The Playboy's Princess

by Joy Fulcher

  “Oh, Tully, hello. We didn’t really get introduced properly at the dinner.”

  To be honest, Jade was shocked that Tully recognized her at all. Or that she’d approached. Tully hadn’t been happy about the engagement and had made that fact well known to the media.

  “So, is Drew here?” Tully looked around the crowd.

  “No, he’s in Vegas with his friends. Bachelor party.”

  “Oh, right.” She looked disappointed. “The wedding’s this weekend, isn’t it?”

  As if she didn’t know. Drew said that Tully has asked him repeatedly if the wedding was still going ahead.

  “Yes. Will you be there?”

  “You don’t know your own guest list? Jesus. If I was getting married, I’d be all over every single detail.”

  “I’m pretty relaxed about it, actually. Laura hired Cassandra to plan for us.”

  “How’s everything going with you and Drew? All happy and smiles?”

  “Yeah, we’re great.” Jade could have sworn she saw a look pass over Tully’s face when she said they were fine. And it wasn’t jealousy, which she would have expected. It was a smug, knowing look.

  Jade felt a vibrating in her pocket and pulled out her phone. Drew’s name flashed on the screen.

  “Speak of the devil,” she said to Tully and then answered the call. “Hey, Drew, how’s Vegas?”

  “I didn’t wake you, did I?” There was a lot of noise in the background, and he sounded like he was yelling.

  “No, I’m actually out in Hollywood with my friends. They threw me an impromptu bachelorette party.”

  He laughed. “Are you having fun?”

  “I don’t know if fun is the right word. I’ll catch you up when you get home.”

  “Cool, cool. I’m at Aria, and it’s going off.”

  “You sound drunk,” Jade said.

  “What?” he yelled. Cheering went up in the background.

  Jade laughed, really hamming it up for Tully. She needed to be convincing that she was in love with Drew.

  “I miss you. Please be safe tonight. I don’t want to hear about you waking up in the Mexican desert or anything.”

  “I can’t promise anything,” Drew said, also laughing. “Hey, Ariel, I miss you too.”

  He hung up, but before she pulled the phone from her ear, she looked at Tully, smiling, and said, “I love you, too.”

  The blonde’s eyes narrowed for a second, but she recovered quickly.

  “How sweet. I could just eat you two up.”

  “Drew is very romantic,” Jade agreed.

  “You’re Tully Whittaker!” Clare yelled in Tully’s face.

  “No shit, Sherlock.” Tully flicked her hair over her shoulder.

  Jade opened her mouth, about to tell Tully off for being rude, but she didn’t get a chance. A flash of light went off in their faces. All three girls turned, stunned, to see several camera lenses pointed at them. Jade automatically turned away, but Tully pulled her into a hug and posed as the flashes continued.

  “I just have to go to the bathroom,” Jade said, grabbing Clare’s hand, leaving Tully to the reporters.

  In the crowd, they bumped into Pam, who was trying to carry three very full glasses without spilling anything.

  “We’re going,” Jade said.

  “But I got us Long Island iced teas!” Pam protested.

  Jade dragged her friends out onto the street and started walking down the block, eager to get away from the cameras. Jen and Lisa were still inside, so she pulled out her phone and texted Lisa to let them know they’d left. Jen texted back a second later saying they were having fun and wanted to stay. They’d meet up later in the night. Jade sighed. She’d been having such a nice sleep before all of this craziness had happened.

  “Can we please go home now?” she begged.

  “We could,” Clare reasoned. “Or we could have an In-N-Out Burger.”

  “Oh, you devil! Now I’m craving animal-style fries.” Jade glared at her friend.

  “Let’s go!”

  The three girls headed to the In-N-Out Burger on Sunset Boulevard, and Jade forgot all about Tully and the photos taken in the club.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Words

  “WOULD YOU MIND sitting still, darling?” asked Jared, the hair stylist.

  He wore more eyeliner than Jade had ever seen on any other human being, and his spiky hair was blue at the roots, fading to mauve and then silver on the tips. Despite the strange first impression, he really pulled off the look.

