Chapter 199

“Can I see it?” Nolan asked. His green eyes lit up with curious excitement.

He and I were just finishing dinner together, and I’d told him all about my day with Lucy and how hard we’d worked to finish my wedding dress for tomorrow. I was absolutely thrilled with the end result, but my eyes were also tired from all the focused work and lack of breaks, and my fingers were stiff from so much sewing. It had been a while since I had done this much detail work in such a short period of time.

“Hmm.” I thought over Nolan’s request. “Can you wait? I think it’ll be more fun if you see it on me tomorrow for the first time.”

He nodded reluctantly. “I can wait. If I must.”

“I’m so excited.” I beamed. I didn’t mean just about the dress. “This is going to be really fun. Thank you for doing this with me.”

Nolan offered me one of his own big, beautiful smiles in return. “I’m excited, too. And listen, I had an idea…” He pushed his dinner plate away and turned his full body to face me.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“So, we’re having a second wedding tomorrow. And I am finally finished with all these interviews. What do you think about taking a second honeymoon? I could clear my schedule for a week and we could travel… anywhere you want.”

“Oh, honey, that’s so sweet.” I reached out and took hold of Nolan’s hand. “But honestly, I don’t want to go anywhere right now. I just want to be here at home with you.”

Nolan pressed his lips closed against another smile, and I could tell he liked my answer. “You sure?”

“I’m sure. Take the time off work – yes, please. But we could have our second honeymoon right here at home… in the privacy of our big bedroom. We’ll take a staycation. I don’t think we’ll get bored.”

“A staycation?”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing a little. “That’s when you take work off but stay at home instead of travel. I guess people usually call it that when they can’t afford to go out of town but just need a break.”

This concept was new to my prince husband. He was quiet a moment, turning it over in his mind. Perhaps taking the opportunity to practice empathy, trying to imagine what it would be like to lack money.

“A staycation sounds perfect,” he concluded, meeting my waiting gaze and grinning. I recognized a glimmer of lusty intention in his eyes that was a hundred percent on my own mind as well.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He brought his face down to mine and gave me a good little kiss. Soft and slow, with a gentle tease of tongue.

I’m not sure what came over me then, because this is not the kind of thing I ever expected to hear myself say. I wish I could blame Lily, but it wasn’t her. It was me, suddenly knowing something new that I wanted.

I pulled our lips an inch apart and locked eyes with my prince. “Maybe if we spend enough time in bed this week,” I whispered, “you can make sure to get me good and pregnant.”

“Oh, shit.”

Nolan gave me a very interesting look. He was startled at first. Then aroused. Then… All. Kinds. Of. Excited.

“Maybe we could get started on that right now,” he suggested, licking his lips. I would not have expected him to say anything else, really.

I nodded in easy agreement, but added, “I might need a cup of coffee first.”

That got my husband up and out of his chair in a flash, hurrying off to find a maid to bring us coffee service. Leaving me to laugh and roll my eyes. He was back with my coffee in less than a minute.

I had been dead tired in the evening, but the later that Nolan and I stayed up, the more awake I felt. I was wired and excited.

Excited for the ceremony the next day, and for our week ahead of devoted time together. And also, for our future.

We stayed up talking until after three a.m., around which time Nolan began to insist I try to get some sleep. We were having our ceremony in the mid-morning. I swore up and down that I wasn’t tired, but as soon as he dimmed all the lights and wrapped me up in our satin sheets and his own warm body… well, next thing I knew, it was daylight.

“Who are you texting?”

“My secretary. I’ll have him send a barber up to give me a proper shave.” Nolan touched his face, feeling the short, scruffy beard he always grew overnight.

I frowned.

“Something wrong?”

I reached out and stroked his jaw. “Can you please keep it just for today?” I pleaded.

“You don’t want me to shave for our wedding? I look scruffy as hell, Yena.”

I smiled. “Maybe so. But I like your scruff, and I don’t get to enjoy it very often, with you always needing to be all squeaky clean and professional and camera-ready.”

I ran my fingers up and down the sides of his face, petting him tenderly, and Nolan’s lips turned up at the edges. His eyelids looked a little heavy, like the light touch might soothe him back to sleep.

“Can I at least trim it a little, clean it up?” he asked.

“Sure. I can allow that.”

Lucy finished perfecting my lipstick and passed me a hand mirror.

“You know, people pay lots of money for makeup artists to do work like this,” I told my best friend.

She giggled. “You do pay me lots of money.”

“Ha. Fair enough, but I’m still lucky to have you. You did a beautiful job.”

“You look amazing, Yena. Your hair is a work of art.” She tousled my curls delicately.

My hair had gotten super long, and Lucy was right – it did look awesome today. Very dramatic with the way she had parted it more deeply to one side. She’d also patted some argan oil into my mane as it dried this morning, which made my golden blonde hair look brighter, smoother and silkier than I’d ever seen it in my life.

Hair and makeup completed, I took out my antique diamond earrings that Nolan had given me last week on our trip, and put those on.

Then it was time to change into the dress. I was so excited… it might have been my favorite thing I’d ever made. It wasn’t white like a regular wedding dress. (But this wasn’t a regular wedding, anyway.)

It was a long-sleeved, floor length gown made of cream colored silk with a delicate sea green lace overlay that covered every inch. And it buttoned up in the back with a line of pearls that fastened into gold satin button loops. Lucy was just finishing the tedious work of closing me into the dress, pulling the last few buttons into their loops near the base of my neck, when there was a familiar knock on the door.

Lucy skipped across the room to let Evan inside. Her jaw dropped when she saw him.