The Prince's Devious Proposal

by Rayner, Holly

  “You’re making me nervous.”

  He nodded. “I’m nervous myself.” He reached out and took her hand. “Naomi…will you marry me?”

  Her breath caught in her throat.

  He gazed at her, his eyes full of hope.

  He’s joking. He’s messing with me.

  But there was no sign of a joke on his face. And hadn’t he explicitly said that he was being serious?

  “Marry you?” she managed.

  “I know it’s fast,” he said.

  “Fast isn’t the word,” she said. “We haven’t even known each other for a month!”

  “In my defense, I feel like I’ve known you a lot longer,” he said. “I’ve been listening to your music for years. But yes, I understand that you’ve only known me for a very short time.” He laughed. “I did warn you that this was going to seem crazy.”

  “You had that right!”

  “Naomi, I’m in love with you,” he said earnestly. “You’re all I think about. When we’re apart, all I can do is count the minutes until we’ll be together again. Have you been feeling the same way at all?”

  She couldn’t deny that she had. But even so…

  “It’s just because this is so new,” she said. “It’s new relationship energy. It’s exciting.”

  “It is exciting,” he agreed. “And I can’t stand the thought of letting it go.”

  “Shouldn’t we…I don’t know…date for a while?” she asked. “Shouldn’t we take our time and really get to know one another?”

  “Why?” Petr asked. “Just because that’s what’s traditional? Just because that’s what society would want us to do? I don’t want to wait to have you as my wife, Naomi. I want to marry you now. Here, in Barcelona.”

  She was shaking, despite the hot sun beating down on her skin. “How can you be so sure?” she asked.

  “I think you must be feeling the way I’m feeling,” he said. “This can’t be coming from just me. It’s too powerful. Do you feel something for me?”

  “I do,” she said. “I won’t deny that I’ve been caught up in the whirlwind. This has been an incredibly intense couple of weeks. And I’m so glad that I know you. I do want us to have a relationship. I want to see what this can become.”

  “All I’m really asking is that you lean in,” Petr said. “Your mind is telling you to be cautious, to be reserved. To look before you leap.”

  “Yes,” Naomi agreed. “I’m trying to be sensible.”

  “But I’m asking you to listen to your heart instead of your head,” Petr said. “What is your heart saying?”

  Naomi closed her eyes, trying to shut out the voices telling her that this was a crazy idea. Trying to listen to the pull of her emotions, strong and steady as the waves on the beach. Washing her toward Petr.

  The logical choice was to wait. To take her time, to be sure of what she was doing. That was what her sister would counsel her to do, she knew, and what most of her friends would advise as well. If he really wanted to marry her, surely he could wait a year, get to know her a little better.

  Then she thought about how it had felt to give in to his proposal that they fly off to Barcelona.

  It had been wild. Careless. Foolhardy.

  Amazing.

  I’m willing to bet that your best times are still ahead of you, he had said.

  Maybe he was right.

  Maybe by saying yes to this proposal, she would be embarking on another great adventure, just as she had when she had accepted his gift of a plane ticket. And unlike the trip to Barcelona, a marriage was an adventure from which she would never have to come home. It would become her new reality.

  Could she really do that? Could she agree to something that would change her life that drastically?

  Well, she reminded herself, it’s not as if you are enjoying the life you have now all that much.

  That was certainly true. At present, Naomi’s world consisted of work and home. Nothing more. She liked her home life well enough, but it would be fair to call it dull, to say that she was in a rut. She binge-watched TV programs every night while eating the same four meals over and over. She went running every morning along the same route, with no variety to speak of. She had stopped communicating with her friends, and it had been so long now that she knew that if she reached back out to them, things would be awkward.

  Her family was gone. Sarah was all she had left, and Naomi’s sister had a family of her own. They emailed one another on occasion, to check in, but that relationship wasn’t enough to sustain anybody.

  And then there was work, which had been pure hell lately.

  Thinking about that life, about the things it contained and everything it was missing, made this decision feel a lot easier all of a sudden.

  Naomi wouldn’t be giving anything up by saying yes to Petr. Not anything she was attached to, at any rate. She would be allowing herself to embrace something new and exciting, something that would shake up her world, and she wouldn’t be losing anything at all.

  She looked at him. He was so excited. So eager. He wanted so badly for her to say yes.

  And Naomi realized that that was what she wanted, too.

  It still felt crazy. It was crazy. But did crazy have to mean bad? Hadn’t it been kind of crazy to board a bus and drive all over the country with the Desert Flowers? Hadn’t it been crazy to stand on a stage in front of thousands of people every night and sing about her feelings?

  And those had been some of the best experiences of her life.

  Maybe this would be the same.

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” she asked him. “You’re not going to regret it later, or want to take it back?”

  “Definitely not,” he said. “I’ve been waiting my whole life to feel about someone the way I feel about you, Naomi. Now that I’ve found you, I don’t want to wait any longer.”

  “When would we get married?” she asked, unable to believe that she was entertaining this.

