Caught up in the sins and glamour of high society life, Astoria became the girl no one could trust.
In order to return to grace, she must do the unthinkable: find a husband before the end of the year... before her mother chooses for her. With only...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Just a few more, Mrs. Woods," Andre said as George hovered over his shoulder, inspecting the proofs. Nathaniel and I had decided to spend our honeymoon in the Hamptons, where George had decided we'd take photos for the cover of Vogue Paris. We stood in the sunroom of his beach house, longingly staring out at the water.
Today is day three of being married, the first day of our honeymoon, and we were spending it cooped up inside. "Astoria, put your hand on Nathaniel's chest," Margaret cooed. I watched as Nathaniel rolled his eyes. Did I forget to mention the entire family decided to come as well? Daphne and Lena hovered somewhere behind the scenes causing mischief.
"The lighting is superb," Andre commented as he snapped a few more images. "Astoria and Nathaniel, let's go outside for a few pictures on the bench in the garden, shall we?" He asked, sending our parents pointed looks as Nathaniel scooped up the train of my dress, following Andre into the garden. "Nathaniel, you sit first," Andre instructed, pointing to the end of the bench. "Rest your arm on the arm of the bench..." Andre said, the wheels turning in his mind as he put the pieces of the picture together in his mind. He nodded, pleased with Nathaniel's position. "Astoria, take a seat beside him, but swing your legs up on the bench and lean back against Nathaniel like so," he said, leaning back in the air with a sultry look, making me laugh as I swung my legs up on the bench, laying my head on Nathaniel's lap.
Nathaniel bent down to kiss me, making Andre sigh. "You look so beautiful in that dress," he whispered as Andre cleared his throat, clearly irritated.
"Sit up Astoria," he chided with a smile. "Prop yourself up on your elbow on Nathaniel's right knee, and Nathaniel, let your hand lay on her arm." Nathaniel's fingers rested on the outside of my wrist, teasing the soft skin, making me shiver.
"It's cold out here," I complained with a grin, watching Andre's unamused face.
"Lift your left knee so that your dress cascades down towards the ground, don't let it drag on the pavers," Andre said, ignoring my last comment. I did as he instructed as he came to my side, flaring out the train of the dress. "Hook your free arm around Nathaniel's head," Andre said as he fixed the position of my leg, nodding approvingly. "Now look up at him, and pretend that you love each other," he said sarcastically, earning a low, reverberating chuckle from Nathaniel. "Lean in Nathaniel, almost as if you're going to kiss her..." Andre said trailing off as his camera took several stills. "Perfect!" He said, holding up his camera triumphantly. "Now-"
"I'm giving you ten more minutes until I'm kicking you and my family out, Andre, make them worth while," Nathaniel said with a pointed look. Andre came over and pulled me to my feet, forcing me to run to keep up with him as he stepped onto the beach.
"Shoes off," Andre said. I nodded, tossing them onto the pavers, picking up my dress as I followed him towards the chilled shoreline. The sand was frosted over, making my toes curl. "Don't do it," he said, sending me a sideways grin, knowing that I was going to complain momentarily.
