ANDI looked like a princess. An elegant, contemporary, very stylish princess. She was lucky she could pull her long blond hair back into a ponytail and have it immediately look classic. She’d unearthed her minimal makeup from her backpack and fixed up her face, then felt as ready as she’d ever be to quasi-crash a royal wedding, resplendent in her once-in-a-lifetime evening gown.
“You sure this isn’t a mistake?” she said to Zander in the next room. He came up from behind to see her standing at the mirror, inspecting how she looked. And then he draped a beautiful pink-diamond lariat necklace around her neck and Andi gasped.
“Oh, Zander, I don’t deserve this.”
“I want you to have it,” he said. “With these.”
He handed her pink-diamond drop earrings that coordinated with the necklace. “You’ll be my princess tonight.”
Andi caught her breath. She couldn’t go there yet. Right now she had to just let it all unfold and see what happened.
Zander turned her around and pressed his forehead to hers. “So we’re going to be late to this thing, and you need to expect that people will wonder where we’ve been.”
“Can I tell them we went back to your place for a quickie?” she said with a wink.
“Probably not a good idea, even though we’d likely be stating what people are thinking.”
“Oh, man, it’s that obvious?” Andi checked herself in the mirror.
Zander shook his head. “Of course not. But what else would two people do who are so happy to see each other?”
Andi shrugged. “Okay, so we keep mum on the facts. What do I do when all the paparazzi start flashing their cameras at me?”
“Just pretend for the most part that they’re not there. I know that is easier said than done. If we give them one good picture, they’ll be thrilled. As long as we aren’t trumping the newlyweds. After all, we don’t want to steal their thunder.”
“Hell no! They can have the thunder,” Andi said. “I’ll take the lightning.” She grinned and cupped her hand over Zander’s crotch.
“None of that or we’ll never get out of here.” He reached down and inserted his sword into its sheath, then offered his arm to his date. “Off to the ball, madam?”
Andi smiled. From pauper to princess-ish in a matter of a few short hours.
~*~
The wedding reception was held in the grand ballroom of the palace, a sprawling space filled with antiquities, its walls covered in oil paintings. Swaths of silk fabric was draped across the ceiling to provide intimacy to the setting, if you can have intimate with six hundred of your nearest and dearest friends in attendance.
Luckily guests were milling about, chatting as tuxedoed waitstaff served canapés and crystal flutes of champagne on silver trays. Andi couldn’t help but imagine how mortifying it would have been had they all been seated for dinner. As it was, she assumed that she’d have a seat in the kitchen for this meal.
Zander held tightly to her hand as he led her through a scrum of guests in the most stunning of eveningwear. Tiaras abounded, as did those sashes you never know what they mean, and medals. There were plenty of men with medals for whatever they did to earn them. This royalty thing would take some getting used to.
Zander stopped for a moment to grab two champagne flutes from a passing waiter. He handed one to Andi.
“Here’s to A to Z, from Z to A,” he said, tipping his glass to hers.
Andi cocked her head and looked at him quizzically. “Huh?”
Zander shook his head as if she was clueless. “A is for Andi, of course,” he said. “And Z is for me.”
Andi smiled. “I like it! We’ve covered the whole alphabet, from A to Z.”
Just then she looked over and saw the woman she feared most.
Zander saw the look on her face.
“I think I’m going to throw up, Z,” she said.
“No, no, no,” he said. “My mother’s a pussycat. Come, let’s get it over with. She’s going to love you.”
He took her arm in his, and they walked toward his mother, who was engaged in conversation with a group of people.
“Mother?” Zander said. “I’ve got someone I’d like you to meet.”
Ariana was resplendent in a silver metallic and Swarovski crystal gown that only served to enhance the diamond-and-sapphire tiara atop her head. Andi gulped, not knowing if she was supposed to bow or curtsy or take her hand or jump up and down and spit out wooden nickels. Good God, she should’ve researched this before she put herself on that plane. But she didn’t have to worry as Ariana reached out and gave her a warm hug.
“So you’re the young woman who has captured my wild boy’s heart?” she asked, smiling warmly.
Now she was talking Andi’s language. “Wild, indeed,” she said, laughing. “I’m surprised you didn’t put a harness on him years ago. You have my sympathy as I’m sure he was quite a handful to raise.”
Zander lifted his brow at the two of them. “Uh, hello, ladies. I’m right here. If you’re going to diss me, maybe you should wait until I’m out of the room?”
“Clearly your friend, here—Andrea? Is that right?—knows whereof she speaks,” his mother said. “Yes, we tried the conventional means of keeping the boy down, but he just fought us every step of the way. Alexander always did like a challenge.”
Andi nodded. Maybe it made all the more sense, considering she was no easy one to pin down.
“Trust me, Mother, the wildcat here gave me the challenge of my life.”
Ariana nodded. “Good. I’m glad you’ve found someone who will keep you on your toes. It’s time you experience what that’s like.” She nodded toward Andi. “Now if you’ll both excuse me, I have much to do as mother of the groom this evening.” She gave them each a kiss on the forehead and moved on to talk with other guests.
“See?” Zander said. “She didn’t even bite once.”
And for that alone, Andi was tremendously grateful.