Maddox pulled away, allowing her time to absorb the sensations rippling through her. This was their land of wonder, a place only they could explore, where his touch and the gleam in his gaze belonged only to her, where she hoped he could read the devotion within her own gaze.
“I do,” she said softly.
“You do what?” His hand ran up and down her spine, making her tingle.
“That’s all,” she said. “I do. That should have been our wedding kiss, and so I’m making my vow to you again.”
Maddox’s lips quirked halfway, and, still kneeling before her, he guided her to them again. “Me too,” he finally said once they’d broken apart.
Even though this marriage had started out as a hoax, a cover for the protection he was offering her, it no longer was. In that moment, he was as much hers as she hoped to be his.
Epilogue
Wonderland was a veritable hive, buzzing and bustling with people. The streets were so tightly packed past the March Hare’s house, Adelie held onto Maddox’s hand just to make it through to the Red Queen’s castle.
“Glad to see you two came to your senses.” Duncan trudged behind, wearing a business suit with a blue shirt and tie. He continued staring at his phone, swiping through the numbers he hadn’t stopped commenting on since he’d arrived a half hour before.
“I don’t think Wonderland has ever had attendance like this,” Maddox said, rotating and taking in the crowds. Adelie sidled next to him.
“You know, much as I hate to admit it, Ruby had it right,” she said, smoothing a hand down the beading along her wedding dress—her dream dress. She and Suzie had gone to New York and met with a designer to ensure it had everything Adelie wanted. She thrilled at finally having the chance to wear it. “This really is the perfect marketing scheme for the park.”
It took a lot of arguments, but several weeks later, Adelie had managed to convince her husband he should reopen. Why not use their recent marriage to the park’s advantage?
She had nothing to hide, she told him. Not anymore. She was crazy in love with him and wanted to shout it on every rooftop. Adelie had never felt so happy, so completely contented, so thoroughly safe. This was home, where she belonged, and Maddox needed to know she would support him as much as he had supported her.
He loved his theme park. It meant so much to him, and she knew he’d been feeling its loss.
Finally, he’d agreed, and here they were. Adelie had convinced him to wear his tuxedo and though she’d nabbed the perfect dress, she’d had Suzie come over and help do her hair the same way it’d been done on their wedding day.
Suzie and Fletcher had taken off work. They stood near a collection of fiberglass mushrooms, chatting with Ella, Hawk, and Grammy Larsen. Adelie’s chest swelled as she caught their attention. She waved in their direction as though she was some kind of princess in a parade. In this dress and with Maddox at her side, she felt like a princess.
Ella cupped her hands around her mouth and whooped. Grammy Larsen clapped, and Ella’s fiancé, Hawk, waved as the surrounding crowd joined in the choral of cheers, but Suzie rushed forward and trapped Adelie in a hug.
“You deserve this,” Suzie all but shouted in her ear over the noise that resulted from Ella’s catcalls.
Tears stung Adelie’s eyes. She squeezed her sister back just as tightly. “Your turn next.”
Suzie fluttered her lips. “Yeah, right, at this rate I’ll have to be the one who proposes.” She winked at Adelie, lightening her statement, kissed her sister on the cheek, and dashed back to stand by their family. Fletcher gave Adelie a wide, toothy grin, and Adelie waved. Suzie propose? That would be a sight to witness.
Maddox wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her close to him as they continued strolling a few more feet along the pave stone street toward the looming castle they’d agreed would be their backdrop for this. Adelie leaned her head against his chest. The space behind her ribs tripled in size and filled with so much happiness she could hardly contain it.
“I’m doing this because you wanted pictures,” Maddox said, tugging his lapels.
“Of course. We need documentation.” Adelie adjusted his tie, smoothing a hand over his chest. She’d never get sick of any excuse she could find to touch him. “We didn’t take a single one on our wedding day, and I’m remedying that. I want to hang them all over the house.”
Maddox gave an acquiescent smile. He stood as though he felt out of place. “At least Duncan will be happy.”
