I don’t know where Freddie, Will and Dom got their bikes, but they were all gorgeous pieces of machinery. All black and chrome and not a hint of hot pink among them. It wasn't that I wanted one of them to ride a hot pink bike, it was just that I was used to seeing the flash of pink beside me as I rode.

We started after breakfast and took the long winding road up into the mountains. As we left the town of Calanais behind, I felt the tension loosen in my shoulders. I hadn’t slept well, not after seeing Jeanette with that tosser Lord Cameron and most definitely not after she friend-zoned me so thoroughly. I was still coming to terms with the knowledge that she was marrying that other guy. It just seemed too medieval to believe. She had assured me that she was doing it of her own free will, but I knew she didn’t even like the guy, so why was she going through with it?

The vibration of the bike beneath me, the cool wind whipping over me and the loud rumble of my bike was exactly what I needed. It was my safe space, the only place I seemed to be able to be completely honest with myself. I already knew that I had been falling for Jeanette, I’d known it from the moment I saw her standing at the edge of the dance floor at the wedding. The instant attraction I’d felt for her had been a heck of a lot deeper than just physical. I’d felt called to her, drawn to her by some invisible thread. I’d kissed her even though we’d only met mere minutes before, but it had felt so right at the time. The way she had smiled as she told me how much she loved Merveille, the glow that had suffused her face and the sparkle in her eyes all spoke to me and I couldn’t stop myself from kissing her. Unfortunately I had gotten a bruised jaw for my trouble and now it seemed it had happened again. I may not have been physically assaulted this time, but finding out that the woman of my dreams was going to marry someone else felt like a punch to the gut.

Jeanette was proving dangerous to my wellbeing. The woman had some thrall over me and I felt like a moth, helpless to resist the bright light even though I might get burned in the process. I was not a romantic man; that got beaten out of me when I was young and growing up in the wilds of the Queensland outback, but part of me was absolutely convinced that Jeanette was it for me. She was ‘the one.’

I had never really given much thought to getting married. It wasn’t something that I actively avoided, I just couldn’t see myself settling down and growing a family, not until I was much older, anyway. I wasn’t a player, but I had enjoyed the company of different women throughout my adulthood and none of them had ever inspired the ‘white picket fence’ dream that I was getting with Jeanette. Why couldn’t she feel it too? How could she be determined to marry someone else when we had such an instant connection?

It was truly baffling.

Freddie approached me on the right side and signalled that we should turn off at the upcoming exit. I nodded my assent and let him lead the way. There was a tiny little shack just off the main road and I was concerned that a strong gust of wind might make it topple over. Freddie came to a stop out the front and was removing his helmet by the time I joined him with the others.

“What is this place?” I asked, stowing my helmet in the pannier.

“I know the woman who runs it,” he said and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. If there was thing I’d learned about Freddie, it was that he seemed to know everyone.

The four of us trouped inside and a tiny woman with white hair who was as round as she was tall, greeted Freddie with a hug.

“All right, Bella?” he asked as he kissed her on both cheeks.

“Sit, sit,” she said, ushering them all in.

We sat around a large, family style table and I looked to Freddie for some guidance.

“Lunch?” the woman asked and they all nodded. I looked around for a menu.

“There’s no menus,” Freddie said, “Bella will feed us like she would feed her family. Whatever she felt like making this morning will be what we get.”

I shrugged and looked around the table. Dom didn’t seem to mind, but I wondered what the newly crowned prince and husband of the queen would think of being told that he had no choice in what he ate. I was surprised to see him grin at Bella and brush a kiss on her cheek too.

“Bella and I go way back,” Will said as the woman disappeared through a swinging door that I assumed led to the kitchen. “She was one of the first to buy my cheese when I started making it.”

Will had once been an impoverished duke who had clawed himself and his estate back by creating a new breed of cow and then using the milk they produced to make some of the best cheese I had ever tasted. It was easy to forget that he hadn’t always worn a crown. When he was working in his duties as the queen’s consort, he wore it like he had been born to it. But outside the palace, he was as down to earth as any farmer I had ever met, and I had met a few in my time, was even related to a few.

Bella bought us a pitcher of iced tea, a plate of homemade crusty bread with oil and salt for dipping, and a selection of cheese as an appertiser. We settled in and got comfortable talking about our bikes and the ride up here and how none of us seemed to have as much time as we would like in order to do more of it. Then Freddie spoke into the lull and my interest was piqued.

“Do any of you know anything about this Lord Cameron?”

“Lord Cameron?” Dom asked, his face a puzzled mask. The guy was a veritable phonebook of information when it came to all the royals in Merveille. “I don’t know of a Lord Cameron.”

