Page 44 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
Should he feel insulted? Probably. He wasn’t, though. People had been overly solicitous to Nick his entire life—to his face, anyway. Whether it was because of his cold reputation or the fact that he would one day sit on the throne, Nick wasn’t entirely sure. But no one had ever told him point-blank that they didn’t like him before, and he’d certainly never been on the receiving end of a snowball to the face. Not even Emilie had dared to go that far before.
“Thank goodness that’s over with,” Gracie said, brushing her mittens together. Snow flew every which way.
“You’re Princess Snowflake.” Emilie’s face split into a huge grin.
The woman beside her looked Nick up and down before switching her attention to Gracie. “Have you two been lost together in the maze this entire time...while having a snowball fight?”
“No,” Gracie said, while Nick simultaneously nodded and said yes.
She glared at him as a chunk of snow fell from the pompon on her hat and landed on her cheek. Nick’s fingertips tingled, and he had to stop himself from reaching to brush it away.
He cleared his throat. “Miss Clark and I ran into one another in the maze, and I gallantly led us to freedom.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please.”
“I’m loving this.” Emilie clapped her hands and turned to the woman beside her. “Aren’t you?”
“There’s nothing to love, I assure you,” Gracie said. She glanced at the table in the center of the maze with a big silver cistern in its center. A sign strung over the table read Congratulations! You’ve Reached the Heart of Christmas in San Glacera.
She could definitely go for some cocoa right about now.
Gracie stomped past Nick as he made his way to the cistern and began filling a paper cup.
“We ran into each other by accident. End of story.” She took a gulp of her hot chocolate.
“I’m not thirsty, but thanks, though. You go right ahead.” Nick winked at her again.
Gracie’s cheeks blazed pink.
“Ignore him,” Nick’s sister said with a dismissive wave of her hand. She scurried toward Gracie. “I’m Emilie. It’s so nice to meet you. You have no idea.”
“Thank you,” Gracie said, looking genuinely pleased.
“The contest was my idea, and I knew as soon I saw your video that you had to come here.” Emilie beamed.
“You’re the one responsible for the whole thing? That’s amazing and thank you so much. Winning the contest is really going to change things for me.” Gracie’s voice halted a bit, as if she couldn’t believe what Emilie was saying. She studiously avoided Nick’s gaze. “You’re officially my favorite royal. Am I allowed to say that?”
“Absolutely,” Emilie said.
Brilliant. Nick sighed. He was back to being the Abominable Snow Prince again.
“Hello, I’m Nick,” he said, extending a hand toward the woman Emilie had befriended while he’d been otherwise occupied.
“Oh, I know who you are.” Her eyes narrowed, and for a second, it seemed like she was going to refuse to shake his hand, but she finally relented. “I’m Clara from Perfect Party Princesses.”
Nick was beginning to feel woefully outnumbered.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, but I should probably be getting back to work,” he said.
Nick had a meeting scheduled with Jaron this afternoon to go over the numbers from last night. His dad might be eager to give things time, but Nick intended to monitor the situation daily. He also needed to look into the whereabouts of the royals from Vernina. As Jaron had mentioned last night, Nick would be expected to escort Princess Alana to another event upon their arrival since she hadn’t made it in time for the Ice Festival the night before. He kept forgetting about his royal blind date for some reason.
“We need to get going too.” Gracie shot a beseeching glance at her business partner. “Right, Clara?”
Emilie sighed. “Bummer. At least let me take your picture first. You two look adorable, all covered in snow.” She pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her parka.
Nick and Gracie looked at each other, but neither one of them moved.
“Nick, go put your arm around her,” Emilie said.
