His Arranged Marriage (12 page)

Cade clapped his hand over his forehead.

“Who
is
this?” the woman demanded.

“Princess Serena Wilson-Al Farid,” Serena said. “And whom do I have the pleasure of addressing, please?”

“Queen Polly Ann Smith Dorchester Smith, because I married my first husband again after my second husband kicked the bucket. I didn’t include my
maiden name in my title because it’s a mouthful. I’ll have your silver platter right out to ya, honey.”

The voice went away. Serena looked back to Cade happily. “She was still being testy when she said she was a queen, but you were correct, she appreciated the courtesy of the inquiry. I didn’t realize that there was social protocol to be observed. I will remember to always ask after the family of the person to whom I am speaking.”

He couldn’t help falling a little bit under her spell. The glow in her eyes was too alluring, the delight in her tone too compelling. If he was on her turf in Balahar, he’d be making mistakes and gaffes all over the place. “You’re doing fine, Serena.”

“I am trying, my husband.”

The waitress came out to the car carrying a red tray lined with silver foil. “It’s kinda slow, honey, so I took the time to make this humble plastic tray as royal as I could,” she said with a raised brow.

Serena nodded. “Your efforts are appreciated.”

Polly Ann looked more closely at Serena. “Hey, haven’t I seen you somewhere?”

Cade pulled his hat down over his eyes, leaned forward and slipped the waitress a twenty. “We’re in a bit of a hurry, so keep the change.”

Serena took the hamburgers and drinks off the tray and handed them to Cade, before switching on the car engine.

“I am learning to drive in America,” she told the
waitress kindly. “I have never done so before, so you might want to step back onto the curb. I almost ran through a fence before I got here.”

Polly Ann jumped back onto the curb, the silver paper on the tray fluttering in the breeze. She stared at Serena as she neatly put the truck in reverse, then just as Serena shifted into Drive and moved away from the parking spot, the woman’s mouth rounded in an O of recognition.

Cade grinned, his headache starting to recede for some reason. “I like being with you,” he told Serena. “I honestly didn’t realize how much I could enjoy doing simple things like going to a drive-up with a woman.”

“Not just any woman,” Serena reminded him as she blithely rolled a stop sign. “Me.”

A loud siren blared behind them. Cade shook his head, regretfully wrapping the burger back into the silver foil. “And then again…” he said with a sigh.

“Hey there,” Officer Duncan Peterson said, leaning on the car window to gaze at Serena. “Howdy, Cade,” he continued as an afterthought, clearly smitten by the driver of the truck.

“Duncan,” Cade said with a slightly embarrassed nod. Serena had ignored that stop sign as if it were invisible! “My friend is learning to drive, and I guess I glossed over the part about making sure the car stops completely at stop signs.”

“You can turn right on red,” Duncan told Serena, his tone admiring, “but you must
stop
first. So, I saw your picture in the paper, Princess. How do you like Bridle so far?”

“It’s lovely—” Serena began.

“Excuse me,” Cade interrupted. “I’m sure you’ve got a heavy workload today, Duncan. Don’t you want to write me a ticket?”

“Nah. It’s not every day a man gets to meet a real princess. So, what’s a princess like you doing
with a guy like him anyway?” Duncan asked, his tone teasing and his remark aimed at riling Cade.

Duncan’s down-home ease with Serena annoyed Cade to no end—not that he was jealous.

“How is your family?” Serena inquired.

The officer raised his eyebrows as he stared at her. “They’re all fine, sweetheart. Thanks for asking. Has Cade been telling you about my rascals?”

“No. I just met Polly Ann Smith Dorchester Smith at the drive-up and Cade explained to me that it is courteous in Bridle to inquire about everyone’s families.”

Duncan shook his head. “How did you manage to meet this doll?” he asked Cade, not caring what she learned from Polly Ann or anyone else. “As a word of caution from an old friend, don’t blow this one. As I recall, you couldn’t establish a commitment to save your soul after Penny Dearing dumped you.”

Serena turned her head to examine Cade. “I do not know Penny Dearing.”

Duncan laughed. “She moved up north with a rich fellow not too many years ago, right after deciding that Cade didn’t have deep enough pockets, I guess. Funny when you think about that one, isn’t it, Cade? You hanging out with a real princess and all? Bet you wish Penny could see you now.”

Serena frowned. “But Kadar is a pr—”

“Could we just have the ticket?” Cade interrupted.

“Penny wasn’t near as pretty as you are, though,” Duncan continued. “Considering all the times I saw Cade making out with that gal when he was here on college breaks, I’d bet you can’t pull him off your face, sweetie.”

Cade could feel his wife’s intense attention burning his face. “Could we please have a ticket?” he demanded. “So you can get back to work?”

Serena turned back to Duncan. “Cade feels that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of their station in life. Please give him a ticket for my driving error, as well as the fact that of course I have no license, and anything else you can think of that I might have done.”

