“She’s going to make me cry,” Hannah says. “I’ve had too much champagne.”
“And we have all kinds of sex,” I continue, clearly also having too much alcohol in my system. “Hot sex, sweet sex. Up against the wall and lazy in bed sex.”
At least the queen isn’t here for this part.
“So, yeah, it’s fun. What about you, Catherine?”
She blinks at me, sipping from her glass. “I can’t follow that.”
“Yes, you can,” everyone replies in unison.
“Freddie and I have been married for ten years,” she says.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t have amazing sex,” Fallon points out.
“Well, to be honest, in the beginning it was frequent and fun. But then children came along, and now we’re lucky to make love twice a month.”
“Whoa,” Jenna says, shaking her head. “Girl, that’s gotta change.”
“He’s quite proper,” Catherine adds. “But, really, I think we just don’t make time.”
“Make time,” Grace says kindly. “You need that time together, especially since you had the children.”
“I think I’ll rock his bloody world tonight,” Catherine proclaims, her glass in the air.
“Yes, get it, girl,” Willa says, clinking her glass to Catherine’s. “We so needed this tonight. I’m glad we did it.”
“Me, too,” I say. “We have the bridal shower tomorrow.”
There’s a knock on the door again, but before I can answer it, Sebastian walks in with all of the other guys.
“It’s like watching a hot guy parade,” I mumble, but clearly loud enough for everyone to hear because the guys all break out in grins.
“You’re here!” Fallon yells and launches herself into Noah’s arms. “I haven’t seen you in years.”
“Or hours.” He kisses her lips. “You’re drunk.”
“We’re all drunk,” I inform them. “I’m sorry, I know it’s not very dignified to get wasted, but it’s my bachelorette party.”
“You’re in your home,” Sebastian reminds me and pulls me in for a hot kiss. “You’re safe and enjoying time with your friends. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Your mom came in here and drank with us.”
He steps back and stares down at me, then looks over at Frederick, who also looks shocked.
“She did,” Ellie confirms. “I was gobsmacked too, but she had a good time. She wasn’t here long.”
“I never thought I’d see the day,” Frederick mumbles, then pulls his wife to her feet. “Shall we, love?”
“Oh, yes. I have some sexy things to do to you.”
He blinks in surprise again, then turns to me. “You’re welcome in the palace anytime, Nina.”
We laugh as they leave, and one by one, each couple follows them.
“No one came to gather me,” Ellie complains with a pout.
“We can call Alistair,” Fallon offers, but Ellie cringes.
“No, thanks.”
They shut the door behind them, and Sebastian pulls me into the bedroom.
“The champagne went to my head,” I confess and smile at him. “You’re so damn pretty. Like, how is it possible that you’re so pretty?”
“It really has gone to your head, love.” He kisses my forehead and helps me out of my clothes. “Let’s get you into bed.”
“Oh, yeah.” I reach for his cock, but as my hand closes around it, I’m suddenly intensely nauseous.
Dizzy.
Sweaty.
“Oh, God.” I stumble my way to the bathroom and manage to throw up in the toilet. It’s a complete miracle.
“Oh, Nina.” I feel him playing with my hair, but I don’t have time to thank him before the next wave hits me.
“Gonna die.”
“I won’t permit that,” he murmurs. Water runs in the sink, and then he presses a cold cloth to my neck and rubs circles on my back. If I weren’t puking my guts out, it would feel heavenly.
It feels like I’ve been kneeling on the floor for hours when I finally finish dry heaving, and Sebastian picks me up and carries me to the bed.
“I’ll be right back.” He rushes into the bathroom. Moments later, he’s back with a fresh cloth.
He rubs it over my lips, then refolds it and presses it to my forehead.
“Just sleep, darling. Get some rest. It’ll help.”
My eyes are heavy. I intended to rock his world, but I failed miserably with my incredibly not sexy puke show.
Ugh.
***
“You should have let me die last night.”
My arm is draped over my eyes. Sebastian hasn’t even opened the drapes yet, but the little light coming in is already too much. I feel like shit.
I didn’t think I drank that much.
But now that I think about it, my glass was always full.
I rub my hand through my hair and pause when I discover that it’s braided.
“How did my hair get braided?”
“Well, I could either hold your hair or rub your back. This was much more efficient.”
I open one eye and stare at him. He’s resting his head on one hand, his elbow braced on the bed. He’s naked, but the sheet is wrapped around his waist. I can only see his very tanned, very toned torso.
My God, he’s hot.
“Thank you.”
“Do you have an awful headache?”
I nod and close my eyes again.
“I’ll be back.”
Do not fall in love with this man, Nina. Love is off the table. I have to keep reminding myself of that because he’s just so good. Kind and sweet. Funny. Caring.
He freaking braided my hair!
But that’s also something a friend would do. It doesn’t mean anything. He was being nice, because that’s just who he is.
“Here, take this, love.”
And just like that, everything in me goes very still. Not the headache, but everything else.
