PRINCE CHARMING: A Stepbrother Secret Baby Romance(22)

“Mom, is that your dress?” Olivia asked quietly. She got to her feet as her mom clasped her hands together and smiled. “It’s beautiful. When did you have this made?”

“I started it before I left,” she explained as she motioned for Olivia to move closer. “She took my measurements, and I picked out the fabric. You really like it? I wasn’t sure about going strapless, but hopefully, it works well.”

“You haven’t put it on yet?”

Melinda reached out for her daughter’s hands and squeezed them tightly. “Course not. I was waiting for you.” Olivia hugged her mom and felt hot tears prick her eyes. They pulled away, giggling and crying as Olivia pulled the dress off the hanger and helped her mom get into her wedding dress, one fit for a queen. When she stepped out, Olivia and the seamstress, who had come back, stared in awe at the sight. It was even better on, and Melinda stepped up onto a small platform so the dress hung perfectly all around.

“It is magnificent, Bernice, really,” Melinda said as she smoothed her hands down the front.

Olivia’s body tingled all over as she shook her head, awed by the sight. “You will be perfect on your wedding day, Mom. I’m really glad you showed me this today.”

“Oh, this isn’t your surprise,” Melinda said. “You are getting a dress made for the ball!”

“Ball… Right,” Olivia murmured and sank down into a nearby chair. “I guess that means more heels and schmoozing with the court, right?”

Bernice laughed under her breath as she worked at Melinda’s hem while her mother scowled. “I thought you enjoyed the dinner the other night.”

Olivia nodded. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to enjoy a ball where I have to dance all night and pray I don’t make a fool of myself. You know how I am in heels and dresses.”

“Quincy and you looked perfect dancing on that floor.”

“He led the whole time,” Olivia said and thought of herself in front of even more people. That night had been a fluke, a night when she’d tried to cheer up her stepbrother and distract him from his life. This was a ball, which meant everyone would be focused on the dancing and Prince Quincy. Gigi was going to be there, too, and Olivia wasn’t sure she could last another hour of listening to that woman babble on and on about how she was Quincy’s first choice and soon enough, he would announce it to everyone.

Olivia hated the members of court all of a sudden. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

“Olivia, you get that look off your face right now,” Melinda ordered, her eyes narrowed and hands on her hips. “You will go to that ball, and you will look presentable and act accordingly. You promised you would try, remember?”

“I am trying.” She let her arms fall to her sides. “I will behave myself, promise.”

“Good. Then you’re next. We need a gown for you that will make Edric’s jaw drop.”

Olivia’s cheeks burned hot. “How do you know about him?”

“One thing you should learn about being in a court is everyone knows everything eventually.”

***

Quincy flipped through another folder on yet another single woman of the upper class, and his lips thinned. “Why are they all the same, Pascal? Why? I just want one woman who is different than the others, just by a hair. Is that too much to ask?”

Pascal grinned from across the room as he set up a bowl with fresh mangos in it. “I don’t know, sir. Perhaps the women on this isle all went to the same schools and learned from the same tutors and hairdressers and… Well, you know where I’m going.”

“I do, and I do not like it.”

“Such is the life of a prince on a tiny island, sir,” Pascal said.

Quincy groaned and tossed his head back over his chair. “This is hopeless. I’m going to wind up marrying whomever the king chooses if I cannot find a wife!”

“I suggest Your Highness makes a choice quickly.”

With a raised brow, Quincy looked to Pascal. “Is that right? Are you giving me orders now?”

“I have always given you orders, sir, you just never noticed before,” Pascal said and winked. “The ball will be your best chance to get to know some of these women. Pick out a few and see what happens.”

“You make it sound like I’m test driving a car.”

“Mostly the same concept, isn’t it?”

“Pascal, I never knew you to be so… so…”

“Forward, sir?”

Quincy tilted his head back and forth. “I guess we can go with that word.” He stared at the files in front of him again, stood, gathered them up, and headed for the door. “I am going out. I can’t think in this place.”

When he had his hand on the door, Pascal cleared his throat. “I believe if you are heading to where I think you are heading, you should consider taking your stepsister. She looked a bit put off when she and the queen returned from their outing.”

“Why would I take her there?”

“Sibling bonding time? She is new to this place, sir. She doesn’t have anywhere to disappear to and hide like you do,” Pascal said as he went about straightening the prince’s room. “You are not the only one who worries about their future in this place.”