Maia's stomach was in knots as her boots crunched on the snowy path back to Mateo's house. Through all of their planning, not once had she thought about Mateo proposing to her or putting an actual ring on her finger. It might be a fake engagement, but everything was feeling a bit too real, like the fact that she had no idea what Mateo was going to do or what her sister was going to force him to do to make these photos look believable.
Maia smoothed a hand over her curls that were tied up in a high ponytail before she tugged out her phone to check that her edges were still laid like Demetri taught her. Taking a deep breath, she slipped her phone back in her pocket before she opened the door and a laugh sputtered from her lips at the trail of rose petals.
This was definitely Faye's doing. She had a knack for creating a scene with her soap opera dramas. Maia shook her head and followed the red and white petals through the kitchen and out the back door to the stone path that led to the rustic enclosed terrace where she and Mateo spent a few late nights and early mornings crafting scenes for her novel.
The drapes of the terrace were conveniently closed, blocking her view of the atmosphere Faye had created inside. Maia pushed the door open and her heart thumped at the fairy lights draped over the windows encasing the picturesque view of the snow of covered fields and mountains in the background. Her gaze followed the rose petals littered over the coffee table around a bottle of champagne and Mateo was standing by the small fireplace dressed in a pair of charcoal gray slacks and a cream turtle sweater with a smile tugging at his lips.
"Let me take your coat," Faye said, stepping out from behind the plush couch where her camera was set up on a tripod and tugging Maia's coat from her shoulders. "And you can just forget I'm here," she whispered.
"I'm not sure that's possible." Mateo chuckled, crossing the room. "She put x's on the floor where we need to stand," he said, taking Maia's hands aa he guided her to the two black x's on the slate floor centered in front of the mountainous view. "You look beautiful, by the way."
"Thank you," she said, laughing softly. "You look mighty handsome yourself."
Mateo grinned. "Thought I'd give you a glimpse of how I usually dress."
"I like it." She smiled. "We'll be a good compliment to each other."
"I'm glad you think so," he said, caressing the back of her hands. "I, um, I guess I should do this then."
"Yeah," she said, biting her lip as she glanced at Faye standing behind her tripod. "This is a bit awkward, isn't it?"
"Just a bit." He laughed. "This...isn't how I'd choose to propose to you."
"Well if it makes you feel better, I think this whole setup is cheesy."
"Hey! I did my best with what I had!" Faye scoffed. "You're lucky I even brought props."
"I know, I know and you're really good at setting a scene but, it's just...this doesn't feel natural to me."
Faye grinned. "That ring on your finger looks pretty natural to me."
"What?" Maia said, looking down at their hands and frowned at the gorgeous oval diamond ring set in a halo of tiny diamonds. "When did you–"
"Maia," Mateo said, bringing her hand to his lips before he bent down on one knee. "Will you marry me?"
A laugh left her lips as she nodded. "Yes."
"That was perfect!" Faye said, taking the camera off the tripod and beaming as she looked at the photos. "And that was a nice twist with the ring, Mateo. How'd you know she wasn't going to feel it?"
Maia raised an eyebrow. "You planned that?"
"Not really," he said, chuckling. "But I had a feeling this setup wasn't going to do it for you and when you didn't realize I put the ring on, I just went with it."
"Well it worked because you two look like the real deal," Faye said with a proud grin on her face. "Do you mind if I use your office again? I want to get a brief typed up and send these photos off to the marketing team. The agency's already being inundated with calls."
"Yeah that's fine." Mateo nodded. "Make yourself at home, Faye."
"Great. I'll email these to your press secretary I spoke to earlier, what's her name again?"
"Floris and I hope she was civil with you. She's usually pretty short with me."
Faye smirked. "With your background, I can imagine you make her job a bit difficult, but she was cool. I like her."
