Read The Substitute Bride (The Great Wedding Giveaway Series Book 7) Online
Authors: Kathleen O"Brien
Tags: #series, #american romance, #Wedding, #best selling, #second chance, #Montana, #bride
The Substitute Bride (The Great Wedding Giveaway Series Book 7) (20 page)
And yet, that smile still jolted her in a primitive way.
Just when she thought she couldn’t stand it anymore, the reporter came back on, segueing into a new story, a new location. Brenna inhaled jaggedly. Thank goodness.
“
Gah
, now it’s the other one.” Willow shook her head. “The real one.”
Brenna knew what Willow meant. For most of the world, the Vicenza royal family had only one
real
prince: Emory. Ronan’s older brother. The heir.
Ronan, the “spare,” was more like a movie star than part of the monarchy. He was a celebrity, a touch of spice in the otherwise blandly virtuous royal porridge. But Emory was a saint, a leader the country could trust.
And sure enough, now all three screens showed the same handsome, chiseled face and tumbling waves of black hair. Emory Augustin Vicenza, the crown prince of Cornetta.
Uck-bee was outdoing itself today. They’d apparently cut straight from the museum to some rural school, where Emory stood on a temporary stage erected in the courtyard. He was holding a microphone, waiting his turn to speechify, and nodding at a guy in a suit.
“The fairies certainly gathered around the cradle to grant gifts when these boys were born, didn’t they?” Willow shook her head. “Nothing horsey and inbred about Cornettan royals. Which just makes them more dangerous, if you ask me.”
Brenna laughed, but she wondered whether Willow despised them as much as she pretended to. Ever since Maisie’s father had skipped out during the pregnancy, Willow had been rough on men. She kept professionally cool in the office, but in private she always had something snarky to say about their looks, their personalities, their morals or their brains.
Lately, she’d been fixated on what a fake Emory Vicenza must be. Too good to be true—never a hair out of place, never a social or political misstep.
Brenna watched the screens another few minutes, though her attention had wandered. The camera never left Emory’s handsome, expressionless face. Emory the Exemplary. Emory the Excellent. Brenna toyed with headline nicknames. Emory the Empty.
“Is he alone?” Willow’s interest seemed to be dwindling too. She was flipping through a stack of mail, watching with divided attention. “I wonder where his vestal virgin is.”
“Don’t call her that,” Brenna said automatically. She’d never met Emory’s fiancée, the beautiful heiress Virginia St. Stephen, but the woman seemed nice enough. “Nobody’s forcing her to marry Emory. Maybe they’re really in love.”
“Are you kidding?” Willow shot a look over her shoulder, full of pity for Brenna’s naiveté. “He obviously ordered this chick custom-made from the princess store. Swan-necked beauty...
check
. Unimpeachable pedigree...
check
. Officially documented virginity...”
“Enough.” Brenna held up a hand, trying not to laugh.
“Well, I mean it. It’s sad.” Willow grinned. “Guess we’re lucky we have such disreputable pasts, huh? Nobody will ever be forcing you or me into a sacrificial marriage for the good of the kingdom.”
Talk about stating the obvious. Marry the prince? An unwed mother? A divorcee whose ex’s current address was federal prison? Nope, the glass slipper didn’t fit them. Not even close.
Brenna controlled a flush. Her fair skin showed everything, and she would rather not reveal how deep to the bone that comment cut.
Willow knew nothing about Brenna’s history with Ronan. She knew only that Brenna had met a man named Ron that summer, her gap year, but that “Ron” had disappeared without a word, breaking Brenna’s heart.
Even Brenna hadn’t discovered her lover’s real name until she and Willow moved here five years ago—nearly four long years after that stolen summer. She’d spotted Ronan’s picture in the paper, and she’d just stood there, mute and paralyzed, for a long, long time.
Her Ronnie was a
prince
? Ronnie with the ratty backpack and tangled curls so long they caught on his lashes...was second in line to the throne of The Unified Isles of Cornetta?
