I could hear the large crowd gathered on the other side of the doors and looked at Alex. I bit my lip and rubbed my hands together.
“You’ll do fine. You can say the words in your sleep.” He chuckled. “You do say them in your sleep.”
I snorted and ran a hand over my gown. It was a floor-length, fitted dress, and every inch of it was covered in silver sparkles. I was wearing the deep green sash of the Rousseau family over my shoulder and the tiara with emeralds. Alex picked up my hand and brought my fingers to his lips.
“Stop fidgeting. You’re breathtaking.”
“This tiara weighs eighty pounds.” I reached up and touched it gently.
“You wear it very well.” His eyes ran over my body in appreciation. “You look like a queen.”
“Please. Did you see your mother?” I patted my dress again. She was wearing a floor-length robe that trailed behind her, a sword tied around her waist, and a diadem that was older than the building we were standing in. “I’m so nervous. Where are you sitting? You never told me. Will you be up front with your mother?”
“Where would you like me to sit?” He flashed his mischievous smile.
“Where you’re supposed to.” I shook my head in exasperation.
“Now you sound like a queen.”
“Alex? You’re being weird.” I reached out and touched his cheek. “Are you okay? Are you nervous too?”
“A little.” He ducked his head.
“You just have to sit there.” I laughed.
“Yes, but I want to sit with your family.” He looked up at me and my heart stuttered. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? He wanted to be family?
“They’re pretty strict about that kind of stuff.” I bit my lip. “Very formal occasions like this have a rule book.”
“I know.” Never taking his eyes from mine, Alex moved to one knee in front of me. My heart beat so quickly I thought it would burst from my chest. There was something humbling but exciting to see him there, looking up at me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. When he lifted the lid I thought I’d faint, but I didn’t know how I’d get up off the floor in this dress, so I managed to stay upright.
“You want to sit with my family.” My breathing had picked up so much that I started feeling dizzy. I knew Alex loved me, knew that he saw this as our future, but never in my wildest dreams had I expected him to propose today.
“Samantha Ellen Frances, Duchess of Rousseau, will you be my wife and queen?” His bright blue eyes stared up into mine. Love and devotion shone from them.
“Yes.” My voice caught. “Yes, I will.”
He slid the ring onto my finger before standing up and wrapping me in his arms. I kissed him like there was no one around. I didn’t care who saw us or what the tabloids reported later. This was the happiest moment of my life and I was going to live it.
Epilogue
The Royal Wedding Guests
—Minnesota Reports
Hours of small talk, handshaking, and the unveiling of a plaque were starting to take their toll on me. I was fidgeting with the napkin I’d picked up from one of the rotating servers when Alex managed to make his way back to me across the room.
I was getting better at these types of events, but when they were as big as this one, it was hard to not feel overwhelmed. Thankfully, Chadwick was always nearby and I could count on him to extradite me from overly enthusiastic strangers. Alex was good about not leaving my side when it could be helped; unfortunately, it was quicker for us to split up to work the room when possible. And these were all people who donated to the FBT.
“You’re looking antsy.” Alex ducked his head down to my ear. “Ready to get me back to the hotel?”
“These shoes are killing me.” Even with the heels he had me by a few inches. “And it’s after four in the morning back home.”
“So, you’re not planning on attacking me when we get back to our room?”
“I don’t know. How soon can we get out of here?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Give me five minutes and I’ll have you out of that dress.” He put a hand on the small of my back and guided me toward the exit. I smiled, remembering how much it used to amuse me when he did the same thing and now I just felt special. He dipped his head down to my ear once more. “Have I mentioned how much I like this dress?” His fingers caressed the fabric and I shivered. Even now, after all this time, I couldn’t fight the pull he seemed to have on me.
“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 cl**vage. “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.”