The Playboy's Princess

by Joy Fulcher

  “We’ve already had a few talks, and the palate is going to be centered around blues,” Laura said.

  “Jade, come and talk with me,” Cassandra said, holding her hand out and ignoring Laura’s comment.

  Jade looked up at Drew, and he released her, but he leaned down and pecked a kiss to her cheek for show.

  “All right, Cassandra,” Jade said.

  The wedding planner stiffened and pursed her lips.

  “Cass-ahhhn-dra, not Cass-an-dra,” she said curtly.

  “Oh, sorry.” Jade looked over her shoulder at Drew and cringed. He shrugged to show he couldn’t tell the difference in pronunciation. Jade followed her out of the room, and Laura walked over and took her son’s hand.

  “It’s happening, Drew. You’re getting married.”

  She glowed at him, and Drew felt like dirt. For the first time since he’d agreed to go ahead with the fake marriage, he thought about how it was affecting his family.

  “I’m just going to see if I can help Jade out,” he said, giving his mom a quick hug and heading to his father’s study.

  He knocked on the door and stuck his head inside. Jade sat on the love seat, her back rigid and her eyes wide as Cassandra paced in front of her, waving her arms to emphasize a point that he’d missed out on hearing.

  “Yes, Andrew? Do you need something?” Cassandra asked, turning with a click of her heels and frowning at him.

  Jade gave him a pleading look with her eyes.

  “I thought my opinion might be of some use in the planning,” he said, stepping into the room.

  Jade’s shoulders relaxed, and she gave him a smile.

  “Not necessary. Jade and I have everything under control.” Cassandra tapped her long-nailed fingers on the keyboard of her laptop while she spoke.

  “I don’t mind sitting in. After all, it’s my wedding too.” He walked across the room and took a seat next to Jade.

  She reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a tight squeeze. Cassandra let out a loud breath and stopped typing.

  “Really, Andrew, you’ll just be in the way. I’m sure you have more important things to do. Leave this business to us. I won’t keep your girl from you for much longer.”

  “Oh…okay,” Drew said, shrugging his shoulders and giving Jade an apologetic look. He hoped it screamed that he’d tried to help her.

  He closed the door behind him just as Cassandra asked Jade if she wanted doves or butterflies released after the ceremony. Drew’s eyes went wide, and he decided that perhaps it was better that he wasn’t helping out.

  He figured they would be quite a while so he went out to the backyard to shoot some hoops. He didn’t like the fact that several of the kids were better than him. Not that he thought he was the best player out there, but he didn’t feel right being the coach if his students had more skills than he did.

  He was twenty-three for thirty and sweating profusely when Cassandra appeared at the back door with her hands on her hips.

  “Andrew, could you join us inside, please?”

  “All right.” He jumped and threw a final ball, pumping his fist as it swished through the net without hitting the backboard.

  He grabbed a towel from the outside cupboard where his mother kept the pool towels and wiped the sweat from his face and hair. He slung it over his shoulder and headed into the house.

  Jade sat in the formal lounge room with her ankles crossed and her hands folded neatly in her lap. He smiled at her, but she gave her head a tiny shake. Obviously they were supposed to stay quiet. He sat next to her and ignored the narrowed eyes of his mother, hoping that he wasn’t sweating on her suede couch.

  “Jade has given permission for me to plan most of the details myself as she doesn’t appear to have any ideas of her own,” Cassandra said, looking down her nose at Jade, who shrank back into the cushions.

  Drew thought about bringing up the fact that he’d offered his ideas and had been sent away, but he didn’t want to take on Cassandra, and he didn’t want to embarrass his mother.

  “Because of this responsibility, I will require meetings with you on a regular basis to check in on details,” she said, looking at Jade.

  “Oh, that’s not necessary. I trust your judgment, and if you would like clarification on anything, I know Laura has impeccable taste,” Jade said.

  “If you prefer.” Cassandra looked over at Laura, who nodded her head in agreement.