“I’m not doing this for Duncan.” Adelie glanced to where Duncan stood, in conversation with Ritchie, who’d bent over to retrieve the camera from its case.
“No, but we should. He’s been a good sport about continuing to remain an investor, even with my ups and downs the past few weeks.”
That he had. Duncan had been Maddox’s most severe worry. He’d let his friend down by pulling the rug out from under him the way he had. Duncan had given Maddox a chance, and it’d been eating away at Maddox that he hadn’t done right by him.
Adelie put her arms around him. “I’m glad you decided to reopen.”
“So am I. I’m glad people are actually coming,” he muttered, squinting around.
Ritchie approached, his camera in hand, black fingernail already on the button. He took his photographer stance and tilted the camera at an angle before his face.
“Don’t move. The light here is perfect.”
He snapped a few pictures, aiming the camera first horizontal, then vertical. “We should get one of you both here, in the middle of the croquet grounds.”
Between a pair of arborvitaes, he directed them where to stand. “No need for you to look lost this time, eh?” Ritchie said as a joke.
Adelie’s smile overtook her. The accompanying joy was too much to contain. No, she wasn’t hiding anything anymore. She knew exactly where she wanted to be, and who she wanted to be with. Thanks to a wild goose chase—or rather, a rabbit chase—she’d found her life, and she never wanted to leave it or Maddox again.
Maddox’s arms encircled her, and she ducked her head against his chest at the catcalls and whistles from onlookers.
“Are you happy, Mrs. Hatter?” he asked.
“More than I’ve ever been.”
“Even with all these people watching you?”
She tugged him closer, tiptoeing up for another kiss. “Let them look. As long as I have you, I can handle anything.”
***
Duncan fiddled with the top button of his dress shirt and nearly tore the thing off before it relented and came loose. Frustration was usually his go-to these days, but he was in Wonderland, overseeing Maddox and Adelie’s wedding photo shoot. Things were back in motion, and Wonderland’s attendance was higher than it had been to date. Which meant his investment would pan out, just as he’d known it would from the start of this whole charade with Adelie.
Why then was he so flat out irritated?
His assistant, Rosabel, sauntered toward him, killing it in dark slacks, a blue, button-up shirt with no collar. Those heels, though. She should know what they did when she walked.
Full lips darker than rubies, she smirked at Duncan and stopped at his side. Her dark hair shined in the sunlight. Duncan stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out to touch it.
“What are you doing here?” he asked her, not caring that his tone had all the friendliness of a shark.
“Maddox invited me,” she said.
“That’s what I get for trying to be nice,” he grumbled, cursing himself for letting Maddox get to know her.
“What do you care whether I’m here or not?”
“I don’t,” Duncan lied. He still couldn’t figure out what had his temper so on edge. He’d only ever invested in what he considered worth his while, and once Maddox had gotten Adelie Carroll to pose as Alice, Wonderland was culminating as one of the best investments Duncan had made.
Then Maddox had to go and get his heart caught in the mix, pulling everyth
ing out from under Duncan. It was a low blow, to say the least. Still, his company would recover, thanks to the closure being so short-lived. As for his friendship, well…
All right. That would recover too. He and Maddox had been friends too long for it not to.
But to do something so stupid for love? To throw his entire business on the line just to prove something to a woman? Duncan prayed he was never that idiotic.
Was that what bothered him? That Maddox had gone and fallen in love with the girl?
He peered at Rosabel. She was a knockout no matter what she wore, that was for sure, from her pointed gaze to her feathery eye lashes, to the sharp remarks she managed to throw back at him. She was exciting in a world of the ordinary.
People at the office already thought they were into each other, which was one reason Duncan couldn’t —absolutely refused to—admit he was falling for her.
Besides, it was also obvious that Rosabel couldn’t stand him.
Regardless of all that, what did it matter that Maddox had fallen in love? He didn’t care. Duncan didn’t mind in the slightest that even though his friend had found happiness with a woman, he never could.
