Page 35 of Royal Icing
Hollybrook was stunning in the daytime, like it had been ripped from a calendar for European tourist destinations. She paused by a lamppost to turn and drink it all in. Even though she spent every waking moment worried about her mom, maybe coming to this beautiful little country had been worth it. She would probably never have another opportunity like this one.
An elderly couple passed by her, walking a poodle. They nodded and smiled at her. She glanced at her watch—10 a.m. The library was open by now.
She hustled that direction, edging around icy patches and doing her best not to fall on her face. There was no Leo here to save her from a broken tailbone. Not that she was thinking about him.
She ducked into the library and unwound the scarf from her neck. Ruby’s chic clothes had been returned, so she was back to hand-me-downs and thrift store finds.
A handful of other people were here, browsing shelves. Where would she even start? She looked at the stacks, but most of what was in front of her was fiction and children’s literature. A checkout counter caught her eye.
Aha. Librarians were magic.
After a quick conversation, a librarian led her to the second floor and gave her a precarious stack of books about the history and culinary traditions of Lynoria. Emma sat at a table in the reference loft near the computer bay, with a view of the front door.
The library was outdated but cozy, and it smelled amazing. She could practically feel the knowledge saturating the air. It felt just like her local public library, where she had spent countless hours readingSweet Valley Twinsbooks in her youth.
The clock was ticking. She needed to come up with something amazing in the next few hours, especially if she was going to bake a test batch of something to wow the queen before tomorrow morning.
She busied herself leafing through books, tearing bits of paper from her notebook to mark important pages. Lynoria’s culinary traditions were similar to the rest of this region in Europe. Nothing jumped out immediately, but maybe if she dug deeper. She needed to make some copies and start a plan, but the copier had an Out of Order sign on it. The queen expected an updated plan the very next day, and she hadn’t even checked in with Maya to see what her ideas were. Not that it mattered—they were probably deranged.
Emma needed to dream up something incredible, majestic, breathtaking. Maybe even romantic. She turned back to another book, this one about the architect who designed the castle.
The front doors opened, and a deep male voice came from downstairs. She peered over the railing, and her stomach plummeted. Oh, fuck. Leo was down there, holding a sizable box. So much for avoiding him.
A book slid off the top of her pile and landed on the floor with a muffled thump. He looked up at her, and she had a split-second view of recognition flashing in his eyes before she pushed her chair away from the ledge as fast as she could. A horrible screech filled the air.
Great. Not only had she unwillingly run into Prince Sexy and drawn attention to herself, she had also disturbed the sacred peace of the library. Why the hell was he here, anyway? Checking out a book on sending mixed signals?
A faint voice came from downstairs. “Thank you so much, Your Highness.”
That was Maria, the librarian who had helped her.
“It’s Leo,” he corrected. “Where do you want it?”
“On the second floor, if you don’t mind.”
Emma dropped her notebook.Shewas on the second floor. Should she run? But no, he had already seen her.
Footsteps padded up the stairs in front of her. Maybe he was just bringing a box of books. She probably wouldn’t even see him.
“Over here,” Maria said.
They emerged from the stacks. Emma’s cheeks grew hot, and her grip tightened on the pen. She refused to look up as he walked by and pretended to be engrossed in a picture of the castle.
“I can’t thank you enough. I thought we wouldn’t see a new copier until sometime next year,” the librarian said, sounding a little more flustered than when she had spoken to Emma earlier.
“If I had it my way, you’d have a new building, not just a new printer,” he said. “The services you offer the community areso important. My sister loves it here, and your resume-building classes have helped so many people.”
Her heart softened. Damn it. The universe delighted in her suffering.
Minutes passed while Leo unpacked the copier and set it up. She was still staring at the same spot on the page, every inch of her body on high alert and aware that Leo was six feet away. She felt his gaze on her a couple times, but he didn’t say anything.
It was just as well. There was no telling how long it would take her to assemble this show-stopping dessert for the ball. If she could even find an idea for it.
The queen was obsessed with reminding people that the monarchy was still relevant. What would stroke her ego enough to gain her approval?
In an effort to distract herself and seem busy, Emma started a list of ideas with the information Leo had shared with her at the top.
The Lynorian flag made out of tarts.