"Do you need me to help with anything?" Maia said. "I feel bad that you're handling all of this and you haven't slept since you got here."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm your agent. I didn't come out here for vacation and Mateo hooked up his office with a big pot of coffee and plenty of snacks for me," Faye said, patting Maia's shoulder. "But you and Mateo can help by creating some content for your socials to back up these pictures."
"Yeah, we can handle that," Maia said, taking Faye's hand. "But just like you worry about me eating, I worry about you working too much. You need to sleep at some point."
"I will, I promise. We'll go back to your place once I'm done handling the media, alright?"
Maia nodded. "Okay. I'm going to hold you to that."
"I know you will," she said, squeezing her hand. "Now get on with that content and make it look sickeningly cute."
"We'll try, but I'm with Maia, if you need to sleep, I've got plenty of rooms for you to crash in."
"Thank you and I promise I will if I need to," Faye said as she grabbed her coat from the chair by the door. "But right now I need to take care of this."
Maia sighed as Faye closed the door of the terrace behind her. "She's not going to sleep at all."
"Sounds like someone I know. You two are as bad as each other," Mateo said, threading his fingers through hers. "I like Faye, she's a good sister and a hell of an agent."
"Yeah, she is," Maia said as they crossed the room and sat on the couch. "And I think she likes you too which is surprising since we're in this crazy situation."
"Mm, yeah," he said, reaching for the wooden box of papers and weed under the coffee table. "We had a good talk about things when you left to get dressed. I think she appreciates my honesty."
Maia raised an eyebrow. "Your honesty, huh? I'm guessing you told her how you feel about me?"
"I didn't have to." He chuckled. "She already knew."
"Yep, that's my sister. She's good at seeing who people really are." Maia smiled, slipping her phone from her pocket and taking a picture of the ring on her finger. "I'm glad you two like each other. It makes all of this a lot easier."
"Good because I don't want this to be hard for you." Mateo slid his hand over hers. "I want you to enjoy this as much as you can."
A blush burned over her cheeks at the tenderness in his eyes. "I plan to," she said, biting her lip. "I've always wanted to know what it's like to date a royal."
A grin tugged at Mateo's lips. "Is that why most of your novels are about that?"
"Yes." She laughed, shaking her head. "I told you I get wrapped up in the romance I write and as silly and far fetched as it sounds, wanting a Prince of my own has always been my ultimate guilty pleasure."
"Well, I'm sorry it has to be me, but I'll try to make this experience good enough for you to write about," Mateo said, taking the phone from her hand. "Starting with these photos of us."
Maia's heart thumped as he placed her hand on his cheek and pressed her forehead against his. He had it all wrong. She was glad it was him. "Mateo..."
"Hm?" he said, angling the phone above them and snapping a picture.
She gazed into his warm brown eyes and her fingers trailed to his flush lips as her heart pounded with need to just tell him how she felt. "I...I should've been honest with you when you were brave enough to tell me how you felt."
Mateo frowned, pulling away from her. "What do you mean?"
"You promised not to hide anything from me and before all of this gets real, I need to honor that promise too." Maia took a deep breath. "I didn't sleep off the way I feel about you and I... I want more than your friendship too," she said, clasping her hands in her lap as she twisted the ring around her finger. "So, I don't think I can fake this relationship with you anymore either."
"Maia," Mateo said, hooking his finger under her chin and tilting her face to his. "Are you saying you want us to be together for real?"
"Yes..." she said, squeezing her hands in her lap. "I-I mean I don't know what to expect when we get to Oost den Burg or what your life is really like. I'm not sure I want to be engaged for real. Marriage isn't really something I've ever thought–"
The brush of Mateo's lips silenced her rambling and she moaned when he slipped his tongue in her mouth sending delightful tingles down her spine as she dragged her hands over his chest, curling her fingers around his sweater.
"We don't have to get married," Mateo murmured. "But I would love to be your boyfriend for as long as you'll have me."
She kissed him softly. "I'd like that."
"So would I," he said, kissing her forehead. "I know we're faking our engagement to the world, but I want you to know that we can take this as slow or as fast as you want."
