happy to get you off my hands,’ her brother teased Jazz as he kissed her warmly on both cheeks.
‘No more wedding plans to make and break?’ she teased him back.
Sharif’s eyes were warm with amusement. ‘I knew this would happen before you did, but if I’d said anything...’
‘My stubbornness would have held things up even more,’ Jazz suggested wryly.
‘So long as you’re happy, Jasmina.’
‘You can see I am, Sharif.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘I can. And as my wedding gift to both of you,’ Sharif said in a louder voice so everyone could hear, ‘I am happy to announce that I am going to hand over control of home affairs in Kareshi to my sister, Jasmina, and to her husband, Tyr—my dear and trusted friend, who is like a brother to me. I do this because I know you will both put the interests of our people above your own, and I hope this edict will allow Jazz to continue with the work she has already started so successfully in Kareshi.’
‘Just hearing you call me Jazz is a great step forward.’ Laughing, Jazz threw herself into her brother’s arms and hugged him tight. ‘Thank you. Thank you, Sharif. There’s no limit to what we can achieve together.’
‘I think this might work, don’t you?’ Sharif turned his dark amused stare on Tyr.
‘I never had any doubt, Sharif.’
‘Oh, no. You don’t do that,’ Jazz exclaimed as she moved to stand between them. ‘I am never going to be invisible again.’
‘Invisible? Jazz?’ Eva exclaimed.
The two men exchanged a look over her head and laughed.
‘Not a chance,’ Tyr whispered as Sharif left them to join his wife, Britt. ‘You are the least invisible person I know.’
‘And now you’re distracting me,’ Jazz said, frowning as everyone left them to go inside the cabin for the feast the Skavanga sisters had insisted on preparing between them. ‘What was I complaining about?’
‘Not enough sex, I think,’ Tyr said, straight-faced.
Jazz could only be thankful that her brother had gone inside. There were a few things she definitely didn’t want to share with him.
‘And I’ve got something for you,’ Tyr whispered.
‘Later,’ Jazz warned.
‘No. Now,’ Tyr argued. Reaching inside the pocket of his impeccably tailored suit, he brought out a ring. It was studded with the flawless, flashing blue-white diamonds of Skavanga; he showed it to Jazz.
‘“For ever”,’ she said, having read the inscription on the inside of the band.
‘“And always”.’ As Tyr finished off the quotation he’d had inscribed inside the ring, he placed it next to the simple platinum wedding band on Jazz’s marriage finger. ‘This is for you, Jasmina—Jazz—the woman I’ve loved for ever, and will continue to love for ever. My friend, my lover, the woman who gave me back my life.’
* * * * *
MICHELLE CELMER is a bestselling author of more than thirty books. When she’s not writing, she likes to spend time with her husband, kids, grandchildren and a menagerie of animals.
Michelle loves to hear from readers. Visit her website, www.michellecelmer.com, like her on Facebook or write her at P.O. Box 300, Clawson, MI 48017, USA.
To mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, family and friends. Cherish your loved ones and keep them close. You never know what tomorrow will bring…
June
Though she had always considered her reserved nature one of her best qualities, there were times when Princess Anne Charlotte Amalia Alexander wished she could be more like her twin sister.
She sipped her champagne and watched from across the ballroom as Louisa approached one of the guests: a tall, dark and handsome gentleman who had been eyeing Louisa all evening. She smiled, said a few words, and he kissed her proffered hand.
It was so easy for her. Men were naturally drawn to her delicate beauty and enthralled by her childlike innocence.
But Anne? Men considered her cold and critical. It was no secret that people in society, men in particular, often referred to her as The Shrew. Usually she didn’t let that bother her. She liked to believe that they felt threatened by her strength and independence. However, that was little consolation on a night like this one. Everyone around her was dancing and drinking and socializing, while she stood by herself, alone in her principles. But with her father’s failing health, was it so hard to fathom that she just didn’t feel like celebrating?
A waiter carrying a tray of champagne passed by and she snagged a fresh glass. Her fourth for that night, which was precisely three more than she normally drank.
Her father, the king of Thomas Isle, who should at least be able to attend the charity event they were holding in his honor, was too weakened by heart disease to even make an appearance. Her mother refused to leave his side. It was up to Anne, Louisa and their brothers, Chris and Aaron, to act as hosts in the king’s absence.
Getting hammered probably wasn’t in her or the rest of the family’s best interest. But didn’t Anne always do as she was told? Wasn’t she always the rational, responsible twin?
Well, almost always.
She knocked back the champagne in two swallows, deposited her empty glass on another passing tray and grabbed a fresh one. She would drink this one slower, she promised herself, but already she could feel the alcohol warming her belly and she began to get a soft, fuzzy feeling in her head. It was…nice.
She downed glass number five in one long swallow.
“You’re looking lovely, Your Highness,” someone said from behind her.
She turned to the voice, surprised to find Samuel Baldwin, son of the prime minister of Thomas Isle, greeting her. Sam was the sort of man a women looked at and instantly went weak in the knees. At thirty he was more cute than handsome—at least she thought so—with naturally curly, dark blond hair that never seemed to behave and deep dimples in both cheeks when he smiled. He was several inches taller than her own five foot eight, with a lean, muscular build. She had spoken to him a time or two, but nothing more than a casual hello. The gossip mill pegged him as one of the island’s most eligible bachelors, and he had been groomed since birth to take over his father’s position.
He bowed in greeting, and as he did, a lock of that unruly hair fell across
