Page 20 of A Royal Arrangement
“You’re going to be the most beautiful little princess I’ve ever seen.”
Colin watched from the doorway as Rosalie leaned over and placed her hand on his daughter’s shoulder in a motherly gesture. Addie beamed up at Rosalie, as if her words were the most valuable things in the world to her.
He cleared his throat and stepped into the room. Colin walked over to Addie’s side and gave her a kiss on top of her head before taking his seat at the head of the table.
The palace servers immediately brought out a platter of sandwiches and sides of chips, vegetables, fruit, and cookies. Colin made his daughter a plate with a turkey sandwich, a bag of cheese puffs, baby carrots, and a sugar cookie with rainbow sprinkles. He placed a ham-and-swiss sandwich on a plate along with a bag of sea salt kettle chips and a chocolate chip cookie for himself.
He couldn’t help but notice how Rosalie didn’t put anything on her plate until after he made both his and Addie’s. She selected things he would never choose for himself—a ham sandwich with pesto aioli, a bag of jalapeño kettle chips, an array of fruit, and a lemon-blueberry cookie.
Colin preferred things he already knew he liked. He preferred the familiar. There was no reason to add new spices and flavors to his life when things were going smoothly the way they were.
“Am I allowed to start eating?” Rosalie asked with a quirked brow. Her question nearly made him jump in his seat. He had totally been staring at her, and she knew it.
A nod was the only response he gave before taking a giant bite out of his sandwich. His favorite lunch was dry in his mouth as he tried to figure out what to say to Rosalie. Overthinking wasn’t something he did…ever. But when it came to her, he’d been overthinking everything lately. She threw off his routine and his calm, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Mmm,” Rosalie moaned after taking a bite of her sandwich. Colin couldn’t help but stare at her again. “This aioliis delicious.” She licked a little bit of the sauce that was on her lip.
Colin cleared his throat. “I’m glad you like it. Sorry, we don’t typically eat large, fancy lunches.” He discreetly gestured his head to the right toward his daughter, hoping she understood his meaning.
She looked over at Addie with a small smile. “I’m always down for a sandwich.”
He wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “How are you feeling about this afternoon?”
Rosalie’s gaze snapped to him mid-bite like she was shocked he was asking her a question. “I’m looking forward to the parade and meeting the people of Edgemont. On the other hand, the press conference I could do without.”
“What’s wrong with the press conference?” Colin harrumphed.
Her cheeks turned a rosy pink. “I know it sounds silly, but public speaking has always been my biggest fear.”
Colin’s eyes widened. “You, Miss Bright and Bubbly, are scared of talking in front of people?”
“Aw, you think I’m bright and bubbly?” Her eyes were filled with the slightest glimmer of hope again.
“Nauseatingly so.”
“What’snauseatinglymean?” Addie chimed in.
“It means you feel like you might get sick,” he explained.
Her little face scrunched up. “Why does her being happy make you feel sick, Daddy?”
Rosalie pressed her lips together in amusement and quirked her head like she was waiting for his answer too.
He grunted in response.Joy. Now I have two girls ganging up on me.
“That’s not an answer.” Addie bobbed her head from side to side with sass.
“I’ll explain it to you when you’re older, Addie.”
“But—”
“No buts at the dinner table.”
“This is lunch.” Addie leveled him with an adorable look. “And I wasn’t talking about my…”—she paused to giggle behind her hand—“booty.”
Rosalie cracked a smile behind her own hand. The whole situationalmostpulled a smile out of Colin, but instead, he pressed his lips together and shook his head.
“Anywho, what were we talking about?” Rosalie bit her lower lip in concentration. “Oh, yes, public speaking. I still get nervous every time I have to speak in front of a large group of people. Whenever I have to speak in public, I think of a recent favorite memory of mine. The joy I feel at the memory usually fills me with a sense of calm, pushing away my anxiety.”
