Page 54 of Royal Icing

“I’m fine,” she said. It was kind of the truth. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, honey. A little tired since I’m being woken up at—what time even is it?”

“It’s late. I’m sorry. I had a problem with my phone, and I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Please stay in bed until Shante arrives. And if you need anything, call Beatrice so she can come find me, okay?”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re calling from an international number. I thought you were calling to ask about my car’s extended warranty.”

A startled laugh burst from Emma. “I’m so sorry for waking you up. Thank you for answering.”

“I’ll always answer for you, sweetheart. Wait, whose phone are you using?”

“Just a castle landline.”

The last thing her mom needed was shocking news that her only child had almost died of hypothermia.

“Huh. I didn’t know those existed anymore. Love you, dove.”

“Love you too.”

Emma hung up and handed the phone back to Leo. She took a deep breath and willed her hands to stop shaking. Everything was fine.

“Thank you,” she said. “For everything. I really should get back to the castle. Coop’s going to gnaw my leg off if I don’t get him some breakfast.”

“We’re going back to the castle, but you’re going straight to the royal doctor. No arguments,” he said when she opened her mouth. “What happened to you was really serious. I—we—need to make sure you’re okay.”

She shot him a look. “You can’t just order me around, you know. I’m not a citizen.”

“Consider it a favor. To me. And to my mom, because she’ll be mad as a box of frogs if her star baker can’t pull off this absurd dessert because her fingers fell off from hypothermia.”

He must have seen something in her face, because his smile slipped off like royal icing on a cookie that was too hot.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked gingerly.

“I’m fine. I just need to get to work. I really need this to go well.”

He walked over to stand in front of her and took both of her arms gently in his. The sweater she’d been clutching to hide her granny panties fell to the floor, and a sense of vulnerability she hadn’t felt in a long time—maybe ever?—set in.

“What happened to your mom wasn’t your fault.”

Emma shook her head and averted her gaze. There was something too raw in Leo’s dark chocolate eyes.

“It was. If I would have answered, her entire life would be different right now.”

“She should have called emergency services, not you.”

Emma took a deep breath, and her necklace glinted in the sunlight and cast a beam of light onto the far wall. She wasn’t going to cry. She had cried over the incident what felt like a thousand times, and none of those times had she been standing half naked in front of a prince.

Her mom had said the same thing, but nothing was going to assuage her guilt.

“It doesn’t change the fact that I failed her on that day, and everything is different now. I owe her a better life. That’s why I need to put everything I have into this project.”

Leo’s dark eyebrows were knit together. “We’ll get you up to the castle. Put my jacket on.”

“No, you’ll be?—”

He silenced her with a look. “Put on the damn jacket.”

The prickle of annoyance at being bossed around was almost a relief after the emotional flood of the last twelve hours.