Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LEO
Leo’s mind buzzed with details as he unfurled a white tablecloth and settled it over the round table he had commandeered from the garden. He had spent the bulk of the day fine-tuning his presentation for his parents. Every last ounce of his energy and creativity had gone into it.
His parents would see the need for it. They had to. There were women and children—like Emma and her mom—who were depending on them.
Roses perfumed the air around him. Rows upon rows of flowers in different colors bloomed in the glass enclosure. His mother insisted on having fresh flowers year-round. Luckily, the gardener only worked in the morning.
With the addition of a table and a couple dozen candles, the sprawling greenhouse had been transformed from plant farm to romantic first date material. It was warm, humid, and there were no interfering paparazzi to be found.
His parents were at a fundraising event and wouldn’t be home for hours, and John and Ruby were having dinner, so as long as no one in the castle saw them and snitched, they were in for a lovely evening.
It had been a long time since his last date. He was rusty. Did this even count as a date? They weren’t dating. Emma was only here for another few days.
The thought of the timeline twisted his stomach.
They were in a weird situation. He was going to stay here and build something for his community that they desperately needed, and she was going to go back to New York to start her bakery empire.
There was no future for them. They were from different worlds.
But maybe tonight they could pretend that none of that mattered.
He couldn’t deny that he wanted to know everything about her.
And physically, he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms, kiss her, and bring her to the edge of passion.
He had lost control in her apartment the day before.
Normally there would be days or weeks of courting, careful wooing.
But his connection with Emma was instant—hot and fierce like a lightning strike. He couldn’t help himself.
The curve of her lips when she saw him. The scatter of goosebumps and soft moan when he kissed her neck. She was mesmerizing.
He was getting hard just thinking about it.
The door opened, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“You have it so bad for this girl,” Sal announced as he walked in holding bags.
Ordinarily, Leo would have had the royal chef arrange a private dinner in the library at the castle, but it was better that no one from the staff knew.
They were notoriously chatty, and he couldn’t put Emma’s job in jeopardy.
“I do not,” he said defensively. “I’m just enjoying spending time with her while she’s here.”
“Whatever. Dibs on catering your wedding,” Sal said, then ducked when Leo threw a spray bottle at his head.
“How’s the presentation coming along?” he asked when he seemed to decide he was out of danger.
“It’s as good as I can make it,” Leo said. He arranged plates and candlesticks on top of the tablecloth.
“And what if they still say no?”
Leo straightened up and frowned at him. “Why are you being so negative?”
“I’m not. You know I like to play worst-case scenario.”
Leo shook his head. “This is happening. I don’t care what I have to do. If they say no, I’ll find another way.”
They wouldn’t say no. You’d have to be a sadist to say no to building a domestic violence shelter in a lot that no one was even using.
“Good. That’s what I wanted to hear. Do you need a pep talk before your date?”
“It’s not a date.”
Sal looked around very slowly at all the candles and flowers. “I’m sorry, did you drag an entire Christmas tree in here? You hate Christmas.”
He gestured to the corner of the greenhouse, where an eight-foot tree had recently been decorated with lights and tinsel.
“It’s—it doesn’t matter what it is,” Leo said. “Get out of here. Thanks for the food.”
“As you wish, Your Highness,” Sal said contritely. “Don’t get caught,” he called just before the door swung shut behind him.
Idiot.
Minutes later, the door inched open and Emma’s head poked inside. His heart lifted at the sight of her, and some of the storm cloud of worry about his project receded.
“All clear?” she whispered.
“All clear.”
“Good. It’s cold as fuck.” She stepped inside and shed her coat. “Oh, but so warm in here. How do you not spend every day in here?”
He blinked, and his brain went stupid for a second. A scarlet dress with a plunging neckline clung to her slender figure, which was incredibly sexy despite the fact that she had paired the outfit with massive snow boots.
“Sometimes I do,” he said when his brain reentered his body. “It’s a great place to hide from my family.”
“Is that a Christmas tree?” She rushed over to investigate the tree and took an appreciative sniff.
“It’s fake,” he said apologetically.
“It’s okay. I sniffed the one in the courtyard on my way here.”
“Are you in the habit of sniffing trees?”
“Life’s too short not to sniff the trees,” she said.
He smiled. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she said with a small twirl. “Would you believe I found this in a thrift store in town today? Oh, shit,” she said, looking down at the snow boots. “I meant to take these off and swap them with these.” She pulled a pair of gold heels out of her bag.
“I’ll pretend like I didn’t see anything,” he said, turning his back to her.
A minute later, she came to stand in front of him, now wearing the heels. “What do you think?”
He couldn’t help himself. He wrapped his arm around her and dipped her, sliding his hand along her leg. Her arms slipped around his neck, and she tugged herself up to kiss him.
His heart beat furiously fast, and his grip tightened on her. He could rip this dress straight off her and set her on the table, exploring with fingers and tongue and everything in him that screamed out to be closer to her, inside her, wrapped in her warmth.
“Sorry,” she said breathlessly a minute later. “I was probably supposed to wait until the end of the date to do that. Not that this is a date,” she said hurriedly.
“I don’t mind,” Leo said, leaning in to kiss her again, softer this time. “I would have done it anyway. You’re a distraction.”
“Me? I’m not the one setting up Christmas trees and making a gorgeous freakin’ greenhouse wonderland. And is that dinner?”
