Page 41 of Mistaken as His Royal Bride

He shook his head. ‘No, because you’re not like any other woman I’ve ever met. And we both know the truth of what’s going on here.’

Maddi felt breathless. She chose to interpret his statement that she wasn’t like any other woman as a good thing. ‘And whatisgoing on here, exactly?’

The band was playing something a little jazzier now. Aristedes started moving again.

‘A very rare and unusual mutual chemistry. Something that I don’t think either of us expected.’

Maddi shook her head. She certainly hadn’t expected to still be here, impersonating her sister. She’d only started this with a view to helping Laia escape.

She couldn’t take her eyes off his mouth.

‘If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll be tempted to break protocol.’

She dragged her gaze up. ‘What protocol?’

‘We can’t be seen to be physically intimate before we marry.’

She frowned. ‘But...we’re not getting married.’

‘I know that...you know that. They don’t know that.’

As if waking from a trance, Maddi became aware of the avid crowd around them again. People were dancing past them, staring at them as if they were animals in a zoo.

She wanted to duck her head into Aristedes’s shoulder. She wanted to ask if they could leave yet. But she clamped her mouth shut. Because if they did leave...what then?

As if hearing her thoughts, he said, ‘Much as I would like to, we can’t leave yet. There’s more meeting and greeting to do.’

Maddi was used to this—albeit to the other side of it. She knew that it was like an endurance sport, and she’d been in awe of Laia’s stamina and patience. Now it looked as if she was to be tested to see just how well-suited she was to the role of princess.

A couple of hours later, Maddi was reaching her breaking point. Her feet were killing her. Her face was numb. She was dizzy from all the names and the people she’d met.

An aide approached the King and said something into his ear.

Aristedes put his hand on Maddi’s elbow. He looked at her. ‘Ready?’

‘For what?’ She might cry if there was another room to go to, where more people waited to meet them.

‘To leave?’

Relief made her weak. ‘Yes, please.’

‘Try to look a little less delighted,’ Aristedes commented dryly.

Maddi schooled her features as they were led out of the elaborate hall and their security followed them as they made their way down to the entrance where the car waited.

Maddi had never been so glad to sit down. She considered herself to be fit—she’d run a half-marathon with Laia in the last year—but this required next-level endurance skills.

In the back of the car, she asked, ‘Do you ever get used to this?’

‘It’s a job, Maddi. And a privilege.’

‘That’s what Laia—I mean, Princess Laia says.’

‘You’re close to her.’ He said it as a statement.

Maddi nodded. ‘She’s my best friend, even though I’ve only known her a year.’

‘Clearly you’ll do anything for her. You’re loyal.’