Epilogue
A couple of months later
Aspen
The house was amazing. But did they really need eight bedrooms? And nine bathrooms. Rachel raised her eyebrows as Matthew continued to rattle off the home’s main features.
“Being central to the main shopping and entertainment area of Aspen means we won’t have to worry about driving or getting a cab when we go out. And with the weather now warm we will be able to use the BBQ and outdoor entertainment area which leads off the main living area.”
She squeezed his hand. “You could go into the realtor business if you ever decide that hotel and resort design is not for you. I’d buy this place based purely on your pitch, sight unseen.”
“When you can find a spare forty‐eight million dollars, give me a call.”
Whoa.
They weren’t buying the house, they were going to rent it, but at that price the monthly lease had to be … Rachel didn’t want to imagine. Fortunately Royal Resorts were footing the bill for her and Matthew to live in Aspen during the major construction phase of the new resort. It would keep them in the city for the better part of the next year and a half.
Outside in the driveway were a matching pair of his and hers hybrid SUVs. They’d been a thank you gift from the Royal Resorts board for securing approval of the design, and the sale of the lodge site. Not wanting there to be any thoughts of conflict of interest, Rachel had waited until after she’d ended her contract with the Brock family to collect hers.
A year and a half in this luxury Aspen house, along with having her own car at her disposal, was a sweet deal.
“Are you okay?” asked Matthew.
“Yep. I’m just glad we don’t have to live out at the old ski lodge anymore. I’m really not a wilderness girl.”
He brushed a kiss on her cheek. “Being in the town will be great. And yay for the Manhattan Escapee zucchini muffins. I was getting worried there for a moment. Thought I might have to call mom and dad’s chef and ask for a recipe.”
Matthew was a better cook than she’d ever be, but he still liked to pretend he was hopeless in the kitchen. The past few weeks at his apartment in New York had shown her what he particularly enjoyed doing when she came to help him in the kitchen. A shameful number of frying pans had been burnt, along with them receiving several notices from the building management about not setting off the fire alarms.
What can I say, he’s a man who likes to take his time when he has me bent over the counter top.
The newly completed house on West Hopkins Avenue, with its fully kitted out chef’s kitchen, was chef’s kiss perfect.
I might have to learn to make more than just toast and a quick pasta .
“Vivian says she wants to cook when she and Bryce come out to visit. And Chloe and Jordan are planning on hiding away here for a few weeks during a break in Chloe’s next tour. And Camille …”
Rachel released her hand from Matthew’s and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Now I understand why we need eight bedrooms. It’s for all the members of the Royal family who are planning on coming out here to stay.”
The outdoor entertaining area had a huge rock fireplace, and the nearby snowcapped hills were so close you could almost reach out and touch them.
“And your mom. She’ll want a place when she comes to visit her new grandbaby. This house will give Kellie and Dan some space when she does.”
The expectant parents had shared the good news a week earlier, and Rachel had become a blubbering mess of excited aunt-to-be. She smiled, imagining Dan taking his little one up in the helicopter and showing them the world.
“What else is in your grand plans, Mister Royal? I mean once construction gets underway here, I’ll have a flurry of work, but there will times when I’m just sitting around twiddling my thumbs.”
He had other work with the family company, but her current role was confined to the Aspen project. Matthew stepped away and, reaching into his jeans pocket, pulled out a small silver colored business card. He handed it to her.
Designed from the Heart, a Royal Resorts Company.
“What’s this?” asked Rachel.
He pointed at the card. “That is the company I’m getting the Royal Resorts lawyers to incorporate.”
Designed from the Heart. He was creating a separate design company under the main corporation. The name was just right.
“This whole experience has made me realize that I’d lost sight of my passion for design. That was until I met you. You, Rachel, you get me. You understand what it feels like to create things that matter. That’s why I want us to work together on future design projects. Not just this one.”
Things were really coming together. Her personal life and her career were heading in a wonderful new direction.
But still there was a niggle of doubt in Rachel’s mind.