“Of course.”
She whimpered. “Thank you. I’m so hungry. I’ve been baking test batches of macarons all day. And while they are delicious, they’re fairly devoid of substance.”
Leo pulled a chair out for her, and she sat. His fingers brushed against her arm, which just made him want to dive back in. He’d never had to fight for control merely from brushing against someone.
“I hope you like it. It’s one of Sal’s specialties.”
Emma leaned in and inhaled deeply. “Ooh, coq au vin? I love it.”
Leo poured a hefty glass of wine for both of them. Maybe it would help distract him from the curve of her breast behind the daringly low neckline.
“I didn’t hear from you this morning,” she said after a long sip of wine. “I thought you were reconsidering our…agreement.”
“Not at all. I had some meetings. And then I had to figure out the logistics of lugging a Christmas tree and a hundred candles to the greenhouse without being spotted.”
“I don’t know how you did it. It’s stunning,” she said, surveying the scene.
She was beautiful in the soft candlelight. Her blonde hair was out of the bun he normally saw it in, curling gently down her back. Lipstick the same shade as her dress was probably smeared on his face right now. It was going to be hard to focus on dinner.
“You didn’t have to do all this for me,” she added. “I’m low-maintenance.”
She speared a mushroom on her fork and hummed appreciatively. He paused for an instant. It was customary to wait until the royal family took the first bite to eat. How refreshing that she either didn’t know or didn’t care about the tradition. It was a stupid one.
“Our time is short, and you’re missing Christmas at home. I know it’s not the same as ice skating at Rockefeller Center or window shopping on Fifth Avenue, but I wanted to bring some magic to you.”
“Have you ever been to New York?”
“Not for many years,” he admitted.
“You’ll have to visit sometime. Maybe when Ruby goes to school. As long as you’re not busy with construction on the new community project—or your royal duties. Whatever those are.”
The idea of seeing her again was very enticing. Maybe their story didn’t end in a few days when she went home. Maybe there was another chapter. Or a lot of them.
“I’d like that,” he said.
Their eyes met over the tapered candles, and something lurched in his gut. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Things were getting more serious than he intended. Messier. He barely knew her. She had arrived less than a week ago.
The warning signs were flashing all around him, but for some reason, he didn’t care.
“What’s your favorite dessert?” she asked over the sensual croon of “Santa Baby.” There was a shortage of sexy Christmas songs.
“My favorite dessert?” He was surprised by the question.
The few women he had dated since Petra had seemed perpetually nervous and hadn’t asked a lot of questions.
“Cheesecake,” he decided. They didn’t have a lot of it in the castle, as his mother couldn’t stand the texture of it.
But when she went away, the previous royal baker would sneak it onto the menu.
“Oh my god,” Emma said. “I have the best recipe. It will knock your socks all the way off. Into a different dimension, even. It’s that good.”
Leo raised his eyebrows. “Dimension-transcending cheesecake.”
“That’s what I call it. When’s your birthday?” she asked.
“December thirteenth.”
She put her fork down. “Are you kidding me?” she asked. “Were you even going to tell me?”
“Why would I tell you when my birthday is?”
“It’s a week from now. And you’ve spent your entire life having your birthday overshadowed by Christmas.”
He shrugged. Maybe that’s where some of his resentment for the holiday had come from.
She shook her head and sat back in her seat. “That won’t do. We’ll have to celebrate your half birthday.”
“A half birthday? What am I, twelve?”
She shook her head. “Anyone born between the months of November and January get a half birthday. With celebratory cheesecake. It’s the law. Watch your PO box for a totally mangled cheesecake in the middle of June.”
He smiled. “Totally mangled dimension-transcending cheesecake,” he clarified.
“Exactly.”
“I look forward to it. And when is your birthday?”
“January twelfth.”
“Ah. I’m starting to understand why you’re an expert in half birthdays.”
She nodded. “The law may have been enacted by my own mother.”
“Is she looking for another job? Maybe as a powerless figurehead for a small European country?”
“Sorry, but I think that position is about to be filled by my hopefully soon-to-be ex-boss who’s banging your brother,” Emma said.
Leo froze with a bite halfway to his mouth. “Wait, does that mean she could be my sister-in-law? I didn’t agree to this.”
It would never happen. The queen would arrange a marriage before allowing John to marry an American. The thought didn’t bring him any joy, as he was bound by the same made-up rules.
“That’s right,” Emma said “She’s yours now. Good luck. You know, I joked about this before coming here, but I never dreamed it would actually happen. Maybe I should actually stay at Crumb and Get It now,” she said thoughtfully.
He shook his head. “Stay the course. You deserve to be your own boss.”
“That’s right. I do.” She glanced at her watch. “Shit, I only have another hour. I really need to get the big pieces of the structure baked tonight. The oven in my kitchenette isn’t big enough. And then there’s the fact that it now it smells like burnt shoes.”
His heart fell. He wasn’t ready to end the night.
“Dance with me,” he said.
She raised her eyebrows. “Now? In here?”
“Normally a date would include dinner, dancing, and maybe a movie. But as we’re short on time…” He held his hand out to her, and she took it.
“So you’re saying this is a date?” she asked coyly.
“It’s… I don’t know what this is,” he admitted.
She rose from the table, her hand in his. “Let’s not worry about what it is or isn’t. Let’s dance.”