Duncan grinned at her. “I’ve never seen two people more eager to get written up, Princess. But I’m going to have to let you off the hook today. With you being new to our country and all, I wouldn’t feel good about it. We want you to be happy here in Bridle, even if you are stuck with this ol’ hombre. That’s punishment enough.”

Cade sighed. “Thanks, Duncan. We really shouldn’t keep you any longer from maintaining law and order at the coffeehouse and the pizza restaurant.”

“That’s all right. I can’t wait to tell the wife who I met today. Your picture in the paper didn’t do you
justice,” he complimented Serena. “It was an honor to meet you.”

Serena beamed at him. “And I am honored to make your acquaintance as well.”

“When you run out of patience with Cade, you call the local high school for driving lessons. They offer courses for folks to brush up on their skills.”

“Thank you, Officer Peterson.”

“My pleasure, Princess.”

The policeman did everything but bow as he patted Serena on the shoulder and backed away from their truck. Cade grunted with annoyance. “Duncan is a numbskull, although a nice one.”

She looked thoughtful. “I cannot understand why a woman would marry anyone other than you if she had the chance. Considering your family and The Desert Rose, it is a good arrangement for any woman…” She looked at him for a moment, shyly. “And then there is you, which, when you are not being stubborn, is the very best part of the marriage arrangement for a woman. At least that is my opinion.”

They sat silently for a moment before Serena straightened. “I will know at once why you could not stay off Penny Dearing’s face and have to be dragged to kiss mine.”

Cade shook his head. “That was a few years back. I’d forgotten all about her until Duncan mentioned her.”

“Oh,” Serena said, her tone somewhat mollified. “I didn’t like hearing that you’d kissed another woman, but if you’d forgotten about her—”

“I did. I had.” Cade wanted clear of this subject immediately.

“Then kiss me,” Serena demanded.

“Now?” They’d nearly gotten a citation, and the princess wanted to smooch.

Then again, it wasn’t all that bad an idea, Cade decided, staring at her twinkling eyes and bright smile. “You know, I think you like living on the edge, Serena.”

“
Now,
Prince Kadar,” she reiterated, puckering. “Otherwise I will have to again bring up the unfortunate Penny Dearing, who passed up a true prince to marry a rich man and move away up north.”

“All right,” he said, leaning to frame her face with one hand as he drew her close to him. The feeling of Serena’s lips molding to his sent heat into regions of his body he’d let grow cold over time. She warmed his heart; she warmed his life.

Maybe,
he thought as she slid her fingers through the hair on the back of his nape,
maybe I could sit here all day and kiss this lady.

Behind them, the siren wailed again. Serena and Cade jumped apart as if they’d been snapped by static.

They poked their heads out of opposite truck windows to stare back at Duncan, who was waving from
the cruiser. Using the speaker, he said, “You two can’t sit there and obstruct traffic. I’ll have to give you a ticket for that.”

“Start the engine,” Cade tersely said. “Let’s get home.”

Home. It was the first time he’d thought of The Desert Rose as home for him and Serena as a married couple. Suddenly the pieces in his life shifted, and instead of thinking that she might want to leave Bridle in a few days, he was hoping that she’d want to stay with him.

Somehow, she had become his home.

T
HE SECOND
S
ERENA PULLED
into The Desert Rose driveway, she panicked and threw the truck into a grinding halt. She had good reason to panic, because reporters swarmed the truck, snapping pictures and thrusting microphones through the open window.

“Did you know your marriage isn’t legal, Princess?” a reporter asked.

“Why are you hiding who you really are, Prince Kadar?” another one demanded. “Why are you hiding out here in Bridle, Texas?”

Serena glanced to Cade, horrified. “I told no one,” she said on a gasp. “I promise you I did not.”

“Drive close to the house, up on the yard,” he instructed tersely. “We’ll make a run for it from there.”

“But they are blocking the way!”

“They’ll move.”

She forced the truck forward slowly and reporters reluctantly eased out of the path. Suddenly they heard the familiar blare of a police siren behind them.

Duncan got out of the cruiser with a bullhorn. “Ya’ll are on private property. Move away from the truck, and find yourselves a place down the lane to park. Any pictures taken closer than the sign posted that says Private Drive will be considered evidence that you have trespassed on private property.”

The reporters mumbled, not of a mind to listen.

“They’re not going to talk to you,” he continued. “Whereas maybe if you haul yourselves a safe distance away, the family might be talked into a press conference at some point.”

“Drive while he’s got their attention,” Cade said swiftly. “Park on the lawn next to the steps.”

She did, her hands trembling on the steering wheel as she told herself she could do this, she could drive close to the house without hitting any of the pretty landscaping.

“That’ a girl,” Cade said. “Now put it in Park and let’s get inside.”

She did as he asked, and they both jumped out of the truck, hurrying onto the porch.

“Thanks, Duncan,” Cade called.

“Forgot to tell you your mom had called to ask
if there was anything to be done about the reporters. I’ll handle ’em.”