  “Are you saying yes?”

  “I must be insane.”

  “You’re saying yes.”

  “I am,” she said, unable to keep a smile off her face. “I can’t believe it. But yes. I’ll marry you.”

  He let out a happy laugh, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her deeply. Naomi let herself be drawn into his embrace, captivated by his strength and the taste of him alongside the sea salt on her lips.

  “Tomorrow,” he said, holding her at arm’s length, searching her face for a reaction. “We’ll do it tomorrow. We’ll go to that church we were looking at in town, the one you liked so much.”

  “The one where you tried to give me a lecture on the importance of being practical?” she said wryly.

  He laughed. “I guess you won that debate,” he said.

  What a beautiful place to be married. “It will be perfect,” she told him.

  He reached into the pocket of the shorts he had left on the beach and pulled out a small box. Then he reached for her hand to help her up. “Stand up,” he said. “I want to do this right.”

  Naomi giggled and got to her feet. Petr rolled onto one knee and held up the box, flipping it open to reveal a beautiful ring as he did so.

  “Naomi West,” he said, “will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  “Yes,” she said, pressing her hands to her cheeks to conceal the fact that she was blushing.

  He pulled the ring from the box and held out his hand for hers. She gave it to him, and he carefully slipped the ring onto her finger.

  The style looked antique. A gold band featured a large round diamond surrounded by smaller gems arranged in a pattern that resembled a flower blossom.

  “This is beautiful,” she said.

  “That belonged to my grandmother,” Petr said. “My father’s mother, when she was the Queen of Sovra. I inherited it when she passed.”

  “Wow,” Naomi whispered. She had never felt more in awe of Petr’s royal lineage. To think that the ring she was wearing had onc
e belonged to a queen!

  In that moment, something occurred to her.

  “Wait a minute,” she said. “When we’re married, will I be a princess?”

  “Well, only technically,” he said. “Since I don’t hold the throne or have any royal duties, there won’t be anything to the title.”

  “Still, though,” Naomi said. Pop star and princess, all in one lifetime? I can’t really complain that my life is boring now!

  Being a princess wasn’t exactly important to her. It definitely wouldn’t have been enough, on its own, to get her to accept Petr’s proposal. But she couldn’t deny that the idea was exciting.

  He got to his feet and took her in his arms, kissing her again.

  A wave came in and broke around their ankles, and Naomi felt the sand shifting beneath her feet, some of it pulled away by the undertow.

  “The tide’s coming in,” Petr said. “This beach gets pretty small at high tide. Maybe we should get back to the house.”

  Naomi nodded. “I’m going to need the rest of the day to figure out what I’m wearing tomorrow, to be honest with you,” she said. “I definitely didn’t pack with a wedding in mind.”

  Petr laughed and slung an arm around her shoulders as they started back up the path that would take them to the house. “You can’t plan for everything,” he said. “Maybe we should do some shopping this afternoon, if you don’t have anything you want to wear.” He grinned down at her. “My treat.”

  Naomi leaned into him, her heart racing, as they left the beach.

  Chapter 9

  It was a million miles away from the wedding Naomi had always imagined she would have.

  And yet, somehow, it felt perfect.

  She awoke early in the morning and dressed in the knee-length ivory lace dress she and Petr had found in a boutique the day before. They had had it tailored so that the fit was perfect, and Petr hadn’t allowed Naomi to look at the receipt as he’d signed. She was grateful. Even though they were about to get married, even though she knew that what was his was technically hers now, she felt guilty allowing him to spend money on her.

  She supposed that was something she was going to have to get over. He was clearly someone who enjoyed spending money. That would be part of their shared life. And there were certainly bigger problems to have than a husband who was overly fond of spoiling you.

  Husband. The word felt magical in her mind. Much more special than princess had.

  She did her makeup—just a few light touches—and left her hair down to curl around her shoulders. She had met Petr in the courtyard by the fountain when her preparations were done.

  He wore a gray suit with a white rose in the lapel, and rather than take her arm as she approached, he just stood back and looked at her. “You look absolutely beautiful,” he said quietly.

  He looked pretty amazing himself. But at that moment, her throat swelled with emotion. She didn’t feel confident enough to try to talk. She would cry if she did.

  She swallowed and held out her hands.

  He took them. “Are you ready to do this?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  They rode to the church in a chauffeur-driven town car that Petr had rented for the occasion. She sat beside him in the backseat, squeezing his hand tightly the whole way.

  “Are you nervous?” he asked her.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Nervous and excited.”

  “No regrets, I hope?”

  “None,” she said, pleased and surprised to find that it was true. She wasn’t questioning the choice she had made at all. She wanted this. She wanted to tie herself to him today, to be sure that their relationship would endure. He had given her a taste, this week, of what life could be like, and she wanted it.

  The car pulled to a stop in front of the church. Petr and Naomi got out.

  “I can’t believe you were able to book this place on short notice,” she said.