  “Very well. Laura and I shall flush out the details, and I’m sure she will fill you in on everything as the decisions are made. In the meantime, I will need both bride and groom to be at scheduled fittings, rehearsals, and press appointments. Plus, Jade will need media training.”

  “Press appointments?” Jade asked, her voice higher than normal.

  “Of course,” Cassandra said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Aaron Malik’s son is getting married. Andrew will be the main focus of the attention, but they’ll be curious about you too, Jade. I’m surprised they haven’t approached you already.”

  “We’ve had a few paps following us around,” Drew said.

  Cassandra nodded her head knowingly.

  “I’ll schedule some interviews with the media, and hopefully that will help to quell their curiosity. Now, Jade, we only have a few weeks, and it’s going to be impossible to get your dress made by then, so we can’t waste any time. You’re going to come with me today, right now in fact, for a fitting.” She handed them each a printed timetable. Drew’s appointments were highlighted in blue and Jade’s in pink. “As you can see, Andrew, you aren’t needed today so I’ll see you tomorrow for your tuxedo fitting. Jade, follow me please.”

  “Bye,” Jade said, sounding like a child who’d been sent to her room.

  Jade tried to think of something that would be worse than her current situation, but nothing seemed that bad.

  “Maybe being submerged in a tub of live insects,” she pondered softly to herself. “No, this is still worse.” She let out a long sigh and stared at the full-length mirror.

  “Ouch!” she said.

  “Sorry,” the seamstress said from under her skirt. “These pesky pins keep slipping. I’ll be more careful.”

  “I like this off-the-shoulder look,” Cassandra said, chewing the end of her pen and looking the dress up and down.

  It was much fancier than anything Jade would have picked on her own, but she had to admit as she looked in the mirror that it was a beautiful gown. The ivory silk practically glowed as it cascaded over her hips to where the seamstress was hemming the train.

  “Fire!” Jade blurted out, causing the seamstress to jump up and Cassandra to spin around, looking wildly around her. “Oh, sorry. There’s not a fire.”

  “Why did you say that?” Cassandra asked, taking a deep breath and laying her hand over her heart.

  “Sorry. I was thinking of something else.”

  Jade decided that being burned alive was worse than this. She stood still for the three hours it took to pin and cut the dress to her measurements and kept reminding herself that at least she wasn’t on fire.

  “Wanna play some ball?” Sam asked.

  Drew sighed and moved the phone from his left ear to his right. “I’m a bit basketballed out.”

  “What? You love shooting hoops!”

  “Yeah, but now I have to do it every day. The fun’s kind of been taken out of it.”

  “A drink then?”

  Drew smiled. “That will never lose its fun. I’ll be over in ten minutes.”

  Drew drove the few blocks to Sam’s place and let himself into the large house. Sam’s trust fund had matured when he was eighteen. The one thing his parents had insisted on was that his first purchase was a house so that even if he wasted the rest of his money, he’d always have somewhere to live.

  “I’m out back!” Sam called.

  Drew went to the fridge and grabbed a beer on his way out to the pool. Sam was lying on a deck chair wearing sunglasses and a pair of sho
rts, a beer bottle balanced on his abs.

  Drew cracked the top off his own beer and settled down in the deck chair next to Sam.

  “’Sup?” he asked.

  Sam rolled onto his side and pulled his sunglasses up. “So, how goes the fake wedding plans?”

  Drew spat beer down his shirt front. “What?” He pulled his shirt off and dropped it onto the ground.

  “Oh come on, Drew. I’m not stupid. You might act all high and mighty that our plan was a joke, but look at you now. A few weeks later, and you’re magically engaged. Who is she? She’s the blowjob girl, right?”

  Drew closed his eyes and settled into the chair, tipping his face up to the sun. He was trying his best to look casual while he thought his way out of this. He couldn’t let Sam know he was right. The ego on his friend was ridiculous, and Drew would never live it down.

  “It was a coincidence.”