  “Sorry,” Jade muttered, digging for her ringing phone. “Hello?” she said into the device, settling back into the chair so Jared could curl her hair.

  “Operation Parent Pickup was a success,” Clare said. “You’re on speaker.”

  “Hello, munchkin!” Jade’s mom, Lea, said in an echoing voice.

  “Hi, Mom. I’m so glad you guys made it safely. Hi, Dad.”

  “Your friend drives way too fast,” her dad, Greg, said.

  Jade giggled. “Clare, please don’t give my parents a heart attack. I’d like them alive for the ceremony.”

  “I’m doing the speed limit!” Clare protested. “Just because people drive slow in Florida, it isn’t my fault.”

  “Are you excited, Jadey? Only a few hours until you’ll be married!” Lea’s voice was so excited that Jade felt like dirt. Her parents would be so disappointed next year when she told them she was getting a divorce.

  “Yeah, I can’t believe it.”

  “I’m dropping your folks at their hotel, and then I’m coming to you, okay?” Clare asked.

  “See you soon, Clare. Mom, Dad, I can’t wait to see you guys.”

  “We’ll be at the church,” Greg promised.

  “Dad, we’re not getting married in a church, remember? I told you guys it’ll be at the country club.”

  Her dad started grumbling about Hollywood people and their blasphemous ways, and with a laugh, Jade hung up the phone.

  Having her parents around was a good feeling. She hadn’t seen them since she’d moved out to California, and she really missed them. Now that she was going to have some money in her bank account, she promised herself she’d try to visit them more often.

  “You’re done. Off to makeup with you, princess. Pamela, get your perky little ass in my chair,” Jared said playfully.

  Jade looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. Her hair was pinned, ready for the veil to be fitted, and fell in waves down her back. Pam sat down in the chair she’d just vacated, and Jared got to work on her blond tresses.

  Jade went into the next room of the salon and saw an Asian woman wearing a white coat.

  “Hi, I’m Jade.”

  “Please have a seat. Are you the bride?”

  “I am.”

  Jade took a seat, and the woman put a cape around her neck.

  “What color are your flowers?” she asked.

  “White and red. I’m sorry. I didn’t get your name…”

  “Victoria. Would you like red lips to match your flowers?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve always felt that red lips with red hair was a bit much. Maybe neutral lips and bigger eyes?”

  “Of course.”

  Unlike Jared, who’d chatted the whole way through doing her hair, Victoria was silent as she worked. She wore a puff on her little finger that dusted against Jade’s cheek and presumably stopped her makeup from getting smudged.

  “Smoky eyes or just eyelashes and liner?”

  “Whatever is more bride-like,” Jade said.

  She felt like the worst bride ever. She was sure every other woman who’d gotten married in the history of the world had studied for weeks about exactly which color blush they wanted and had done several makeup rehearsals. But, knowing this wedding wasn’t real, she just couldn’t put her heart into it.

  The door opened, and Clare’s head popped around the corner.

  “Just letting you know I’m here. I’ll go get my hair done. You
look gorgeous, by the way!”

  “Thanks for getting my parents. Did they look well?”

  Clare rolled her eyes. “Your dad grumbled the whole time about the weather. Apparently the sun in California isn’t as nice as the sun in Florida. He’s also pretty hurt that you’re not getting married in a church.”

  Jade sighed. “Yeah, I know. I tried to explain it to him over the phone, but I’ll talk to him again after the ceremony.”

  “I need you to stop moving your lips, please,” Victoria said, holding a lipstick brush.

  “Sorry.” Jade gave Clare a look, and Clare giggled, closing the door.

  Victoria really was just all business. No joyous wedding giggles and chatting for her.

  Jade’s phone beeped, but she didn’t dare reach for it. Instead, she hoped it wasn’t something important and tried to keep as still as possible. Her reflection in the mirror was changing. Her skin looked smooth, as if it glowed from the inside. Her lips were glossed without being showy, and her eyes looked large and catlike. She’d expected to look just like she did at work, but she didn’t. She wore a lot of makeup to become Ariel, but this wasn’t makeup for photos, this was makeup to look beautiful, and it made a difference.

