Noelle’s shop was sized to cater to exclusive clients. Generally the brides arrived with a single assistant or an entourage of no more than six. Today’s appointment was taxing the salon space. There were twenty opinionated family members and one browbeaten bride. The youngest daughter of a billionaire Greek shipping magnate, Daria was the last of her four sisters to marry, and they all had advice for their baby sister. Additional guidance was being provided by two grandmothers, the girl’s mother, soon-to- be mother-in-law and several current and future sisters-in-law.
In advance of this appointment, Noelle had provided a dozen sketches in three rounds of correspondence over a period of two months. The bride or—as was looking more likely—the bride’s family had chosen five of the twelve. Knowing she wasn’t the only designer the bride was looking at, Noelle had pulled out all the stops. The gowns were elegant, fantasy creations perfect for a twenty-year-old bride. She looked gorgeous in each and every one.
While her family squabbled over every look, Noelle could see her designs had not yet resonated with Daria. The bride’s bland expression grew more distant with each gown. She answered Noelle’s questions in an unhelpful monotone. Rather than worrying that a two hundred thousand euro commission was slipping through her fingers, Noelle pondered what would make the young woman happy.
Noelle stood beside the door in the large dressing room while her assistant designer and head of alterations worked together to free her dissatisfied client from the latest frothy wedding dress.
“I have one last dress for you to try,” Noelle stated, hoping the startled confusion on her assistant’s face hadn’t been noticed by the client.
“But I’ve already tried on the five gowns.”
“I decided to make up an additional dress from the sketches I sent you.” The gown was the first designed by Noelle based on a get-acquainted interview she’d had with the bride shortly after the engagement was announced. She’d been surprised that the design had been rejected during the first round and couldn’t get it out of her head that the style was perfect for Daria. “Are you interested in seeing it?”
“Of course.”
To Noelle’s delight, a flicker of curiosity sparkled in the girl’s dark doe-like eyes. “Wonderful. Calantha, could you please get Woodland Snow.” Since each wedding dress had a personality all its own, Noelle named all her gowns.
“That sounds so pretty.”
Noelle’s spirits lifted at Daria’s comment. It was the most animated the girl had been all day.
“I know it’s not one of the designs you initially chose,” Noelle said, taking over Calantha’s role and helping Daria step out of the rejected gown. Handing the dress to the head of alterations, she made a surreptitious shooing gesture. The woman understood. Noelle wanted the bride’s attention to be 100 percent on the new design. “But I think you’ll find that the dress is much more striking in person than on paper.”
The door opened, and Calantha entered with Woodland Snow. Daria’s breath caught as she glimpsed the gown and her brown eyes brightened. This was the reaction Noelle had been hoping for.
“It’s beautiful,” Daria murmured, reaching out to finger one of the organza flowers sewn onto the sheer white overlay. “I remember this dress. It was my favorite.”
Noelle bit the inside of her lip to keep from asking the girl why she hadn’t fought for the design. She already knew the answer. Reports stated her father was spending upward of eleven million euro on the wedding. Daria was marrying the son of a very wealthy Italian count, and the event promised to make a huge media splash. The wedding dress Daria wore would have to be over-the-top to start tongues wagging, and this gown’s beauty was in the details.
Working quickly, Noelle and Calantha slipped the gown over Daria’s head and settled it into place. The young bride stood with her back to the three-way mirror to allow for the perfect reveal. First impressions were the strongest, and Noelle wanted the young woman to fall in love all at once.
“Okay, you may turn around.”
Daria stared at her reflection. Tears filled her eyes. “It’s perfect.”
The gown was a single layer of white chiffon sewn with fluttering organza flowers and a scattering of pearls that mimicked clustered berries over a strapless nude liner. The simple boat neckline and capped sleeves drew the eye to Daria’s striking bone structure and beautiful brown eyes. The other dresses had overpowered her, emphasizing her youth and inexperience. But as Noelle watched her consider her appearance, Daria’s expression took on a look of proud determination.
“Do you want to show your family?”
Daria shook her head. “There is no reason. This is my wedding and I want this dress. They can see it on my wedding day.”
Noelle nodded. “I’ll send Yvonne in to see what alterations are needed. I’m thrilled we were able to find you the perfect wedding dress.”
She excused herself and headed into the room that held Daria’s family. With a smile that balanced diplomacy and firmness, Noelle announced that Daria had chosen a dress and was looking forward to surprising everyone with her choice on her wedding day. There was a mixture of surprise and annoyance on the women’s faces.
An hour later, the exhausting group was gone, and Noelle dropped into a chair in her now-empty salon. To her delight, the young heiress had paid for the dress herself, declaring that by doing so the only opinion that mattered was her own. Noelle’s staff joyously broke out the bottles of champagne reserved for occasions like these and joined their employer in celebrating.
Noelle was halfway through her third glass when the tinkle of a bell announced someone had entered the shop’s reception room. Waving her staff back to their seats, she went to speak to their visitor. Two-and-a-half glasses of champagne consumed over an hour and a half were not enough to make Noelle tipsy, but the sight of Christian’s imposing presence for the second time in one day made her head spin.
“Christian? What are you doing here?”
“I want you and Marc to join me at my vineyard this weekend.”
She frowned as her body reacted positively to his invitation. “That’s moving much too quick.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to spend months and months tiptoeing around. I want to marry you and be Marc’s father. He needs to know who I am and that you and I are serious about becoming a family.”
Thanks to her nerve-racking encounter with the queen and the Greek bride’s chaotic family, Noelle’s diplomatic skills were in short supply. “But what if I’m not serious?”
“Come to the vineyard this weekend and let’s talk.”
“Just talk?” She suspected Christian would love nothing more than to get her horizontal to plead his case. “I’m not the susceptible girl I once was. You won’t be able to seduce me into agreeing with you.”
“How about if I just seduce you for the fun of it.”
She was far more open to this suggestion but couldn’t let him know it. “You should concentrate on your son. He is the one you need to win over.”
“Are you saying if Marc comes around you’ll marry me?”
Noelle shook her head. “It’s just not that easy, Christian. I think you deserve a chance to be in your son’s life, but I’m not convinced that what’s best for him is to have his life turned upside down as the royal heir.”
“What if we’d gotten married before Marc was conceived? Would you still feel the same way?”
He hadn’t meant for his words to sting, but Noelle had once been very conscious that they came from vastly different worlds, and Christian was less than enthusiastic about inviting her into his.
“Since that was obviously never going to happen, the issue never crossed my mind.” Her voice was stiff. Muscles rigid.
Five years ago, being his secret plaything had bothered her more and more the longer they were together. Then the tabloids began publishing pictures of him with the beautiful daughter of a Dutch viscount and speculation gathered momentum that they were on the brink of an engagement. She’d convinced herself to break things off. Christian had disputed the rumors and made love to her with such passion that she forgot all about the outside world for a while longer.
