The Prince's Bride

How is this my life? How am I, Addison Cooke—a girl so poor, you can’t even see the wrong side of the tracks from where I grew up—getting ready for a date with the Crown Prince of Tanovia?

I check my look in the mirror and decide it’s all wrong. I’m wearing jeans, a long-sleeved tee, and a Sox hat with my hair pulled back in a pony. Is this too casual for a date with a real prince? I mean, I should probably be in a fancy dress or at least a very expensive pair of designer jeans and some Jimmy Choos. I sigh, tugging at the bottom of my shirt to straighten it out.

Before I can change into my fifth outfit, the front door buzzer goes. I rush over and press it. “Yes?”

“It’s Henry.”

“I’ll be right down.”

I grab my bag from the counter and rush out, locking the door behind me. My heart races as I hurry down the stairs to the main floor. When I reach the front door, I see him standing on the other side, dressed in a T-shirt, a grey suit jacket, and jeans. In his hand, is an enormous bouquet of roses. Behind him, Gabriel and Johan stand facing the street. I swing open the door and smile at him.

“For you,” he says, handing me the flowers.

“Those are gorgeous.”

“Not as gorgeous as you.” He steps inside the building and says, “Be right back, guys.”

The door closes behind him before they can protest.

“Do you want to put these in some water?”

The thought of him seeing my humble abode makes my stomach flip so I say, “Sure. I’ll be right back.”

“Addie, would it really be so bad if I saw where you live?”

My shoulders drop. “Kind of.”

“Why?” he asks, tenderly pulling me into his arms.

I press myself against him, inhaling his manly cologne. “It might be a little too much reality for you.”

“I’m interested in you, not your furniture,” Henry says, giving me a kiss on the forehead.

“Good thing because there isn’t much of it,” I pull back a bit and take his hand in mine, then say, “This way.”

When we reach the third floor, my mouth goes dry. I’m suddenly terrified that he’s going to lose interest in me when he sees how I really live. I unlock the door and am just about to ask him to wait in the hall, when he says, “I promise nothing will change how I feel about you.”

I turn to him, wedging myself between the door and his muscular body. “How do you feel about me?”

“I feel like being around you is like having Christmas morning and a day at the beach at the same time. I feel like I’ll never have enough time with you, even if I spend every minute with you for the next eighty years. I feel like I’d never forgive myself if I screwed this up because there is nothing that has ever mattered more—not my degree, not my crown, not even my country.”

With each word, I feel myself melt into a world of possibilities that I didn’t believe could exist. I gaze into his eyes, my breath growing heavy with a lust I’ve never known before.

“Have I said too much?” he asks, leaning close to me.

I shake my head, unable to speak because all of the perfect things he said are swirling through my mind, terrifying and thrilling me at the same time.

“I meant to play it cool.”

Gripping the front of his suit jacket, I pull him to me, kissing him like my life depends on it. I open my mouth to invite him in and he accepts, thrusting his tongue between my parted lips. I moan, feeling his body pressing me against the door and feeling his erection though the fabric of his jeans. I want him. I want him like I’ve never wanted anything in my life. With every kiss, my entire life dissolves, the world is stripped away, and I’m left with only him in a universe in which only we exist. His hands are on my hips now, gripping me forcefully, and he lifts my left leg with one hand tucking it behind him so he can move in closer.

A door opening down the hall has him backing away and both of us laugh quietly as my neighbor comes out into the hall. “Oh, hey, Addison.”

“Hi Jack.”

He gives Henry a hard look before glancing back at me. “Everything okay?”

“Never better,” I say, opening my door and tugging Henry into my apartment with me. “See you later,” I call before the door shuts.