The Prince's Bride (Part 1) - J.J. McAvoy Page 0,35
the side of the bed, kicking off her shoes, and making herself perfectly at home on the mattress. It was her bed, but still, I could only stare at her in utter disbelief.
I have to be dreaming.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked, placing her feet under herself. “You can fly two thousand miles here, wanting me to marry you, but I can’t sit on a bed next to you. Scoot over!”
I looked to Iskandar, who only stared back in utter confusion as well. When she smacked my leg, I did what she asked and shifted, giving her more space.
Nodding, satisfied I had listened to her the first time, she uncorked the bottle of red. “Are you drinking with me, or am I drinking alone?”
“Are you drunk now?” I asked, sitting up. And when I did, Iskandar immediately threw me a T-shirt. I had to admit, seeing him so flustered was hilarious.
“Nope. Wine or no?” she asked, holding out the glass.
I put on my shirt before taking the glass. “Iskandar, you can go.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m not going to attack him or anything,” she shot back.
“You sort of already did,” I muttered, and her eyes narrowed on me dangerously, clearly telling me to shut up, before she looked back to Iskandar.
“Don’t worry. He’ll still be alive in the morning.”
“He’s not worried you’ll hurt me. He’s trained to adhere to palace etiquette—a.k.a. he is a prude,” I teased. “This is a bit scandalous for him.”
“This isn’t a palace. The only rules of etiquette here are the ones I make up. So, no scandal,” she stated. “If he doesn’t leave, he has to join us on the bed and drink.”
I bit back a laugh. “You heard her, Iskandar, which will it be?”
He frowned and nodded, leaving the room. However, he only closed the door slightly—something she also noticed and chuckled over.
“You would think we were preteens the way he is worried. I’m sure you’ve had scandalous moments with women in the palace before.”
“Never in the palace.”
“So, other places?”
“Definitely other places,” I admitted behind my glass.
“Of course.” She snickered before drinking as well. “You look like the type.”
“What does that mean? The type?”
“The stereotypical prince playboy. I can see it all over your face.”
“It is wrong to judge people before knowing them. I will have you know that I am a kindhearted gentleman—”
“When you’re not seducing women?”
This woman!
“Was the ball so bad without Prince Charming you had to run back here to pick a fight with me, Cinderella?” I teased, though I really wasn’t sure of what was happening. I was out of my depth here.
“You can just call me, Odette. It’s after midnight now,” she whispered, leaning against the headboard.
I glanced at my watch on the nightstand, and it was exactly twelve minutes after twelve. I tilted my glass toward her. “Hello, Odette. I am Gale,” I said, and she tapped her glass against mine.
“If this were a fairy tale, I would have gotten here exactly at midnight, but I guess there’s no traffic in Cinderella’s world.”
“Were you aiming to come here by midnight?”
Am I sure I am not dreaming?
“No,” she replied, brushing a curl off her shoulder. “But it occurred to me as I got here that it would have made a fun story.”
“If you want, we’ll just say you did. Who else will know besides me, you, Wolfgang, and Iskandar.”
“My driver.”
“Did he not turn back into a mouse?”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, you are definitely cheesy, and this has definitely been an interesting night.”
“You are telling me?” I scoffed. “I am not sure if I am awake or dreaming—ouch.”
She punched me and had the gall to just smile up at me all innocently. “What? That’s how you prove to someone you aren’t dreaming in this part of the world.”
“I am sure there are better ways.”
“Cold water to the face?”
“I said better.”
Again, she grinned at me and fell back into silence, drinking slowly.
“I was trying to beat around the bush and ask you why it is you are here, drinking wine in bed with me, but it seems that failed, so now I need to be blunt.”
“Be blunt then.”
I thought I was. “Why are you here?”
“Because I’m thinking about saying yes to marrying you, but I can’t get over just how insane it is to marry someone you don’t know, let alone a prince. So, I need you to tell me all the horrible things that would happen if we did get married.”