  “Fuck off!” Sam laughed. “You truly expect me to believe you threw out all those letters and then miraculously met a girl who wanted to marry you instantly? Oh, and that you got a personality transplant and actually wanted to get married?”

  “It’s the truth.”

  “So, you’re in love. You’re head over heels. You never want to see another woman naked for as long as you live.”

  Drew laughed. “I’m still a guy, Sam. I’ll always want to see naked girls.”

  “Nice avoidance, my friend. Come on. I thought we were friends. I’m not going to tell anyone. It was my plan all along, remember?”

  Drew sighed and drained his beer. “Fine. Jade is the hater girl.”

  Sam’s jaw dropped open, and he hooted with joy. “I knew it! How did you make the hater agree to marry you?”

  “With my charming wit.”

  “Phew. You are good, my man.”

  Sam got up, put his empty bottle on the ground, and did a back flip into the pool. When he came up, he shook his hair like a dog, splattering Drew with water.

  “You can’t tell anyone. I’m serious, Sam.”

  “My lips are sealed. But, seeing as you’re not in love with her…that means I can have a crack, right?”

  “She’s going to be my wife!”

  “Legally maybe, but not really. And anyway, she’s smoking hot. If you’re not going to enjoy her, someone should.”

  Drew glared at his friend. He was going to have to keep Sam away from his Ariel.

  “Now, before the wedding, it’s going to be important for you to learn how to deal with the media. I’ve seen clips of you and Drew out together, and your performance was…well, it was pitiful.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Jade said, sighing.

  Cassandra smirked. “I’m not paid to be kind, dear.”

  Jade shifted in her chair. She knew this was inevitable. If she was going to be part of the Malik family for the next year, she’d have to face interviews, and the paparazzi would only get more intense, especially with the wedding coming up.

  “Okay, educate me,” she said.

  Cassandra smiled and gave an approving nod.

  “First lesson—posing for photos.”

  “We can skip that. I have my photo taken for a living,” Jade said proudly.

  Cassandra set her lips in a thin line. “Posing for a photo you want taken and ones you are being hounded for are two very different things. Just go with me for a few minutes.”

  Jade spent four hours (Cassandra’s version of a few minutes) smiling while showing teeth, smiling without showing teeth, learning how to give a polite I’m-not-happy-you’re-taking-my-picture-but-I’m-not-going-to-be-rude face, and some full body stances specifically for the paparazzi.

  “You have an excellent figure, so I won’t bother teaching you about hiding wide hips or a round tummy. Any way you stand, you look good, so just focus on looking comfortable. Don’t ever look directly into a camera lens. Even if you’re posing for a specific camera, always look slightly to the side.”

  “Why?”

  Cassandra’s advice went against everything she’d been taught for photos at work. When she was Princess Ariel, she always smiled directly into the lens.

  “The pros get paid more if they get eye contact. Why do you think they’re always screaming at celebrities to look at them? Just don’t do it. They are going to make your life hell, so don’t do them any favors.”

  “Got it.”

  A knock sounded, and Jade wanted to kiss whoever was on the other side of the door. Drew stuck his head in.

  “Andrew, how lovely to see you,” Cassandra said, her arms held wide in welcome.

  “I thought it might be time for a break,” he hinted. “Have you stopped for lunch yet?”

  “Is it lunch time already?” Cassandra asked, shocked.

  “It’s almost two,” Drew told her. He winked at Jade when she flashed him a grateful smile.

  “All right, we’ll call it a day on lesson one. You did well, Jade. Tomorrow we’ll work on lesson two. Interviews.”

  She strode out of the room and turned in the direction of the kitchen.

  “How was lesson one?” Drew asked, leaning against the doorframe and looking much too handsome for his own good.

  Jade gave her best I’m-not-happy-you’re-taking-my-picture-but-I’m-not-going-to-be-rude face.

  “Very nice,” he said, chuckling. “I’m impressed. It took me months to get the I-hate-your-guts-but-have-to-smile face down pat. You wouldn’t believe how many pictures there are of teenage me scowling at photographers.”

