Page 38 of The King's Fake Bride

That part is the truth, at least.

Gabby takes a loud slurp of her drink. “You don’t have to sound so sad about it.”

“I’m not sad.” I put my feet on the edge of the chair, looking at the tablet. “I just… I don’t know. I thought that a whirlwind romance was going to be more fun than this, but it feels like he’s spent the last week avoiding me. I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Hold on, you’re marrying a man who isn’t obsessed with you? I’m going to book my plane ticket right now, and then I’m going to come kick his butt.”

“The guards would probably throw you in prison for trying.” The corner of my mouth twitches. “But thank you. I’m sure it’s just that he’s busy with work.”

“I have no idea, but if you ever want to pull a runner and come home, let me know. I’ll come get you if I have to.”

“I appreciate that, but I don’t think I’m going to be pulling a runner.” I get up from the chair and grab the tablet, heading out to the balcony that overlooks the edge of a cliff and the waters below. “I think I would rather stay here and see this out. It feels like it could be the start of something really special.”

“Well, then, tell me about what’s been happening,” Gabby says. “Do they have you in some sort of queen lessons? I doubt that they would just make a woman from New Jersey into a queen without teaching her how to behave like one. No offense or anything.”

I laugh and set the tablet on one of the patio tables, leaning on the railing beside the table as Gabby looks out over the view through the tablet screen. “None taken. I know I’m not queen material.”

“You are, though.”

Rolling my eyes, I shift the screen so we’re looking at each other. “You’re my best friend and you have to think the world of me, but let’s face it. He had to have hit his head pretty hard to think that I was someone a country was going to want to follow.”

Gabby scoffs. “I would follow you to the ends of the earth, and if this man that I’ve never met wants to marry you, then clearly you must be up to the task. Now, I need to know how the two of you met.”

“We crossed paths a couple times before meeting again on the beach. I met him back home one day. He was in Newark for work, and he stayed at the hotel. We got to talking and exchanged numbers, but I had no clue who he was. All that he would tell me was that he was in human relations.”

“You can hardly blame him for that.”

“I don’t. It just might have been nice to know that the king of an entire country had taken an interest in me.”

I hate this.

Lying to Gabby is awful. There’s a bitter taste in my mouth. My stomach lurches from one side to the other like a boat trapped in the middle of a hurricane.

I should tell her the truth. It isn’t too late to tell her that this is all fake and in less than two and a half years, I’m going to be out of here and moving on with my life.

My best friend leans forward, cupping her chin in her hands. “I want to know everything about him. Did you like him when you first met?”

“Well enough. He was vague about a lot of things, but I was too busy with work to pay much mind to that.” I sigh and sit down on one of the loungers beside the table, turning to face her and crossing my legs beneath me. “Maybe I should’ve paid more attention.”

“I’m going to need you to take a moment to breathe. Your emotions are all over the place with this. Now give me gut instinct, yes or no answers only, got it?”

“Yes.”

Her eyebrows pull together, a small line forming between them. “Are you happy?”

“Yes,” I say without a moment of hesitation.

“Good. Now, do you think you could fall for Xander? Despite the fact that his work is always going to come first, and his loyalty is going to be to his people above all else?”

“Yes.”

At least, if falling for him weren’t a problem in the first place, I think I could.

However, if I fall for him, I’m going to find my heart irrevocably broken at the end of our relationship. I’ll go back to New Jersey with the knowledge that there’ll always be a piece of me in Katastinia.

Gabby’s hands drop, her fingers drumming on the table in front of her. “Do you think this marriage is going to be a good thing?”

I hesitate for too long and she catches it, her eyes narrowing.

---