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“He won’t mind. Chad’s not particular about which woman he’s with.” Hope didn’t look at him. She sounded as snarky as she ever had. That line stung. No one compared to her. Not for him. He knew that now.
“Hope.” He eased to her side and reached for her hand. “I would love for Faith to accompany us, as my little sister, but it’s you I want to be with. Please do me the honor of attending the royal wedding as my cherished love. Spend the weekend in magical Augustine with me. It’s far past time I convince you that you’re the only woman I could possibly see, be with…” He dropped his voice. “Or love.”
Her eyes widened as she studied him. Her mouth softened, but she didn’t say a word. His heartbeat resounded loudly in his ears as he prayed for her to give him this chance. He flirted with her all the time, but this was genuine, and much too telling if she wasn’t ready to know how deeply he loved her.
“I don’t …”
“Yay!” Faith yelled over her imminent rejection. “We’re going to Augustine and to a royal wedding. Yes!” She danced up the trail as if it were all decided. “We’ll have to go shopping. Shall we fly to Milan? I didn’t bring any formal dresses or shoes. I think we should look at Peter Langner's dresses. I’m enthralled with his designs.”
Chad held on to Hope’s hand and escorted her up the trail behind her sister. “The royal stylist, Arianna, is amazing. She would be happy to have dresses and shoes waiting for you in your suite at the palace. Unless you’d rather shop. We can detour to Milan.” He knew Faith would love that, but Hope was more practical.
Hope blinked at him, her blue eyes stunned. “Our suite? At the palace?”
It was a good hook. Their Wengen home was gorgeous, but staying at the royal palace was a fantasy he could fulfill. Hope wasn’t like Princess Hattie Ballard August, who’d traveled the world and spent money rubbing shoulders with dignitaries and celebrities. Hope worked and worked hard. He loved that about her, but she needed an escape. A magical escape where she could love and be loved.
“We get to stay at the palace and have the royal stylist bring us gowns and shoes?” Faith clapped her hands and then pumped them in the air. “That’s even better than shopping! I can’t imagine what brands the royal stylist can get her hands on. Thank you, thank you, Chad. I’m stoked out of my mind.”
Chad had already asked his best friend Crown Prince Tristan if he could bring Hope to the wedding and have her stay at the palace that night. He knew Tristan wouldn’t mind if he brought Faith as well. Malik and Sophie would hardly notice, as in love as they were, and both of them felt like they ‘owed’ Chad for not only helping to protect them, but stepping down and letting them have their love story.
Hope let him hold her hand as they hiked up the incline. The trail was barely wide enough for them to walk side by side. He waited with bated breath, worried she’d have some excuse or would outright refuse to go to the wedding. Faith was the ace up his sleeve, though. Hope would do anything for Faith.
Chad had known both sisters would be excited to stay in the palace and attend the royal wedding. They were very successful, but they mostly focused on working hard. He rarely saw social media posts of them attending fancy parties with the wealthy elite of America. Chad wasn’t much for social media, but he checked Hope and Faith’s posts regularly.
When she said nothing for far too long, he said in a decisive tone, “Thank you for committing to spend the week with me. I’ll swoop over and escort you to paradise tomorrow morning.”
He, along with most of the military, police force, and royal guard, had been working triple time to bring down the Rindlesbacher family since they had first started their horrific schemes last summer. General Ray had been bugging him the past couple of weeks to take some time off. Chad planned to. He’d fly Faith and Hope to the castle tomorrow for the wedding, and Hope would eat up touring the castle and learning how the country was run. The next day, he’d show them Greenville, Traverse, and some other key spots around Augustine. His mum would get them into parliament. With Hope’s business mind, that would be an intriguing tour for her. Then he’d take them to the military center, show her how he ran his world. Next would be his cabin in the mountains, hikes and adventures rock climbing with Steffan and Aliya and natural beauty she’d never imagined.
He had big, big plans.
“Um …” Hope hedged. “Faith is so excited.”
“Of course she is. Augustine is a magical place, but especially the castle and a royal wedding.” He smiled at her. “I’m certain you’re ecstatic as well. Especially about spending time with me.”
“You assume that all pretty faces are the same and if you’ve wooed one, you’ve wooed us all.” She smiled and he knew she was teasing but there was an underlying tension in her words.
“I promise you Hope that you are the only woman I intend to woo.” Chad tugged her to a stop, lifted their clasped hands, and then turned her hand over. He placed a heated kiss on her palm, glancing at her from beneath his lashes. “And I am certain I’ll find a myriad of tours, attractions, and adventures in Augustine that you’ll be ecstatic about. Particularly that you’ll be spending every day and night with me.”
Her gaze was warm on him, and it encouraged him.
He’d make her ecstatic about kissing him.
Hope studied him deeply, as if she were looking for the chink in his armor or checking if he was sincere.
“Your confidence knows no bounds,” she said, but it wasn’t as lighthearted as she usually said that standard tease.
“Should it now?” He arched his eyebrows.
“We’ll see,” she murmured. Then she unfortunately pulled her hand free and hurried up the trail after her sister.
Chad caught up. He asked questions about their business, the plans to build more gyms, the next release of fitness clothing and gear. Hope’s business mind was fascinating. He was interested in their business and its growth and development, but pressing at the back of his mind was that he’d gotten her to agree to come. Now, how could he make this the most magical time of her life? He knew Hope well, but Faith would help him make sure this was the perfect weekend and exactly what Hope needed. The time she would always remember as the time she fell in love with him.
ChapterThree
Hope wasa wreck the next morning as they waited for Chad to arrive. After he’d left yesterday afternoon and all through the evening and this morning, Faith had been driving her insane. She adored her creative, whimsical little sister, but Faith’s fascination with Chad and all things Augustine was wearing. Hope had kept her smile on her face but tried to escape any chance she got, working on her laptop in the office until late and then lifting weights with headphones on this morning as she listened to inspirational talks to keep her head on straight. She’d also scheduled four Zoom call meetings and had barely finished the last one. Hopefully her marketing, managerial, accounting, or data analytics teams hadn’t realized how scattered she was today.
And who could blame her?
Chad. Enchanting Major Chad Prescott. That irresistible man was coming for her, escorting her to a royal wedding, showing her his fascinating and magical home country of Augustine, and acting like she was his girlfriend, claiming she was the only woman for him. It was too much. Her nervous system was overloaded, her defenses were low, and they hadn’t even begun the journey!