  As she stared at her reflection, she actually felt more like a princess than when she was dressed as one walking around Disneyland’s parks.

  “All right. Are you happy?” Victoria asked, stepping back and chewing on the end of her powder brush.

  “It looks lovely. Thank you.”

  Jade went back to the room her friends were in and saw that Pam’s hair was finished and Clare was in the hot seat, flirting shamelessly with Jared.

  “Do I need to remind you that you’re a newlywed, Clare?” Jade joked.

  Jared laughed. “Don’t worry, honey, I am so not interested.”

  “Hey!” Clare said. “I’m not flirting.”

  “You are,” Jared laughed. “And I’m sorry, but you’re not my type.”

  Jade put her hand over her mouth to stop the outburst of laughter she felt bubbling up inside her and then cringed, hoping she hadn’t smudged her lipstick.

  “I might be interested in your husband, though.” He gave Clare a wink, and she giggled.

  “You look gorgeous, Jade,” Pam said. “All that’s left to do is put the dress on and walk down the aisle.”

  “Yep, I guess that’s all.” Jade tried to put some enthusiasm into her voice but couldn’t. She had no idea how Drew was feeling about all this. They hadn’t spoken to each other since his drunken call during her bachelorette party. He’d gotten back from Las Vegas the night before, but of course her friends wouldn’t let them talk, saying it was bad luck or some nonsense.

  Jade wanted to tell them that the marriage was doomed anyway, but she couldn’t. Remembering she had a text message, she looked at her phone. It was from Drew.

  Hey, future-Mrs.-me, how’s the prep going?

  You having fun with the girls?

  She smiled and typed her response, that she just wanted the day to be over. She hated lying to her friends and family, and this was going to be the biggest lie she’d ever told in her life. As much as it upset her father, Jade was thankful the wedding wasn’t going to be in a church. If she had to lie to her friends and family, at least she wasn’t doing it in a place of worship.

  “Is that Drew?” Clare asked.

  Jared sprayed hairspray all around her in a circle, and she coughed.

  “Maybe.”

  “Pammy, grab her phone. No communicating with Dream Guy!”

  Pam held her hand out with a stern look on her face. Jade hit send before passing the phone to Pam.

  “What if my parents or Cassandra call?” she asked.

  “We’ll screen your calls. Everyone but Drew gets through.”

  Jade rolled her eyes but accepted the terms. She knew her friends were just excited that she was finally getting married. After the bachelorette party, they’d confided in her that just before she told them about Drew, they were thinking of making her an online dating profile because she, in their words, seriously needed to get loved up.

  Not that marrying Drew was going to help Jade with that, but they had good intentions.

  The door opened again, and Cassandra came in. “The boys are on schedule. How are you girls going?” she asked, forgoing a greeting.

  “I’m done,” Jade said, relieved that she wouldn’t get yelled at.

  Cassandra had called her every day over the past few weeks, berating her for not having things finished, not making decisions, and not being on time. She was glad she’d finally done something right.

  “The bridesmaids have no makeup,” she said, not praising Jade at all.

  “I’m on my way right now,” Pam said, and she ran out of the room.

  “I was late because I had to pick up Jade’s parents from the airport,” Clare said.

  It was actually quite amusing how everyone spoke in short, clipped sentences to Cassandra, as if using superfluous words would annoy her. In truth, they probably would.

  “Well, we can at least take some casual shots for Twitter. Getting ready, behind-the-scenes type shots. The media will love that.” Cassandra pulled out her cell phone and pointed it at Jade.

  The flash went off, and Jade blinked. “Hey, I wasn’t ready.”

  “Even better. Have you been using the wedding hashtag?” Cassandra asked as she typed into her phone.

  “You have a wedding hashtag?” Jared asked, looking impressed.

  “Yeah, um, I don’t really tweet that much,” Jade admitted.

  Cassandra frowned.

  “But I can send one right now! Oh, wait, Pam has my phone.”

  “Use mine.” Clare handed her phone over, and Jade opened the Twitter app, logging into her account.

