Forbidden Lord

by Victoria Pinder

  Laughter echoed outside the window and she glanced outside at the winter wonderland scene. On the back patio, staff had swept the snow away and laid a red carpet over the steps.

  The red carpet led into the evergreen trees and probably to the chapel.

  A Christmas wedding theme mixed in with a fairy tale setting.

  And coming up the steps was a handsome, blond, green-eyed, muscular man, wearing simple jeans and a heavy jacket and holding a small girl in his arms as they talked.

  He made her body spark in awareness. Marrying him could be a mistake, since it was clear he’d love his dead fiancée forever.

  Soon that family scene could include her. She sighed as she stared out the window, and then decided to meet them at the door. She closed her laptop, grabbed a cardigan so she wouldn’t freeze and rushed down the stairs to meet them at the doors.

  While she didn’t know the house, she had a general sense of which way to go and headed there.

  She almost skidded to stop herself from running into them.

  Rico reached out to steady her and made her skin underneath her layers of clothes come alive as he said, “Miya. Good morning.”

  Excitement in her veins wasn’t good. She said, “Good morning,” and reached down to hug Christine.

  The girl hugged her back and smiled at her. As she stood, staff filed past them carrying Christmas flowers as she asked, “Rico, what’s going on?”

  He pointed toward the path he’d come from. “The chapel is being prepared. You said your mother loves Christmas so we’re setting up poinsettias and using red carpets.”

  When her mother arrived, she’d be enchanted with the white snow and evergreen trees. She smiled until she saw the gleam in their green eyes. “You and Christine look like you’re planning something.”

  Rico took her hand and the skin-on-skin contact sent a bolt through her, awakening her. He said, “Christine has been helping me all morning so we’re ready this afternoon for a small wedding—once you’ve settled in with your mother.”

  The attraction she felt for him was dangerous, Miya thought, but hopefully this would fade. Maybe she’d enjoy getting to know him more, if she found the time. She took her hand back so her heart would calm down and asked, “Can I ask you a question?”

  He put his hand in his back pocket and stood straighter as he said, “Sure. What?”

  She met his gaze and part of her wanted nothing more than to forget work and focus on them and being happy and just living here as his wife. But she wasn’t an idiot and had no time for romance, and never had. So she asked in her usual tone, “How hard is it to get a work visa here? I’m thinking of asking a friend from the U.S. to help me with my company so I can properly manage being a lady, too.”

  His gaze narrowed and he asked, “Who’s the friend?”

  Was he jealous? Her eyes quirked higher and she ignored that thought as she said, “Coral. She still works for my previous employers, Scot and Scot, but I want her here, with me.”

  The gaze he gave her back was like he had a secret to share, but then he bowed his head as the staff appeared with racks of clothes. He said, “I’ll have my lawyers at your disposal. But, right now, I think that delivery is for you. Probably your wedding dress I ordered.”

  With all of the gold racks, it seemed her room was about to be transformed into a small shop where she needed to choose her dress. She bounced on her feet and said, “Thanks. What time should I be ready?”

  Rico nodded at her and said, “Five. That gives enough time for the roads to be cleared. I’m having the priest escorted up now in the limo to ensure there are no problems.”

  Part of her wanted to kiss his cheek, but that was silly and would probably be unwelcome. Her face heated and she waved to them both as she said, “Sounds perfect. I’ll get ready, then.”

  Father and daughter were so natural together that part of her wondered if she’d ever fit in at all.

  Her mind relived reading the message from AvceLoveMatch.com that said she was his true love. Impossible to hope, as love wasn’t in the cards for her. This wedding was a business deal. She shook off the email as she opened her bedroom door.

  Her room was not just a shop, but a bridal boutique.

  There were tiaras, veils, shoes, gloves and dresses everywhere.

  There were even dresses to one side for her mother, for whenever she arrived.

  But for now she rummaged through the wedding dresses and decided quickly on a silhouette that flared from her knees out. She’d seen one like this in a movie, where water flowed at the bride’s feet.

  While that wouldn’t happen here, she at least had Christmas as a backdrop, and the lace would make her tanned skin stand out.

  She tried it on and twirled for the full effect.

  This was what a princess wore. And that was a perk of her deal.

  She ignored the zip in her veins when she thought about Rico.

  And then the doors opened. For a second she froze, unsure what to do, but then she laughed and threw her arms out as she said, “Mom! Coral! You’re both here.”

  She hugged them both tightly. Her mother let go first and glanced around the cream-colored room filled with the racks of clothes.

  “You said you were getting married,” Dieu, her mom, said. “We were at JFK when your husband-to-be’s crew paged us and took us on his jet.”

  Seriously? She glanced back and forth between her best friend from New York and her mother from Deerrun, PA, and stared into their eyes as she said, “You were at JFK?”

  Her mother nodded and said, “I told you I was coming.”

  Last night she’d called multiple times to make arrangements and her mother had said, “yes, dear.” But she hadn’t mentioned that she’d gone to New York and picked up Coral too.

  For once she had all the people in the world she loved together for Christmas.

  “And I wasn’t going to let your mom go alone,” Coral added.

