The Park's Empire: Handsome Strangers...: The Prince's Bride

When she didn’t speak, Caroline lifted her cup and sipped, eyeing Emily over the rim. “Marrying into the royal family can be an overwhelming prospect. Believe me, I had concerns before I said yes to Abbar, and they didn’t all go away before the wedding, nor even immediately after,” she added, returning the delicate cup to its saucer. “Let me be frank, Emily. I know my son well and I have no concerns about his desire for this marriage. However, I have the feeling that you may be having second thoughts about the wedding.”

“No.” Emily didn’t have to lie about this—all of the reasons she’d agreed to marry Lazhar were still valid. She understood his driving need to grant what may well turn out to be his father’s last wish.

“Then you do love my son?” Caroline asked gently.

She should immediately say “yes.” She knew she should. Not only was it what Caroline needed to hear, but it was also the first truth in all the lies she’d been mouthing since she’d agreed to cooperate with Lazhar’s plan.

But for her heart’s sake, Emily knew she should say no. She should deny loving Lazhar, both to Caroline, and to the prince himself.

He’s going to break my heart, she thought, acknowledging the fear that had subconsciously tormented her ever since she’d agreed to marry him.

Falling in love with a royal prince who only wanted a temporary wife was emotional suicide. How could she have let this happen, she thought wildly. Now that the date was set and they were publicly committed to the wedding, she realized that she desperately wanted a real marriage with Lazhar. And there was absolutely no hope of that ever happening.

“Emily?” Caroline’s concerned voice drew Emily out of her thoughts and she realized that the queen was watching her, concern written on her patrician features.

“I’m sorry.” She managed a small smile of apology. “I was distracted.” Her gaze met Caroline’s. “I love Lazhar more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone.”

Her voice rang with conviction and her sincerity brought an instant smile of relief and delight to Caroline’s face.

“Well, that answers that,” she said. “And you’re positive you don’t feel pressured to marry sooner than you would like?”

“No, not at all.” And it was true. Emily didn’t mind having the wedding quickly. The sooner begun, the sooner done, she thought. If she focused on the practical aspects of what she was doing, then perhaps she could forget that this wasn’t to be a normal marriage, but a marriage in name only.

“Very well.” Caroline nodded decisively. “Then it’s settled. We can proceed with the arrangements.” She opened a folder lying to the left of her teacup, scanning the top sheet before handing it to Emily. “This is your schedule for the day. A rather full one, I’m afraid, but we’ve much to accomplish if you’re to be married in less than two weeks.”

Emily nodded. The list divided the day into fifteen-minute increments and was booked so completely that she would have little time to spend with Lazhar, and virtually no time to be alone with him. Given the scorching kisses they’d shared, the lack of privacy between them was a good thing, Emily thought, because she wasn’t at all sure she could resist him. And the more physical intimacy between them, the harder it would be to leave him when she had to go back to San Francisco alone.

But as determined as Emily was to keep distance between them, Lazhar was equally determined to have her as close as possible.

He joined Emily, Jenna and Caroline for lunch, only to have his mother whisk Emily away to a meeting with the palace staff, followed by a fitting for her wedding gown. Frustrated, Lazhar bided his time. Before dinner, he leaned against the wall outside the door to her suite, waiting.

His patience was rewarded when Emily opened the door and stepped into the hall, closing it behind her before she turned and saw him. She gasped, her hand flying to the black lace bodice of her gown, to press just over her heart. “Lazhar! You startled me.”

“Sorry.” He threaded his fingers through hers and tucked her arm beneath his, keeping her close as they walked down the hall. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I wanted a few moments alone with you to ask how you’re coping with my family and the wedding plans.”

Emily’s fingers tightened on his. “Your mother asked some very pointed questions at breakfast but I think my answers satisfied her.”

“What did she want to know?”

“She was concerned that rushing the marriage wouldn’t give me the wedding I may have dreamed of having. She was very sweet, actually.” Emily glanced sideways, her gaze meeting his for a moment before her lashes lowered and she looked away, facing forward so that he saw her profile and couldn’t read her eyes. “She volunteered to talk to you and stop the wedding, if I wanted.”

