Page 111 of Royal Icing
“What are you doing?”Leo asked as they stood on a street corner.
“Looking for paparazzi,” Emma said, scanning the streets.
“And why would we want to run into them?” he asked slowly.
“I told you. We need you to blow up. You’ve stirred up some interest since you’re dating a crazy American gingerbread-smasher. Unfortunately, right now all attention is good attention. We need to go make out in the square or something, get the press talking.”
He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Absolutely not. I don’t need them hounding you. And if I’m going to kiss you, it’s because I want to kiss you. Not because someone’s watching. You’re not a pawn.”
She turned to look at him. “They’re already hounding me, remember? We might as well do something good with the unsolicited attention. Maybe we could really stir things up and go publicly buy a pregnancy test. It could be good for my business too. If I had one. Or could think of a name for it.”
“All that time preparing for your future business, and you never thought of a name for it?”
She shook her head. “Nothing ever felt right.”
He reached for her hand. “Once things are underway, I’m going to help you too.”
“There’s no need. I can manage. I’ve been preparing for this for years.”
He narrowed his eyes against the sun glancing off the snow. “I don’t think you had factored in helping a particularly needy prince on a different continent. Let me help.”
“Fine. Maybe,” she said with a smile. “But first, the shelter.”
His stomach twisted. The guilt he felt taking her away from setting her plan in motion was unreal. But maybe if she spent a little more time here, she would reconsider moving her business here. Or maybe they could split their time between Lynoria and New York.
But Leo still hadn’t figured out a job for himself. He’d had to apply for the zoo position in person since they hadn’t believed his initial application. He had an interview at the end of the first week of January. Having a real job meant a fixed schedule, no freedom.
Plus, Emma had never actually said she wanted to keep dating. She had come here at the drop of a hat, sure, but maybe she just thought they were friends.
Friends who had mind-blowing sex and crossed continents for each other. That was a thing, right?
She nudged him and startled him out of thoughts of international booty calls. “We should check your post.”
He pulled out his phone and fumbled for a minute, trying to find the stupid app. When he opened it, his screen was a mess of red notifications.
She peeked over his shoulder. “Oh boy. One post and you’ve hit the big time.”
For his first post, they had decided on the picture of Leo in front of the castle. It had felt grossly self-serving, but Emma assured him that it would gather attention.
And she had been right.
“What does this number mean?”
“That’s your followers,” Emma said. “Twelve thousand in less than an hour. That’s impressive.”
“You’re humoring me. Didn’t the bakery have like half a million?”
“Eight hundred thousand, but who’s counting? Oh, here we are.”
They stopped at the end of the street where the vacant lot waited. He could see every detail of it as if the buildings were already there. The community garden, the library with rows of windows and natural light. A new soup kitchen with its doors propped open in springtime, filling the block with the scent of homegrown garlic and rosemary.
“Okay, now just stand in front of it. Don’t cross your arms. Hands in your pockets, neutral expression. You want to look approachable but still semi-serious.”
He struggled to keep a straight face as he attempted to follow her litany of suggestions.
She backed up and took pictures from several angles. It would have been exhausting even if he hadn’t been up since 4 a.m.
She flicked through the pictures and chose one. “Perfect. Okay, now the library.”