How are we going to cope as a couple if Matthew is my boss on a permanent basis?
If it came to it, she’d choose him over the Royal Resorts job. It would break her heart, but she’d do it.
“Matt, how do you think we’ll go working together? I mean sleeping with the boss could get tricky.”
Vivian and Bryce appeared to manage their relationship successfully, but they didn’t work together on a day-to-day basis.
“But I wouldn’t be your boss. You’d be my equal.”
Rachel sensed he was holding something back.
“You and I would be listed as directors of the new company. But a small detail is holding up the paperwork for the registration. I was wondering if you could help me fix it.”
With her heart beating hard in her chest, Rachel glanced at the card in her hands. Designed by Royal Resorts. Royal.
“And what could that small detail possibly be?” Her fingers crimped the edges of the card.
“I’m not sure what names should go on the paperwork.” A gentle smile lit up his face.
“Rachel, do you think you could spend the rest of your life with a man who doesn’t always get it right? One who occasionally needs a kick up the backside. But who loves you, and will spoil you as much as he can? ”
“You don’t need to spoil me.”
“Yes, I do. I need to spoil my wife more than Bryce or Jordan will do with theirs. It’s a guy thing. Trust me.” From out of his other jean pocket, Matthew produced a small red box. “Of course I will have to get the girl to say yes first.”
She was fast losing it, the card creased in her hand. As Matthew went down on one knee, Rachel resorted to sucking in great gulps of air. This is really happening.
“I love you, Rachel. You are the complete partner for me in everything. Will you make me the happiest man in the world, and agree to be my wife?”
Her first ‘yes’ was a husky squeak, before she finally managed, “Yes.”
He got to his feet. Inside the little red box was an antique sapphire and diamond ring, which he slid onto her finger. They sealed their promise with a long deep kiss.
“Rachel Royal. Wow. I really like the sound of that, though Matthew and Rachel Royal sounds even better,” she gushed.
She glanced at her engagement ring. It fit perfectly. “Did you sneakily measure my finger while I was asleep one night?”
He gave a playful gasp of outrage. “Noooo. That would be beyond creepy. Though I might just have taken one of your rings one morning while you were in the shower and scanned it into the AutoCAD.”
“Oh my god, that’s inspired and totally insane. But that’s what a girl gets for agreeing to marry an architect.”
She’d come to Aspen, Colorado, to start her life over. On that very first day at the airport, she’d met her handsome hero. He’d saved her. Now she couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with him.
“I love you, Matthew. Together you and I are going to design so many wonderful things from the heart.”
ALL THE DRAMA FROM NEW YORK
She’s a rising star in the world of fashion.
He’s the guy who got dumped live on national TV.
Their meet cute rom com is going to take New York Fashion Week by storm.
Four years ago Camille Royal packed her bags and fled her family’s home in Paris. She has worked hard in New York City and is now considered a hot new talent. The one thing she needs to seal her arrival in the cutthroat world of high fashion is a coveted spot at New York Fashion Week.
But her bright future is thrown into jeopardy when her PA suddenly quits, leaving Camille having to organize a full fashion show on her own.
Ryan Collins was once the hot favorite to win the romance reality show Bachelor on the Beach , but the second the bachelorette chose the other guy, Ryan became yesterday’s news.
When Ryan and Camille accidently collide on a busy Manhattan street, piles of fabric samples tumble to the sidewalk. After hurried apologies, Camille decides to take a chance on the handsome stranger.
Some teasing banter and more than a few stolen glances, soon has their work relationship evolving into something else. Days spent creating a stunning fashion collection are followed by nights tangled up in one another’s arms.
After a major newspaper runs a cruel story about the runaway daughter of a French billionaire and her so-called toy boy lover Camille and Ryan find themselves at the center of a social media frenzy.
But if there is one thing these two share it’s a determination to rise above the drama and write their own happily ever after.
All the Drama from New York is a fun, and steamy rom com set in the world of New York fashion.
All the Drama from New York is a standalone book in the interconnected Royal Fashion romantic comedy series.