The man’s chubby, sweet face broke into an ecstatic grin. “We are prepared to serve you a seven-course meal!”

And then, before we could protest, he was gone, while a waiter was ushering us to a private table at the back. There, we were served fresh pineapple juice and assured that our first course was on its way. Lacie’s radiant smile looked as happy as I felt.

After she drank a glass of juice, she eyed me curiously. “Is there anything else I should know about my wedding?”

“It will be a huge, pompous affair and we’ll have to suffer the company of the members of the supreme council.” I leaned in. “Although, word on the street is that the groom is extremely, overwhelmingly handsome.”

She gave me a half-smile. “Oh, really?”

I nodded solemnly. “Yes. They say women across the country have been known to faint at the sight of him, so husbands have to keep their wives locked up for their own safety.”

At this, she laughed outright, before raising a challenging brow.

“I’ve heard that the bride is the funniest, most wonderful woman for miles around. And…” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “The last virgin in New York City.”

I assumed a shocked horrified expression. “No.”

Our laughter started just as the first course was set down. The soup was so good that we finished it in a matter of moments with loud, eager slurps. As soon as we were both done, Lacie shot me a cautious look.

“And you will let me visit my parents, and my parents can visit here, right?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

She shrugged awkwardly, looking away. “Oh, I don’t know.”

“Lacie, where did you get that idea?”

Biting her lip, she looked back up at me shyly. “Idris. He seemed to think that your family was conniving and untrustworthy and—”

“You believed him?”

She pulled her hand away from mine and shot me a defiant glare. “Do you think I would’ve gone with you, come here, if I had?”

My fingers entwined with hers once more, and I lifted her chin so that she had to look at me as she answered.

“Then why even ask?”

Even face to face with me, she still managed to avoid my gaze. “I don’t know, I… My parents really mean a lot to me, Rashid.”

“As do mine. So?”

“Well, they don’t approve of this, of us. My mom, especially. She thinks I’m making a mistake.”

I released her chin, and absently toyed with the flowers on the table, twirling the small vase around. “And what do you think?”

“I think I don’t know yet.”

My hand froze, and my heart fell, but she wasn’t finished yet.

“All I know is that this—when I’m with you—it feels right.”

“Lacie,” I breathed, just as the second course was being set down. It was delicious—clams, a whole little pyramid of them—but I just felt like shooing away the gangly sapling of a waiter so he would stop distracting me from the only thing I had eyes for, for the girl I could hardly stop myself from kissing right then and there. Lacie.

We ate the clam pyramid with relish, forking out the delicious morsels one after another, feeding each other every so often. Once we were done, she set her fork carefully down.

“He offered me money, you know.”

“What?”

“And that’s not all. Idris told me you lied about how much you’d give me, that he could give me twice as much and all I had to do was go away and stay away.”

At my flabbergasted stare, she gave a flustered frown.

“I didn’t accept, of course.”

“He was telling the truth, you know. He would have paid you handsomely to leave and never come back.”

She nodded. “I know. It’s just…” She picked up the fork, then set it down.

“It’s not just you who never thought you’d feel this way, Rashid.”

And then, of course, the waiter, destroyer of perfect moments, decided to set down two small plates of tangerine and kale salad. We ate in a smiling silence, catching each other looking every few bites.

When she stuck her tongue out at me, I snapped my mouth onto half the slice of tangerine on her fork. She bit down on the other side. There, eyes locked, I nibbled closer, as did she. Then, our lips were locked and she tasted like tangerine and something sweeter than words. When we broke away, I was practically panting.

And so, I leaned in for another kiss, and along came the waiter.

“Are you enjoying your food?”

I turned to glare at him, then I saw the look on his face. His adoring gaze was on Lacie, his smile matched with her sweetly upturned lips. I sighed. No, I couldn’t fault the man for being drawn to this beautiful woman as much as I was.

“Yes, thank you. We’re ready for the fourth course when the kitchen is,” Lacie said.

At her answer, the man lingered for a moment before leaving. Catching my look, Lacie eyed me quizzically.

“What?”

“You really have no idea, do you?”

Now, her expression grew even more confused.

“No idea…?”

“Just how beautiful you are.”

She groaned and her face turned pink. “Rashid. Cut it out.”

I shook my head.

“No, I won’t cut it out. Because it’s the truth. When I’m around you, Lacie, I can’t concentrate on anything else. I can’t take my eyes off you, with your mischievous little half-smile, your embarrassed blush, the way you flutter your lashes when you’re flustered or excited.”

Her poor face was so red that I took her hand and kissed it. She did the same to mine, and then the fourth course was put down. This was glistening duck coated in a minted yogurt sauce.

Lacie was halfway through her piece when I asked her.

“What else did he say to you, do to you?”

She swallowed and lowered her gaze. My heart tightened in my chest. Idris hadn’t meant what he’d said, had he? It didn’t matter for my feelings for Lacie, but if he had actually dared lay a hand on her…

“I’ll tell you later. Let’s just enjoy this, now.”

Under the table, her foot found mine and gave it a reassuring rub.

“Although, he did say that your family was evil and had stolen the crown from his.”

