The Prince and I

by R. S. Lively

  “Oh, she wants to surprise you. How sweet. I think you did really good, Luca. She is a wonderful girl, and I think she will make a great queen one day.”

  I whisper into my mother’s ear. “I’m going to ask her to marry me tonight.”

  “Ah!” she screams, jumping up and down with excitement.

  “Mother, calm down. I don’t want anyone to know yet.”

  “Oh, right.” She zips her lips. “My lips are sealed.”

  I look at my watch to see I probably have around ten minutes before Rosie is coming down the stairs, so I run to the kitchen and grab us some non-alcoholic sparkling cider. If she can’t drink, I can’t drink. That’s only fair.

  I grab two flutes off the counter and grab a bottle from the fridge, filling the flutes to the rim. I walk back out onto the dance floor, getting hit with a wall of floral scent. I say hello to a few people, trying to work my way through the crowd so I don’t miss Rosie’s grand entrance. I set the flutes down at the bottom of the steps and lean against the wall, shaking hands with senators, politicians, other royalty, and so on.

  I’m about to go check on her when a few people look up toward the top of the staircase. It’s just liked the night we met. She is turning everyone’s heads and she still has no idea how beautiful she is. I push from against the wall and look up, seeing her dressed in a blue gown, fitted around her breasts, but flowing over the baby bump elegantly. Her mask is the same as she wore the night we met as well.

  Great minds…

  She holds the stone rail of the staircase, floating down like she is on a cloud. I meet her halfway, giving her my hand to take. “May I have this dance?”

  The biggest smile appears on her face when she realizes what I’m doing. I want us to relive the night we first met, because it was the best night of my entire life. I want this to be the night she remembers as the best day of hers.

  “Yes, you may.” Her hand slides into mine, and like the gentleman I am, I help her down the steps until we get to the bottom.

  I bring her hand to my lips, giving the soft flesh a kiss. “You look stunning. The prettiest woman of all the land.”

  She blushes. “I don’t know about all that. I feel like a whale in this dress.”

  “Well, you don’t look like one. I love seeing you round with my child. It turns me on,” I growl, bending over to pick up our flutes from the ground.

  “Oh, I remember this morning,” she whispers, taking the flute from my hand and hiding her smirk behind it.

  “You’ll remember tonight, too.” I down my cider like it’s a fine glass of scotch.

  She quirks a brow at me and gestures for me to bend forward. Her lips brush against my ear. “Maybe we can sneak off, and I can suck your cock.”

  I squeeze the glass so hard the stem breaks, falling onto the floor. “That sounds… let’s go do that now.”

  “Nope. You’re going to have to wait. I want to mingle and have fun.” She saunters away from me, introducing herself to all the important people. Damn, she looks beautiful. I am one lucky man.

  The orchestra plays the same song we danced to the night we met. When nothing happens, they start over, and it takes me a minute to remember that this is the cue. Shit. “Excuse us.” I take her hand and drag her into the middle of the dance floor, spinning her around in a circle before pulling her back to me.

  “Careful!” Michael scolds from the side.

  “I’m fine. I haven’t thrown up all day,” she says proudly.

  “Well, that’s excellent. That’s progress,” I lay my hand flat on her stomach for the hundredth time today. I can’t help it. It is my favorite place to put it. The baby kicks my hand, and I smile, knowing what I am about to do is about to complete us.

  I spin Rosie around again and get on my knee. When she comes back, she is a little confused, and then looks down. She covers her face with her hands, gasping. “Luca? What are you doing?”

  I open the velvet box, showing the teardrop pearl surrounded by diamonds in a vintage rose gold setting. “Rosie, I love you more than anything in this world, more than anything this universe can ever offer me. You are more than anything I can ever hope for. I never knew I wanted love. I didn’t have time for love, but the moment I saw you coming down the staircase, I loved you. When I saw you coming down the staircase tonight, I knew I had to spend the rest of my life with you. Rosie Caldwell, will you do me the honor of becoming my princess?”