  “I think I’ve seen a few of them.”

  Drew rolled his eyes. “Of course you have.”

  “I might have Googled you after we met.” She blushed a little.

  Drew laughed. “I’m not surprised. I would have done the same thing in your shoes. You hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  He led her out of the study, and they walked down the hall, hand in hand.

  “I’m coming!” Jade yelled as she ran from her bedroom to the front door. Someone had been knocking incessantly to wake her up.

  She pulled the door open to see Clare, Pam, and several of the girls from work, all dressed up to go out. Jade was very aware of the fact she was in her PJs with her hair in a bird’s nest and a face mask on.

  “Surprise!” her friends yelled in unison.

  “What are you guys doing here?”

  Clare grinned. “Well, I know you said you didn’t want a bachelorette party…but come on, girl. We weren’t going to let you get away with that. You’re getting married! We have to celebrate!”

  “We’re so getting our drunk on tonight,” Pam cheered.

  “Is that even proper English?” Jade asked over her shoulder as Clare dragged her to her bedroom.

  “There’s no room for grammar lessons on our wild girls’ night,” Pam yelled after her.

  “Why are you ready for bed?” Clare asked.

  “I’m not ready for bed; I was in bed. It’s almost midnight.”

  Clare pulled Jade’s closet doors open and started sorting through the clothes while the girls from work, Cinderella and Belle—Lisa and Jen, got to work washing the mask off Jade’s face. With a team of women working around her, Jade was primped into looking like a supermodel in less than an hour. The girls piled into a taxi and headed to Hollywood.

  Jade had endured four dress fittings, six media lessons, and done a TV interview with Drew, all in preparation for her big day. She felt she deserved a good night’s sleep, but it didn’t look like her friends agreed.

  Jade had never been in a strip club before.

  “Why are we looking at naked women?” Jade asked once they were inside the smoke-filled room. It was dark, and she could barely see her friends. The only light came from the well-lit stage, where two girls were currently writhing around a pole.

  “Because this is where the men hang out,” Pam said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “That’s true,” Jade said. “But we’re all taken. We’re not trying to
pick up men.”

  Clare and Pam looked at each other, and then they all burst out laughing.

  “Maybe we’ll just go to the bar across the street and have some drinks?” Lisa suggested.

  They all agreed and made their way to the bar. It was packed, and the music was so loud, they could barely speak to each other, so they left there too.

  “Where are we going to go? We have to do something fun for your bachelorette party!” Pam said with a pout.

  “Really, I meant it when I said I didn’t want a big fuss. Let’s just get some food and go home.”

  “Wait, that club looks cool!” Clare said, pointing further up the street where there was a long line of people waiting outside a black building with blue lighting.

  Jade made her way toward the end of the line, but Clare and Pam dragged her to the front.

  “End of the line, ladies,” the bouncer said.

  “Do we have to? My friend here—” Clare pushed Jade forward “—is getting married in two days, and we’re trying to give her a last night of freedom.”

  The bouncer looked the girls up and down and then gestured for them to go inside. Several people in the line yelled out about favoritism.

  “Hey! When you look as good as these girls, I’ll let you in too,” Jade heard the bouncer say before the door to the club closed. Then all she heard was the pumping music.

  “We’re going to dance,” Lisa said, pulling Jen after her.

  “I’ll get us some drinks,” Pam called above the music and then weaved her way through the crowd.

  “I need a bathroom.” Clare disappeared as well, and Jade stood, alone, wishing she was at home in bed.

  “Jade!”

  Jade spun around, looking for who had called her name, but she couldn’t see anyone she knew. Perhaps she’d imagined it.

  “Jade!”

  She tried to ignore it this time, sure that someone standing near her had the same name. She didn’t want to be the girl that answered a call that wasn’t actually for her.

  “I thought that was you. Is Drew with you?”

  Jade looked over her shoulder and took a second to realize that Tully Whittaker was standing there, smiling.