“Because then I’d have to witness everything that comes along with you being king.”
“Like what?”
“Like you courting women and marrying a princess and having children with her,” I whispered.
“Are you supposed to show all your cards on the first date?” he asked, his tone soft, his mouth on the edge of my lips. He kissed me there.
“No.” I shivered. “But it’s our only date, so I figured I should say what’s on my mind.”
“You should.” He kissed the other side of my mouth. “I like that you’re honest with me.”
“Are you going to kiss me now? Because I don’t think my heart can take any more of this teasing.”
He chuckled against my lips, but instead of making a retort to my statement, he pressed his lips against mine. My eyes slammed shut. My body acted on its own accord, my arms wrapping around his neck as his hands held me by the ribs, his thumbs just underneath my breasts. Breathing was a struggle. My brain wouldn’t shut off, wouldn’t stop conjuring things to do with him on the only night I had him, but I couldn’t seem to do anything but kiss him back. Fire raced through my veins as our tongues met. His grip tightened. My nails dug into his shoulder blades as I lifted a leg over him and straddled him, deepening the kiss. It was unlike me, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t seem to get a grip and control everything that was happening inside of my body. I felt like I was floating, the butterflies in my stomach lifting me in weightless abandon. Elias groaned against my mouth, his chest heaving against mine as we both came up for air for just a moment, gazing at each other through hazy eyes before our mouths met again, wilder this time.
I didn’t even hear anyone approach us, but the sound of a man clearing his throat made both Elias and I jump back and pull away. I stayed on his lap, frozen, as we both glanced up to see Pierre hovering over us.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said. “The Princess of Austria is here.”
“She’s here?” Elias sounded taken aback.
“We asked her to wait in the foyer so she wouldn’t . . . interrupt,” Pierre said.
“Thank you, Pierre. I’ll be there shortly.” Elias exhaled heavily, pressing his forehead against mine as Pierre walked away.
“I guess this is the end of our date.”
“I don’t want it to be.” He pulled away slightly and met my eyes. “I didn’t ask her to come.”
“It’s fine.” I shook my head, hating the empty feeling in the pit of my stomach as I lifted myself off his lap and stood, walking to the edge of the blanket and plucking my sandals off the sand. “I wasn’t expecting this to last all night or anything.”
“I swear I didn’t know she’d just show up,” he repeated, as if that would make it better.
“You don’t owe me an explanation, Elias. It was one date and it ended with a kiss. That’s a win-win in my book.” I smiled for his benefit, though my lips barely moved. I began walking away, toward the stairs that led to my villa. “Thank you for the lovely evening. I’ll see you around.”
When I reached the bottom of the steps, I glanced over my shoulder and saw him still sitting on the blanket, with his head bowed over his bent knees. It was an image that didn’t correspond to his persona, not the one he showed the public, anyway. One evening with him, and I already knew there was a lot more to the future king than met the eye, but I couldn’t dwell on that. I had to keep tonight as a fond memory—that time I went on a date with the future king of France, before he got married, before he had children, before he ruled.
Chapter 13
I’d spent my entire week focused on the gala that was happening this upcoming weekend. After driving back and forth to Versailles on Monday and Tuesday, I decided to book a hotel and stay nearby for the week. There was no use going back to the villa when I was on the phone with all of the entertainment companies I had lined up, the costume company, the caterers, and Madame Rose. My mother and Joss were helping, but they also had a wedding in Paris to focus on, so I had to do the majority of the work. Because of this, I’d begged my uncle to let me hire a few teenagers for the bookstore and gave the basket task to Mrs. Meyers for the week. I hadn’t heard from or seen Elias since our date on Saturday, not that I’d expected to. He didn’t have my phone number and I hadn’t really been in the villa long enough for him to contact me. It was for the best. I’d been so busy that I barely had time to think about him much, except at night when I lay in bed and replayed every single part of our date. At first, the memories made me smile. Then, I wound up getting upset at the Princess of Austria. I’d looked her up, of course. She was pretty. Blonde, blue eyes, warm smile.
I didn’t like her.
As far as I was concerned, she was a cockblocker and a pest who arrived at the prince’s villa unannounced and uninvited and ruined our date. Those were all things I should have been grateful for. If things had gone further, if I’d spent the night with him, I would have regretted it. I’d had one date with him and I already felt myself unraveling. I couldn’t afford to be unraveled. I was in no state to fall in love with a prince, let alone one who would be king. No one ever was, but surely the Princess of Austria could bear it more than I could. At least she had a shot at being his, and planning this party was the only proof I needed of that. Every single detail was set to cater to the princesses and duchesses that were slated to be there on Saturday night. From the way they made their grand entrance, to the way they greeted the prince. They’d all be staying in the on-site cottages of the palace, which had been inhabited by those closest to the royal family back in the old days but had since been restored and kept for events like these. There were twenty-five cottages in total, counting the one I was currently staying in, which was right beside the one Prince Elias and his brother Aramis would be staying in this weekend. Princess Pilar, their sister, had her own cottage on the other side of theirs, which was where my assistant, Joss, had been invited to stay.
