Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
He didn’t like the thought of her roaming around Europe by herself. Not because she couldn’t take care of herself, but rather because he didn’t like the thought of her being lonely. He could see her wandering about museums and soaking up all the history, perhaps meeting with friends she’d made, but she would be essentially alone. There would be no one holding her hand or ensuring she had everything she needed. No one would bring her coffee in the morning or cuddle with her at night.
“I want to make this marriage work.” He was saying the words aloud for the first time and they felt right. “I do not intend to do anything that would break my bride’s heart. If I do this, I’m going to do my best to be a good and faithful husband.”
Chapal’s jaw dropped and he stared for the longest moment.
“You don’t have to look at me like I’ve grown two extra heads,” Kash complained. “I can say the word faithful. Listen to this one. Monogamy. See. It rolls off the tongue. Don’t you back up, you ridiculous ass. Lightning is not going to strike.”
“You have to admit you’ve never used those words unless they were accompanied by a vomiting sound.” Chapal stepped closer. “I think you could hurt her if you aren’t careful.”
No one cared if she hurt him, of course. “Leave that to Day and me. We’ve been talking things through. We’re going about this in an intellectual way, determining the best way to handle things. We’ve decided to make a contract between us and if and when we choose to have sex, we will be faithful to each other. If things seem to be difficult, we’ll be honest and revisit the contract to allow more freedom.”
He hadn’t liked that thought. She was surprisingly open to…well, to being open if things didn’t work. She said she would rather they had a healthy, happy friendship and partnership than put the country and whatever children they might have through a divorce. No married king and queen of Loa Mali had divorced before. He didn’t intend to be the first, but he didn’t like the thought of some passionless friendship between them.
“She’s a sensible woman and it appears she’s being realistic about this marriage, so I’m going to completely back off.” Chapal held his hands up as if they were proof he would interfere no more.
He should leave it there. He wasn’t some lovestruck idiot who needed to talk about his feelings. He didn’t have feelings. He had responsibilities that he tried his hardest to forget about. Of course, they were the same responsibilities that Day had been bearing some of the burden of. He didn’t need to talk this out before the evening came around.
It was simple. The tradition was that the groom and bride-to-be spent the evening together, getting to know one another. The groom attempted to seduce the bride.
That was one tradition he intended to keep up.
“Prince Chapal, it’s time to do your part. Ms. Samar is about to start her stroll along the beach.” Weston stepped out of the copse of trees, his three-piece suit completely pristine somehow, despite their walk in the forest.
Chapal shook his head. “I truly never thought I would have to do this. I’m so glad Ben and I eloped.”
His cousin sighed and proceeded to step out into the clearing. He would be the king’s “eyes,” the servant who first saw the long-ago queen and told his sovereign about the beauty on the beach.
Kash heard a loud shout go up, the royal watchers all cheering as the ceremony began.
“I want you to move quickly when you get to the road approaching the palace,” Weston said matter of factly. “The police are having some issues. I advised them that I believed the crowd would be quite a bit bigger than their estimates. They chose to disagree with me and now we’re understaffed there. Smile and wave and move through quickly. It’s the only place I worry about. I’ve got Michael and Boomer here, and Jesse and I will monitor the road.”
“All right.” He wanted to see her. He wanted to be done with all this pageantry. Which was odd, because usually the pageantry was what he craved.
“We’ve also had an issue with a woman claiming she needs to see you.”
He sighed. Yes, he’d gotten several phone calls from Tasha Reynolds. “She’s the only woman I dated for more than a few days in the last several years. She’s an actress and she’s very aggressive.” He’d found her aggression, her take-charge personality, attractive in the beginning. He’d enjoyed having a strong woman who was capable of making decisions. Until she’d proven that all her decisions were based on what was best for Tasha and only Tasha. She’d been mean to her staff and rather cruel to him as well. He’d walked away after a terrible fight and refused to take her calls even after she’d threatened to go to the press. “Ignore her. It’s best not to feed into her neuroses.”