Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“Stop behaving like such a sourpuss,” she chortles.
Puss, that’s what has me in this predicament in the first place. I want to see that gorgeous goddess again. I haven’t been able to get her off my mind.
Shit, I have to shift in my seat as my cock grows hard just thinking about her. This is going to be a long damn night. I can feel it.
“Now you will have to find her. She’ll be working this evening, but if you can steal her away for a bit, you can get the details of what she has in mind for your event,” Mother says.
“Yes, I’ll be sure to get those details.” I couldn’t care less about planning that damn ball.
“She’s a lovely-looking young lady, isn’t she?”
I turn toward my mother to find her staring at me with an amused look on her face. Shit, I’ve given away too much. I’m sure she knows that I intend to pursue this woman.
“She is.”
She narrows her gaze. “Just remember that it’s time for you to find a bride. Whatever fun you’re planning to have, don’t let it get in the way of the purpose of your gala. You will find a nice girl and settle down.”
I hear the warning in her voice. She and my father have had enough of my bachelor lifestyle. They have been after me to settle down for years, but this year it has become a demand. I must find a bride.
No one will mention my betrothed who disappeared. The one I was destined to marry even before her birth. The bride whose mother found our arrangement lacking and ran off with her child.
Nope, we all shy away from that topic, which is what this event we’re planning is all about. I must find a replacement bride. Lucky me.
I bite my tongue to keep from saying anything cheeky. “I will have a bride before the year is over,” I say dryly.
I’ll hold up my end of the bargain. I’ll find a wife. It will be difficult when the only woman to stir even an ounce of something inside me—in years—is the one who will be planning the event meant to find me a wife.
My mother clicks her tongue at my response. I guess I didn’t keep my annoyance out of my voice as much as I thought. She shifts her body in her seat to look at me.
“You are a crowned prince, Princeton. Your father and I have been very lenient with you. This will not continue if you insist on defying us and shirking your duties,” she says in warning.
“I have performed all of my duties and this gala you want to throw will allow me to do as you and Father ask.”
“Just don’t allow this young woman to be a distraction from all of that.” She huffs and turns away.
I furrow my brows. She was the one to talk me into going to this event. She knew I would agree because of the beauty I’m after.
Why tear into me about it?
I remain silent for the rest of the ride. Mother is up to something. I can see it in the set of her lips. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up in one of her traps. Good lord, if she tricks me into marrying one of the women she and Father choose, I’ll jump from a cliff.
While all beautiful—well, mostly—they are lackluster. Too arrogant, too self-centered, too shallow. I can be all of those things; I don’t need to have a wife that’s a bigger asshole than I am.
I wonder if my little bird will check off all my boxes? Not that they’ll allow me to marry a common woman. Although, my parents have bent a few rules for me.
I grin as I think of what I want to bend tonight.
“What’s that little grin for?” Mother asks as we pull up to the castle on the private island the party is being held on.
“Nothing, Mother, nothing at all.”
CHAPTER 3
You Must Go
Cinder
“Cee-cee, what’s wrong?” Ms. Randell asks as she sticks her head out of her apartment door.
“I won’t need your help tonight after all. Thanks, Ms. Randell.”
“What in the world have those monsters done now? You were so excited about this ball. You have to go.”
I press my forehead to my front door and take a deep breath to keep from bursting into tears. “My dress was ruined. Rosa spilled wine on it.”
“Oh honey, I’m so sorry.”
I turn to face her. “I swear she did it on purpose. We had this client come in today and he insisted on working with me. His mother said that they would find me at the ball to discuss their event.
“I… I just can’t believe they would ruin my mother’s dress over this. She could have had the account. I would have sent him right to her. I had planned to,” I say and sniffle.