  “Money can open a lot of doors,” Petr said. “Besides, we won’t need to be here for long. We’ll be out in less than an hour.”

  An hour. What a strange thought. In an hour, she would be married. In an hour, Petr Agridis would be her husband.

  Would she take his last name?

  Where would they live?

  There were so many things she hadn’t taken the time to think about yet. So many decisions she hadn’t made, things she would have thought about in an ordinary relationship long before reaching this stage.

  But that’s the adventure, she reminded herself. That was what made this so exciting. They were setting off into the unknown together, as partners. They would face these decisions together.

  And really, wasn’t that how every good marriage worked? The ability to decide things together in a marriage, to overcome challenges, was critical. Naomi had never been married, but she could see how that must be the case. All right, so it was conventional for certain choices to be made before the knot was tied, but there would always be more choices to come. You couldn’t decide everything before you got married.

  When she thought about it that way, it almost seemed not to matter whether a couple married after a few weeks or a few years. Either way, you were taking a leap of faith together. Either way, there was a risk that it wouldn’t work out, and you had to commit yourself to getting through the hard times together.

  She took Petr’s arm and allowed him to lead her into the church.

  The officiant was waiting, along with another man Naomi didn’t recognize.

  The officiant said something in Spanish. Petr answered, then turned to Naomi.

  “Do you speak Spanish?” he asked.

  “No,” she said. “I didn’t realize that you did.”

  “I learned growing up,” he said. “I had to learn lots of languages so that I would be able to communicate with dignitaries and heads of state and their children.”

  Naomi made a mental note to ask him what other languages he knew. There was so much still to discover about the man who would be her husband.

  In one sense, that was intimidating—how little she knew him! But in another sense, it was exciting. There was so much still ahead for them. There was so much yet to be explored.

  “This man is going to take us through the ceremony,” Petr said. “He only speaks Spanish, so I’ll translate.” He gestured to the other man. “And this is our witness, provided by the government. He’ll sign the marriage license for us.”

  “I always assumed I would be surrounded by people when I got married,” Naomi said softly.

  “Are you disappointed?” he asked.

  “No,” she said. “There’s something romantic about the fact that it’s just us.”

  “I think so too,” he said, gently caressing her cheek.

  The ceremony began. It was disorienting not to be able to understand the things that were being said, but Petr kept up a steady murmur under his breath, letting Naomi know what was going on. “We’re agreeing to love and cherish one another for the rest of our lives,” he said.

  “For the rest of our lives,” Naomi whispered.

  It was amazing that her life could have changed so fast, that everything could suddenly be so different. She couldn’t look away from Petr.

  Can this really be happening?

  “That’s it,” Petr said quietly. “He just pronounced us husband and wife. And he’s giving me permission to kiss my wife for the first time.”

  Naomi nodded and leaned in.

  His lips met hers, and for a moment, Naomi forgot everything. She forgot that they were in a church and that they had witnesses. She forgot all the doubts that had preyed at the back of her mind. Of course this was the right thing to do. He was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her.

  Her entire body responded to his kiss. She wound her arms around his neck, rising up on her toes to meet him and deepen the embrace.

  A sound echoed through the loud hall.

  She broke away, embarrassed at how easily she had gotten carried away w
ith herself. But the officiant was smiling indulgently. He said something in Spanish.

  She looked at Petr for help.

  “He says we’re obviously very much in love,” Petr translated.

  Naomi blushed. In love. She wasn’t sure she had ever been in love before. But standing here with Petr—her husband!—she couldn’t doubt the feeling. She wanted nothing more than to return to his arms, to return to the kiss they had just shared.

  But there were other things that had to be attended to first.

  The witness brought out the marriage license. Naomi and Petr both signed, and the officiant and the witness signed as well. The license was sealed in an envelope and handed to Petr.

  “All right,” Petr said. “That’s it.”

  “It’s done?” Naomi said. It felt almost anticlimactic.

  “Well,” Petr amended, “this part is done.”

  “There’s another part?” she asked.

  “Now, we celebrate,” he explained.

  He led her out of the church and back down to the car, which had been waiting. They were driven to a champagne bar with a big red sign on the door. Naomi couldn’t read the word on the sign, but she recognized the intent all the same.

  “I think this place is closed,” she said.

  “Just to the public,” Petr said with a grin.

  “Are we not the public?”

  “No, we’re the newlyweds who rented this place out for our wedding celebration.” He pushed open the door and led her inside.

  She gasped. All but one of the tables had been pushed to the sides of the room. The table that remained had been covered with a white cloth and a single candle had been lit and placed at the center.

  Petr led her to the table. “Have a seat, my lovely wife,” he said.

  She did so, giggling at his chivalry, then looking around. “Is anyone else even here?” she asked.

  Her question was immediately answered by the appearance of a sommelier at her elbow. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Agridis!” he said. “Would you like to start off with a glass of champagne?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Petr said. “And is the cake ready?”

  “They’re serving it up for you now,” the man said and hurried away to get their drinks.