A nervous giggle welled up within her. She stifled it. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t the nervous type. She’d worked with the very rich and the very famous. In the end, they were all just people. As her mother used to say, they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else.
But this man standing before her was most definitely not just another person. When he stared at her, like he was doing now, her pulse raced. Her insides shivered with a nervous energy. Her whole body reacted in the most unnerving ways.
She attempted to compartmentalize all these new and exciting sensations.
Focus on business.
If he had a job for her, it must be something big, something important. And it might be what she needed to launch a successful wedding business.
Coming to her senses, Bianca said, “If I may be of service to you, Your Highness, please let me know.”
“There’s going to be a wedding. And I think you might be just the right person to help plan it.”
He wants me to plan his wedding? Me...planning a prince’s wedding?
The honor of such a position was quite apparent to her. To plan such a wedding would mean she would have her choice of weddings going forward. She wouldn’t have to search for prestigious clients, they would seek her out.
It would be sad that such a handsome and intriguing man would soon be off the market—not that she was in any position to be courted by anyone—most especially not a prince. With her heredity in question, it was best to keep to herself. But it didn’t hurt to daydream.
“Um...thank you, Your Highness. I’m honored to be considered for such a role. Please let me know what I can do to help you.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Do you have references?”
She nodded. “I can forward them to you.”
“I will need to know more about you before I hire you for this very important position.”
“Understood.”
His expression gave nothing away. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-nine.” What did that have to do with anything? But she didn’t know the ways of the royals so she kept her questions to herself.
His dark brows drew together as he studied her. “Do you have much experience?”
“I’ve been working in the wedding industry since I was eighteen.”
A brief flicker of skepticism showed in his eyes but in a blink, it was gone. “That’s mighty young.”
She nodded. “I started interning with a wedding planner when I was at university. My parents didn’t believe in coddling their children. When my siblings and I became adults, we were expected to find our own way.”
“But this estate is your family’s, is it not?”
“It is. But our parents wanted us to rely on ourselves and not our birthright. Even now...” She stopped
herself. The wound of her parents’ deaths was still too new—too raw—to discuss, not even to gain the wedding of a lifetime.
“Interesting.” He held out his hand. “May I have your phone.”
She pulled it from the hidden pocket in the folds of her blue satin skirt. When she handed it over, their fingers touched. A tingly sensation raced up her arm and settled in her chest, setting her heart aflutter.
He took her phone and ran his finger over the touch screen. “I have given you my contact information. I trust that you will not share it with anyone.”
“You have my word.”
He nodded and then returned the phone to her. “Very good. Forward me your references as soon as possible.”
She took her phone and moved her fingers over the same touch screen where his long, lean fingers had just been. And in no time, she had completed her task.