A smile tugged at her lips. "I'm good at getting swept up in the moment, but I want this to be different with you. I want to take this slow. I want to go on dates and get to know who you really are, Prince Hendrik."
The joy that swirled in Mateo's eyes made her heart flutter. "I want this to be different with you too and I'll do my best to make sure we have plenty of time to be together the way we want to," he said, pressing his forehead against hers. "And now that our feelings are out in the open, let's promise to always be honest with each other."
"Okay," Maia said, biting her lip. "Then I have to tell you that I'm really nervous about being your fiancé and not being the person your people expect you to be with."
"You've got it all wrong, liefje," he said, caressing her cheek. "The people are going to wonder why someone as gorgeous, sweet and talented as you would want to be with a scoundrel like me."
"You're not a scoundrel to me, but maybe I want to see this scandalous side of you," she said with a devilish grin curling over her lips as she traced his bottom lip with her thumb. "Do I need to sign an NDA to see it?"
"No. You're not a casual fling," Mateo said as he slid his hand over her thigh and pulled her legs over his lap. "I'll be happy to show you that side of me," he whispered, pressing his lips against her ear and a tingle pooled between her thighs. "But we don't have to rush into that. I like that we're going to take this slow. That's new for me."
"Me too," she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Then again, I've never started a relationship by faking an engagement before."
"Neither have I." Mateo chuckled. "But with my history, this is actually a more sensible start."
Maia laughed. "And this is like the start of one of my romances."
"It is." Mateo grinned. "I hope this moment makes it into our story."
"Of course. Our engagement is going to be the inciting moment," she said, twirling her finger around the hair at the base of his neck. "My readers will wonder if our relationship can overcome your debaucherous past, my meddling ex and the pressures of your father forcing you to be king."
"Mm, sounds like a great plot," Mateo said, sliding his hand to her waist. "Do you think we can do it?"
"I don't know," she said, kissing his cheek. "But I want to find out."
"So do I," he said, sighing. "I don't know how demanding things are going to be for you, but promise me, you'll tell me if all of this gets too much."
"I promise as long as you promise to tell me if it's getting too much for you too," she said, caressing his cheek. "I know you don't want to go back to your life."
"I don't. Not like this, but I'm glad you'll be with me," he said, taking her hand and kissing her palm. "I'm looking forward to showing you around as my girlfriend."
"You mean your fiancée," Maia said, grinning as she leaned away from him to pick up her phone from the coffee table. "And I'm looking forward to showing you off as my Prince Charming."
"I like the way you say that," Mateo said, laughing as he pulled her close. "But the charming bit is debatable."
"You're charming to me, lekker ding," she said, holding her phone up. "So don't prove me wrong."
"I'm not perfect." Mateo pressed a kiss to the side of her head as she snapped a photo of them. "But I'll try my best for you."
A warmth spread through Maia at the sincerity in his voice and the weight of holding in how she felt lifted from her shoulders. She snuggled closer to Mateo while they finished taking a few more photos.
She wasn't naïve to think what they were doing was going to be easy, that she was stepping into a world she'd only ever written about and while she was nervous and a little scared, it felt...right to do this with Mateo.
She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Ik vind je leuk, lekker ding."
Mateo grinned, sliding his hand to her cheek. "En ike ben gek op jou, liefje," he said, catching her lips with his and she drowned in the sweet softness of his mouth, hoping she'd always feel this sensuous comfort in his embrace.
A/N: So....ngl the proposal was a bit weak, but fitting for their situation.....and while I was writing this I wasn't expecting Maia to confess how she felt to Mateo. I really thought she was going to drag this out and keep holding it in, but I'm glad she let it out and there's no secrets between them....And now I'm curious what's going to happen when our cinnamon buns get to the Oost Den Burg and the drama that may or may not unfold there...😈
Translation
Ik vind je leuk, lekker ding - I like you, delicious thing
En ike ben gek op jou, liefje - And, I'm crazy about you, little dear