Page 63 of Royal Icing

The queen turned to her. “That’s right. I’m grateful that she’ll have a friendly face nearby. Watch out for her, won’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Don’t let her fall in love with an unemployed musician.”

Oh, a joke.

“I’ll do my best, but New York’s lousy with them.”

The queen gifted her with another ghost of a smile before gliding out of the kitchen.

Had she just made some headway? Maybe she would be more open to Emma and Leo spending time together. Or maybe Emma could find a way to save John from embarrassment or harm and complete the trifecta, thereby earning a sizable bonus in the second half of her payment.

But for now, it was best to keep things under wraps. Her mind turned to her secret rendezvous with Leo the next night. Would he keep his word, or would she show up to a dark, disappointing greenhouse?

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

LEO

Leo’s mindbuzzed 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.”