  Perfect. Now maybe she could have it all. A job. A nice life. And a chance to take out the idiots who thought it was okay to fire her. She hugged them both again, which was uncharacteristic of her, but she hadn’t known how else to show them how she felt. “I’m glad you’re both here.”

  Her mother ended the hug and headed to the window to look out.

  She must have been impressed with that red carpet in the snow as she took out her phone and snapped a picture, putting it online as she said, “I want to see your groom so I can judge for myself if this is a good idea.”

  Coral took her hand and said, “You look amazing in this dress. Are you really marrying a rich white guy from Europe? This is one step above being some Fifth Avenue socialite.”

  That wasn’t cool. Miya held her hand in a fist to ignore the knot in her stomach as she said, “It’s not that crazy. My father was white.”

  Her mother left the window and said, “Yes, but if he was rich, I’d have never let him leave me in Deerrun.”

  Her eyes widened. Never in a million years would she expect her apple pie-baking, blend into the surroundings, and embrace all things festive mother to ever say anything like that.

  “Mom!”

  “It’s true,” Dieu said. Then she pointed to the embossed design on the cream-colored walls and said, “Is that real gold in the wall?”

  Miya looked closely at the wall. Then she shrugged and said, “I don’t know. Maybe. And what does it matter? I thought you’d come here and tell me to find the Christmas spirit.”

  Outside she heard Christine’s laugh again and her mother half spun toward the sound. But then she asked, with her hand on her hip, “Is it lost?”

  The best thing her mother would do was ensure the holidays were included in the wedding festivities. And it was good to have that. She needed a taste of home here, too, now that she had everyone she ever cared about here. So she lowered her head and said, “Well, I haven’t seen a tree here.”

  Her mother’s hand went to her chest and she pressed it like she’
d have a heart attack as she asked, “You’re having a Christmas wedding today without a Christmas tree?”

  Miya balled her hand together and snapped it in her other hand, behind her back as she said, “Christmas is tomorrow.”

  A knock at the door caught her by surprise. She jumped behind a curtain in case Rico was nearby, but the door opened and Christine rushed in, followed by Marsha, the secretary. Miya came out from behind the curtain and said, “Mom. Coral. This is Christine. My fiancé’s daughter.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Christine said and held her hand out to shake.

  Her mother’s face brightened as the young girl shook her hand and she said, “You speak … good.”

  The girl then said, “I read about Christmas.”

  Her mother shook her head that someone so small spoke so well, but then she held out her hand and said, “Oh little one, you and I are going to pick out the biggest Christmas tree and get some lights together, while the girls get dressed.”

  “The staff can help decorate,” Marsha said, as the three of them walked out the door.

  If Miya knew her mother, then she’d assume Rico and Christine’s schedule now included Christmas dinner for tomorrow and every corner of this house trimmed in an hour. And hopefully all of this would help keep her mind off her desire for her new husband, as that wasn’t good.

  Halfway down the hall, Dieu called back, “Coral. Miya. Just leave me a green dress to wear for tonight.”

  Green for money in the old Chinese tradition her mother sometimes remembered to mention.

  Miya waved as she said, “Let others do their jobs. I’ll need you with me soon.”

  Once her mother was out of sight, she closed the door. Coral unzipped Miya’s dress in the back and then went through the rack of gowns and asked, “So, did you tell him everything and suddenly he proposed?”

  She took off the wedding dress and put her shirt back on as she asked, “Tell him?”

  Coral stared at her like she was insane and then said, “That you got his name from the Avce matchmaker website and he’s your true love.”

  Heat washed in her face. Hopefully he’d never hear that from anyone.

  “Absolutely not. And you can’t tell him, ever.”

  She headed over to her friend who was looking at red dresses.

  “So how did you pull off getting engaged this fast?” Coral asked.

  Now that she understood these dresses were meant for her friend, she picked up a strapless number with a pretty bow and held it out to her as she said, “He … he has till New Year’s to get married or he loses his home, his fortune and his title. He was pretty desperate.”

  Coral took the dress from her and then nodded like Miya had the perfect vision. She asked, “So you’re going to move to Avce forever and just be some lady?”

  Her friend motioned that she’d like to try it on, but Miya took both of her hands in hers and shook her head as she said, “Actually, no, Coral. I need your help.”

  Coral narrowed her gaze and asked, “My help?”

  This was too much to ask, she knew. But it wasn’t like Coral had anything other than her book club to keep her in New York. So she said a small prayer under her breath and then said out loud, “I need you to stay in Avce and help me run my advertising business.”

  Coral crossed her arms. “What?”

  Logic was her forte. She headed to the bed where she had her laptop charging and said, “Part of this arrangement is that Frederico will help me start my own ad agency. I’ve been running numbers. I want to take out Scot and Scot from the map.”

  She opened the PowerPoint she’d made for Coral to show their strengths and weaknesses and silently let it play on her screen. Coral lowered her arms as she watched, but waited till the end before she asked, “You really want me, here?”

  She sucked in her bottom lip and wasn’t quite sure what to say. She couldn’t offer a palace for her friend, but she said, “To quit there and be my partner here. I realized last night that with my duties as lady of the manor, I’d need a smart business partner.”

