Page 40 of Kiss and Spell

She smiled at him again, then looked back at his profile. “All is not lost, Xavier. Let’s see what we can do to jazz up this profile.”

He held back a smile. “Jazz up? Is that an official magical term?”

Ursula smirked but kept her eyes on his screen.

She was right, as usual. If he wanted to get home by midsummer, then he needed to find his perfect kiss soon. Xavier loathed feeling the slow crawl of desperation up his back the longer he went without finding it.

She scanned his profile silently for a moment, but then made a surprised squeak. He grinned. The woman was a walking sound machine, her laughs and little sounds giving him a trill of amusement whenever she was near.

“Here’s the problem!” she said. “Your profile’s incomplete. Ladies probably think you’re a bot! You didn’t answer the last three questions about love and dating. Let’s do that right now.”

His chest hollowed out. “It’s not necessary, is it?”

“It’s a love and dating site.” Ursula gave him an Are you kidding me? stare, complete with a lifted brow. “I’m sure future romantic interests want to know what you think about—well—romance.”

From his experience, princesses and ladies in the Realm didn’t think to ask what Xavier thought. They were only asked and instructed to care about his title and his crown by the matchmakers. They played the love match game as much as he did. Asking serious questions caused problems, so everyone smiled and asked about the weather and the latest juicy gossip.

Xavier took a fortifying breath. You’ll be fine.

Like a fanged monster under a bed, love couldn’t hurt him if he didn’t believe in it. He didn’t believe, but she did. What would Ursula think about him when she found out?

His stomach twisted. He clutched his chair’s armrests to quell the rising nerves.

Ursula read off the screen. “‘What’s your ideal date? Be as specific as possible.’”

“I love to have lunch in a local park or garden,” he admitted. “We’d look at the blooming flowers and plants while eating as much bread and mushrooms as possible. Then we’d stroll through and talk until the stars came out. What about you, Madame?”

“I like eating snacks and watching movies at home,” she said. “It’s not exciting, but I’d want to spend as much time alone with my date as possible.”

“You wouldn’t want to go to Lighthouse for a nice dinner?” he suggested.

Xavier pictured Ursula at the table dressed in pink, glowing under the candlelight, sharing a slice of chocolate cake. It was a pretty image.

“I’ve been there,” Ursula said coolly. “I’ve eaten at the best places in town, but I had a terrible time. I want to enjoy the company. Give me turkey and Swiss sandwiches from Wawa with a bottled iced tea and a good conversation at the beach. That sounds ideal to me.”

Xavier quietly filed that information away. Once he found his perfect kiss, he’d take Ursula out to say thank you for all her help.

She read off the screen again. “‘Describe yourself in three words to your potential date.’”

“Loyal. Direct. Humorous.”

“I didn’t hear charming,” she sang.

He shook his head. “I’m definitely not that.”

“Okay. If you’re not charming, then what are you?”

He thought for a second, then answered. “Awkward. Really into plants and rocks. Terrible sense of direction.”

“Determined. Passionate. Unique,” Ursula countered. “You’re a literal prince. Fairy tales are the ideal, not the rule. We all want a shot at the castle in the sky, but what we get if we’re lucky is a warm place to lay our head. Maybe we find a man who cares enough to kiss us good night.”

Who did she want to kiss?

“Have you found that guy?” he asked.

“I thought I did.” There was a tart note in her voice that didn’t invite any follow-up questions. Sometimes, like back in the tavern, she was open about her past relationship. Other times she was vague about certain details. It was like slowly gathering pieces of a puzzle and he was seeing the full picture before him take shape. She didn’t share specific names and places; he got the sense that Ursula fought for and lost love before. This lady-knight had battle scars on her heart.

Ursula looked to him expectantly. “Do you believe in true love?”

---