Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
She wasn’t sure what to think of it.
“Shall we get going?” her uncle asked.
“Yep. Sorry. I had to fit in an extra meditation session.”
Her uncle shot her a look, but she just smiled back at him. She didn’t want him worrying about what her parents or siblings had said to her. Or how she felt.
“Let’s go meet the princess.”
Whoa.
“This place is nuts,” she whispered to Uncle Willy as they walked through the palace.
He smiled at her indulgently. He wore a white linen shirt and beige shorts. Maggie couldn’t deny that he was a good-looking guy.
When they headed down a hallway, she frowned as she saw the men waiting at the end, one and each side of the large double doors.
Ian.
She almost hissed at him but held herself back. That would hardly be professional.
And she was all about being professional.
Well, not really.
She didn’t know what she was. That was the problem. For the last four years, she’d been lost.
Unable to breathe.
So yeah, she wasn’t too worried about being professional. But there were witnesses, so she guessed she should try to behave. She turned toward Jack, who gave her a wink.
At least he seemed normal. Friendly, even.
“Ah, it’s the young lads from yesterday,” Uncle Willy said, walking over to clap Ian and then Jack on the shoulders.
Ian gave him a surprised look, but she was just relieved that Uncle Willy remembered him.
Some days . . . he wouldn’t.
And that was the only reason she was smiling when Ian turned his cobalt blue eyes onto her.
No other reason at all.
She wiped her smile away and narrowed her gaze at him. He raised his eyebrows.
Yeah. She was watching him.
“Beck. Hux. Everything all right?” Ian asked.
“Yep,” Beck said. “We’re going to go check in with Caleb.” He turned to Uncle Willy. “Ian and Jack will be here if you need anything. We’ll come back later. All right?”
“Sounds good, young man,” Uncle Willy said cheerfully. “Now, let’s go meet the princess.”
5
Princess Pippa wasn’t at all what Maggie had been expecting. She’d kind of thought she’d be polite but standoffish. She’d certainly never expected her to lounge around with her friends, laughing and joking.
Pippa was surprisingly down-to-earth and sweet. As were the three other women in the room who were going to be her bridesmaids. One was Vivi, a dark-haired woman with a kind smile. Then there was Alina. She was in a relationship with the princes’ cousins. Lastly, was Chloe, she was beautiful with blonde hair and she was dressed impeccably.
Queen Isobelle was in here as well. She was definitely more intimidating and demanding. Polite, but distant. Although it was clear that she adored Uncle Willy. Then again, who wouldn’t?
By the time the meeting ended, Pippa was looking worried and uncertain. Alina was lying on the bed, looking tired. Meanwhile, Vivi, well, she looked like she wanted to throw up. Chloe was harder to read. She didn’t seem to be affected by anything, but she could be someone who held her thoughts close to her chest.
“William, I wonder if I might have a private word, now that we’ve sorted all of that,” Queen Isobelle said.
All of that was a lot.
They’d never taken wedding photos before. Uncle Willy preferred taking pictures of nature and wildlife and, occasionally people, but they were never posed.
So she had no experience with wedding photography. Still, Maggie was sure that most brides didn’t start getting photos taken four days before the big day in several different locations.
Sure, she got that this wedding was a big deal, but the poor bride and grooms were going to be knackered after this.
And she was worried about whether Uncle Willy was up to it.
Heck, she worried whether she was up to it.
This whole reverse harem thing might freak some people out, but she’d traveled to a lot of different places with Uncle Willy and what she’d learned was that love was love. No matter how it came. And frankly, these women had to be pretty special to juggle that many men.
The queen whisked Uncle Willy away for a private conversation, leaving her alone with the four women.
Um. What the heck was she supposed to do? Should she leave? But Ian was on the other side of the door.
And she really didn’t want to be out there with him.
Crap. She didn’t belong here with these beautiful, classy women. She doubted they’d ever had a gust of wind blow their dress up to their face, exposing their knickers to the high street. Or snort-laughed on a first date. Or worn their top inside-out to an important interview.
Nope. She was certain that nothing like that had ever happened to them. They were all too perfect. But they were still better than the diddlelizard standing outside the door, so she pretended she was busy packing everything up.
“That was . . . a lot,” Alina said, opening her eyes to peer over at Pippa.