Page 46 of Lily and the Billionaire Prince

Henrik placed his gloved hand on the well’s roof. “It is a kingdom where wishes can come true, Grandmother Ivory said, and she was right. The people gained a voice, though that voice was hard-won. And so the castle was renamed. And it all started here.” He stroked the handle Lily assumed was used to draw the water up from the well.

“That’s incredible,” Lily said. She approached the well with caution and curiosity. Henrik waited until she stood beside him.

“There is something about you that I like,” he said, examining her in the sunlight. “I don’t know why you needed all that money, and frankly, I don’t care. But from our time together, something tells me you’re not the kind of person who wants me for my title like Lady Eden. Or for my riches or a selfie like many other women I’ve been around. Something tells me you see past that princely part of me and find who I am. Henrik Von Frosk. And that’s the kind of princess I want.”

“I’m not a princess,” Lily said.

Henrik smiled. “My point exactly. You don’t even like me to elevate you in my speech. I need a woman who can keep a level head as she helps me rule.”

“I’ve never ruled anything, Henrik. I’m badly in debt. I work to try and keep my head afloat and I live in constant fear of my…” She couldn’t finish. She wanted to, but part of her realized she wanted Henrik too. If he could see something in her she didn’t see in herself? Her parents had told her she was unfit to work in their company. She started to think she wasn’t good for anything but the job as an assistant for Mr. Elir and even that position had taken her some time to feel comfortable doing after such a massive failure before.

“Fear of what?” Henrik prodded.

“Of my ex-boyfriend,” she said on an exhale.

“The one who belittled you. The one who wanted money from you?”

She turned away from the well. Away from him. The too-white snow was almost blinding in the sunlight. “Yes, and if I do this, he will find out. Henrik, he’ll never leave me alone.” Who knew what Damon would demand of her once he found out she was marrying a prince?

Henrik soothingly rubbed her arm. “I’m sure we can keep him at bay easily enough. I can’t challenge him to a duel as my great-grandfather would have done, but you’ll be secure here, Lily. We can make an arrangement. I will see that he comes nowhere near you again.”

Lily wished it was that simple. There wasn’t anywhere she could hide from the internet.

“Please say you’ll give me a chance,” Henrik said. “Spend a few weeks here. Get to know me better. Get to know my family. See what Einvar—see whatIcan offer you.” He pulled two large gold coins from his pocket and handed one to her.

Was a coin some kind of traditional proposal? He’d said he would get down on one knee for her, but he wasn’t kneeling now.

“Ready?” he said as if her concerns were resolved.

She took a coin. “To commit to marry you?”

He grinned. “No, infuriating woman, to make your wish. This is a wishing well, after all.”

Lily clutched the coin. It was larger than a fifty-cent piece. Charmed as she was by him, her skepticism still pushed through. Why bother wishing when none of the things she’d wanted in her life had come true?

He edged in closer, keeping his closed hand next to hers over the deep chasm within the well. The blackness seemed to dip down forever, as if she leaned down far enough the chasm would swallow her whole.

“Keep whatever you want most in your heart,” he said, “but transfer it to your gold coin first.”

“This is gold?” she asked.

“Solid. Gold absorbs wishes best, you know.”

“Sure it does,” she said, matching his smile.

“I’m thinking of my wish,” he said softly, gazing at her. “Are you?”

Lily squeezed the gold coin in her palm. She didn’t believe in wishes magically coming true. She believed in making things happen, and even then, life had other ideas. Still, with his hand at her back, his body leaning over the stone with hers, and both of their fists clasped over the well’s bottomless drop, what could a little wish hurt?

“I wish,” she began.

“Don’t speak it,” he breathed, trailing heat across her skin. “Hold the wish in your heart.”

Lily closed her eyes, impervious to the cold or the sun’s glitter on the snow or the magical moment casting its spell between them. She opened her eyes, taken in by Henrik’s grasping gaze, and the words came unbidden within her.

I wish to be free of Damon, in order to be with Henrik. A man who could truly love me as I am and who can help me to love myself in the process.

In unison, Henrik’s and Lily’s fists turned. Their hands opened, and the flat golden coins tumbled into the well’s darkness. Without a word, Henrik brought his mouth to hers, sealing their wishes with a kiss that heated her from her hairline to her toes.

---