She’d been stunned, and at the same time strangely ashamed, as if she’d been the butt of a painful practical joke. She hadn’t ever told Willow, or anyone. She might have confided in her father...but he was already dead.
She stared at the TV, not because she had the least interest in Emory, but to avoid Willow’s scrutiny. She read the sign on the building behind the men. Not a school, after all. A women’s shelter.
The man next to Emory was still leaning in, whispering. Brenna felt sorry for the prince. His companion was clearly one of those annoying types who never drew a breath.
And suddenly, for the first time, Emory spoke. He used English, though most Cornettans spoke French, too, and either language rolled easily off the royal tongues.
“Well, of
course
being an unwed mother is difficult,” the prince said in clipped, irritable tones. “Maybe she should have thought of
that
before she had sex with a deadbeat.”
Willow gasped. Her hand went to her mouth automatically, as if she could retroactively prevent Emory’s words from being spoken.
Even Brenna widened her eyes.
Every syllable he uttered had come through with shocking clarity. Almost instantly, at least a dozen people rushed up to him, circling, bending close and whispering urgently. Someone pulled the microphone from his hand.
Over the next few seconds, in what seemed like an excruciating slow motion, Brenna watched Prince Emory realize what everyone watching—probably at least a third of his countrymen—already knew.
His mic had been live.
“Oh, no,” Brenna breathed. If it had been Ronan, no one would have blinked twice. But from Emory the Exemplary...
She glanced over at Willow, who seemed stunned. In that instant, Brenna realized that Willow’s contempt for the royals was only an act. Willow had secretly believed Emory might be the one true hero, the one white knight in a world full of jerks.
Oh, Willow
. Brenna wanted to put her arm around her friend and comfort her. She wanted to tell her that it shouldn’t be such a shock. Idols always fell from their pedestals, sooner or later. No man on this earth, or any other planet, was as flawless as Emory Vicenza was cracked up to be.
Just as no man could be as frivolous and unreliable as they accused Ronan Vicenza of being. Brenna knew, first hand, that even Ronan could be gentle and kind...
Sure
. Right before he went back to being frivolous and unreliable, and breaking your heart.
She caught Willow’s eye and gave her a wry smile.
“Now there,” she said, tilting her head toward the TV, “is a man who’s going to need some help with public relations.”
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Find out what happens next...
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A
t eighteen, Abby Foster had been the cutest little rich gal in Marietta, Montana. She could make boys do whatever she wanted—especially sweet, wild, penniless Joe Carlyle, who adored her. But a lot’s changed in the eight years since Abby broke Joe’s heart by marrying the rich guy her domineering father chose for her. Her father has died, and the “perfect” husband has bolted, taking all the money. More importantly, Abby’s grown up. She’s vowed to stop listening to other people and follow her own heart instead.
Right now, her heart tells her to return to Marietta. The wildfire she felt in Joe’s arms has haunted her, and, though she doesn’t expect forgiveness, she hopes maybe he, too, would enjoy a brief, no-strings affair. If they can share just the seventy-two hours of Homecoming weekend...well, maybe then they’ll both find it easier to forgive, forget, and move on.
But when she sees him, she realizes how naive that idea was. The years have changed Joe, too...and the passionate, powerful man he’s become isn’t someone she’ll ever forget. This time the heart she breaks may be her own.
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If you enjoyed
T
he Substitute Bride
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The Unexpected Bride
by Joanne Walsh
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The Cowboy’s Reluctant Bride
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A Game of Brides
by Megan Crane
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Last Year’s Bride
by Anne McAllister
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The Make-Believe Wedding
by Sarah Mayberry
After a short career as a feature writer and TV critic, Kathleen O'Brien turned to writing romance, and the job fit so well she never looked back. Now she's published more than forty titles, is a five-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America's RITA award, and holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She lives near Orlando with her former-journalist husband, just down the road from their two grown children and, of course, the ever-famous Mouse. Check out Kathleen’s website at
http://www.kathleenobrienonline.com
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