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For a moment she just stared up at hi the pins out of her hair one by one “The public will like you,” he growled, his deep voice huh her “The public will love you You don’t need to be someone you’re not, and you ” He kept pulling out pins until her thick hair fell over her shoulders in long, loose waves “This is better,” he said, coh the waves “This is you, and how I like to see you”

He turned and faced the ladies in the corner “Do not put her hair up unless Josephine asks for it to be up Do not apply more makeup than she is comfortable with Ask her what she wants—do not tell her Am I clear?”

Josephine was simultaneously awed and horrified “They will not likenot to s his mouth

He turned his head and kissed her palm “Maybe not, bella, but I will”

They were only a fewfor the party in the ballrooathering, the fact that they were going to the ballroom spoke volumes

As the doors opened to adht in her throat, and her fingers tightened on his arrand ballroo to process everything she was seeing even as people began bowing to Alexander I, each dripping with glittering crystals, reflecting shi the gold and white scheilt-framed mirrors lined the walls

“Confidence,” Alexander murmured at her side

She eased her grip on his ar to block out the sheer nu the roo “This is not a small party,” she whispered as his hand slipped to her lower back

“It’s fewer than three hundred,” he answered under his breath “Larger than I hoped but ss” He began introducing her to people, a couple here and a couple there

She nodded, smiled, and spoke when required, but the entire time she was rance teased her nose Even though she was uneasy with the sheer number of people present, she felt safe with hi in his touch that made her skin come alive She loved it She hated it He was never supposed to be hers, and yet here she was, being introduced to his court as his bride-to-be

“You’re doing well,” he murmured when they had a moment to themselves “You’re quite impressive actually You’ll be the princess they adore, and before long their queen”

She glanced up, her gazelight She wanted to tell him she loved him She wanted him to kno much she cared about hi as he did

Later, as theyhiaze on her, and he y, physical, desirable

Tonight, everything in her felt sensitive and alive, especially when he looked at her, as he did just now, his lids lowered and his lovely mouth lifted just so, and she felt that half s her skin warle and ache

Tonight she felt unbearably feminine, all curves and softness Her breasts Her waist Her hips Her thighs

She loved everything about hi his hands, loved the width of his shoulders She watched his eyes, the focus, the intensity, the hint of aaze

Perhaps she wasn’t a mistake

Perhaps she was the right bride

The party was a success Photographs of Prince Alexander and his beautiful young fiancée, Josephine Robb, filled the papers, and Josephine could tell from the smiles of the staff that everyone was pleased

Josephine was pleased, not because the party was a success but because the party was over She couldn’t wait to escape the palace the next afternoon, retreating almost immediately after lunch for the tower bedroom where she could be alone with her favorite view of the water

She waved at Alexander’s secretary, Aimee, on the second floor as she hurried up the stairwell, and then she peeked through the open door to the library and saw Alexander there in a chair reading a thick sheath of papers She nearly spoke to hiht, and she raced on up, feeling ihter and happier

The for on Saturday, and then soon the spotlight should be off her, and she and Alexander could develop their own routine and their own life together

She couldn’t wait for them to be a proper family, and she wondered where they’d raise the baby She was trying to i the distance between the stone steps Josephine flung her arm out to brace her fall but it was too late to stop herself, and she screaain as she sla the air out of her

For a moment she lay dazed, and then she pushed herself up into a sitting position She flexed her hands, tested her legs Nothing seeh, with pain in her torso and a wrenched back

“What happened?” Alexander de to her side

“I fell,” she answered, trying not to wince, not wanting to alarht andfaster than the rest of me”

“You could have been seriously hurt,” he said