A Princess for Christmas - Jenny Holiday Page 0,34

of metal blades on ice, and Leo’s good-natured teasing that made her . . . laugh.

“The estate?” he continued, physically poking her this time, lightly against her side. She batted his hand away and tried to skate away from him, but he was too fast, too light on his blades. He caught up with her so they were both racing around the rink. “The grounds? The . . . I don’t know. I fold. I’m not a thesaurus.”

She stopped suddenly, and he hadn’t been anticipating it, because he crashed into her.

“Shit!” He grabbed her before she fell. She was still laughing, though, and he must have realized she wasn’t hurt. And after some to-ing and fro-ing where she wasn’t sure if they would tumble to the ice, he stabilized them and joined in her laughter, his knowing chuckle a bass line that snaked through her, alchemizing her amusement into . . . something else.

They stopped near the center of the rink, staring at each other, both of them breathing hard.

Gradually, she realized other people were staring, too. At them.

At her?

She stood by what she had said before. She was almost certain no one was looking at her thinking, There’s the princess of Eldovia. But they were staring at her. She stood out. She was visually identifiable as someone who did not belong. She hated that.

The last vestiges of laughter left her body like helium out of a balloon with a pinprick in it. She looked down at herself. This silly coat. New Yorkers wore big, puffy parkas that said “Canada Goose” on them. She needed to get one of those.

“Hey.”

Leo’s fingers came to rest under her chin. They were warm, even though he wasn’t wearing gloves. He tilted her chin up and forced her to make eye contact with him.

“It’s not the clothes.”

It wasn’t the clothes. It was the dimples.

Leo had been thinking about them all afternoon, on the drive back home to get Dani and Gabby as well as on the train ride back into Manhattan—without a princess for a passenger, they’d done the sensible thing and taken the subway in.

That smile, the way it lit up her entire face to such an extent that you couldn’t not look at her. He wasn’t the only one. That was why, as they’d twirled on the ice, people had watched. Yes, she wore kind of fussy clothing. That bright pink coat drew the eye. But still, that wasn’t why people stared. It was her face in its delighted state.

It was those dimples.

And here they were again as she greeted them at the door to her suite.

But they weren’t the real ones at the moment. She was smiling, but only with her mouth. The dimples were there, but they were only physical indentations in her cheeks. The mechanical result of her moving the corners of her mouth upward.

She was nervous. His interpretation was verified by the way she opened the door to her suite only a foot, stood there stiffly, and mouthed, I’m sorry.

The door swung fully open to reveal the equerry—Leo had in fact looked up the word and learned it referred to a kind of fancy personal attendant. He didn’t get how that was different from a butler, but whatever. “Good afternoon, Mr. Ricci. Miss Ricci. Ms. Martinez.”

“Actually, it’s Dr. Martinez,” Leo said, just to be contrary, as he gestured at Dani.

“My apologies. Dr. Martinez,” Mr. Benz corrected as Dani waved away the formality. “I’m sure you will all understand the need for a minor security screening before your visit commences.”

“Isn’t it a little late for that?” Leo asked. “I could have kidnapped your precious princess at any point over the past couple days. Did you know we went ice skating today?”

He didn’t react, and the other man, the bodyguard, stepped forward. “Mr. Ricci, we’ve already run background checks on all of you.” He didn’t even have the nerve to look sheepish. Leo was irritated, but he didn’t do anything beyond raising his eyebrows, because Marie looked mortified. “If I could ask all of you to remove your coats and temporarily surrender your bags for inspection.”

“I’m so sorry,” Marie said as they complied. “They know I’m safe with you, but they get nervous about people coming into my space.”

“While you are in America, this suite is an extension of the palace,” Mr. Benz said. The exaggerated patience in his tone as he spoke to Marie annoyed Leo more than being searched did. “I won’t have anyone who doesn’t have your