“Lord Cameron Broadcloth, Viscount of Westhaven,” Freddie supplied and the crease in Dom’s forehead eased.

“English,” he said, nodding, “I have heard the name.”

“Nothing else?” I asked, sitting forward, eager to know anything I could about the man who was stealing the woman I intended to marry.

Dom shook his head slowly, “Not really, no. His family isn’t very well known. I think the father, the elder viscount, died a little while ago. I believe the viscountess is still living.”

“He’s got some business with Astonbury,” Will said.

“Martin?” Freddie asked, surprised.

“Martin and Joshua both, if what Jeanette told me is true,” I said. All eyes turned to me and I rolled my lips together as I decided how much to tell them. “I believe Jeanette is betrothed to him.”

“What on earth?” Freddie exclaimed. He shot a look at Will. “What is it with these ladies in waiting? It seems every time I turn around one of them is betrothed or promised or sold to someone their family thought was a good match.”

Will just shrugged, but shared a look with Dom. I knew a little of what had gone down with Priscilla and Dom, but not the details.

“What else has she said?” Dom asked, his voice a low growl.

“She assured me it’s her choice to go through with it and that she knows what she’s doing,” I said and then mumbled, “Although I find the man a complete waste of space.”

“He didn’t impress me much when Jeanette introduced him to me the other night,” Freddie said thoughtfully. “Do you know what business they have with him, or is Jeanette’s betrothal the ‘business’ they were talking about?”

I sighed roughly. “No, I think he is doing some dealings with Martin and Joshua, but Jeanette didn’t say what.”

“Do you think it might be something to do with their winery?” Will asked.

Freddie shrugged, “Maybe.”

“Have you tasted the wine?” Dom asked.

Both Will and Freddie shook their heads.

“It’s really good,” Dom said, enthused by the subject. “It would be good for Alyssa to taste it and maybe use it at some royal functions. I know she’s all about building up local industry and I think Astonbury Wines have real potential.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Will said, “Maybe we could stop by there on the way back and pick up a few bottles for tonight.”

“What’s tonight?” I asked.

“Well, the women are having a girls’ night,” Freddie said, “So it’s only fair we have a boys’ night and Will has an amazing man cave that he has generously offered the use of.”

Our conversation was interrupted when Bella returned with our meals. I grinned and relaxed as we ate lunch. These guys looked at Jeanette as a sister and I was sure they would thoroughly investigate Lord Cameron before Jeanette went ahead with the marriage. Hopefully they might even talk her out of it.

I didn’t know how long it had been since we’d had a girls’ pamper day, but if the way I was feeling was anything to go by, it had been far too long. I groaned as the masseuse dug her elbows into the sore spots under my shoulder blades and let my body go limp in absolute bliss. There had to be a way for us to schedule more regular days like this. Since Alyssa had come back to Merveille and all of us with her, it had been one thing after another. There was the coronation and all the events that led up to that and then there was the period of settling in as Alyssa learned her new role and then the wedding and next would be Alex’s wedding. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that I think we were all feeling the stress of it.

I let my mind wander as the masseuse worked her magic on my tight and aching muscles. My dinner with Lord Cameron had actually ended on a high note, although I hadn’t been convinced it would. After I’d spoken to Drew and had assured Lord Cameron that there was nothing going on between us, the arrogant façade that he usually wore softened somewhat. He was still arrogant - probably a permanent personality trait - but he actually acted a little more human and less of a nobleman stereotype. I was surprised to find that we had a similar interest in horses and that he had a large stable at his country estate.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I was aware of was being woken by the masseuse telling me I could get dressed. My head feeling foggy and my body being heavy with relaxation, I pulled my robe on and padded out to the sitting area where the other ladies were sitting, feet in mini spas and hands being tended to by a fleet of manicurists. I took my seat in the large, plush, massage chair and accepted the cool glass of water with a slice each of lemon, lime and cucumber in it.

“I decree,” Alyssa said, her voice languid, “That we do this every month.”

“And so it shall be done,” we all chorused, lifting our glasses in salute.

I smiled as I sipped my water and listened to the chatter going on around me.

“How go the wedding plans?” Priscilla asked Alex, who grimaced. Alex was Alyssa’s original PA until she became Freddie’s fiancée, and she had been fierce in her organisational skills. Priscilla wasn’t far off her, but Alex had had a military precision that I was sure she had taken with her into Freddie’s business and her wedding planning.

“Lady Caroline seems to find fault with everything I do,” she said, exasperation and frustration clear in her tone. “I’m sure the woman is trying to make me hand it all over to her.”

Alyssa hid her smile behind her hand. “You know Lady Caroline is the foremost expert on all things stylish,” she said. “Why not save yourself some headaches and give in?”