My phone rang as I was getting ready for bed, and I answered upon seeing Etienne’s face on the screen.
“I assume you’ve been busy,” he said by way of greeting.
“You have no idea.” I sighed. “What’s up?”
“What’s up is that you have a certain monarch hunting you down.”
“Who?” I perked up, my heart pounding in anticipation. Elias couldn’t have asked about me, could he?
“I think you know who.” I could tell Etienne wasn’t smiling the way he normally would when he teased me about a man.
“What’d he say?”
“He wanted to know where you were and asked for your phone number. I told him that you’re an extremely busy woman and I couldn’t give him your phone number without asking permission first. I also told him it was a bad idea to call you.”
“You told him that?” My voice was small. I sank into the couch bench at the foot of my bed. “What’d he say?”
“He hung up on me.”
“Oh.”
“It’s not a good idea, Addie.”
“I know.”
“Did you sleep with him again?”
“No.” I bit my lip. “We only went on one date and it ended early.”
“You’re planning his engagement party. You do know that, right?” Etienne asked firmly. “They will announce his engagement within the week and you’ll be left for nothing. You had a scandal that flipped your world upside down and you ran for the hills. What do you think a scandal with a prince would do to you?”
“It would ruin me.” My eyes slammed shut. “I like him. I know I shouldn’t for a billion reasons, but I can’t help that I really like him.”
“You can like him all you want, but it doesn’t change the reality of your situation. He’ll never marry you. He’s a traditionalist. And I know I sound like a total asshole right now, but you need to hear this.”
“I know,” I whispered. I opened my eyes. “Going on a date was stupid.”
“Everyone who gets close to him even for a moment is enchanted. I’
ve been friends with them for a long time and I understand the appeal. I also don’t want my best friend to get hurt by one of them. Promise you’ll stay away from him.”
“I’m planning a gala in his name. I’m not sure I can stay away from him.”
“You know what I mean. Keep things professional and as soon as this is all finished, move out of the villa and back home to London. You don’t need this right now.”
“Okay,” I said, because I wanted to appease him.
I needed at least one more week in the villa to square away things for my uncle. I couldn’t just whoosh in, make all those changes to his bookshop, and then leave him high and dry. I did need to get out of there soon though.
“Okay. I can’t make the gala this weekend. I have to go home to visit Mom, but Mira will be there to keep an eye out for you. I know it will be fantastic and I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“Thanks. We’ll talk soon.”
“Good night, Addie.”
“Good night.” I hung up and stood to set my phone to charge before climbing into bed.
I hated that Etienne was right about all of that. It seemed like everyone knew their reputation, especially in Normandy, where they vacationed every summer and spent their days frolicking and partying and bedding every willing local, but hearing it from Etienne was different. It turned gossip to truth.
Chapter 14
“Are you sure this isn’t going to be weird for you?” I asked Pierre for the third time since he’d arrived.
I’d asked him to be my date to this, but thought for sure he wouldn’t show after he witnessed my date with Elias.
“Why would it be weird?” Pierre smiled. “Because you went on a date with another man and I had to stand there and watch the entire thing?”
“Yes.” I felt my entire body heat with embarrassment.
“Hey, I wasn’t offended.” He squeezed my arm lightly, still smiling that warm smile of his that reached his pale blue eyes. “You’re allowed to date whomever you want, whenever you want.”
“I feel like I should apologize.”
“You shouldn’t.” Pierre dropped his arm and looked at me. “Don’t apologize. We’re friends and that’s why I’m here tonight. I’ll help with whatever you need.”
“Thank you.” I smiled for a second and gave him a once-over. He looked like he belonged in King Louis XIV’s court. “All you’re missing is a fluffy white wig.”
“Thankfully they’re not required.” He laughed, shaking the mask he was holding. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to put these on.”
“You’re totally right. In fact, I don’t know how I’ll manage to put this one on over this hairdo.” I reached over the table and wiggled my own mask for him to see.
“I’m jealous that yours has feathers.”
“We can swap if you’d like.”
“I think I’d rather not.” He smiled wide and looked at my entire outfit. “You look like you absolutely belong in the seventeen-hundreds.”
“I don’t know how those women managed to breathe.”
I’d been wearing the dress for over an hour now, but it didn’t feel any more comfortable than it had when the women who helped me dress tightened the laces of the bodice for me when I first put it on. I would have said it accentuated my small waist and full hips, but I couldn’t imagine anyone putting this on and not automatically having an hourglass figure. As much as I thought I would love to always dress to the nines the way they did back in the old days, I was sure I would have never had the experience. Firstly, because I would have been some kind of housemaid back in those times and secondly, because I would have rebelled and dressed like a man just to get out of feeling like my insides were smooshed.
“I guess they believed in beauty over everything,” Pierre said. “So, where do you need my help?”
“Are you sure you want to help? You can totally just join the party. I have enough hands on everything that I just have to idle around and make sure nothing crazy happens, but I should be free an hour before it ends.”