  She takes off the mask and throws it to the side and kneels to be eye-level with me. Her fingers slide under my mask, uncovering my eyes. “You mean it?”

  I lay my hand against hers, leaning into her touch. “Of course I mean it. I want nothing more than for you to become my wife. I want you forever, my sweet little fox.”

  “I’ll say yes on one condition.”

  Intrigued, I lift my brow. “What’s that?”

  “Why do you call me little fox?”

  I smile when the memory plays in my mind. “Because you moved quick like a little fox but acted like a vixen when we were at the barn.”

  She blushes, pursing her lips into an ‘o.’ “I remember.”

  “What do you say? Marry me, Rosie. Make me the happiest prince alive.”

  “Yes. I want nothing more. I’ll marry you.” She throws her arms around my neck and kisses me. The entire place erupts in cheers, applause and whistles, celebrating us.

  I pull her head to my face, smashing her lips against mine, diving my tongue into her tasteful mouth that I want to savor.

  That I get to savor for the rest of my life.

  My cock starts to perk up from the thought. I want to take her into a closet right now and have a quick celebration of our own, but that has to wait. There’s one more thing I want to do. I break the kiss, laying my forehead against hers. I look to the right to see her brother clapping and holding back tears, and next to him, next to him is a woman I have never seen before.

  I shove my hand into my pocket and pull out the bracelet. “I wanted to give you this, too.” I slide the ring on her finger and then place the bracelet on her wrist, clasping it around the dainty bone.

  “Where did you get this!” she shouts, running her fingers over it like she can’t believe it’s real.

  “It fell off of you at the ball. I picked it up, and I’ve kept it. I’ve been waiting for the right time to give it back to you.”

  “I don’t deserve you.”

  “You’re right. You deserve more, Rosie.” I run my thumb over her cheek, knowing everyone is capturing proof of our vulnerable moment.

  “I love you, Luca. There aren’t enough words to describe it.”

  “I know what you mean. There’s someone here to see you by the way.” I stand, helping her up.

  “Who? Everyone is already here.”

  “I believe you’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” I point to the woman standing next to Jesse.

  “Alice?” she asks in disbelief. “How? When?”

  “Today. She kept calling you, and I answered when you weren’t looking. I flew her here. She’s your best friend. I want you to have that. I want you to have everything in life.”

  Just like my father, his kingdom is his queen, and Rosie is mine.

  THE END

  Unexpected Gift (Sample)

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  My brother’s best friend, AKA my sworn enemy.

  He’s the cocky doctor with a mission to drive me insane.

  And I had to walk down the aisle with him.

  “It’s my brother’s wedding day,” I told myself…

  Caden's a neurosurgeon.

  Devastatingly handsome, and a total Casanova.

  Arrogant, egotistical, and a complete a$%hole.

  The enemy disguised as Prince Charming.

  We fought at every encounter.

  Then tragedy struck.

  And I was forced to
live with the man that I hate.

  We were left in charge of my niece, Posie.

  He bought us a beautiful home.

  Watching him with Posie…

  How he took care of her.

  How he took care of us.

  I let my guard down. I let him in.

  I can’t believe I gave him my virginity.

  A one-night stand was all it should have been.

  Now I’m knocked up…

  No way he could ever change his ways, right?

  Chapter One: Molly

  Five years ago...

  You love your brother. You love your brother. You love your brother. Because that is the only way I would ever agree to wear this dress. The mirror mocks me. I love my brother, Brandon, and his fiancée, Amelia. They are the couple everyone envies. From middle school all the way through college, they stayed together. The love they share is the stuff people hope for their entire lives. It is beautiful.

  This dress though? This dress is not.

  “Oh my god, you look so beautiful!” Amelia squeals, throwing her hands over her mouth. Her face starts to wrinkle and a loud whine rips through the air. “So beautiful,” She sobs. Her shoulders shake, causing the hair rollers to bounce on her head.

  Crap.