Alex growled and we all laughed. Alex giving up control was not something that she did lightly. Giving up control of her wedding would never happen, as Alyssa well knew.

“Did I see you and Jamie whispering together before you came in, Meredith?” Savannah asked.

Meredith’s eyes widened and she gulped a mouthful of her water before blushing furiously. “Why would you say that?” she asked.

Savannah shrugged, “It just seemed odd to see the two of you huddled up together. What’s the big secret?”

Meredith seemed to find her composure and smirked at Savannah. “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

“Oh ha ha,” Savannah said while the rest of us laughed.

“What about you Jeanette?” Priscilla asked. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in an age. Where’ve you been?”

“Does it have anything to do with Drew?” Alex asked with a crooked smile and mischief in her eyes.

“Who’s Drew?” Alyssa asked.

“Freddie’s new CFO,” Alex supplied. “Australian.”

“Ooh,” the girls all cooed and I felt my face flushing scarlet with their attention.

“I’m just giving him a refresher on horse riding. For the hunt,” I clarified before they could jump to any conclusions. I didn’t mention that he was also helping me with another sort of riding, namely that one that involved two wheels and a loud engine.

“Do we all have to ride in the hunt?” Margaret asked. The quiet one of the group, Margaret hardly ever spoke up unless she was addressed directly.

“Of course you do,” Alyssa said, not unkindly. “You do ride don’t you Margaret?”

She bit her lip and didn’t make eye contact with Alyssa, “Yes,” she said, but I could tell there was more to the story. I resolved to find her later and ask her. If she was frightened of riding in the hunt, maybe she could join Drew and me on our rides so that she would feel more comfortable. Maybe then I would feel more comfortable too. Being alone with Drew was something I was trying to avoid as much as I could, not because I didn’t want to see him, but because I did. I wanted to see him very much and I wanted to spend time alone with him, but if I did that then my resolve to marry Lord Cameron might just be shot to smithereens.

“So tell us more about Drew,” Alyssa piped up. “He’s not the guy that Joshua punched at the wedding is he?”

I rolled my eyes, “Yes, that’s the same guy. I can’t believe my brother behaved like such a Neanderthal. He was here interviewing with Freddie and then he came to the wedding with Brooks Barry, his former employer.”

Alyssa nodded, “I remember. He was cute.”

I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my face. I wouldn’t exactly call the tall drink of water that was Drew Taylor, cute.

“Look at that smile,” Priscilla said with a laugh. “Oh my goodness, you’re smitten with him!”

I rearranged my features and wiped the smile off my face which was not hard to do when I realised that Priscilla was right. I was smitten and he was totally the wrong guy for me.

“No,” I said, waving her comment away, “no, I’m not smitten. He’s a nice guy, but…” I shrugged.

“Is there someone else?” Alex asked, “That lord I saw you out to dinner with?”

“Hold up,” Alyssa said, raising her hands to get us all to stop talking. “What lord?”

“Lord Cameron Broadcloth, Viscount of Westhaven,” I said, “and yes, we are… seeing each other.”

I knew that if I told them we were betrothed then I wouldn’t hear the last of it. After what Priscilla went through only a few short months ago, she wouldn’t understand why I was preparing to marry a man I hardly knew and barely liked. But the situations were entirely different, something that she would be too freaked out to acknowledge. I knew what everyone thought of arranged marriages and maybe it wasn’t the best way to find a life partner, but I was willing to do it for my mother and for my family. Besides, Lord Cameron was nothing like Piérre, who had very nearly killed Priscilla due to his weird fixation on her.

“But what about Drew?” Alex asked.

I shrugged, “What about him? We’re friends, that’s all.”

“That is not the vibe I got,” Alex said.

“And why would Joshua punch him if you were ‘just friends?’” Alyssa asked.

“Because Joshua is Joshua,” I said, as if that explained everything. “He is the ‘punch now, ask questions later’ kind of guy.”

“Men,” Savannah said and with her French accent it sounded like the worst of insults.

“Okay, so… do you think there is something between you and this Lord Cameron?” Priscilla asked, searching my face.

It was hard to lie to her, but I couldn’t tell her the truth. “I think so, yes,” I said, giving her a smile. There was something between us - a marriage contract - but it wasn’t exactly what she meant.

Her forehead creased in a frown as she gazed at me and I felt like she was reading my mind. Then she smiled and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“As long as you’re happy,” she said, reaching out to take my hand in hers.

“I am,” I said, looking at each of the women gathered.

I was happy, just not in love. I know that they were looking at me thinking that I was headed in the direction of love and, if I was honest with myself I would have to agree. The problem was that I was falling for the wrong guy. I needed to be falling in love with Lord Cameron, but Drew had already stolen a piece of my heart and I didn’t think I would be getting it back anytime soon.