Page 54 of Redemption of a Prince

“Let’s go.”

“I’m setting a timer on my phone. Since it took you so much longer to search than you thought it would, I’m setting the timer for ninety minutes. There’s no prize for finishing first. It’s better to take longer and do it right.”

Zeke laughed. “Sounds good.”

“On your mark. Get set. Go!”

With another chuckle, he moved the drop cloth and stared at the canvas in front of him. He’d taken art lessons as a child and as a teen. Though he’d never been very good compared to an actual artist, he could hold his own for something like this.

He used a pencil to lightly sketch out what he was going to do. For almost an hour, he painted a night sky with three moons, countless stars, and a forest scene on the bottom, complete with campers in an old-fashioned tent.

If you looked closely, you could see a hint of a dragon in the trees. He hoped it looked like the dragon was watching over the campers and not stalking them.

He used his blow dryer one more time to make sure the paint was dry before taping the quote stencil over the top. Fortunately, his mother had used it at one point to make a piece of artwork for a community center or something.

With it in place, he used a moderately dry round sponge brush to fill in the letters rather than a wet one. It would be readable but not opaque.

Using the blow dryer again, he made sure it was dry before carefully removing the stencil. He used a fine brush to highlight some of the letters.

As Zeke sat back to give his project a once over, he heard the feet of Nikki’s stool squeak on the floor followed by a triumphant announcement.

“Done!”

15

Was this craft good enough for a Crown Prince, even if he wouldn’t eventually inherit the throne?

Nikki stared at it, uncertain, but it was too late now.

It would have to do.

“I’m done, too. Wrap it up, and we’ll find wrapping paper and stuff later.” Zeke’s voice came from the other side of the screen.

“Okay.”

She wrapped her finished product in some tissue paper. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Let’s go.”

“Don’t we need to clean up?” She looked at the remnants of her project.

“Uh, probably.”

“Probably?” Did he ever have to clean up after himself?

“I guess we never cleaned up, but we were always supervised by my mother and nannies or someone.”

The screen folded in on itself. Zeke’s grin sent flutters through Nikki’s stomach. “I do knowhowto clean up. I just didn’t always have to do it.”

Nikki laughed and worked on cleaning up her area. She couldn’t help but sneak a look at Zeke’s table. There didn’t appear to be anything on his table but paints and brushes.

Interesting, but she tried not to think about it too hard. They hadn’t decided when they would exchange gifts, but it had to be soon.

Clean up didn’t take long and a few minutes later, they were walking back to the flat.

They didn’t say much, but Zeke did have his project tucked under one arm. He used his other hand to hold hers. The walk back to the flat passed more quickly than she would have preferred. She liked the time with Ezekiel.

He gave her a soft kiss. “I’m going to put this in my room until I can wrap it. I’m also going to change into something more comfortable than jeans.”

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