“In that case, I guess I’ll come back here and look for you at ten? Maybe we can grab a drink afterward?”
“Yes.” I smiled. “In the meantime, enjoy yourself!”
As I watched him leave, I felt someone come up beside me and turned to see my mother standing there, wearing a similar dress to mine. We were all wearing similar dresses tonight. Mine was pale blue with ivory lace accents—the bodice, the sleeves, the skirt. Underneath the skirt, I had what looked and felt like a back pillow tied around myself and set on the small of my back to create an exaggerated bubble effect on my butt and make the skirt fuller.
“I can’t breathe in this,” my mother said beside me.
“Welcome to the club.” I looked at her gold and ivory gown. “You look great though.”
“Thank you, so do you.” She looked around. “Where’s Joslyn?”
“I thought she was with you.”
“Nope.”
“Hm.” I glanced around the large tented area. “I’m going to make sure the stage is ready for the performers. I want them to start as the guests are arriving. Please make sure the flowers are correct and that the people are already pouring drinks through the ice sculptures.”
I walked out of the tent and headed in the direction of the stage. The gardens were enormous. We had two tents set up with food and drinks in the four corners of the premises in hopes to discourage people from venturing off on their own. The pathway back to the cottages were lit up as well as the back of the palace. Even still, there were a few dark areas. I tried to block those dark crevices to keep people from falling into the fountains and keep them away from the woods that surrounded the gardens. Someone could easily get lost out here and I did not want to be responsible for anything going wrong tonight.
As it was, it was the first event in months that my company put together and I showed up to. We were far away from London gossip, but I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Thomas Evans was in attendance tonight. Still, the thought of seeing my ex-boyfriend didn’t compare to the nerves I felt at seeing Prince Elias again. I needed to keep my wits about me and remember what this party was for. It was a showcase of brides for him and after tonight, if everything went without a hitch, I’d be remembered as the person who planned the event where the future king and queen met. That was who I needed to be remembered for, despite the uneasy feeling inside my stomach every time I thought about it.
Chapter 15
“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
My head whipped to the person beside me. She was wearing a mask, the way all of us were, but hers had purple feathers, which meant she must have been Princess Pilar: Prince Elias’s youngest sibling. My mother, Joss, Madame Rose, and I agreed that the four of them—the Queen, Prince Elias, Prince Aramis, and Princess Pilar—would wear something purple on their masks to tell them apart from the rest of the crowd. Of course, their crowns and excessive jewels already did the trick in that regard, but it was an easy way for us to make the distinction in case anything happened and also for security, in case either of the princes or the princess decided to run off during the party without anyone in tow. I watched in horror as Princess Pilar placed a hand on her stomach and another over her mouth. We were standing directly over the food. If she threw up here . . . oh God. I grabbed her arm and yanked her away from the food and out of the tent, rushing over to the side of the hedges. Then, she bent over and started heaving. I reacted quickly, reaching out and holding her hair out of the way and making sure the small crown on her head didn’t fall off. It was probably worth more than my life.
“Thank you,” she whispered, yanking the mask over her head and holding it against the skirt of her dress. “I don’t think I got dirty.”
“Was it something you ate? Drank?” I asked. This was another reason I was glad we had nothing to do with the food or drinks.
“Drank.” She coughed as she stood. I let go of her hair as she stepped closer to
me. “I am so sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” I smiled. “It happens.”
“My mother is going to kill me.” She covered her face with one hand, bringing the mask back up and patted the crown on her head with the other. Even under the circumstances, she was beautiful. A beautiful Spanish princess, with long dark hair, dark almond-shaped eyes, and creamy white skin. She looked just like her mother. “Everyone told me to eat and I didn’t listen and then I got here and the music was so good and the dancers and the acrobats and I just kept drinking and drinking.” She groaned, lowering her hands. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing. Let me get you to the toilets so you can clean up a bit.” I started walking and she fell into step with me.
“My family is definitely not going to let me go on holiday with my friends after this,” she said. “I never do anything and the one night I’m feeling rebellious and have three drinks this happens.”
“You can’t drink on an empty stomach. It’s a lesson all of us have to learn.” I waved at the security guarding the building with the closest restrooms and opened the door. When we got inside, I immediately looked for the basket I’d asked all of the toilets be stocked with—mints, gum, mouthwash, hair ties, brushes, aspirin, and oil towelettes.
“How’d you know this was in here?” Pilar asked beside me. I looked at her through the mirror in front of us and realized I was still wearing my mask. I pulled it from my face and set it aside, turning to face her.
“I planned the party.”
“You’re Adeline from Pirouette!”
“I’m Adeline.” I smiled at the enthusiasm in her voice.
“Oh, this is even more embarrassing.” She closed her eyes and threw her head back. “I love your events.”
I laughed. “Trust me, it’s not embarrassing. I haven’t even stepped foot at one of my events in months.”
The Sinful King: By New York Times Bestselling Author Page 9