Lazhar tensed. “And what did you tell her?”

“I assured her you hadn’t pressed me to choose an early wedding date.”

“But I did, didn’t I.” Regret flooded him. “I was so focused on marrying you that I didn’t give enough thought to what this might do to your dream of the perfect wedding.” He bit off a curse, impatient with himself for having been so dense. He’d been thinking of their days together as man and wife, and that he could give her the children and home she’d told Brenda she wanted. He’d totally forgotten that the wedding itself might be Emily’s first concern. He should have known better; Jenna had been planning her wedding since she was a little girl. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make the ceremony as close as possible to your dream. Tell me what you want, and I’ll get it for you, Emily. I didn’t mean for you not to have—”

“Lazhar.” She broke in. “There isn’t anything about this wedding that doesn’t exceed all my hopes or expectations.” A smile curved her mouth, her eyes sparkling with laughter when he continued to frown at her. “It’s a royal wedding, for goodness’ sake. What girl doesn’t dream of having a royal wedding?”

“There isn’t some detail you want changed—flowers, the dress, something?” She shook her head in response but he wasn’t convinced. “You’re sure?”

“I’m positive.”

Lazhar’s muscles relaxed. “Good. What else did you and my mother discuss?”

“The details of the wedding, mostly we talked about the schedule for the next few days. It’s going to be crazy.”

They reached the closed door to the family dining room. Emily stopped, turning to look up at him. Her green eyes were dark with concern. “I really don’t like lying to your family. I wish we could tell your mother and Jenna the truth.”

“We can’t. I regret it as much as you do, and I respect your wish to tell them what we’re doing, but none of this will work if my father learns the truth. We can’t take that chance.”

She sighed heavily, the fabric of her gown tightening over the swell of her breasts. Lazhar determinedly kept his gaze on her face.

“All right,” she conceded.

Unable to resist, he bent and pressed a quick kiss against her soft mouth. “It will be fine, Emily,” he promised. He pulled open the door. “Have you talked to your family? Are they coming to Daniz for the wedding?”

“I called Brenda—she’s very excited and says she wouldn’t miss it. I couldn’t reach my father but I left a message with his secretary, and I’m waiting to hear from my sister and brothers.”

He nodded, silently acknowledging her comment, mentally making a note to make sure that as many of her family members as possible were present for the occasion.

“By the way,” he said as he opened the door. “The family jet is picking up your friend Jane in San Francisco. She’ll be here late tomorrow evening.”

Her eyes widened, her fingers tightening on his. “Thank you so much.” Delight mixed with relief in her voice.

“No problem. I know you want her help with the wedding details. If there’s anything you need, Emily, you only have to ask.”

They crossed the threshold, entering the dining room to join his family for dinner.

Emily kept reminding herself that her engagement to Lazhar was a sham and their marriage would be solely because of the king’s ill health and Lazhar’s love for him. Nevertheless, with each considerate, thoughtful thing Lazhar did, and with each additional hour spent in his company, she fell more deeply in love with him. Providing his jet to fly Jane to Daniz was such a sweet thing to do, she thought as she donned her pajamas later that evening.

Jane arrived late the next evening and knocked on Emily’s door before eight the next morning. Still in her pajamas, Emily was so glad to see her familiar face beneath her blond curls that she could have cried.

When they were seated comfortably on Emily’s bed, steaming teacups in hand and a plate of the queen’s favorite almond cookies between them, Jane fixed her with a commanding stare.

“All right, tell me everything.”

“Oh, Jane…where should I start…” Emily pushed her tousled hair back from her face.

“Start at the beginning,” Jane said promptly.

“Very well. As you know, the original plan was to spend a week or so here in Daniz, gathering information to put together a proposal for Creative Weddings to handle Lazhar’s wedding.”

Jane nodded, her eyes gleaming with interest behind her wire-frame glasses.

“Somehow, the king misunderstood. Instead of seeing me as a consultant who perhaps might be hired to plan his son’s wedding, he decided that I was the woman Lazhar had chosen for a bride. And before I could untangle the confusion and explain to him who I really was, Lazhar convinced me to go through with the wedding.”

