Page 99 of Royal Icing
“Good night, Leo. I’m so grateful you decided to drop in,” Lisa said earnestly on her way down the hall.
With Lisa safely in bed and the dogs taken out for the last time, Leo slipped between Emma’s sheets while she finished brushing her teeth. There was something so right about being in her bed, the scent of her all around him. She cracked the door open and tiptoed into the room, peeking at him. He opened his arms, and she slid into them like some cosmic jigsaw had designed her specifically to fit there.
Even though he’d been disowned by his parents, his entire life was in upheaval, and he’d had to knock Emma’s father unconscious, it might have been the best birthday he’d ever had.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
EMMA
Leo’s sideof the bed was cold when she awoke the next morning.
She sat up, and panic flared in her chest. He had left. He had flown to New York to have sex with her one last time and then just left. Had he even really been here the day before, or had she hallucinated everything?
But no. There was his banged-up suitcase, sitting in the corner of her room.
The luggage was an undeniable reminder of the horror they had faced the day before. If Leo hadn’t arrived when he did, there was no telling what amount of damage her father would have done. He’d never kicked the door in before. He was escalating, and since they still lived in the same apartment, they were sitting ducks. At least Leo had reinforced the doorframe.
There was nothing she could do about it for the time being. Maybe as a thank you, she could start helping Leo stitch his life back together. This was just a temporary setback, she was sure of it. They would find a way to get his project off the ground. They didn’t need the crown’s jerk money anyway.
Unless he didn’twantto go back. Maybe he had had enough of his mom’s shenanigans and his father’s blatant disinterest in anything not related to football. What if he moved here?
She ran a hand over his pillow. The night before they had clung to each other, speaking words their mouths were too afraid to say with every kiss. It was exciting, fooling around as quietly as they could with her mother and hypervigilant service dog in the next room. But more than that, it felt different from any sexual experience she had ever known.
Leo was gentle, patient, and generous. Almost worshipful of her body. There was an intensity that no other man had ever given her.
It was like they had known each other for years. Maybe even multiple lives.
But that was insane. He was honorable and duty-bound, and his people needed him. Even if he didn’t realize it yet, there was no way he was going to move to New York.
To take her mind off the situation she was quickly losing control of, she let the dogs out and entered her mother’s room. Lisa was awake and had her e-reader on.
“Morning,” Emma said. “Sleep okay?”
“Don’t tell anyone,” her mom began as she heaved herself out of bed, “but I slept a lot better with a man in the house.”
Emma smiled and supported Lisa’s arm as she held on to her walker. “Me too.”
“Is he here?” her mom whispered.
Emma shook her head.
“So, what’s going on between the two of you?”
Emma looked over her shoulder. “I don’t know. I’m afraid to ask.”
“Do you want to be with him?”
“Are you kidding me? Of course I do. But it could never work. What would we do, a long-distance relationship? See each othertwice a year? He’s a whole-ass prince. And my life is here. Our life is here,” she corrected.
“Sweetheart,” her mom said. A shadow crossed over her face, and it seemed she was choosing her words carefully. “It’s not your job to take care of me. I’m not going to allow you to limit yourself and make your life small because you think you have to carry the entire weight of our family on your shoulders. I’ve been looking into assisted living facilities.”
“No,” Emma said sharply. “I’m not putting you in a home. Are you crazy? You’re only fifty-five.”
“It would make your life so much simpler,” Lisa said as they shuffled to the bathroom. “You could go anywhere, live anywhere without worrying about me falling or choking on a friggen noodle.”
“I will always worry about you. That’s my job.” Emma lowered her mom onto the toilet, then left the room.
“No, that’smyjob,” Lisa said through the door. “Emma, honey, you have such a beautiful future ahead of you. I’ve already held you back for too long.”
