“I will,” Kasimir said simply. He turned back to Josie and vowed with all his heart, “I will make you happy. It’s all I will do. For the rest of my life.”
And he lowered his head to kiss her, not caring that Bree and Vladimir stood three yards away from them, with all the partygoers of the wedding reception behind.
Let them look, he thought. Let all the world see.
Taking Josie tenderly in his arms, Kasimir kissed her with all the passion and promise of a lifetime. When he finally pulled away, she pressed her cheek against him with a contented sigh, and they stood together, holding each other in the moonswept night.
He could get used to Hawaii, he thought. In the distance, he heard the loud roar of the surf against the shore. He heard the wind through the palm trees, heard the cry of night birds soaring across the violet sky. And above it all, he heard the pounding of his own beating, living heart—his heart which, now and forever, was hers.
“I wish we could stay here,” Josie said softly, for his ears only. She looked back at the other couple. “That we could live nearby, and all our children could someday play together on the beach…”
“About that.” Thinking of the decision he and his brother had just made, to build the world headquarters of their merged companies right here in Honolulu, Kasimir looked down at her with a mischievous grin. “I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise, huh?” Tears glistened in Josie’s eyes as she shook her head. A smile like heaven illuminated her beautiful face. “Just wait until you hear the one I have for you.”
EPILOGUE
THE DAY JOSIE placed their newborn daughter in her husband’s arms was the happiest day of her life, after eight months of joyful days.
All right, so her pregnancy hadn’t been exactly easy. She’d been sick her first trimester, and for the last trimester, she’d been placed on hospital bed rest. But even that hadn’t been so bad, really. She’d made friends with everyone on her hospital floor, from Kahealani and Grace, the overnight nurses who were always willing to share candy, to Karl, the head janitor who told riveting stories about his time as a navy midshipman with a girl in every port.
The world was full of friends Josie just hadn’t met yet, and in those rare times when there was no one around, she always had plenty of books to read. Fun books, now. No more textbooks. She’d made it through spring semester, but now college was indefinitely on hold.
The truth was, Josie didn’t really mind. Her real life—her real happiness—was right here. Now. Living with Kasimir in their beach villa, newly redecorated complete with a white picket fence.
Now, Josie smiled up from her hospital bed at Kasimir’s awed, terrified, loving face as he held his tiny sleeping daughter for the first time.
“Need any help?”
“No.” He gulped. “I think.”
Looking at her husband holding their baby, tears welled up in Josie’s eyes. They were a family. Kasimir loved working with his brother as partners in their combined company, Xendzov Brothers Corp. But for both princes, the way they did business had irrevocably changed. They still wanted to be successful, but the meaning of success had changed. “I want to make a difference in the world,” Kasimir had said to her wistfully, lying beside her in the hospital bed last week. “I want to make the world a better place.”
Josie hit him playfully with a pillow. “You do. Every time you bring me a slice of cake.”
“No, I mean it.” He’d looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “I was thinking… we could put half our profits into some kind of medical foundation for children. Maybe sell the palace in Marrakech for a new hospital in the Sahara.” He stopped, looking at her. He said awkwardly, “What do you think?”
“So what’s stopping you?” With a mock glare, she tossed his own words back at him. “The only one stopping you is you.”
“Really? You wouldn’t miss it?”
She snorted. “We don’t need more money, or another palace.” She thought of little Ahmed breaking his leg on the sand dune, far from medical care. “I love your hospital idea. And the foundation, too.”
He looked down at her fiercely. “And I love you.” Cupping her face, he whispered, “You’re the best, sweetest, most beautiful woman in the world.”
Nine months pregnant and feeling ungainly as a whale, having gained fifty extra pounds on banana bread, watermelon and ice cream, Josie had snorted a laugh, even as she looked at him tenderly. “You’re so full of it.”
“It’s true,” Kasimir had insisted, and then he kissed her until he made her believe he was an honest man.
Josie smiled. Kasimir always knew what to say. The only time she’d ever seen him completely without words was when she’d told him she was pregnant that night of Vladimir and Bree’s wedding. At first, he’d just stared at her until she asked him if he needed to sit down—then, with a loud whoop and a holler, he’d pulled her into his arms.
With the divorce cancelled, he’d still insisted on remarrying her and doing it right, with their family in attendance. He’d actually suggested that they wed immediately, poaching Bree and Vladimir’s half-eaten wedding cake, and grabbing the minister yawning at the bar. But rather than steal her sister’s thunder, Josie had gotten him to agree to a compromise.
Tearing up the pre-nup, they’d married three days later, at dawn, on the beach. The ceremony had been simple, and as they’d spoken vows to love, cherish and honor each other for the rest of their lives, the brilliant Hawaiian sun had burst through the clouds like a benediction.
Then, of course, this being Hawaii, the clouds had immediately poured rain, forcing the five of them—Josie, Kasimir, Bree, Vladimir and the minister—to take off at a run for the shelter of the resort, with their leis trailing flower petals behind them. And once at the hotel, Josie had discovered the ten-tiered wedding cake her husband had ordered her—enough for a thousand or two people, covered with white buttercream flowers and their intertwined initials.
Her husband’s sweet surprise was the most delicious cake of her life. Good thing too. Remembering, she gave a sudden grin. They were still eating wedding cake out of their freezer.