“Did he seduce you? Threaten you?” Jane bristled.

“No, of course not,” Emily said hastily. “The media reports about the king being ill and wanting to see Lazhar married before he dies are true, Jane. He’s very, very ill. He’s also one of the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful men I’ve ever met.” She stared into her teacup without really seeing the amber liquid. “I’m not sure how it happened, but I’ve grown so attached to him in the short time I’ve been here that I couldn’t bring myself to hurt him by telling him I wasn’t marrying Lazhar.”

Jane’s face was troubled, her brown eyes filled with concern. “But Emily, how can you marry the prince just to make his father happy? What chance will your marriage have if you start out on such shaky ground?”

Emily trusted Jane completely and she badly needed to tell someone the truth. She leaned forward so her whispered words would only reach Jane’s ears. “It isn’t a real marriage, Jane. His physicians have told the family the king has very little time left and after he’s gone, the marriage will be annulled.”

Shocked, Jane’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding?”

“No, I’m absolutely serious.”

“So, your marriage to the gorgeous prince is a complete fake? The big wedding, the title of princess—it’s all only for a few days, or weeks, and then it’s over?”

“Yes.”

“And when it’s over, what then? Do you come back to San Francisco and go back to running Creative Weddings as if nothing happened?”

“That’s the plan.” Except I doubt that my life will ever be the same again, Emily thought.

“Wow.” Jane shook her head in astonishment, visibly trying to absorb the impact of what Emily had just confided to her. “This is wild.” Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t let the press know,” she said firmly. “They’d rip you to shreds. Heaven knows what kind of spin they’d put on your story, but it wouldn’t be kind.”

“I know,” Emily agreed. “You’re the only person, besides Lazhar and myself, who knows this isn’t a real engagement. He won’t even let me tell his mother and sister, because he swears they can’t keep anything from his father and we don’t want him to know the truth, of course.”

“What are you getting out of this, Emily? I mean—” Jane shook her head, her gaze shrewd “—it’s easy to see what Lazhar gets, but what about you?”

“I get exactly what I hoped to get when I came here—I’ll plan a royal wedding. The cachet of that connection for Creative Weddings will be invaluable and my business will expand from the States to Europe.”

“But if you’re divorced shortly after you marry, you’ll be notorious. The tabloids will go crazy.”

“True.” Emily shrugged. “But I doubt that will harm the business. In fact, the attraction of having an ex-princess as their wedding planner might pull in more clients.”

“You’re probably right,” Jane said dryly. “Americans love celebrities. What about your fee for all this?”

“You mean for planning the wedding?”

“Yes.” Jane nodded. “And for posing as the bride. Is he doubling the usual fee for your services?”

“No. In fact, I insisted that Lazhar have his attorneys draw up a prenup agreement that dealt with all the financial issues. I’m sure the palace would have done it anyway, but I wanted to be sure it covered our particular circumstances. He assured me he would find a way to word the agreement so no one knows we plan to separate quickly.”

Jane’s eyes darkened, her expression worried, a tiny frown veeing her eyebrows as her lips pursed.

“What?” Emily waited, sure that Jane had something important to say.

“Are you sure you can do this and survive with your heart in one piece, Emily?”

Emily had never managed to conceal her emotions from her best friend. She couldn’t lie to her. It was so like Jane to cut to the heart of the matter. “No, I’m not sure. But I’m sure I want to do this.” Jane looked unconvinced and Emily knew she couldn’t explain the connection she felt to King Abbar. “I know this probably doesn’t make sense to you, but I’m positive that I want to do it. I’ve only known the king a very short time but I felt an instant affinity with him—almost as if he were the father I always wanted.”

“And never had,” Jane put in, her tone leaving Emily in no doubt of the dislike she felt for Walter Parks.

“No, my father isn’t anyone’s idea of the perfect parent,” Emily conceded. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a man who’s clearly adored by his family. If taking a few weeks of my life to play the role of princess will make him die happy, then I’m willing to do so.” She waved a hand at the room where they sat. “And it’s not as if I’m enduring any hardships to do it, Jane. Not only is my business gaining stature, but I’m living in a palace, visiting exotic locales, meeting fascinating people. All very good stuff.”