Cade waved his thanks but didn’t hang around long enough to see the “handling.” Rose held the door open, closing it behind them as Serena and Cade came through. “Somehow,” she said simply, “they found out that the princess is not your wife in proper name.”

“I wonder who could be behind that.” Cade didn’t like his short time with Serena being the object of the world’s scrutiny.

Serena and Rose glanced at each other.

“Layla,” they said together.

“Why? Why this plan? What does it accomplish for her?” he asked.

“She brings us out of hiding, and with a media spotlight turned on this awkward position between you and Serena, she is hoping that the country of Sorajhee will feel that King Zak is not being honest with them. That there is a reason he had his daughter married in secret. Remember that there has been unrest between the two countries lately. Layla and Azzam are heating the situation to a boiling point. King Zak and I had hoped that a royal marriage between Serena and Prince Makin would be satisfactory to the people, as Makin is the son of Ibrahim, whom the people of Sorajhee had loved.”

“But because the marriage didn’t go off as
planned, and since it isn’t even legal, the people are suspicious,” Cade finished.

“Not to mention that Layla will be at the ready, sending out her teams of well-versed gossipmongers to spread lies to increase the people’s tension,” Rose explained. “It is a difficult problem we have unwittingly brought to the king, Kadar.”

“Have you spoken to my father?” Serena asked.

“Not as yet. The press only just arrived, so none of this has had a chance to hit the world airwaves.” Rose shook her head sadly. “When I think of all the years Randy and Vi protected us, kept your very existence a secret, it makes me want to tear every hair from Layla’s wicked head. She has gone too far now.”

“Mother.” Cade put an arm around his mother’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Somehow we’ll make all this work out.”

“Perhaps it is best if I return home now,” Serena said softly. “My presence has caused enough trouble already.”

“Absolutely not,” Cade and Rose said in unison.

“No matter what, I am determined that Layla will not force you and Cade to make decisions you will regret for the rest of your lives,” Rose said. “Unless this latest dilemma changes your father’s mind, you have yet a week at The Desert Rose if you want to stay, Serena.”

Serena looked at Cade, wondering what she
would see in his eyes. Did he really want her to stay? Or was it merely his pride that was talking?

“You are not going, Serena,” he said, shocking her. “You don’t move one inch from The Desert Rose until you tell me you want to go. And then I will fly you back to Balahar myself.”

“I fear I am trouble to you—”

“Nonsense,” Rose denied. “I didn’t spend years in a sanitarium by Layla’s treachery to give up this easily. I learned survival, and I learned determination. I side with Prince Kadar in his decision. If you both want the last few days that King Zak has granted, then we will not allow Layla to take that from you.”

“I want it,” Serena whispered, her eyes on Cade. “If my prince wishes it, Prince Kadar.”

“I have already made my decision,” he said imperiously. “You stay here with us.”

Sweet shivers ran all over Serena’s body. There was fire in Prince Kadar’s eyes, glowing for her. She felt his possession of her heart in full flame, and told herself she would walk through the worst fire Layla could conjure before leaving her prince.

I
N
B
ALAHAR
, King Zak opened the letter put in front of him by an adviser. It was from Rose Coleman, and he very much looked forward to her missive. He wanted to learn how the courtship was progressing; he trusted Rose had been correct in believing
that Serena and Kadar were not totally immune to each other.

But it was the photograph that fell out from between the pages that caught his eye.

The photo showed Rose Coleman with her three sons—and Rose was as lovely as he remembered. He smiled at the classic image reminiscent of Princess Grace of Monaco. Soft upswept blond hair complemented a bone structure that was aging gracefully. Her eyes held laughter, her mouth curved in a smile as her sons stood proudly on either side of her. Her son Alex he thought quite handsome. Kadar and Makin he couldn’t tell apart, though he suspected he recognized the arrogant stance of Kadar, feet apart, independent even though he stood protectively near his mother.

On the back of the photograph, Rose’s slanting penmanship confirmed his guess. All of her sons looked strong and virile, but King Zak decided he was glad Serena had chosen Kadar, even by accident. He was strong and determined, and he would need that to deal with Serena. She was very much like her stepbrother, Sharif.

That thought made King Zak flip the photo back over to stare more closely at Rose’s sons. He pulled a photo from his desk of Sharif and Serena and himself, putting the two close together so he could inspect them.

If he didn’t know better, he would think that Sha
rif had Rose’s classic bone structure. His imagination could be working overtime, but possibly Sharif’s stance even mimicked that of the other princes. The eyes were similar, fierce with pride.

His mouth dropped open. It simply could not be.

He remembered the baby that had been brought to him and Nadirah for adoption. His wife had said the child was the son of parents who had died. It was the year Ibrahim had been killed in an assassination attempt done right, although no one had ever learned who was behind the deed. Rose had disappeared with her children. Zak had become busy over the next nine months, as he learned how to keep peace with the new king, Azzam. Too preoccupied to question his wife’s wish to finally have a child of her own, he had granted her wish to keep the orphaned infant. He wanted someone around him to be happy, and he’d been relieved to provide her with a child, since he could not.