I sit up, take the pills he offers, and swallow them down with water. Then, I stand from the bed, ignoring the sledgehammer pounding behind my eyes.
“What did you call me?”
We’re facing each other, completely naked. We should be having wild, crazy sex.
But I need to make sure I heard him wrong.
“You heard me.” He braces his hands on his naked hips and frowns at me.
“We promised no love,” I reply carefully. “No L word. You know that’s not part of the deal.”
He shakes his head and turns away to get dressed. He’s not speaking to me, but his actions are quick, clearly signaling that he’s angry.
“Why are you mad?” I demand as he ties his shoes. “You know how I feel, Sebastian.”
I pull his robe around me so I’m not standing there naked as the day I was born.
“Remind me not to be nice to you the next time you’ve been drinking.” He grips my shoulders to move me out of his way and stomps through the apartment to the front door. “Because you turn into a raging bitch.”
And with that, he walks out, slamming the door behind him.
I sigh, rub my forehead, and immediately regret everything I just said. He’s right, I was acting like a bitch.
I warned him that I could be one.
But he didn’t deserve that.
I need to apologize.
I hurry to the door, not giving two shits that I’m only dressed in a robe and last night’s makeup. I see Sebastian at the end of the hallway.
“Sebastian!”
But he doesn’t turn around.
Nick, along with two other men I don’t know, are in the hall and look my way. Nick frowns.
“Miss—”
“I have this handled,” Mary says as she comes up behind me. “Come along, Miss Nina, we have plenty to do to get ready for today.”
She pulls me into the apartment and shuts the door firmly, then turns to me with a clenched jaw and her hands folded at her waist.
�
��What were you thinking?” she hisses.
“Sebastian and I had a fight. I needed to apologize.”
“Not like that.” She shakes her head. “You never make it look like he left a room because you had a row and he’s mad at you. You discuss things privately. Even though every royal employee signs a non-disclosure agreement, people talk. You just fueled the fire of a scandal, dear, and you of all people should know better.”
I swallow hard, feeling the blood drain from my face.
“Oh, God.”
I run to the bathroom to be sick again, but it has nothing to do with champagne, and everything to do with how I just left things with Sebastian.
“There’s no time for that,” Mary says. “You have a bridal shower to get ready for. Now, pull it together, and set it aside until tonight when you and His Royal Highness can make it right.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Yes. It is. You’re a member of this household now, and I’m telling you what’s expected of you. Now stop this nonsense and get ready for your party.”
I brush my teeth and then shuffle to my dressing room.
For the first time since I met her, I don’t like Mary all that much.
Even though she’s absolutely right.
Chapter Nine
Nina
“LADY CAMILLA SPEARS.”
Camilla nods and smiles, but the expression is as fake as her eyelashes. Just like every other smile sent my way by the dozens of British women I don’t know who have been invited to my shower today.
“Hello,” I say and then smile at the young woman in charge of making introductions, whose name I don’t remember. “I’m going to get some punch.”
I slip away, walking to the table set with punch and finger foods. I don’t want to see alcohol ever again.
As I sip my drink, I can hear every word being spoken at the table next to me.
“Goodness, the palace is being overrun by Americans.”
“It’s a pity,” someone replies. I don’t know any of their names, but I’ve been introduced to all of them. It’s been two hours of faces and names. Fake smiles and lots of side-eye.
In fact, the amount of side-eye being flung around this party is legendary.
I move away, enjoying my moment alone with a refreshing drink, when I hear someone else say, “I give it a year.”
My feet stop moving.
“Are you kidding? It won’t last three months. She’s a commoner from the States. She may be related to Christian Wolfe, but she’s a nobody.”
They see me. I don’t move.
“Please,” someone else replies. “I’ll have Sebastian back in my bed before it’s time for him to walk down the aisle.”
I wonder if it would be frowned upon to pull the girl’s weave out of her head.
I glance around and find Nick watching me, the way he always does. He narrows his eyes as if he can read my thoughts.
“You said that about Frederick, too,” another woman says. “And he seems pretty happy to me. I don’t believe he’s come knocking at your door even once.”
I smirk and keep moving.
The women in Hollywood can be ruthless, but it seems these noble women are just plain savage.
The mean-girl syndrome spans the globe.
Good to know.
“You don’t look okay,” Fallon says when she finds me. She looks fantastic in a green dress that fits her like a glove and falls just past her knees. Her dark hair is down, framing her pretty face. Why doesn’t she look hungover? “And the energy in this place is not friendly.”
“I sense the same.”
“Come with me.” She takes my hand and drags me to the Montana table as I’ve come to think of it. All of my girls are here, enjoying each other.
“We saw you looking longingly over here when you were being drilled with introductions,” Jenna says with a sympathetic smile. “We would have rescued you earlier, but you looked busy.”
“I literally know eight people at this party, and there are at least three hundred guests.”
I sit next to Willa and do my best not to lean my head on her shoulder.
That wouldn’t be dignified.
