Page 2 of The Princess and the Pizza Man

“Not really,” he joked, backing up so his eyes could focus. It was a packet, or brochure of some sort. His brows pinched together, and he took it from her hands. “What am I supposed to be lookin’ at?”

“Frostville. It’s this week-long themed vacation with dances and fancy dinners and big rooms and horses and entertainment all held in this gorgeous town in Michigan.”

“Michigan?” He quickly handed the pamphlet back, but Bells refused to take it, her hands too busy flailing about as she talked.

“Don’t you shrug it off just ‘cause y’all can’t handle the snow. It’s less cold than you think, and it’s the place I’m going to fall in love.”

“Bells…” He sighed, knowing now where the conversation was headed.

“I hear the place is haunted, Will.”

“You still sleep with the light on.”

“Not haunted with scary ghosts.” She took a step forward, getting close like she was letting him in on a giant secret. With the serious look in her wide eyes, Will was sure he wouldn’t be disappointed with her explanation.

“The spirit of Eros,” she said. “Cupid.There has been a romance success story every week since the place opened. And it’s my turn.”

He took the slight pause she gave him to process. He wouldn’t get much quiet time to figure out what in the world she was talking about, but he also knew that it didn’t really matter. She hadn’t gotten to the crux of what she really wanted yet, so he prodded.

“Aaaand, what’s this got to do with me?”

She blinked, lifting her shoulders slightly and tilting her head. It was the look—the ace up her sleeve she’d used all her life to manipulate and twist men to her will. He wished he’d become immune to it, but unfortunately, he wasn’t. In fact, she hadn’t even needed to play that hand; he’d do just about anything she asked. Part of his duty as a friend, brother, and the only guy in her life.

“I want you to go with me.”

All right…almostanything for her.

“You’re outta your dang mind,” he said with a laugh, tossing the pamphlet on the desk behind her. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like that.”Frostville, yeesh! He’d never set foot outta Alabama, and he was not going to dive headfirst into someplace that was gonna cause hypothermia.

She hitched a hand on her hip—the second ace she played when she didn’t receive the answer she wanted. “Don’t you dare leave me to do this on my own. I’m the town spinster, William! I’m not coming back here without a man, and I need you to keep me from picking up just any ol’ bum from the street. I’m desperate enough that it may just happen.”

“Bells—”

“I am thirty-six years old, and I’m tired of all these southern men turning their necks in other directions just because of my reputation.”

“You don’t have a—”

“And you owe me one. You remember Mr. Dumpling’s lawn?Icovered for you, and I’ll march straight over there and tell him you were the one who ran over his brand-new sprinkler system with your riding lawn mower, drunk as a skunk.”

“Bells!” He grabbed her hands before she accidentally hurt herself—or him for that matter. “First off… I’m pretty sure ol’ Dumpling knows it was me, and if he didn’t, he sure as heck knows now.”

His sister blushed and glanced toward the door. He figured she was more embarrassed by her acknowledgment of being the town’s old maid. He didn’t put much stock into that particular rumor, but he knew Bells wanted love, family, kids, and the more the town talked about how she didn’t have any of those things, the more it hurt.

He patted her knuckles and then shrugged his hands into his back pockets. “And second, you had me at the threat of my sister marrying a bum. You really think I’m gonna let just any man get put under Eros’s spell when it comes to you?”

Her mouth split open in a wild grin, the one she wore whenever she got her way. It was seen more often than not. “Really? You’ll come with me?”

Will pushed down the urge to say no again, fighting images of ballroom dancing and salad forks. He’d suffer one week in upper class torture if it would help Bells find what she was looking for.

“When do we leave?”

---