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Chapter 1
Alush wall of frangipani rose up the side of the villa’s balcony, its tropical scent wafting through the air to mix with the heady aroma of salt, sand and serenity. The stunning two-story Spanish-inspired building overlooking its own white sand lagoon on the South Pacific island of Avali might as well have been plucked from an encyclopedia entry entitled ‘Paradise’.
“Are you freaking kidding me?”
Frustration sent Stella Warren’s voice slicing through the tranquil setting like a razor blade, as she raised her smartphone higher in the air in the hope that its proximity to God might help answer her prayers.
“How can I run a wedding without phone reception?”
Since no answer was forthcoming from either the Almighty or the frangipani-scented breeze, she huffed out a sigh and turned towards the villa’s ornately carved front door.
To-do list. Find a spot with reception. Check wifi capabilities. Ask about a landline for the villa.
As she rattled off the list in her head, Stella felt her breath even out.
As long as there’s a plan.
Her detail-oriented nature had made her one of New Zealand’s most sought-after wedding planners, but it also meant she did not do well with unexpected complications. And the possibility of relying on a landline and dial-up Internet to pull together her best friend’s wedding in a remote corner of the South Pacific was most definitely an unexpected complication.
She stabbed at the doorbell placed discreetly to the side of the villa’s entrance with a perfectly manicured finger as the list in her head continued.
Update the run sheet with the new communications details. Get in touch with the florist asap. Check with -
Stella broke off mid-thought as the door swung open and she found herself swimming in the smoky eyes of a tall, dark disaster.
No.
Framed in the doorway like the sexiest portrait ever painted stood the single biggest mistake of her life. Prince Aleki Esera of Avali had swanned into her life at eighteen, and left her heartbroken ten months later.
“Stella?”
His utterance of her name hit her ears at the same time the breath left her body. Shock flooded Stella’s system, rising in her throat like a tidal wave, coating her tongue in a bitter residue as memories bombarded her in rapid fire succession.
“What are you doing here?”
Aleki winced, crinkles bracketing his chocolate-coloured eyes in a way she hadn’t seen before. A very, very good way.
“A little more high-pitched, thanks. I’m not sure every dog on the island heard you.”
“You’re the only dog on this island, Aleki Esera,” Stella snapped, heat rising in her cheeks. Even now, shame and regret pounding a dual beat through her body in time with her racing heart, she couldn’t stem the shiver of awareness that trickled down her spine at the sight of him.
The bronze skin that had so attracted her attention during their university days in Wellington shone with a burnished glow that spoke volumes of his life on the island since he’d left New Zealand’s vibrant capital. His features had sharpened, strong eyebrows and a square jaw caging the richness of his eyes and full lips that would have made Michelangelo weep. The pull of a faded olive t-shirt over the broad expanse of his chest hinted at a physique more aligned with an Olympic athlete than a pampered prince who in her memories had exerted more energy in bars and bedrooms than in gyms.
Even as her consciousness fought against the sultry hum of her blood, appreciation slid through her body, warming her insides.
Aleki had always exerted an otherworldly pull on her. Ever since the first time she’d laid eyes on him tossing a rugby ball around on the field under the cable car stop, she’d been hooked. It was the raw magnetism that throbbed between them when they were together, tangible as a neon light, that had led to her inevitable undoing and the resulting debacle that had coloured Stella’s dating life since.
Seemingly unperturbed by the riot of emotions barraging her, Aleki simply folded his lean six-two frame over to clasp a strong, tanned hand around the handle of her monogrammed suitcase.
“Are you coming in?”
“Are you crazy? Why are you even here? This is a private residence. You need to leave, now!”
Even as she looked wildly around for the sleek black sedan that had collected her from the airport and dropped her in this surreal situation, Aleki’s deep chuckle wrapped around her, his amusement deepening her panic rather than lightening the mood.
“The car is gone, Stella. And since it is my car, and my driver, it was unlikely to take me anywhere I didn’t wish to go. Today is a day for staying home, I think.”
Home.
The word reverberated through Stella like a gong, sealing her fate as the realisation sunk in, settling heavily in her stomach.
“This is your house.” She forced the words out in as flat a tone as she could manage, even as her emotions swirled inside her like a maelstrom.
What is Mae thinking?
Since the engagement, Stella’s jewellery designer best friend had talked of little else than holding her wedding on the tropical island of Avali, renowned for crystal clear waters popular with divers the world over and its’ impressive reef conservation efforts.
Having seen the way the abundant forestry hugged the powdered-sugar shoreline along the island’s coast and the lively bustle of Havalei’i, the island’s single steel-and-glass city often referred to as ‘Honolulu of the South’, Stella could well understand her friend’s desire to cement her romance in such a stunning setting.
Any resistance that might have tugged low in her gut about her history with the island nation’s heir had been assaugued by repeated assurances from her brain that running into him by chance was an impossibility, and from various women's magazines that he was in fact busy running into Victoria’s Secret models in Iceland.
But for Mae to host her wedding here? In his home? And no doubt invite him?
“Who is Lani? Every email I’ve received about this event has been signed by her.”
“My assistant. She handles the administrative details of my home.”
“And Mae knew this whole time?”
Aleki’s firm mouth lifted at one corner.
“We wanted it to be a surprise. A fun little reunion.”
You must be kidding.
She couldn’t blame her best friend. Stella had never told Mae about Aleki’s final evening in New Zealand. About the night that the pool of desire that had simmered in her blood since meeting him had finally fizzed to the surface, only to be met with equal passion from the prince. Nor had she mentioned the way his hands had blazed across her skin, setting fire to her synapses, her familiarity with the rasp of his stubble across her sensitive skin or the lust-soaked kisses that drugged her into a state of near spiritual bliss.
She most certainly had never mentioned that she’d awoken to cold bedsheets and the news that her royal lover had taken leave of the country mere hours after she’d taken leave of her senses and offered him everything she had.
Even now, that memory, coupled with the long, lazy examination Aleki was subjecting her to was enough to send lustful sparks shooting through her abdomen.
And he arranged for me to be here. Without a heads up, without a chance to back out.
That realization was enough to bring Stella to her senses.
She was no longer a naive virgin, and he was no longer the man she’d spent hours talking and laughing with in the university library, a fact she was sure several of the world’s finest lingerie models could attest to.
Stella Warren was the epitome of professionalism. She was a colour-coding, flower-girl-wrangling, mother-minimizing, wedding-planning perfectionist. And after seven years in the industry, she was damn good at it. Facing a former lover at a destination wedding barely registered in her personal folio of acceptable freak-out circumstances. Red wine on a couture wedding dress? That was a problem. This was merely an annoyance. And she would not allow a simple annoyance to ruin Mae’s wedding. Especially not one that had been in her pants.
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