Page 1 of Once Upon a Royal Summer
CHAPTER ONE
Not the Kate Middleton Kind
“I didn’t realize I’d be dining with royalty this evening.” Mark Cooper, Lacey Pope’s unofficial fiancé, sighed at her when she sat down at the restaurant table.
Uh-oh. She’d done it again.
“I forgot to take off my tiara, didn’t I?” she asked, reaching up to check for the massive rhinestone adornment she pinned to her head with no less than thirty-five bobby pins every morning for her day job.
Yep, definitely still there.
“Indeed, you did.” Mark nodded and reached for his martini.
Welp, this was awkward. They weren’t exactly seated in the sort of establishment where oversized, gaudy tiaras were commonplace. Mark was dressed in one of the crisp, tailored business suits he wore to work every day at his family’s investment banking firm. His tie was the same shade of green as his eyes. As usual, his hair was trimmed short with a neat part on the side. Mark always looked like he’d walked off the pages of a Brooks Brothers catalogue. At times, Lacey felt a bit too sparkly and colorful by comparison. Times like now, for instance. This place was fancy. Lacey hadn’t even had to put her own napkin in her lap. The maître d’ had done it for her, just after she’d dashed to the table to meet Mark, five minutes late for their reservation.
It would’ve been nice if the maître d’ had given her a little heads up about the crown on her head, instead. Lacey could’ve handled the napkin on her own.
Why, oh why, had she worn her favorite step-in, wraparound polka dot Kate Spade jumpsuit to dinner instead of a dress? One of her cute fit-and-flares never would’ve made it over her head without snagging on the crown and giving her a clue. Lesson learned.
“Sorry.” She pulled a face. “I’ll just run to the ladies’ room real quick and—”
“Look! It’s a princess!”
A little boy and girl, both around six or seven, slowed to a stop beside Lacey’s chair.
Yes, technically, Lacey was a princess—only, not the Kate Middleton kind. More like the coach-turns-into-a-pumpkin-after-midnight type who earned a modest hourly wage.
“Here we go,” Mark muttered and took another generous gulp of his martini.
“Are you a real princess?” the girl asked, wide-eyed.
The boy glanced around Lacey’s periphery. “Do you have a lightsaber?”
“Sort of,” Lacey said to the girl, then switched her attention to the boy. “And no.” Alas, Lacey didn’t have a lightsaber tucked into her handbag, because she wasn’t the sci-fi sort of princess, either.
Lacey—known as Princess Sweet Pea at the Once Upon A Time amusement park in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida—was theme park royalty. The very best sort of royalty, as far as Lacey was concerned.
“Brittany. Benjamin.” A flustered woman in a pretty red sheath dress took hold of their two small hands. “Our table is ready. Let’s not bother this nice couple.” The mom offered Mark a polite smile and glanced at Lacey’s ginormous crown with an equal mixture of curiosity and confusion. “So sorry to have bothered you, Your…um…Highness.”
Mark snorted.
“Oh, it’s no bother. Really.” Lacey winked at the children.
Brittany’s eyes danced, and little Benjamin’s face turned as red as Riding Hood’s cape. Lacey smiled as the children moved on toward their table, sneaking Lacey bashful waves behind their mother’s back.
Lacey grinned at Mark. “Aren’t they cute?”
“Precious,” he said, gaze fixed on the menu in front of him.
Contrary to popular belief, being a theme park princess wasn’t the easiest gig in the world, and definitely not a fairy tale. For starters, rocking elbow-length white gloves and a ballgown embellished with not one, not three, but six billowing layers of tulle could get a tad warm in the stifling Florida heat and humidity. Not quite as stifling as being trapped inside a furry bear costume—as Lacey knew all too well from her stint as Baby Bear from Goldilocks and the Three Bears, her warm-up gig for the coveted role of princess—but still. Glass slippers weren’t all that comfortable, either, particularly when the aforementioned ballgown made it impossible to sit down for eight-plus hours a day.
And the glittering tiara responsible for the grimace on Mark’s face? It was way heavier than it looked, which Lacey supposed made it all the more baffling to her unofficial fiancé why she sometimes forgot to take it off.
It was simple, really. Lacey always seemed be dashing out of the park thirty or forty-five minutes after her shift was supposed to have ended. She didn’t mean for it to happen, but she couldn’t seem to tear herself away when there was a line of boys and girls waiting to see her. Lacey always wound up staying until she’d greeted every single one of them.
“We had kids from the Make-A-Wish Foundation out at the park this afternoon,” Lacey said.
“That’s nice.” Mark glanced up from his menu. “I ordered you a glass of champagne. Try it. It’s from that region in France where we discussed going for our honeymoon.” He flashed her a wink.