  “Don’t cry, Amelia. This is a happy day!” I plaster on a smile, trying to accept the fact that I’ll be in a baby pink dress that shows way too much boob for my liking. Not only that, but I'll have to be in it for more than eight hours, too.

  Good thing she doesn’t have any makeup on or else we would have to redo it. She waves a hand at me, dismissing her tears. “I’m fine. You just look so pretty,” she says, and in comes the high-pitched emotional voice.

  Doubtful.

  “I’ve waited for this day for so long. I love your brother so much, and I’ve always imagined you in baby pink at our wedding. You wear every other color except that one.” She dabs her tears with a tissue.

  Because I hate the color pink…in every shade.

  I pull up the strapless part of the dress as it starts to slide down. I don’t know how this is going to work. Considering how it falls, I could be walking down the aisle, and bam! My boobs are on display for the entire world to see.

  But I’ll put up with it because I love my brother and Amelia. I spin on my heels, careful to grab the sides so I don’t step on the delicate fabric. We have a few hours until the wedding and everyone is starting to lose their minds with all sorts of last minute details. And it wouldn’t be a wedding without at least one catastrophe. The cake has been delayed and Amelia starts entering the ‘what if the wedding isn’t perfect?’ phase.

  This is why she has a maid of honor. “Hey,” I calmly say as I grab her hand in mine and smile, pushing past the stupid baby pink dress and my visible cleavage. “The wedding is going to be perfect. You’re going to look so beautiful. Brandon won’t even know what hit him when he sees you walking down that aisle. He is lucky. We are lucky to finally have you as an official part of our family.”

  “That isn’t helping.” She cries harder and uglier. Her bottom lip trembles, and her face turns red.

  No one said I’d be a good bridesmaid. Maybe a tougher approach?

  I spot a bottle of champagne that the maid of honor brought for us to celebrate before Amelia takes her first step out of the dressing room doors and into the church to marry the love of her life.

  “I know just what you need," I say. She needs to relax. “I’ll be right back.”

  The bottle is leaning against the side of the metal bucket and chilling in ice. A few plastic flutes sit next to it, begging me to use them. Grabbing the neck of the bottle with my hand, I pour two flutes of the bubbly. It pops and fizzes as the bubbles rise to the surface.

  By the time I make it back to Amelia, the top of my dress has already slid down to my nipples. I wish I had more boobs so this wouldn’t be a problem in my everyday life, but implants are too expensive. A few weeks ago, the dress fit, but I lost some weight running around like a chicken with her head cut off, and I lost the weight in my boobs. Of course, I did. The weight can’t come from my butt or my stomach. Nope, it just had to leave from the body parts that barely exist in the first place.

  “Here you go.” I hand her a flute of the delicious champagne.

  She takes it from me hurriedly, and the expensive liquid spills over the rim, trickling onto her hand. But that still doesn’t stop her from chugging the bubbly.

  “Okay, woah. Take it easy. You have to walk down the aisle, remember?” I grab the flute from her and set it on the desk where all of our makeup is. From the looks of the clock on the wall, all five bridesmaids and the bride-to-be need to get going, or else Amelia will be late.

  And my brother will kill me.

  Amelia wipes her mouth on her arm and takes a deep breath.

  I have never seen her this frazzled before. I yank the top of my dress up again and sit down in the chair beside her. “Talk to me. Why are you so nervous, Amelia?”

  Her big, brown, doe-like eyes stare at me with fear as they start filling with water. “I’m scared.”

  I pinch my brows together and take her hand in mine. “Why? You and Brandon have been together forever.”

  “That’s the problem. What if he realizes he needs more? What if I’m not enough? We were each other’s first. What if only being with one woman forever isn’t what he wants?”

  Oh. I see. Yeah, that would make me nervous, too. But it's Brandon so I’m not worried at all. “You know, never once has Brandon ever told me he has second thoughts. In middle school, high school, and college, you were all there ever was. He never brought up another girl, and every time he said your name, his eyes lit up. You’re his favorite person in the entire world. Now, I’m not saying there won’t be hard times−there will be−but he has loved you since the moment he saw you in the seventh grade with your piggy tales. Ever since the day you wore those red overalls with little sunflowers all over, he was hooked.”

