Page 43 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
“You’re going the wrong direction,” he said to her back as she trudged through the snow.
And that was it. That was the moment that Gracie lost her head and showed Prince Nick how she really felt about the little prince-in-disguise game he’d been playing at the Christmas market. If she got thrown into a dungeon somewhere, so be it.
The snowball hit Nick smack between his eyes with a wet thud. He hadn’t seen it coming at all, and for a stunned moment, he wasn’t sure if it was shock that kept him frozen in place or if the tightly packed snowball had done actual damage.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, brushing the snow from his eyes. A bit of feeling returned to his numb skin. When he cracked an eye open, he found Gracie watching him, wide-eyed.
“Oh my gosh.” She swallowed, and he traced the movement up and down the slender column of her throat. “I… I’m sorry.”
“I highly doubt that,” he said with exaggerated calm as he crouched to scoop a handful of snow into his palms.
“No, really. It was a dumb impulse, and I…” Gracie’s gaze dropped to the snowball he was busy forming. “What are you doing?”
“You wanted a snowball fight? You’ve got one.” He drew back his throwing arm.
Gracie squealed and dashed down the nearest tree-lined path. Nick followed, and once she was within perfect striking distance, he let loose with the snowball.
Thwack.
It exploded in the center of her back.
“You did not just do that,” she wailed. But when she turned around, a smile danced on her lips, even as her eyes widened in surprise.
“You started it,” Nick said.
“You sound like a five-year-old.”
Nick felt himself smile. At least he could fully feel his face again. “Says the woman who just threw a snowball at me.”
Her mouth twitched, as if she was doing her best not to grin even wider at him, and then her expression turned back to astonishment as he crouched to gather another handful of snow.
“What are you doing?” She held out her hands and backed away. “This is crazy.”
“Is it?” Nick rotated the snowball in his hands, forming it into a perfect round shape.
“I’m not having a snowball fight with you. I don’t even like you.”
“You sure about that?” Nick asked with a wink.
He threw the snowball at her, narrowly missing her beautiful head.
“You’re a dead man.” She kicked at a snowbank, spraying him with fresh powder, and then took off running.
Nick chased after her, and the pursuit quickly gave way to a messy snow battle of epic proportions. They alternated hiding behind trees and ambushing each other. Each direct hit was punctuated with squeals and vows to decimate the other person. Until somewhere along the way, they dropped the comical threats. The trail echoed with laughter. It rang in Nick’s chest like church bells.
She hit him again in the face, and he laughed so hard he could barely catch his breath. He wiped his eyes, choking on a mouthful of snow.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
Nick froze.
He forced his eyes open, blinking against the ice crystals that had gathered in his eyelashes during Gracie’s most recent assault.
“Hi, there.” Emilie waved at him with one of her gloved hands. She held a steaming cup of cocoa in the other one.
A woman stood beside her, thumb paused over her iPhone, mid-scroll. Her jaw dropped open as she glanced from Nick to Gracie, both covered head to foot in snow. During the melee, they’d apparently stumbled upon the center of the Christmas tree maze.
Nick straightened and snuck a glance at Gracie, who appeared to be ignoring his existence altogether.