I made a skeptical "pfft" sound, then rolled my eyes. “Trust Idris to twist the truth so completely that he’s got the roles completely reversed.”

I put my free hand on top of Lacie’s, squeezing it and directing my gaze to hers so she could see that I was telling the truth.

“Idris is right that my father did seize power from his, though he’s wrong about pretty much everything else. It was Idris’s family, the Antars, that were the hated rulers of my country. They were vicious and hateful, trying to seize every country we shared a border with, executing anyone who dared oppose them. They even tried to execute my father.

“But he was too strong and had too much support. He and a group of determined rebels managed to seize power from Idris’s father, with the help of a large group of citizens. Everyone hated the Antar ruler and was glad to see him gone. My father let the Antars stay because it was the pragmatic thing to do; any attempt to get rid of them by force would have led to considerable bloodshed.

“As the years passed, Idris’s father gave up trying to take back power by force, and moved on to a different tactic—politics. And it’s worked. Several members of the council are indebted to him and under his influence; that’s what’s caused this last-minute virgin-bride stipulation. They hope this will be the technicality that will prevent me from being leader so that the Antars—through Idris—can take back power.”

I sighed.

“And they just might do it. It’s been a while since the revolution, now. Many of those who lived through his father’s terrible reign are old or dead. The people are behind my family, there’s no doubt about that, but they’re not so against the Antars that they would openly oppose Idris if he took power and rose to the throne.”

She grabbed my hand and squeezed it, then.

“Don’t worry, Rashid. We won’t let that happen.” I caught her look, that fierce look that almost didn’t fit her adorably innocent face, as she squeezed my hand again. “The Antars are going to have one badass wedding to go to—ours.”

At this, I got up, sat beside her, and embraced her. “Lacie. Thank you.”

She snuggled herself into me. “No, thank you. For saving me, for today, for seeing the potential in me in the first place. For these past few days.”

The rest of the courses flowed as easily as our conversation. After a delicious salmon dish—which we laughed about, remembering our banter in the Italian restaurant on our first date—Lacie nearly squealed her delight at the two dessert courses. After I fed her spoonfuls of cake and pudding, ensuring to get whipped cream on her nose just so I had the excuse to kiss it off, we were out of there.

Back on the road, Lacie peered out of the window and gasped.

“The stars!”

Again, I found myself pulling the car over. “Think that’s something? Check this out.”

And, before she could protest, I was at her car door, not helping her out, but lifting her out.

“Rashid…what are you doing?”

Her voice was laughing in protest, but I wasn’t putting her down, not yet.

“Wait and see.”

I walked out into the desert until we had reached a tall dune of soft sand. With my free hand, I spread out the red blanket I’d grabbed from the car, and then laid her down on it.

I got down beside her, took her in my arms, and whispered, “Look.”

Though really, there had been no need. Her gaze was already fastened on the vista of stars overhead. I followed her zigzagging gaze, dancing on the cosmic spectacle.

“The more you look, the more you see.”

At my words, she snuggled into me.

“It’s like us,” she murmured.

I craned my neck to look down at her, but her gaze was still locked on the heavens above, her gaze full of happiness.

“The more I know about you, the more there is to know, and the more I like,” she continued.

She looked so wistful there, I couldn’t say it, and yet I couldn’t not. I had to know.

“Lacie… Idris, he didn’t hurt you, did he? All he did was…”

“He didn’t.” Her mouth set into a determined line. “He threatened to if I didn’t leave, but he gave me a day to decide.”

“And once the day was up?”

She sat up and turned to face me. “I would have left and told you, sent word somehow. I wouldn’t have let him win, not like that.”

And, once again, that beautiful, intense flashing of her eyes, and I couldn’t hold it in another second. I pressed my lips to hers. They moved together as easily as if we’d been doing this for years. Every movement of hers was matched easily with mine.

Her lips, over my top then bottom lip. Her tongue, responding to mine, dancing with it, playing with it. Her hands, letting mine explore where they would, sliding over my face, through my hair, over my shoulders. Her sides were soft and her skin even softer, so soft I felt I could never stop feeling her, that I could spend all night, us locked together like this.

Feeling the urge to give in to my passion for her, I jerked away. My back to her, I sucked in deep breaths and willed myself not to move, not yet.

“I’m sorry.”

Her response came back reassuring, breathless, too. “It’s okay.”

“I just…got carried away.” I craned my neck so I could look at her—my sweet-tasting, amazing beauty. “I care about you so much, and I am so attracted to you, I…”

Now, she was the one putting a finger to my lips. “Shh…”

She laid back down and patted the space beside her. I wrapped my arm around her and allowed myself nothing more. At first, it took every particle of my determination not to return my lips to hers, to rip my gaze away from her beautiful face, those blue, shining eyes, that soft smile.

But, when I did, when I allowed my gaze to settle on the night above us, it was spectacular. It was like before and yet it wasn’t; it was even better. The sky was alive with stars, more than I’d ever seen in my life. It was as the heavens themselves were celebrating with us, as if this was the universe’s wedding gift for us.

And, as I held her closer, my Lacie, it occurred to me that I was truly, blissfully, overwhelmingly happy, for the first time in my life.