In the distance, Maddox gathered Adelie into his arms. Her white, flowing dress trailed the pave stones, and the crowd around them erupted into cheers as he dipped in for a kiss with their photographer capturing every second of it.
Good grief, this was ridiculous. Duncan had to get over himself.
Still, something streaked through him as, beaming, Rosabel joined in the applause.
“Aren’t you glad I helped them out?” Duncan taunted from behind her.
She glanced back, her eyes flashing. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
Rosabel slanted herself toward him, turning away from the happy couple. “I know you’re taking credit for this fantastic moment for them, but news flash, Duncan Hawthorne, you are not the reason those two got together.”
“I was the one who got you to help with their wedding and their honeymoon.”
“Which I did gladly.” She punched his arm. “Now stop arguing with me. You’re ruining a perfect day.”
Duncan sniggered, and at that moment, with her playful, almost flirtatious arm-punch, a thought struck him.
What if a relationship with Rosabel wasn’t impossible?
He refused to believe Rosabel felt nothing for him, or that this animosity of hers was genuine. He’d tried suppressing his interest in her…but what if he stopped?
So what if she was his assistant? Maddox Hatter wasn’t the only one who could pull a fast-one on an unsuspecting recipient. After capturing another quick glance of Maddox kissing Adelie in front of the Ferris wheel, the realization sank hard into Duncan’s sternum, hammering itself in with the force of a fence post digger.
As far as Duncan saw things, he had two options.
He could put his feelings for Rosabel to rest once and for all. Continue simmering in this frustration or just fire her and do his best to forget her.
Or he could let Rosabel know how he felt. He could see where things might lead.
The prospect of that, he admitted to himself, was tempting and terrifying all at once.
***
See how Rosabel tames her hunky boss in
Rosabel and the Billionaire Beast!
You Know the Original Stories.
Now read the billionaire versions
Goldie and the Billionaire Bear (A Goldilocks Retelling)
Ella and the Billionaire’s Ball (A Cinderella Retelling)
Aaliyah and the Billionaire’s Lamp (An Aladdin Retelling)
Rosabel and the Billionaire Beast
(A Beauty and the Beast Retelling. Coming May 2020!)
Hazel and Her Billionaire Tower
(A Rapunzel Retelling. Coming July 2020!)
***
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Thank you!
Acknowledgments
First of all, thanks go to Scarlett Johansson for her narration of Alice in Wonderland. I grew up watching the Disney version of the story but used this retelling as an opportunity to hear the original Alice story for myself for the first time. She did a fantastic job narrating it.
I listened with a notepad in hand, and each time Alice went through a new excursion, I got a new idea for an attraction at Maddox’s theme park. Then things just took off from there!
Thanks go to my cover designer, Najla Qamber, and to her sister, Nada. Najla, you absolutely captured the romantic, fairy tale feel I wanted for these covers. The cover is completely perfect, Naj. Thank you! And Nada, I love this formatting. It’s elegantly done.
To my husband, Duane, for all your help and for your unfailing support. To my beautiful kids, I love you! To my Heavenly Father, for talents and blessings.
Huge thanks to Scarlett West for her amazing insights and for helping to spiff up the ending that much more. And thanks go to Sara Olds for her wonderful, intuitive editing.
And to you, readers! We share a love of books, and that is a magical thing. That is a fairy tale.
If you ever want to hang out with me, be sure to stop by my Facebook group, Catelyn’s Sweet and Sassy Readers. All kinds of awesomeness go on there, and I’d love to have you join in!
About the Author
Catelyn Meadows is a romantic at heart. A mom of four munchkins, Catelyn married a true-blue farm boy who still makes her heart pitter-pat, and she wanted to create stories that do the same. She also writes clean, young adult fantasy romance as USA Today bestselling author, Cortney Pearson.
You can find out more about Catelyn on her website,
www.catelynmeadows.blogspot.com.
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