Page 100 of Royal Icing
“Why are you talking like I’m going somewhere? I’m not going anywhere.”
“We’ll see.”
There was a knock at the front door, and Emma silently cursed before picking up the baseball bat again.
Leo stood on the stoop, shopping bags in hand and a concerned look on his face.
“Wow, you really do always answer the door with violence,” he said.
“Do you blame me?”
“Of course not.” He pulled her in for a hug.
She breathed in the scent of his leather jacket. How was this real? Two weeks ago, she was slaving away at Crumb and Get It with no end in sight. Now she was unemployed with a princefor a boyfriend. Well, not boyfriend. International booty call? Situationship? Whatever.
“What did you find?” she asked when she pulled back. She peered into his bags.
“Just some breakfast and a couple more things for the apartment. A thank you for the hospitality while I figure out what comes next.”
The toilet flushed, and Emma returned to the bathroom.
“About that,” she said as she walked her mother to the living room, “now that I have all this free time, I’m going to help you get your new post-royal life in order.”
Leo raised his eyebrows and set a bakery bag on the kitchen table.
“New place to live, new bank account, an emergency budget, job hunting, whatever. We’ll do it all today.” She shook some pills out of the organizer on the kitchen countertop and brought them to Lisa with a glass of water.
“We should be working onyournew job,” he said. “Since I destroyed the last one.”
She waved a hand. “I have a couple inquiries out to businesses I’ve worked with before.”
“For what? Baking?”
“No, I’m not allowed to bake for profit for a year because of the damned noncompete. I managed all the social media for the bakery, so my plan is to freelance during the waiting period. And if that doesn’t cut it, I’ll look into serving at the diner down the street. Or start an OnlyFans,” she joked.
Leo frowned, but he didn’t say anything.
“Now, I assume I should be looking for apartments in Lynoria?” Her hands shook with nerves, even though she already knew the answer.
He hesitated. “I think so. For now, at least. I just don’t think I can give up completely yet.”
Emma squeezed his shoulder, then returned to the kitchen and turned on their ancient coffeepot. A rich earthiness flooded the space, and she breathed it in before stealing a glance at Leo as he cleared out the drying rack and set the table.
She had feelings. There was no use denying it. Leo probably had some too, or he wouldn’t have chased her thousands of miles.
Where could they go from here? They were practically from different dimensions. Even if he formally left the royal family, his family’s drama would always be in the background. And she would never be enough for them, all because of where she grew up.
It figured. The first time she caught feelings for a guy since Dylan, and it was an impossible situation.
After breakfast, Leo took all the paintings off the wall in the hallway and started sanding and spackling. Cooper supervised.
A couple hours passed as Leo painted and Emma hammered away at her laptop, browser filled with windows of apartments and jobs in Lynoria. Lisa regaled them all with fun facts from the bee documentary she’d recently watched and worked on her physical therapy plan.
Leo appeared in the kitchen, spackling dust dotting his T-shirt and paint splatters on his hand. The sight of him had awakened something in Emma’s pants, but she couldn’t do anything about it with her mom right there.
“I don’t suppose you know anything about zookeeping?” she asked as he washed his hands.
“Not particularly,” he said over his shoulder. “Is that a career option?”
