Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97633 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97633 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“Are you just going to stare, or are you going to ride with me?”
My head whipped back to Gale, but he was already out and coming around to open my door.
“So, you are using magical prince powers?” I giggled, taking his hand as I came out of the car.
“Something like that.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it before winking.
“I haven’t gone horseback riding in years,” I said gleefully as we approached the horses and Iskandar. For the first time, he looked genuinely relaxed. “My father got me a horse just like this once. I named him Maple because of a white birthmark he had on his forehead that looked like a maple leaf.” It brought back so many memories I couldn’t help but smile as I stood alongside the horse.
“Father got me a horse as well, but I named him Ass,” Gale said, placing the helmet on my head carefully.
“Ass?” I asked as I adjusted my ponytail to make sure it fit.
He grinned and nodded. “I did it solely so I could yell to the stable hand, ‘Please bring me Ass,’ Or tell my mother, ‘I’m going to ride Ass today.’”
I laughed. “Oh, why do I have feeling your father was not happy about that?”
His blue-green eyes gleamed mischievously. “That was the point.”
“So, what you are telling me is that you’ve always been a handful?” I shook my head, grabbing onto the saddle to help myself up.
“Exactly,” he replied, his hand on my hips as he helped me onto the horse though I didn’t need it.
“And handsy,” I muttered.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” I lied, taking hold of the reins. “Where are we riding to?”
“It’s your birthday. Wherever you want.” He got onto the other horse beside me.
“Fine, try to keep up, Your Highness.” I winked before kicking off. The feel of the wind on my face, the blur of green as I sped past, and the sound of the hummingbirds above us was like a symphony all made to feel too magical to be real.
“You have to do better than that, Cinderella!” he yelled as he raced in front of me.
Ugh, that nickname. Ugh, him. Ugh, me for grinning so damn much.
“I win!” She smiled so wide you would have thought she had won the Royal Ascot. It was funny how one moment she looked breathtakingly sinful and the next unbelievably innocent.
I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off her ever since she overtook me. Each time she laughed or smiled or giggled, my heart swelled a bit more with pride. I hadn’t slept. The moment I had remembered it was her birthday, I had run out of the room like a madman and forced Iskandar, Wolfgang, and her mother up just to plan something, which was completely limited by the fact that I wasn’t allowed to be seen anywhere. We’d all but been trapped inside for most of my time here, and although I did enjoy those moments, I also wanted to do something—something more than a restaurant. Something more than any other guy would normally do for her. I wanted her day to be amazing.
“Gale?”
“Hmm...I mean, yes?”
“You’re staring,” she said as she and the horse now walked side by side with me and mine.
“You’re worthy of staring at.”
“Oh, the lines are back.”
Normally, they were lines, but with Odette, they were feeling more and more like reality. I wanted to know more about her, everything about her—everything.
“What happened to your horse Maple?”
“I sold him.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I was immature? My dad grew busy with work, and I got upset at never seeing him or Maple because I only ever went with my dad. So, I called my dad and told him I was going to sell Maple. What I really meant was, ‘Dad, you aren’t spending time with me, and I’m upset.’”
“You wanted him to tell you not to sell him.”
She nodded. “He said to make sure I got a good price for him.”
“Ouch.”
“And I did, still thinking he’d regret it or call to change his mind. I was waiting for that point in the movies where there is an epiphany, and they fix the issue.”
“And it never came.”
“Nope.” She exhaled slowly and smiled a little. “What happened to Ass?”
I chuckled. “I went riding one day, and there was an accident. Both he and I fell and broke our leg.”
She gasped.
“Is that intake for me or Ass?”
“Ass! I know you made it out all right.”
“Excuse you. I was very seriously injured. The doctors were called, my mother wept...it was a lot.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, poor little prince. The horse, Gale?”
I pouted, but it did not last as I answered, “Ass made a full recovery and now lives peacefully in a horse sanctuary, being hand-fed apples and oats by people like you.”
“At least he got a happy ending and is no longer being used by a prince to anger his parents,” she said.