Page 14 of The Princess and the Pizza Man

“Y’all know that’s not what I meant,” he teased.

She let her face show confusion that Princess Winter would’ve expressed, even though that accent was going to melt her into a puddle at his feet. He shook his head with a smile.

“Fine, I’ll play along.” He leaned against one of the sconces, wiggling a bit like he was scratching his back against it. “So, Princess, who you spying on?”

She lifted a shoulder. “Someone looking for love. You know the rumors about this place, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Well, I like to try to… guess who’s going to get hit with the arrow.”

His hands slipped into his pockets. “Got any ideas?”

She ran her fingers over her heart absent-mindedly, staring up at him.William Monroe, she thought, remembering his name on the guest list, how she’d written it alongside countless others. There’d been several people she was able to find online; the only thing she’d seen about him was that he owned a pizza place down in Alabama. He lived so far from everyone visiting, that she hadn’t considered pairing him with anyone.

She could make it happen, though—turn that frown upside-down and get him to never want to leave Frostville Mansion. Love did that to people, even ones who were as homesick as he seemed to be.

“Not yet,” she said. “But maybe soon.”

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