Chapter 49
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Rachel slowly pushed the door of the bathroom open. As she stepped into the room, her gaze landed on the back of the woman who was standing to one side of the mirror, fixing her long dark hair.
“Hi, I’m Rachel, Matthew’s date for your wedding.”
Well done, Rach, you got a whole sentence out, and didn’t throw up.
The bride turned and gave Rachel a heart stopping smile. “Rachel, finally. I’m so excited to meet you. Matthew is a lucky man.”
Rachel simply nodded. At some point her heart would start beating again.
Chloe is the bride.
Chloe Fisher, the world-famous popstar.
“Um.”
Nope, she had no words. What did she say to the singer whose music meant everything to her? The one whose song lyrics she could recite without pause. Who she’d seen in concert over a dozen times. The emblem for Chloe’s Garden was tattooed on Rachel’s ankle .
That Chloe Fisher.
Chloe moved forward. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Um. Wow. You’re Chloe,” stammered Rachel. “Oh god, how embarrassing. When they made us sign NDAs, I kinda figured you must be the bride. But no one has actually told me.”
The bride’s eyes immediately narrowed. “What? Matthew didn’t tell you who his brother was marrying?”
“No. He just said it was a family wedding. Of course by the time we arrived I’d put two and two together and …” She waved her hands in the air. “I’ve just been hoping that when I did meet you, I wouldn’t go all to pieces.” Her hands did their silly air dance again. “Because you’re Chloe Fisher.”
To Rachel’s relief, Chloe’s expression changed in an instant. She giggled. “I might have thirteen Grammys to my name, but I promise I am a very ordinary woman.”
“Fourteen. You’ve won fourteen Grammys.”
She may as well get this over and done with, then hopefully be allowed to slink off into some dark corner where she could quietly die of embarrassment. Turning her leg, Rachel displayed the Chloe’s Garden tattoo she had inked on her skin.
“This moment is a horrible mix of all my dreams coming true and embarrassing as all heck.”
Chloe took hold of Rachel’s trembling hands. “You should have seen me the day I first met my singing idol—I was a blubbering mess. We were backstage at a gala concert, and after I had gushed all over them, I had to go on stage to perform. I swear I hyperventilated my way through the entire first song.”
Rachel was doing her best to control her breathing.
“I can’t believe Matt didn’t tell you whose wedding this was, especially after you’d signed the non-disclosure agreement. ”
“We kinda got busy with other things once we got to our room.”
“Trust me, the Royal men are all the same. Not that we Royal women would ever complain.” A sly grin appeared on the bride’s lips. “But I still think my soon-to-be-brother-in-law deserves some serious payback for not telling you. What do you say Rachel, are you up for some fun?”
If Chloe had asked her to tightrope walk over an active volcano, Rachel would have agreed. So, punishing Matthew for his transgression, would be a piece of cake.
“I say, let’s go for it.”
His girlfriend and the bride were taking their sweet time. How long did it take to touch up a spot of lipstick? Matthew was about to get up from the table and go check on Rachel when he received a firm tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see a clearly enraged Chloe glaring down at him.
“I’ve just met your girlfriend and she is an utter nutjob of a Chloe fan. She screamed when we met, then gushed all over me. There were tears and snot. It was so embarrassing.”
Oh god. I forgot to tell Rachel about Chloe. She is a huge fan.
He checked past Chloe, but there was no sign of his date. Once she’d cleaned herself up and regained her sanity—Rachel was going to kill him.
“I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I completely forgot to mention you after the NDAs. Where is Rachel now?”
Chloe put her hands on her hips and huffed. “When I left her, she was throwing up in the bathroom.”
Matthew, panic rising, hurriedly rose from his chair. “I’ll go talk to her.”
Damn. I should have told her. This is all my fault.
He’d made it most of the way to the bathroom when Rachel appeared in the doorway. She walked past him, heading straight for the table. And Chloe.
Oh no.
“Rach. Stop.”
When she reached Chloe, Rachel held out her arms, ready to embrace the bride. This was going from bad to worse.
He staggered toward them, unsure of what to do. Did he haul Rachel off the bride, or let her smother Chloe in more snotty fan drool?
But instead of Chloe moving away, she slipped her arm around Rachel’s waist, and they turned to face him. Both the bride and his date were grinning.
“That will teach you to let your poor girlfriend meet a famous person without giving her fair warning, Matthew Royal!” exclaimed Chloe.
Jordan, Bryce, and Vivian all burst out laughing. Rachel and Chloe gave each other a quick high five. Matthew was left to hang his head in relieved shame. “Okay, you got me. I deserved that.”
“Yes, you did. I’d already guessed who the bride was before we left New York, but you should have told me,” replied Rachel.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell her,” grumbled Jordan.
Rachel was still shaking her head as she took her seat next to Matthew. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “You can punish me later.”
“No, you can apologize to me later. And I expect a full apology.”
She was mad at him, but not furious. Phew. And if Rachel wanted a full Matthew apology later, he would be more than happy to give her one. He was particularly gifted at naked apologies.