Suddenly Royal (47 page)

“
Just don’t tear this one. I like it, too.” I looked up at him and bit my lip to try and not smile. “I’m still angry about the black dress.”

“
Hm, that was an unfortunate casualty.” His eyes ran over my body. When we neared the door, Chadwick exited ahead of us to get our car while we said our goodbyes to the mayor.

When the car pulled up to the carpet, Chadwick nodded at me to let me know it was ours. Alex and I made our move to exit, smiling for the cameras that lined the ropes. I managed to trip a little on all the fabric around my legs, but Alex caught me before I went down. I laughed at my clumsiness and gave a small wave to the cameramen as they took pictures. No matter how much they annoyed me, I’d learned a lot about handling them since my father’s death. Duvall opened the door while Alex helped me slide in, and I fought with the skirts to keep them out from under my shoes.

When Alex got into the car I narrowed my eyes at him. “When I agreed to your bet all those months ago, I had no idea this is how you expected me to spend my week volunteering for the FBT.”

“
I know.” Alex leaned back in his seat but lifted my hand to his mouth. “But I had a plan.”

“
Oh, like your brilliant plan for getting me to fall in love with you? Stick around until I had no choice?” I snickered.

“
Exactly. I was going to make you go with me to all these events as my date.” He pulled me against his side as the car drove through the streets of New York. “I was going to woo you while you couldn’t run away. You’d have no choice but to succumb to my charms.”

“
Your ego is a scary beast. It should have its own name. We could call it something frightening like Darth Yummy.” He snorted at me as I snuggled under his arm. “I thought I was going to be helping with the birds. In fact, I was looking forward to it. When did you start coming up with your elaborate schemes?”

“
As soon as I realized how stubborn you were.”

“
So, right away?”

“
Pretty much.” He chuckled. “Are you ready for the wedding?”

“
Ugh. Don’t remind me.” I shivered. “The dress, the flowers, the pictures. It’s going to be torture. There’s so much to do and take care of!”

“
C’mon, you’ll look gorgeous.” He kissed my temple. “And I’ll be there.”

“
Yes, you’ll be there.” I glared up at him. “Laughing at me and the brown monstrosity Jess picked out for me to wear.”

“
Cathy thinks Jess missed her true calling in fashion.”

“
She would.” I frowned. Those two had been like a monster with two heads when wedding-dress shopping for Jess.

“
Think of it as practice.” He ran his thumb over the ring on my left hand. It always gave me tingles when he did that, to know he was part of my future. That he
wanted
to be a part of my future.

“
I wish. Your mother and sister have gone off the deep end. Did you see what they want me to wear?” I shuddered as I thought about the eighteen-yard train and lace sleeves. “The dress weighed four hundred pounds.”

“
I’m not allowed to see the sketches, remember?” He kissed my temple. “You seem to be holding your own though. Cathy was grumbling about flowers and ribbon last week. She’s horrified by your lack of concern for texture.”

“
Don’t get me started on the ribbons. What a stupid way to spend money. I mean, what are we going to do with all of those ribbons afterward?” Technically the queen was footing a large chunk of the bill, but I didn’t care. “And they’re still using the whole church thing against me. I used a lot of my leverage when I insisted on getting married outside. We should’ve eloped.”

“
The wedding needs to be what you want, too.” He tilted my face up to look in my eyes. “In the end, no matter our titles, this wedding is about us. No one else. We could run to Vegas right now if that’s what you want.”

“
I know.” I pressed my lips to his and sighed. I loved this man. Loved him more than I ever thought possible. He’d become the stable point of my universe—part of my family. “But your mom might behead me.”

“
I wouldn’t let her.” He tilted his head to deepen the kiss and I shifted so I could run my hands through his hair. I breathed in his smell and reveled in his taste, the knowledge that he was mine like an aphrodisiac. His phone beeped and he pulled away from me with a frown. He took it out of his suit pocket and turned it off without looking, his eyes focused on mine.

“
Who was that?” I sighed, trying to not be frustrated.

“
I don’t know.” He stretched his legs out in front of him and pulled me close again. “Don’t care.”

“
Might have been important.” I turned my face up so I could kiss his jaw. He never ignored something serious, but we tried to keep normal office hours as much as possible. Otherwise we would go insane trying to keep up with everything.

“
The only thing important right now is what I plan on doing to you tonight.” He turned his head so he could capture my mouth in a slow, teasing kiss.

When I leaned back to slide my hands under his suit jacket I smiled up at him. “We have to be up early for our flight to Minnesota. Jess will kill me if I’m late.”

“
That could be a problem.” He slid his hand up to grip the back of my neck and ran his lips over the pulse point below my ear. “Because I don’t plan on letting you get much sleep.”

“
Hm. I think I can cope.” I leaned forward to bring my lips back to his, but the car stopped and I realized we were at the hotel. “Can you behave yourself until we make it to our room?”

His eyes ran down my face and along my cleavage. “I can make it to the elevator, but no promises past that.”

I felt my lips pull up in a grin. “I like it when you’re naughty, Prince Yummy.”

“
Hold on to your tiara, Duchess.”

The end.

Program Cuts to Commercial During Thank-You Speech

—
Writer Quirks

Suddenly Royal has been a story in my head for years and years. Without the help of some amazing people I’m not sure I would have ever been able to do this book justice. First and foremost, I must thank my family. My husband and daughter are so patient while I get lost in my head. My sister, who is always supportive of the random story ideas that grab hold of my imagination. She also patiently explained bird anatomy and falconry. Aren’t I lucky to have someone so brilliant?

A huge thank-you to Sarah Ross for always being willing to read over my projects. She has spectacular advice and always seems to understand what I’m wanting out of the story. A big thank-you to Erika for trying to answer all the royal questions I couldn’t find answers to. A massive thank-you to Elizabeth Hunter, Liz Reinhardt, and Steph Campbell for reading what I’ve written and talking me down from the ledge, because every author experiences those moments of utter craziness while writing. A big thank you to Heather Self for reading
Suddenly Royal
and for always believing in my books (A big thank you for your keen eyes as well). Thank you to Angie Stanton for being my royal cohort. I also need to thank Killian McRae for being so encouraging To my writers’ group—I love you guys! Thank you for always listening or offering help. I must thank Autumn from
Autumn Review
for helping spread the word about my books. Mandy from
I Read Indie
is always a wonder—she’s one of the first people to take the time to read my books and I will forever be grateful. Globug and Hootie: thank you for being supportive and making me laugh! Your reviews always make me smile.

A massive thank-you to my editor, Anne. I don’t know how I managed to con her into working with me, but I’m super glad I managed it. Any mistakes you find in this book are mine and mine alone. Anne is an excellent editor and sometimes I’m like a bull in a china shop after getting my perfected manuscript back.

I also must thank my lovely publicist, KP Simmon from InkslingerPR, for believing in this book. Your faith in my story means a great deal.

Thank you to everyone that takes the time to read my books. I work really hard to give you the best story possible and I’m overwhelmed by the amount of support my readers show me. Thank you to each and every one of you.

Nichole Chase is a daydreamer. No, really, just ask any of the math teachers that had the misfortune of seeing her name appear on their class schedule.

For years she has had storylines and characters begging for attention, but she resolutely pushed them aside to focus on more normal (read, boring) jobs. Well, no longer! She is currently heeding the voices in her head and frantically writing their stories. In the last two years she has penned the
Dark Betrayal Trilogy
,
Flukes
, and
Suddenly Royal
.