“If one more person gives me a fake smile followed by a sneer, I might just throw my punch in their face.”
“That’s frowned upon,” Ellie says as she walks up next to me. “But I’d pay to see it.”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that so loud. I’m trying to remember my manners.”
“But some of these women make it hard,” Ellie says, shaking her head. “Their evil stares could start wars. In the past, they may have.”
“Some have made a point of speaking loudly enough for me to hear, saying they’ve slept with Sebastian and that he’ll be back in their bed before we say, ‘I do.’”
“Who?” Ellie’s eyes narrow, and we all look around the room.
“Over there,” I say, nodding toward the brunette with the big boobs. “Red dress, implants.”
“Well, they probably did sleep together at some point,” Ellie says with a sigh. “She’s wanted to snag a royal since the day she was born. Hasn’t worked, though.”
“Ew,” Grace says, wrinkling her nose. “I don’t like her all the way from here.”
“Because you’re my people,” I say, leaning over to squeeze her hand. “And I appreciate you.”
“I think most of these people are here because they’re nosy,” Willa says with a shrug and bites into a finger sandwich. “They want to see who snagged Prince Sebastian.”
“Completely,” Fallon agrees. “They’re jealous.”
“A few are family and genuinely happy for him,” Ellie says. “But, yeah, ninety percent of them are jealous and nosy. They’re here to see and be seen. It’s all part of being nobility or gentry in this country.”
She shrugs and then waves at someone trying to get her attention.
“Sorry, I have to go mingle. I’ll be back.”
She hurries off, and I sigh.
“I should be mingling, too. But, man, I’m tired. Why don’t any of you look hungover?”
“Makeup,” Willa says. “Lots of it. Oh, and we all did yoga with Fallon this morning.”
“No fair. I want to do yoga. It’s been weeks. Can we please do yoga in the courtyard outside of our apartment the morning of the wedding?”
“Hell, yes,” Fallon says with a grin.
“How long does this shindig go?” Jenna asks. “And where are the presents?”
“They’ve been discreetly tucked away,” I reply.
“I think it’s wrapping up.” Grace glances around. “People are getting antsy and leaving.”
“That means I’d better go stand by the exit and thank them for coming.” I stand. “Pray for me.”
***
I didn’t think I’d make it through. Is this what it’ll be like to be a part of this family? Because spending time with people who only look down their noses at me with disdain isn’t my idea of a good time.
Just as I reach the apartment and step out of my shoes, Sebastian walks through the door.
His eyes hold mine as he shuts the door behind him and then props his hands on his hips.
“I owe you the biggest apology in the history of the world,” I begin. Everything in me sags in relief when his lips twitch with humor. “This isn’t funny.”
“You’re right. Carry on.”
“I shouldn’t have snapped at you this morning. You were nothing but amazing last night, and again after I woke up. You didn’t deserve that.”
“I agree.”
“I’m so sorry. It’s just that the L word makes me nervous, even though I know you weren’t actually saying that you love me. It’s just a word, and I’m stupid for overreacting.”
“Also agreed.”
I glare at him. “You’re not making this easy.”
He sighs and tugs off his tie, then walks to me and pulls me against him, wrapping his arms tightly around me.
>
“I need to apologize, as well,” he says, surprising me. “I shouldn’t have called you a raging bitch. If anyone else were to use those words directed at you, I’d want to tear them apart with my bare hands. I will never speak to you that way again.”
“I mean, you weren’t wrong.”
“Yes.” He kisses my head. “I was.”
“I hate that I had to wait all damn day to apologize. I tried to run after you this morning, and about gave Mary a heart attack in the process.”
“I can only imagine.” He kisses my head. “There’s gossip moving through the palace that there’s trouble in paradise.”
“Oh, God. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. We were bound to hit a rough patch, Nina. Things have been going pretty smoothly, all things considered.”
He pulls back and tugs me next to him on the couch.
“But we do need to talk about this because you will not dictate to me what I am and am not allowed to feel. I’ve lived my whole life being told how to manage my emotions, and I won’t allow my wife to do it.”
I frown. “But we discussed—”
“I don’t give a bloody damn what we discussed. You told me what you would feel, and I said that I understood. I never said I’d feel the same. Not to mention, love is a term of endearment.”
“I know.”
“You have to stop being so damn prickly about things, Nina. Expecting everyone to fall in line with your expectations is not realistic or healthy.”
“Are you a psychiatrist now?”
“Just call me Dr. Sebastian.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Are you saying you’re in love with me?”
Don’t panic.
“No. I’m saying there may be times I use a term of endearment, and you need to stop overreacting to it.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“We have to be at dinner in an hour.”
“I know.”
His eyes narrow on my face. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you enjoy your party today?”
“No, actually, I didn’t. Women are just plain horrible. Especially jealous women. And can I just say that nine out of ten of the girls there would rather have me beheaded than see me marry you? One, in particular, was pretty pouty about not having sex with you anymore.”
He swallows hard. “Well, that’s…disturbing.”
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