Page 6 of Forbidden Crown

If she explained this, Renee would push her to say yes to Antonio. She’d say she was being silly for hesitating, but Kristin wouldn’t mention the contract or the lack of love promised. Her parents had been living proof that marrying based on feelings never lastedanyhow.

Maybe her father was wrong and that for once she shouldn’t be practical.Right.Perhaps she needed the push. She met her friend's stare. "Because he asked me tomarryhim."

Renee dropped the salad tongs into the huge blue plastic bowl she’d tossed romaine in. "Shutthedoor."

Kristin turned her head toward the front door. "Idid."

“Slang. You have got to enter the 21stcentury.” Renee reached out and took her hand. Kristin let her body relax. Renee's teasing reminded her why they were best friends. "Seriously? He asked you tomarryhim?"

"Yes." She couldn't quite meet Renee’s gaze. The contract wasn't part of this discussion. Her friend didn't need to know that part of it. No oneshould.

“I saw your application for secretary…did he take one look at you and fallinlove?”

Kristin shook her head fast. “Not love. That doesn’t happen and never lastsanyhow.”

“That’s cynical and untrue—love can last a lifetime, but that’s for another day.” Renee squeezed her hands. "So what didyousay?"

She tugged her arms free, but she kept her head down. "I needed time to think. Part of me was so mesmerized by him that I almost said yes, but my parents warned me all my life that work and security would bring me happiness. Marrying a prince I just met isn’t exactlypractical.”

Renee laughed and said, "If a prince with billions of dollars knocked on my door and asked me to marry him, I'dsayyes."

Right. Judgments weren't part of their friendship. She went to her pocketbook, dug out her phone and used the restaurant's app to order her usual pizza. "Justlikethat?"

"Absolutely." Renee picked up the salad tongsagain.

The pizza would arrive in half an hour.Perfect.Kristin left her phone on the counter in the kitchen and went to the cabinet to get cups and plates. "No. No you wouldn't. You'd see through the BS, and wonder if there were any camerastapingyou."

Renee walked out of the kitchen and put the salad bowl in the middle of the dining room table. "Oh, were you bamboozled in some awful prank I'll get to seeonTV?"

"No." She followed her out with the plates, centering each on a placemat. "He asked me, for real. I just feel like I was being played, like maybe I’m missingsomething."

Renee leaned against the table and crossed her arms. "Why does he want to marry you? Did youaskthat?"

"Yes." She went to the wine cooler. "He listed off my resume and personal information. It seemed like I would benefit from the deal. I should have insisted that a secretary application wasn’t a prescription for finding a wife. I feel sofoolishnow."

"Pour some wine for both of us and we'll talk all about how you should be a princess." Renee immediately held the two glasses as Kristin popped the cork. “And I can be a princess’s bestfriend.”

Once she was done pouring, she brought the bottle to the table. "Yeah, I've not been anyone's princess since my father walked out on my mother when I was eight. When he returned home six months later, neither one of them were ever happy. They never really conversed again. You have no idea what it’s like to grow up knowing your parents hate each other while they sit right next to you and speakthroughyou."

Renee handed her a glass of wine and sipped her own. "Well, that was depressing. So let's lighten up, and you can tell me if he's as hot in real life as he is in yourphotos."

Kristin took a small drink and sat, her elbow on the table. "Renee, he's hotter. TV and photos...I don't know...make him somehow blander. He's sexy in such a raw powerful way that I was shaken up. I wasn’t kidding—I almost said yes to his marriage proposal onthespot."

Renee held her glass near her face but hadn't sipped. "What exactly made you say ‘you’d thinkaboutit?’"

Kristin gulped what was left in her glass. She’d applied for a secretarial position because it would pay off her debts and allow her to travel while getting out of the boring rut she was in. Marriage to a man that made her blood sizzle, while he insisted they couldn’t feel love, ever, was a different proposition. The money was tempting, but his kiss was more. Raw hunger for him raged through her still. Once she swallowed her wine she nodded. "Self-preservationkickedin."

"What are you talking about?" Reneeasked.

The kiss earlier had been off the charts and the mesmerizing personality and good looks were part of the unbelievable person that claimed her lips in a tasty scoop of yumminess that didn't compare to anything, not even her favorite chardonnay—so how could she explain it? She lifted her chin. "Despite how attractive he is, I want love to be at least part of why I getmarried."

Renee scoffed. "Then marry Greg in our building. He's clearly in love with you, if that's whatyouwant."

The blond, blue-eyed Russian immigrant was cute in a puppy dog fashion, but her heart never stirred at his smile. She reached for the bottle and topped off the wine glasses because the pizza would be here soon. "No, I'm not into himatall."

Just then the doorbell rang. She put the glass down. "That’s the pizza!" Where was her purse? "Can you get the door while I go find my pocketbook forthetip?"

She raced into the kitchen where she had left the phone and sure enough her pocketbook was there. Her heart stopped racing and she opened herwallet.

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