Page 46 of Not-So-Perfect Princess
Enrique was to be her husband. She had to make the best of the situation and the most of the opportunity. Jules straightened. “So where am I to go next?”
“The massage table, ma’am.” Yvette read from a sheet of paper. “Then you’re to have a pedicure and manicure before seeing the hairstylist and makeup artist.”
“I’ll be all made up with nowhere to go,” she said, trying to sound lighthearted and cheerful.
“You do have someplace to go, ma’am.” Yvette waved a piece paper. “I received an updated itinerary for today. You, Prince Brandt and the royal family are attending the ballet tonight.”
Jules hoped that included Alejandro. Her heart bumped. The thought of seeing him again—make that racing with him—was the only thing keeping her going right now.
Thank goodness she’d said yes to being his helmsman or she didn’t know what she would do. The memory of racing would keep her going until she had children to love.
Maybe she would get pregnant right away.
On her wedding night.
With Enrique.
The thought of being intimate with him seared her heart. Tears stung the corners of her eyes. She looked up at the elaborate crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and blinked. Twice.
Jules knew better than to let her emotions show. She’d been trained from a young age to hide her true feelings. She had to be more careful or someone might discover the truth about how she felt.
Shoulders back. Chin up. Smile.
She looked at Yvette. “So, which ballet will I be seeing?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE SUN HAD yet to peek over the horizon. As Jules made the early morning trek to Alejandro’s boat dock, her headlamp illuminated the way through the darkness. The scent of cut grass hung in the air. The smell was new, different from the night before. Someone must have mowed yesterday. Or maybe she was paying closer attention this time.
Knowing where she was going made the walk easier. But the stillness was a little eerie. Even the insects seemed to have called it a night. If only she had gotten more sleep…
Jules yawned.
The four-hour ballet and the dessert afterward had dragged on into the wee hours of the night. She’d slept for three hours before having to wake and prepare for this practice. She felt half-asleep.
Too bad the Lilac Fairy from the ballet couldn’t lead a handsome prince to Jules. A kiss might wake her up, especially if the kiss came from a certain prince.
Alejandro.
Warmth balled in her chest.
He’d been at the ballet for the first act, long enough to slip a note about this morning’s practice into Jules’s beaded clutch. He’d left the royal family’s private box before the start of the first intermission, well before the kissing happened in act two. She’d been sad to see him go. Not for any other reason than she enjoyed his company, she decided.
Jules knew she would never be anything more than Alejandro’s sister-in-law. Anything more would be wrong. But she allowed herself the luxury of daydreaming about him until her wedding day. A guilty pleasure, yes. But a necessary one if she wanted to make it through her engagement without losing her mind.
Jules wanted to like her future husband. She wanted to fall in love with him. But he wasn’t making it easy. He’d paraded her around like a puppet bride on a string during both intermissions. Enrique didn’t want a wife; he wanted a fashion accessory.
She shivered with disgust at the way he’d showed her off and talked about her as if she weren’t there. At least he hadn’t tried to kiss her good-night.
Forget about it. Him. She needed to focus on sailing.
But Jules couldn’t muster the same level of enthusiasm she’d felt venturing out here yesterday. Partly because of what had happened with Enrique, but also because she would be meeting the crew for the first. She wouldn’t be Julianna, but J.V., a nineteen-year-old male university student from Germany who knew enough English sailing commands to be an effective helmsman.
Jules wore the same disguise as before, but she didn’t know if she could pull off her new identity. The waist of her pants slipped down her hips. She pulled the pants up and rolled the band. Maybe that would make it fit better.
A wave of apprehension swept over her.
