The Prince and the Wedding Planner

“My lips are sealed. But is that what you really want to do?”

Giselle shrugged her slim shoulders. “It’s better than fighting about everything, even down to the table linens.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m here. You don’t have to fight anymore. I’ll be your go-between.”

“Thank you. I feel so much better with you here.” The car pulled to a stop at a side entrance to the palace. “Now, let’s get you back to your office.”

“That would be nice. I have so much to do.”

“And I believe someone will be waiting for you.”

Bianca’s heart raced with anticipation. She couldn’t wait. Her steps were quick through the maze of hallways until Giselle stopped outside the door. “I won’t keep you any longer.”

“Thank you for everything. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t. I can see why my brother hired you on the spot.”

Bianca sent her a reassuring smile. “I’ll send you the questionnaire I use for the details of the ceremony. If you could get that back to me right away, it would be helpful.”

“I will.” Giselle took a few steps down the hallway before pausing and turning back. “You know this is the first time I’ve been truly excited about the wedding. I just know with you here it’s going to be extra special.”

Once Giselle was gone, Bianca opened the office door fully expecting to find Leo waiting for her. Instead, standing behind an oversized dark wood desk was a beautiful young woman.

“Hi.” The young woman straightened. “You must be Bianca.” She moved from behind the desk. “I’m Sylvie. I’m your assistant for the wedding.”

The young woman appeared to be about her age and she had the friendliest smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Sylvie. Have you ever arranged a wedding before?”

She nodded her head. “I work for a wedding planner in town. The prince—” just the mention of him had the young woman blushing “—hired me to help you.”

“I hope he didn’t take you away from anything important.”

Sylvie vehemently shook her head. And then with a perfectly serious expression, she said, “Nothing could be nearly as important as the royal wedding. I just can’t believe I was chosen over all of the other more experienced people.”

Bianca couldn’t help but smile at Sylvie’s sense of awe. “I’ll tell you a secret. I was surprised too when the prince hired me.”

“You were?”

Bianca nodded. “I’ve done a lot of big weddings but nothing this big and not on my own.”

“You aren’t alone. You’ve got me.”

“And together, you and I will give Giselle and her fiancé the wedding of the century.”

“Let’s do it.”

They sat down and went over what Bianca had sorted out so far. They made lists because nothing got done in Bianca’s world without detailed lists. Sometimes she even made lists of lists. But her curiosity of when she’d see Leo again was a constant distraction.

CHAPTER NINE

BEING A PRINCE did have its drawbacks.

From marrying out of duty to his lack of anonymity.

Leo might have grown up in the spotlight but that didn’t mean he’d grown accustomed to always standing out in a crowd. Instead, he found ways of creating his own privacy. One such way was moving into his own private apartment right here in the palace.

He made his bed every morning. He picked up around the apartment. He liked a neat space. He cooked for himself regularly during the week. He had to admit that cleaning wasn’t his thing and so he did let the staff go through the apartment once a week vacuuming, dusting and tidying everything.

But when it came to cooking, he found, to his mother’s horror, that he enjoyed it. He had taken many lessons from the palace chef over the years. Not that he was an expert now, but he could make a number of reasonably easy dishes. Tonight’s menu included a tossed salad followed by fettuccine Alfredo.