on the big reveal. “He realized who I was, and he accused me of amusing myself at his expense and then he escorted me back to our floor.” My shoulders slump. “He hates me.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you. It’s just a misunderstanding.”
“Everyone knows I’m here because my brother is choosing a husband for me.” I stand, taking quick steps back and forth across the room. “I wasn’t happy before but now I know there’s more out there than just being a political alliance for my country.”
“Maybe you will fall in love with your husband?” Hayley suggests. “Think of it this way, at least now you’ll have something to compare it to. You won’t spend the rest of your life wondering if all kisses are the same.”
I keep pacing, nervous energy skittering through me. “But what if I don’t fall in love? What if my husband’s kisses are lackluster and passionless and leave me feeling empty? Or what if he’s rough and careless? What if he never kisses me at all?”
Hayley rises and takes my hands in hers. “Calm yourself. I know this is difficult, but your brother isn’t a cruel man. He wouldn’t give you to someone terrible.”
“What do we know of this Renault family?” I pull away and snatch up my phone. “What information do we have?” I swipe my screen open, tapping in ‘Renault’, ‘hotel’ and ‘New York’. I get a bunch of business articles, a wiki page on the family history, and several Page Six mentions, but they all seem to be about the senior Renaults at different charity events. I scroll, looking for images and my heart jolts when I stumble upon a picture of the whole family at one of their resort openings in Brazil. I enlarge it, noting four handsome men in light-colored linen suits, their dark chocolate-colored hair blowing in the breeze. Feeling faint, I sit down heavily as I frantically try to make the picture bigger. One of the men has his face turned, but those sculpted cheekbones, the line of his strong jaw… Oh. My. God. I scan the caption for information.Joining their parents, the four Renault sons were in attendance for the opening reception.
“Hayley,” I croak. “Look at this.” I shove the phone at her. “The man turned away from the camera, does that look like the man who stepped off the elevator with me today?”
Vander was just a security guy, wasn’t he? I recall his words when I asked if he worked at the hotel.Something like that.
Hayley holds the phone up to her face, tilting her head one way and then the other. Her head bobs slowly. “It could be.” Excitement sparkles in her eyes. “What if he’s the one you’re supposed to marry?”
I frown. If that was the case, wouldn’t he be happy to find out I’m the princess? Why didn’t he tell me who he was?
“I need to know if it’s really him.” I meet her eyes. “Can you help me?”
Hayley tosses her hair. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”