  Coral laughed and stared at the ceiling like she was laughing with the sky and then said, “I don’t have my degree though, not like you.”

  She had practical experience, though, and talent, which in this day and age counted more. Miya closed her laptop and lowered her voice as she said, “But you’re amazing with design and ad copy and your creativity offsets my penchant for going to the numbers.”

  Coral nodded as if she agreed, but then picked up the red dress like she needed a wall between them as she asked, “You’re serious?”

  Good. Miya understood that her friend was thinking about how much moving would cost. And she’d done preliminary number crunching all night so she said, “I can pay you a hundred thousand your first year of the startup, and some moving costs, and once we’re flush with clients, then we’ll switch to profit sharing.”

  Coral dropped the dress on the floor. For a moment Miya wasn’t sure what to say but then Coral covered her lips and said, “You believe in me … this much?”

  All her life she’d wanted a best friend. She’d only realized it was Coral once she left New York. And a friend like that was irreplaceable. She said, “I wouldn’t have survived all those years in New York without your help, and now I need you to move here with me. It will be a big change.”

  A knock sounded at the door and for a second her hair stood on end. That was the sound of Mr. Perfect. The manly sound of his knock wasn’t anything she’d ever expected to care about, and shouldn’t want.

  Coral picked up her dress and asked, “Is that your man outside?”

  Miya checked that her wedding dress was out of sight—even though this wasn’t about love and romantic traditions—and that her shirt was tucked in as she headed to open the door.

  “Yes,” she said.

  Coral called out when she was halfway across the room, “You’re marrying a blond, green-eyed gorgeous hunk that towers over you and your mom if you stood on top of each other’s shoulders?”

  The image of standing on her mother’s shoulder to hang the Christmas star on the tree from when she was six replayed in her mind. Her mother always went for the biggest tree on the lot. She shook her head, spun on her heels and said, “Green eyes, but he’s not that tall.”

  She then reached for the door, glanced up and melted into a puddle of mush. She held onto the door like it held her straight and said, “Hi?”

  Rico glanced into the room and saw Coral, who was clearly watching them. He nodded at her and then met Miya’s gaze. Her entire body was awake and aware of him as he said, “Your mother is directing Christmas trees in the main room and two on either side of the chapel. I wanted to ensure you’d like that.”

  Sweet. She nodded and took his large hands in hers and squeezed as she said, “My mom loves Christmas.”

  He tilted his head and said, “For this year, it’s fine. Next year, she can decorate the dower home to her heart’s content.”

  “Dower home?” She asked.

  He pointed to her window as he said, “Across the garden and past a small lake that freezes in the winter. It’s a house on the property where our retired parents live. And the only one left would be your mother.”

  She needed to explore this estate to truly understand it, beyond the fact that she lived in a sort of mountain-top palace now. “I’m sure she’ll love it.”

  He winked at her and for a moment she couldn’t move. Her lips tingled, as did all of her body, when he said, “I’ll let you get ready. See you soon, Miya.”

  Somehow, she was his. But on paper only. The thought cooled her, and she ignored that voice in her head that screamed for her to run—both into his arms and far away. She decided on practicality as she called out, “Yes, see you at the Chapel. I’ll be the one in white.”

  He turned and she saw the twinkle in his gaze as he walked away.

  That muscular man with the square shoulders designed to protect made her squirm. A
nd she wasn’t that girl. She closed the door and Coral asked, “What are you wishing right now?”

  This was silly. She headed back to the veils to decide what she wanted as she said, “I don’t know what I wish. But now I need to be a real lady who hosts teas as well as running my own ad business.”

  Coral’s pinched lips meant she hadn’t quite believed her, though she handed over a tiara for her head and said, “I’ll get started on finding a place to live in the village. While I’m sure I won’t get a palace like you have here, with that salary you offered there must be some nice places I can rent while I get my work visa.”

  Her heart sped up. Finally. This was it. No turning back now. She could have it all here. Well, except love in her marriage. But she’d get fidelity. And a good home. And the envy of the world. Plus Christine, a stepchild who would be the closest she’d have to a daughter of her own. Most important, she’d have her own ad company. And now her family and friends were all here, too.

  Nothing in the world would change her mind now. Her own agency was worth more than dreams of falling in love. That never worked out for her anyway. She nodded at the tiara and said, “Coral, you’re the closest thing I have to a sister. I’m glad you’re here today.”

  Coral picked up the dress, tiara and some dangled diamond earrings as she said, “Then let’s get you looking like a bride. I’m so excited for you!”

  Miya took everything from her friend and said, “Thanks. I’m scared but excited.”

  Coral directed her to change as she said, “You’ll knock his socks off, as they say.”

  Hopefully. There was no turning back. She’d have it all now. Her stomach was twisted in knots, but soon she’d stare into the green eyes of that beautiful man and say “I do.” She’d have to let go of believing in love and focus on what she could have, which was as close to a fairy tale as possible for her.

  Chapter 6

  Frederico Cerkev stood at the altar in his black tuxedo. The manger scene for tomorrow’s Christmas mass for the household was set up to the side, but still the only thing waiting for him.