Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
EMMA
“Why didn’t you make something fancier?” Maya’s nostrils flared, and the effect made her look even more like a dragon than usual.
Emma sputtered. Croquembouche was one of the most elegant recipes in her repertoire. It was usually only served at weddings.
She had been completely off-kilter since finding Leo seated with the rest of the royal family. Her dog had peed on a prince.
But the fucking audacity of this man. She had quite literally saved his life, and he couldn’t even bother to mention that he was the prince of the whole damn country?
And that was small potatoes compared to the queen’s criticism. This job was the reason she was here. If they couldn’t pull off something spectacular, she’d never get the other half of the money, and she’d be right back at square one.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I had to do everything by myself in an unfamiliar kitchen with the bare minimum of equipment on zero hours of sleep?”
Her voice echoed in the long, elegant hallway.
She didn’t usually make a habit of yelling at her boss, asshole though she was.
But the lack of sleep was culminating in a lack of self-control she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
If the royal family hadn’t been thirty feet away, she probably would have been even louder.
“You embarrassed me in front of John,” Maya said.
“What? Who?”
“John. The prince.”
Oh, the older brother who said nothing and could barely bother to take his sunglasses off at breakfast. The dictionary definition of an ass-nugget.
“I highly doubt that my critically acclaimed espresso croissants embarrassed you.”
Maya got up in her face, and Emma suppressed the urge to pin her between the cart and a tapestry of what appeared to be a bunch of grown men chasing a fox.
One manicured finger shook in Emma’s direction. “You will not embarrass me again. I will fire you if I have to.”
Emma crossed her arms. “Really? So you’re planning to bake everything by yourself?”
“The baking is your job. This time, I’m going to come up with all the ideas for the meeting because you have no idea what royal tastes are like. Aesthetics are my job,” Maya said.
Emma blinked. Beyond periodically redecorating the café, Maya had never volunteered to do any real work in the shop.
Chances were she would dramatically overpromise or miss the mark.
And maybe it was time to let her. Letting her fail in front of a royal audience would be deeply satisfying, even if their brand paid the price.
What did she care if business tanked? If their doors closed, she would be free from her noncompete.
But then she wouldn’t get the second half of the money. Hmm.
“Sounds great,” Emma said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a nap for the next two days.”
“Ladies,” a male voice interrupted.
Emma jumped like someone had just shot off a firework.
She turned around and nearly ran into Leo. Make that Prince Leo. Her hands balled into fists.
“Emma, could we chat?” His eyes stared earnestly into hers.
Maya narrowed her eyes. She was trapped between an angry boss and someone she wanted to punch in the throat but couldn’t for diplomatic reasons. Which of the two evils would she accept?
Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but a crazy idea began to form in her mind.
She would let Maya pretend to take the reins on this project.
She would let her present her ideas to the queen.
But Emma was going to come up with her own idea, and it would blow Maya’s away.
She would pull it off, collect the second half of the money, and then she’d quit this job for good.
And by the end of it, she would have a literal royal stamp of approval on her baking skills.
She’d never need another celebrity endorsement to launch her own brand.
But in order to do that, she was going to need some insider information on the queen’s likes and dislikes. And that meant talking to someone who knew her.
“Fine,” she said to Leo.
His eyebrows shot up. He probably wasn’t used to people speaking to him this way. Who cared if he was a prince? She wasn’t going to kiss his ass because of the family he was born into. She would treat him just like any other person who had lied to her.
“Five minutes only,” she added. “I’m going to bed.”
She shoved the cart in the direction she was pretty sure led to the kitchen she had borrowed it from. She caught a split-second sighting of Maya staring at her, open-mouthed. Ha.
“I wanted to apologize,” Leo said, falling into stride with her.
She quickened her pace. The cart clattered over the marble tiles.
Servants curtsied and bowed as they careened down the hallway.
“Apologize for what?” she asked sharply. “Oh, for not telling me that you are not in fact a maintenance man but instead the crowned prince of the entire country I happen to be visiting?”
“Not the crowned prince. Just a regular one,” he said. He had quickened his pace to match hers. They were almost jogging, which would have been funny if she hadn’t been so tired.
“Where do you get off concealing your identity? Were you trying to trick me? Get me to say something that would get me fired?”
He pulled to a stop, and she blew past him.
For a moment, she fantasized about riding the cart down the sloped hallway and crashing it into one of their precious tapestries.
But she still needed to make a good impression on the queen, and splattering a castle wall with sticky croquembouche wasn’t likely to help.
Suddenly, he appeared in front of the cart with his hands out. She pulled to a stop. It was just as well. She wasn’t wearing the right shoes for cardio.
“Of course I wasn’t trying to trick you.” His voice was low, soothing. Like a crackling fire on a winter day. “I’m sorry, Emma. I’m just not used to having to…introduce myself.”
Her lips pressed together. That was probably true.
“It was nice to speak to you when you didn’t know who I was. You were so warm and funny. But you’re right, I should have told you.”
“Yes, you should have.”
“Let me make it up to you,” he said. His eyes were sincere. Something tingled deep in her. He may have been a sneaky fuck, but he was irresistibly charming.
“I promised I would go to the winter carnival tonight,” he added. “Will you come with me? I’ll give you a tour of the village. Maybe it’ll help.”
She crossed her arms and debated. Leo had grown up here, and he was the son of the person she was trying to impress.
He was her best shot at getting this money and starting her new life.
And he had apologized. Maybe he deserved a second chance.
Or maybe his chiseled jawline was skewing her judgment.
“Fine.”
He suppressed a laugh. “I’m sorry. I’ve never had anyone agree to plans so begrudgingly before.”
“You’ve got a lot to learn, Your Highness.” She wheeled the cart around him.
“Emma?” he called after her.
She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “What?”
“Where are you going?”
She pointed at the cart. “To the kitchen.”
“Kitchen’s that way,” he said, then pointed. “I’d be happy to escort you there, but you’ll have to downgrade the hostility a millimeter or so.”
Emma’s shoulders slumped. It was her turn to apologize. “I’m sorry. I’m incredibly sleep-deprived.”
“Have you slept at all since you arrived?” the prince asked gently.
She shook her head.
He put his hand over hers on the cart, and electricity jolted her awake.
He gently tugged her hands off the handle. “I’m going to take this back. You need some rest.”
Her lower lip quivered. Maya would be mortified if she knew Emma had let the prince take the cart back. But she was going to fall asleep leaning against this cast-iron sconce if she didn’t find a bed in the next ten minutes.
“Do you need help finding your way to the apartment?”
She shook her head, even though she had no idea which direction it was. She would figure it out, even if she had to climb out a window to get to the outside.
“I’ll pick you up at seven. You might want to wear a disguise.”
A disguise? Did he think she had a carry-on full of fake mustaches and monocles or something?
“In case the paparazzi bothers us,” he clarified. “They sometimes take an interest in who our family…spends time with.”
Ah, shit. She didn’t have time to invent a disguise and come up with a plan that would put Maya’s to shame. But she also couldn’t cancel on him—she needed insider information. A big hat and bulky coat would have to do. Besides, no one here knew who she was.