  “He remembers that?” she asks with a small grin stretching across her face.

  “Are you kidding? He talks about you all the time, Amelia. I know everything within limits. I didn’t want to hear about…. Well, you know…” I wiggle my brows to emphasize what I mean. “Because that's gross. He is my brother, after all.” I shiver from the thought.

  She cracks a smile through her watery gaze. “Yeah? Really?”

  “He loves you so much. Remember, he is probably thinking the same things and wondering if he will be enough for you.”

  “He will always be enough for me.”

  “Then that is what you have to think about. Today is going to be a great day.” I pat her hand before letting go and standing up. “We need to get ready and dry those tears because we have two hours before walking down that aisle and no one has their makeup on yet. I also need tape.”

  “Two hours! That’s impossible. Oh my god, I am nowhere near ready.” She spins around on the built-in stool that is connected to the vanity and fumbles with her makeup.

  “I told you to hire a makeup artist,” I mumble, averting my eyes and sipping my drink. I don’t want to see the look she's probably giving me in response to my comment.

  “That is ridiculous. They are too expensive. Plus, I know how to do my own makeup.”

  I lift my hands in surrender. “Alright. Alright. But I need tape or else I’m not walking down the aisle in this dress.”

  “I’m sure Caden would love that,” she snorts. She stands up and begins strolling to the bathroom. Her long robe floats behind her like a cape, looking oh-so-debonair.

  “Wait... What did you just say?”

  She dries her face, which I assume is an attempt to wash the tears away. Her eyes meet mine in the mirror and she glances away, wiping her hands on the towel. “Did Brandon not tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “You guys are walking down the aisle together.”

  There is no way I heard that right. “Why? Jess
ica is the Maid of Honor. It only makes sense for the Best Man to walk with her.”

  “I know, but you guys look better together. You know, it's for the pictures and stuff.”

  I bang my head against the door, despising everyone involved for all of two minutes. “Why would you do that to me? You know how I feel about him. He is so arrogant.”

  “And hot.”

  I curl my upper lip in disgust. “He is far from hot. He is gross. I can’t believe you’re making me lock arms with a walking, talking, venereal disease.”

  Caden Jackson went to medical school with my brother. The two ended up being as thick as thieves, and the stories Brandon would tell me about his friend made my skin itch. Is he good-looking? Absolutely. Smart? Yes. Arrogant? Yep—he knows he is hot. Will he screw anyone with a vagina? For sure. Can he charm the panties off any girl? You bet.

  Any girl except for me. I can’t stand him, and I honestly have no idea what my brother sees in the guy. Luckily, I don’t have to see him all the time, so I’ll just hold my breath and hope he doesn’t have any airborne diseases.

  “Oh, come on, Molls. He isn’t that bad. If you’d give him a chance, you’d see that.”

  Amelia starts putting on her makeup and tosses tape at me for the sake of keeping my boobs covered. As I place the sticky side to my skin, I wonder if she is right. Maybe I’m not giving him a fair chance. Maybe I’m just jealous that some guy Brandon has known for all of four years has replaced me.

  A knock at the door makes everyone squeal and hide, as if they are the bride or something. I roll my eyes, and when I open the door, my best friend is standing there with a twelve-pack in her hand. She is wearing a black dress as though she is about to attend a funeral. Well, in her eyes, I guess she does view a wedding as a funeral.

  She lifts the case. “Who wants to shotgun a beer?”

  I smile and set aside all of my negative emotions about Caden. The show must go on, right?

  The reception has everything Amelia has always wanted. Lights are strung in the weeping willows, the bright bulbs hanging down against the long arms of the trees. Amelia has always dreamed of an enchanted forest as part of her wedding reception and Brandon made sure she got everything she has hoped for, and then some. He is a doctor, after all, so he can afford it.