Page 18 of Once Upon a Royal Summer
This was a lot of information, however, to try and impart with nothing but a meaningful glance, as evidenced by the bewildered look in Sweet Pea’s soft brown doe eyes. A hurt frown tipped her lips for a fraction of a second—barely long enough for Henry to catch a glimpse of it—and then she carefully arranged her delicate features back into her innocent, happy princess expression.
“Princess Sweet Pea will be your personal guide for the duration of your visit here at Once Upon A Time. She’ll escort you on all the rides and attractions and accompany you anyplace you’d like to go in the park. Anything you need, she can make it happen. After all…” Simon Dole glanced at Sweet Pea, obviously prompting her to finish his sentence.
“This is the land where fairy tales come true,” she said.
And then she flashed a dazzling grin at Rose and tipped her head to Ian, but seemed to ignore Henry—the living, breathing Prince Charming—altogether.
CHAPTER SIX
Mermaid Tails and Unicorn Horns
Some fairy tale.
It feels more like a nightmare, Lacey thought as she took her seat beside Prince Henry in one of the mechanical sleighs on the Snow Queen’s Mountain Sleigh Ride.
The sleigh ride was the third attraction they’d ridden since leaving Mr. Dole’s office, but the first where she’d ended up seated directly next to her royal companion. So far, they’d ridden in swan boats topped with huge golden crowns along the Swan Princess River that wound its way along the outer perimeter of the park, followed by a virtual reality tour through Tom Thumb’s Adventure, where enormous 3-D screens made guests feel as if they’d been shrunk down to mere inches tall. Just like in the famous fairy tale, they’d fallen into a bowl of batter for Christmas pudding, gotten swallowed by a red cow, and carried off by a raven. In the end, the king placed everyone into a tiny coach pulled by cheerful gray mice and they were carried outside the ride, where they “miraculously” turned back to normal size.
Their foursome had turned a few heads as they’d walked throughout the park, particularly when Lacey had walked them past the queue, toward the unmarked VIP entrances. It was only a matter of time until word spread that actual royalty was on the premises. A baseball cap could only do so much.
Rose, which was apparently Princess Caitriona’s middle name, insisted on sitting next to Lacey on the first two rides, which was just fine with her. Nothing would’ve pleased her more than to somehow avoid any alone time with Prince Henry. Every time Lacey looked at him, she kept remembering all the ridiculous things she’d said at the tea party.
She’d asked an actual princess if the footmen in her castle were bunnies, squirrels, or frogs. She’d told real royals they should always wear their crowns in a bubble bath. She’d asked Prince Henry if the reason he knew how to waltz was because he was a fan of Dancing with the Stars!
It was mortifying, and the very worst part of all was that Prince Henry had egged her on. He’d probably gotten a royally huge laugh out of the entire episode.
Lacey had never considered she might one day meet a prince, but if she had, never in a million years would she have guessed how humiliating it would be.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re angry with me?” Prince Henry murmured after she’d gotten situated next to him on the bench seat of the sleigh. The sled in front of them carrying Ian and Rose surged ahead until they were a speck in the distance.
Lacey had noticed Henry murmuring something to Ian while she’d been escorting them through the VIP entrance to the ride, and she’d had the impression he’d specifically arranged for them to ride together this time. She just wasn’t sure why.
Lacey took a deep breath. This was why the prince had wanted to share a sleigh with her? He wanted to have a royal heart-to-heart?
Her dress took up so much room in the small, two-person sled that it spilled over onto Prince Henry as if it were trying to swallow him whole. He regarded her over the pile of glittery tulle in his lap. “You’re going to have to talk to me eventually, Princess Sweet Pea.”
Lacey felt a hot flush creep up her neck. Every time he called her Princess, she wanted to crawl in a hole. “Whatever you like, Your Royal Highness.”
How had Mr. Dole put it? Anything you need, she can make it happen.
“Call me Henry,” he said gently. “Please?”
She met his gaze for the first time since she’d first been bowled over by the sight of him in Mr. Dole’s palatial office. “Um…”
“That’s a royal order,” he said in a preposterously over-the-top swanky accent.
Lacey laughed despite herself. “Very well, Henry.”
Their sleigh surged into motion, crawling in a slow, winding ascent up the Snow Queen’s mountain. The man-made peak was tipped with copious amounts of white paint and glittering glass beads to make it feel like they were really traveling through a snowy pass in the Swiss Alps.
“You never answered my question,” he said as they approached a cluster of flocked blue spruce trees. “Why do I get the feeling you’re angry with me?”
Lacey wasn’t touching that question with a ten-foot scepter. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said in her sweetest possible Sweet Pea voice. “Henry.”
The shadow of a snow-laden fir tree fell across his chiseled face. He shook his head. “Can we pretend I’m not a prince? I much preferred the honest way you spoke to me yesterday at the tea party.”
“Is that why you lied?” Lacey clamped one her white gloved-hands over her mouth the second the words escaped her.
What was she doing? If she wasn’t careful, she was going to get herself fired. And he hadn’t lied to her at all. He just hadn’t announced his royal status …which Lacey could sort of understand.
