Page 26 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
Gracie leaned against the headboard and sighed. “You have no idea. He had a dog named Mittens, and he fed me the most divine waffles. He was—for lack of a better word—charming.”
A bemused smile spread across Clara’s face.
Gracie let out a dreamy sigh. “There was a chocolate kiss at the bottom of my cup.”
Clara reached for another cookie. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you sound positively smitten.”
Gracie’s response was automatic. “I’m not smitten.”
“Are you sure? Because you just burst in here and woke me up talking about waffles and dogs and a charming prince. And just look at you.” Clara waved a hand in Gracie’s general direction.
Gracie brushed a stray tawny curl from her eyes. She probably looked like a mess after the long flight. It was going to take an extra dash or two of glitter to get her into perfect Princess Snowflake form for the event later. “What do you mean?”
“You’re glowing.” Clara reached across Gracie to grab her phone from the nightstand—a brand-new device to replace the one that had fallen victim to Jingle’s hoof. “That must have been some waffle.”
Heat crept into Gracie’s cheeks. Was she really glowing? “I’m sure it’s just the cold.”
Clara looked up from scrolling. She hadn’t posted anything about the contest on the Perfect Party Princesses social media accounts yet because she wanted to wait until tonight when Princess Snowflake made her first appearance in San Glacera. Gracie knew the wait had to be killing her.
“It’s okay to be excited, you know.” Clara gave Gracie a gentle shoulder bump. She gestured at the chalet’s cozy room with her phone. “All of this is definitely something to be excited about.”
“I know,” Gracie said, swallowing hard.
Every time she let her guard down, the realization that she was going to be singing in front of an audience in just a matter of days seemed to sneak up on her. Back home, her family had managed to convince her it was just one tiny part of the trip. But now that she was here, now that San Glacera was a real place and not just a faraway dream…
The enormity of what she’d signed on for was finally beginning to feel real.
“I’ll feel better after I get the singing part out of the way,” she said, trying—and failing—to keep the nervous tremor from creeping into her tone.
Clara reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’re singing on Christmas Eve. That’s the final night of the trip. Are you planning on holding your breath until then?”
“No.” Yes. Maybe. “It’s crazy. For a while there, I managed to forget about the performance and enjoy the market. It was…”
Magical.
She didn’t dare say it out loud. Gracie had been playing princess long enough to know what was real and what wasn’t. Fairy tales fell squarely into the latter category.
“It was nice,” she finally said.
“Because of Prince Charming.” Clara waggled her eyebrows.
Gracie rolled her eyes. “No.”
Not entirely, anyway…
“I didn’t come here for romance,” she insisted. “I came here for the prize money and so we could go back home to build Perfect Party Princesses into the success that I know it can be.”
“Who says you can’t have a little romance at the same time?” Clara shrugged one shoulder. “Who says a girl-boss princess can’t have it all?”
“History,” Gracie said, throat going tight. “History says that.”
And she wasn’t talking about any of the real-life royals whose lives weren’t fairy tale perfect. She was speaking from her own personal experience.
The last time she’d fallen head over heels, it had ended in a spectacular mess. It had also been a major contributing factor in her crippling case of stage fright. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking about romance.
“The only way I’m going to get through this week is to focus.” Gracie climbed off the bed in search of her luggage. She only had a few hours to transform herself into an ice princess.
“If you say so,” Clara said, clearly unconvinced.
