Page 61 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
“I’m happy to spend time with Gracie if it helps the kingdom,” he said.
“Keep telling yourself that, son.” His father gave him a slap on the back. “I watched the two of you together at the soup kitchen, and I’ve seen the photographs of your joint appearances this week. She brings something out in you. I’ve seen you smile more this week than I have in quite a long time. Something tells me there’s more than just business going on.”
Nick paused. He couldn’t really protest, could he?
The king smiled. “Miss Clark has managed to do something that I’ve been trying to accomplish all your life.”
Nick’s pulse kicked up a notch. This might be the most serious conversation he’d had with his father in, well, ever. “What’s that, Dad?”
“She’s showing you how to live in the moment. You’ve got the rest of your life to be king. Your grandfather prepared you well. When the time comes, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll be ready. But you have an entire life to live until then, son. Don’t waste it. If I’ve been hesitant to include you in matters of state, it’s only because I want you to enjoy your life as a prince. You don’t need to carry the weight of the kingdom entirely on your shoulders. Not yet—that’s what I’m here for.”
Nick reeled. “I had no idea, Dad. I thought you were disappointed in me. I thought—”
“I know what you thought. But surely you realize that I know my son better than the press does. I could never be disappointed in you. And neither could your grandpa.” The king’s smile went tender around the edges. “Miss Clark is helping the world see who you really are. I get the feeling the two of you are more alike than you realize.”
How so?
Nick almost asked the question, but by the time he trusted himself to speak without a telltale hitch in his voice, his father was gone.
Gracie returned from the party at the soup kitchen to find Ingrid, her husband Max, and Clara wrapping the front door of the B&B in bright red wrapping paper to look like a Christmas gift.
“Hello, you three,” she said, cocking her head to admire their handiwork.
“It looks great, doesn’t it?” Clara stepped back to give the door a once-over, then darted forward again to tuck a piece of tape back in place.
“Did you have a nice time with Prince Nicolas?” Ingrid asked.
Max nudged her with his elbow. “Don’t be nosy, dear.”
“I’m not being a busybody. I’m simply making polite conversation with our guest.” Ingrid turned back toward Gracie and lowered her voice. “I do hope he wasn’t too frosty.”
If only she knew. “He wasn’t frosty in the slightest. He’s actually a really nice person.”
Nice? Was that really the word she was looking for?
“They text each other now.” Clara waggled her eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure I saw a string of emojis in their chat earlier.”
“There were no emojis,” Gracie said firmly. This seemed like an important detail to get out in the open. There had been lots of formal punctuation, but no cute little smiley faces whatsoever.
Clara, Ingrid, and Max exchanged amused glances.
“Stop it. The three of you realize that Nick and I are not a couple, right? It might look that way on Instagram, but we’re not.” Gracie couldn’t believe she even needed to say it.
Sure, a new crop of pictures had been posted from their carriage ride the other day, and they’d looked awfully cozy snuggled together in that fairy-tale coach. Who wouldn’t, though? It was a coach. With white horses and tinkly jingle bells. Yesterday, a batch of pictures from the gondola had popped up. In them, Nick and Gracie had drawn a heart with their fingertips in the frost that clung to the glass window of their gondola. Gracie hadn’t even realized the moment had been captured on film.
She almost dreaded seeing the pictures they’d just posed for. On the way back from the soup kitchen, they’d visited a chocolate shop—San Glacera’s oldest chocolatier, to be precise—where they’d sipped more of that yummy hot cocoa made from creamy milk chocolate, drinking it out of little cups. Jaron had met them there, and he’d gone crazy with his camera phone when Nick offered her a chocolate kiss. She could see the Instagram captions and headlines already.
Prince Nicolas gives Princess Snowflake a kiss!
A hot flush crawled up her neck.
Clara’s phone was going to implode. They’d already gotten so many calls about princess parties that Gracie could promote every one of her employees to full-time hours and still need to hire more help. The value of the publicity that those Instagram posts were generating was priceless…even if they did manage to leave her just a little confused over what was real and what wasn’t.
“We’re coworkers,” she said with a nod.
It was the best way she knew how to describe their unusual relationship, but it didn’t feel altogether accurate. Gracie had never gone all breathless while working alongside one of her party princesses—or anyone, for that matter. It wasn’t what romance novels made it all cracked up to be. The fluttery sensation she had whenever she was around Nick was beginning to feel unnerving.
“Anyway.” Why were they talking about this, again? A change of subject was definitely in order. “The door looks awesome. I saw a few other doors decorated the same way in the shops along the square just now. Is there a special meaning behind the red wrapping?”
