PRINCE CHARMING: A Stepbrother Secret Baby Romance(19)

Olivia was a very attractive woman. His dreams last night had been filled with images of her naked body laid out in his bed. Horrible thoughts, really, to have of his stepsister, but he couldn’t help it. This morning, he’d had to wait a while before he could get out of bed and not embarrass himself in front of Pascal.

A staff was tapped on the ground, and the room fell silent as King Lamont stepped forward with Melinda by his side. “Good evening once again, members of the court,” he said in his booming voice. “Thank you for joining us this evening in welcoming my future wife and queen, Melinda, and her daughter, soon-to-be Princess Olivia.”

There was polite applause at his words until Lamont raised his hands for silence again.

“Please, find your seats at the table. Dinner and drinks for the evening will now be served. Afterwards, I invite everyone to the dance floor and the young ladies to make sure they dance with the prince tonight. He is, of course, the finest dancer on the isle.”

King Lamont took Melinda’s hand and they walked to the head of the table. Olivia started to as well, but Quincy didn’t move. His father was going to drive him crazy until he chose a woman to be his wife. Every event was going to be like this until the moment he made a decision. Every nerve in his body screamed to sneak out of there and disappear for the rest of the night, head to the nightclub, and drink himself to a happier state, but he couldn’t leave Olivia. He promised he’d get her through her first formal dinner, and he was a man of his word.

There was just a chance he might not remain a gentleman the rest of the night.

***

Despite feeling like a fish out of water and walking around barefoot the whole night, Olivia was having a pretty good time amongst the other members of the court. Some of the young women were uptight and looked down their noses at her when they learned where she was from and that she wanted to paint for a living, but there were a few who were just like her. It was refreshing to have some girl time. She missed Helen. There was so much she wanted to tell her best friend about… Well, mostly she wanted to tell her about Quincy, but Olivia was worried that if she started talking about her stepbrother, she would let other things slip.

Like how attractive he was while he danced, even though the smile on his face was false for every girl who took his hand. She had a feeling if she wasn’t there, he’d be off in a corner brooding over the whole situation. Not that she could blame him. If her mom had been pushing her to marry like that, she’d rebel, too.

“I think I’m going to get some air,” she told the women she was speaking with and politely pushed through the crowd of mingling guests towards the outer doors.

The doors led onto a balcony overlooking the jungle and beach that the palace backed onto. Beneath it was a private bay. The moment the doors were closed behind her by guards, Olivia inhaled a deep breath of fresh, salty air and felt every tensed muscle in her body relax. It wasn’t hard playing a princess, but being around so many people for so long made her wish for the empty fields of Nebraska and their back porch where she’d sit and paint. She couldn’t wait to use the new paints Sebastian had sent for her. There were so many eye-catching, vibrant details she wanted to capture for everyone back home.

“Good evening,” a man said behind her and she jumped. “My apologies, I did not mean to startle you, princess.”

“That’s alright,” she said as she stared at the man. He was her age, maybe a bit older, and handsome as hell. He was a bit taller than Quincy with lighter hair and freckles that on any other face might have looked childish, but on him, were stunning. He was muscular, too. She could tell by the way his tux jacket hugged his shoulders and biceps. “You don’t have to call me princess yet,” she said, trying to recover. “I’m just plain old Olivia.”

“I highly doubt you are just plain anything.” He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. “I am Edric, son of Lucinda and Morgan Dorrance.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Edric,” she said in a bit of a daze. He hadn’t let go of her hand yet. “I’m sorry, what do your parents do? This is all still new to me. I’m used to everyone being a farmer or a farmhand.”

He smiled gently, and his laugh came easily. “My parents hold a seat in the small parliament on the Isle of Bijoux.”

“Ah, right. Parliament. Still getting used to that, too.”

“There are many things I’m sure you are still learning about this tiny kingdom. Perhaps one day you will be gracious enough to allow me to show you.”

She nodded, and they turned when the doors opened again and Quincy stormed out. He glanced at Olivia and Edric, down at their hands, and grinned. “I am sorry. Am I interrupting something?”

“No,” Edric said, quickly releasing Olivia’s hand. He bowed his head to Quincy. “My Prince.”

“Edric, always a pleasure to see you and your parents. Do tell them I said hello.”

Edric wore a smile on his face, but Olivia could tell the man was a bit put off by Quincy’s sarcastic tone. “Of course. If you will excuse me, prince and princess, I shall head back inside.” He turned and walked away.

When the doors closed again, Quincy moved to the balcony and leaned on it while Olivia’s hands scrunched her skirts. “What was that about?”

“Nothing. I was saying hello to him,” Quincy said.