Jane shook her head, her blond hair brushing her shoulders. “I can’t argue with any of the benefits of this arrangement you’ve agreed to. But, you’re the last person in the world I’d expect to be involved in something like this, Emily.”

“What do you mean?”

Jane spread her hands, tea sloshing dangerously close to the rim of the delicate cup in her hand as she gestured. “You never lie. I don’t think I’ve even heard you utter a half-truth to anyone. Oh, sure, you’re diplomatic and sometimes you don’t tell the stark truth. Like the time Mrs. DiAngelo asked you if an avocado-green dress was perfect for her as mother-of-the-bride, and you managed to convince her that the pale pink evening suit was more flattering to her complexion. If you’d told her the real truth,” Jane said darkly, “you would have told her that she has excruciatingly bad taste in clothes and the green dress was unspeakably ugly. Which is exactly what I wanted to tell her.”

Laughter surprised Emily, lightening her mood. “Thank goodness you didn’t tell her that, Jane.”

“I wanted to.” Jane sipped her tea and lifted an eyebrow, surprised. “Yum, this is wonderful.”

“The queen has it mixed specially for her. It’s delicious, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I know you love tea, Emily, but it’s never been my favorite. However, I could be convinced to drink this every morning. And these cookies are incredible.” She took one from the plate and ate it in two small bites.

“Those are the queen’s favorites, too. The palace chef makes them specially for her and since she knows I love them, she asked him to always serve them with my tea tray, just as he does for her.”

Jane heaved a theatrical sigh. “Are you sure there’s no way this marriage can’t be permanent? Because I have to tell you, Emily, living in the palace has definite perks, not to mention the fact that Prince Lazhar is absolutely gorgeous.”

Emily smiled and shook her head. “No, I’m afraid not. But for the moment—” she lifted a cookie from the plate and saluted Jane with it “—we can indulge in all the perks we want.” She popped the dainty cookie in her mouth, chewed and swallowed. “Or as many as we can fit in between the endless list of things to accomplish before the wedding day.”

Jane rolled her eyes, set her cup aside and dusted off her fingers. “Where’s the list? And do you really think we can pull off a royal wedding in less than two weeks? I thought you originally said that six months was going to be an extremely tight schedule.”

“Six months would have been difficult, and two weeks would be impossible if the family hadn’t agreed to an abbreviated version of the traditional royal wedding.” She slipped off the bed, walked into the sitting room to collect her notebook from the table where she’d left it late the night before, and returned to rejoin Jane. “Here’s the schedule for today,” she handed Jane the sheet prepared by the queen’s secretary.

Jane silently scanned the schedule before looking back up at Emily. “You’re booked in fifteen-minute increments, Emily.” She glanced at her watch. “Starting in forty minutes. What can I take care of on this list for you today?”

“I thought you could take my notes and check in with the palace protocol officer—he’s coordinating the church and reception invitations and seating. Then the palace florist needs some personal attention—I’m confident that they know exactly what I want, but I don’t want to ignore them. It’s important that everyone feels they’re a vital part of the team.”

“Of course.” Jane glanced at her watch again. “You’d better finish getting dressed. You only have thirty-eight minutes left before your first appointment.”

“Right.” Emily slipped off the bed and moved quickly to the bathroom. She paused at the door to look back. “Jane, I’m so glad you’re here to help me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your flying in at such short notice.”

“Are you kidding? I’d have been furious if you hadn’t called me.” Jane’s face lit with a grin and she winked at Emily. “This is going to be great fun. Now get dressed.”

Feeling immeasurably relieved and cheered by Jane’s practical approach, Emily disappeared into the bathroom.

Chapter Eight

The wedding was spectacular.

The hot Mediterranean sun poured golden light over Lazhar and Emily as they exited the church, pausing at the top of the stone steps to wave at the crowds filling the streets around St. Catherine’s. The people of Daniz cheered and tossed flowers in the air, covering the church steps with roses. They were clearly delighted with their prince’s choice of a bride.

“They love you,” Lazhar whispered in Emily’s ear as they waved to the noisy crowd.

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