  She quickly typed out a message and hit send.

  @JadePratt89 Prepping for my wedding to @TheRealMalikJr. T minus 2hrs & counting. #DrewAndJade #wedding

  Cassandra’s phone pinged, and she nodded her approval. “Very nice, Jade. Try and keep it up throughout the day. We want this hashtag to trend. Drew has already sent several tweets this morning.”

  “Sounds like Drew is the teacher’s pet,” Jared said, winking at Jade.

  She wasn’t sure why her wedding was such a media event. Sure, Aaron was famous, but Drew wasn’t really. Yes, he smiled for paparazzi when he was out clubbing, but he wasn’t an actor himself. She guessed people were just seduced by his lifestyle.

  “Clare, you’re all done. Off to makeup with you,” Jared said, patting her ass as she stood up.

  “Jade, we’ll go and get your dress sorted out and then get some professional photos done,” Cassandra said. “The photographer should be here in about fifteen minutes. Our bridesmaids can come join us when their makeup is finished.”

  Jade followed Cassandra into the dressing room of the salon and saw her finished dress hanging on the wall. She hadn’t actually seen it completed. Cassandra had been furious with her when she’d missed the final fitting, but she couldn’t get away from work on time because the other girl who played Ariel had called in sick, causing Jade to have to ride the afternoon parade.

  “I just pray to heaven that it fits,” Cassandra said, fussing over the skirts as Jade stepped into the dress.

  Cassandra fastened the back and fluffed the train.

  “Thank the Lord. It would have been a disaster if you’d put on any weight in the past two weeks.”

  Jade wanted to thank her for her trust, but she held her tongue. Instead, she twirled around and watched the material swish in the mirror.

  “I want to wear this every day,” she declared, looking over her shoulder at the way the dip in the back of the dress made her waist look small and her hips look curved.

  “With how much you paid for it, you might want to,” Cassandra said with a laugh.

  “Drew’s parents paid for the wedding. I actually have no idea how much anything cost.”

  Cassandra
pursed her lips and then leaned in close to Jade’s ear. “This dress was twelve thousand,” she whispered.

  Jade gasped. “That can’t be right.”

  “It is, my dear. I sent Laura the invoice.”

  “But that’s ludicrous! I could buy a car for that money…and I’m only supposed to wear this once?”

  Cassandra laughed and wrapped her arm around Jade’s shoulder, looking at them both in the mirror. “You’ll get used to this extravagant lifestyle. Andrew grew up with it, and he’s used to living with certain luxuries. You’ll adapt. I give it a year before you won’t even think twice about spending a thousand dollars on a pair of shoes.”

  Jade pulled up her skirts and looked at the white heels. “These were a thousand dollars?”

  Cassandra laughed again and patted Jade’s shoulder. “You look lovely, dear. The vision of a bride. Shall we send out one last tweet before we get in the car?”

  “All right.”

  Jade posed, waiting for another photo, but Cassandra typed something quickly and sent it off, explaining that they didn’t want to show the final look as they could sell the photos to a magazine. There was a lot Jade had to learn about living in the public eye.

  The door opened, and Pam and Clare came in, both all made up, carrying their ice blue dresses.

  “Hurry up, girls. We’re ready to leave.”

  Pam and Clare both stripped down and got into their gowns. Jade thought they looked lovely. Cassandra clicked photos of the three of them and texted them to Jade’s phone for her own private memories, but gave strict instructions that they weren’t to be sent out on social media.

  There was a stretch limousine waiting for them outside, and they climbed in. It wasn’t far to the country club, which was why Cassandra had chosen that salon. A crowd of people waited outside the gates, and flashes burned through the windows as they proceeded up the driveway.

  “So much for not having pictures,” Jade muttered.

  “Don’t worry. This glass is mirrored. All they got were pictures of themselves,” Cassandra informed them, tapping on the window to her left.

  A man with thick gray hair and a mustache waited by the door, and Jade squealed. It had been too long since she’d seen her father. The car pulled up, and when the driver opened the door, Jade pushed past Pam, climbing over her and hiking her skirts up.