Page 46 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
“The camera doesn’t lie. Also, I was there. You two definitely seemed cozy.” Clara jammed a hand on her pajama-clad hip. “And no, I didn’t post it. If you’ll recall, I wasn’t the one who took the photo.”
Gracie scrolled to the top of the page to check the profile picture of the account. The little circle contained an official looking crest with a crown emblazoned across its center. Immediately to the right of the crest was a tiny blue checkmark and the name of the account—sanglaceraroyal.
“The palace posted it from their official account. Can you believe it?” Clara said.
No, she couldn’t. “Are you sure? This has to be some sort of mistake.”
“Read the caption. Princess Emilie posted it herself.” Clara flicked the pad of her thumb over the screen and pointed at the fine print below the image.
Princess Snowflake melts the Abominable Snow Prince’s Heart…Gracie Clark, winner of the Royal Winter Wonderland Contest enjoyed a romp through the Christmas tree maze today with Crown Prince Nicolas. ~E
Gracie groaned. “This. Is. Mortifying.”
“Are you kidding? We couldn’t buy this sort of publicity if we’d tried. This is way better than the princess photo Jaron posted after the Ice Festival the other night. This post came from Princess Emilie herself. She signed it with her initial and everything.” Clara plucked the phone from her hand. “Our follower count is going through the roof. I shared the post to the Perfect Party Princess page an hour ago, and it’s already got thousands of likes.”
Gracie pulled a face. “So deleting it is out of the question?”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just ask that.” Clara held the phone protectively to her chest. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a picture.”
Did Gracie really need to spell things out? “It’s a picture of me and the royally big thorn in my side.”
Gracie didn’t want to be photographed alongside Nick—especially while he gazed at her as if she’d hung the moon. As if he didn’t think her job was a joke. As if he really and truly enjoyed her company.
She’d mistaken him for an actor, but perhaps that assumption hadn’t been too far off the mark.
Just smile and pretend we like each other.
Those were the words Gracie whispered to him just as Emilie snapped the picture. She’d expected a big cheesy grin, not a soulful expression that put a pang in her chest the moment she’d seen it.
It was too much. Too cozy. Too romantic.
And if Gracie wasn’t careful, she might accidentally let herself believe it was a bit too real.
“There’s been a change of plans.” Jaron brushed past Nick, straight into his quarters without so much as an invitation.
“Do come in,” Nick said drolly. He really needed to stop answering unexpected knocks on his door.
Mittens disagreed. Vehemently. The moment Jaron crossed the threshold, the little Cavalier King Charles spaniel hopped down from Nick’s bed and scrambled toward their surprise guest. He wiggled his entire backside and danced around Jaron’s feet as if Gracie’s implication had been true and Nick did, in fact, keep the dog locked away in a tower, starved for attention.
“Hey, Mittens. How are you, bud?” Jaron scooped the dog into his arms and let the Cavalier lick the side of his face. The greeting lasted a full minute—maybe two—until Jaron put him back down.
Mittens sat with his little rump situated on the toe of Nick’s Armani loafer.
Nick gave Jaron a pointed look. “You were saying?”
“What?” Jaron gave him a blank stare, as if he’d forgotten why he’d stopped by. “Oh, right. Sorry. It’s been a crazy morning. Completely crazy. You have no idea.”
“Enlighten me, then,” Nick said.
He’d rarely seen Jaron this discombobulated. Jaron was the consummate palace professional. Nick sometimes thought he knew more about royal protocol than the royals themselves.
“Yesterday’s photograph is causing quite the stir. The Christmas market is packed.”
Nick still didn’t follow. “What photograph?”
“The picture of you and Princess Snowflake.”
“I didn’t pose for a picture with Princess Snowflake,” Nick said.
