Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Bear hesitated, glancing from me to Gerhard and back, clearly torn.
“Please,” I said in a soft voice hopefully only Bear could hear. “Let me take the picture, you talk to the king, then we’ll go.”
Bear nodded reluctantly. He exchanged a wordless look with Kasper, who seemed to immediately understand what Bear was asking. With the slightest of nods to Bear and a friendly smile for me, Kasper smoothly stepped in and set a hand on my back to guide me over to the queen.
Gisella apologized again for bumping me and for pulling me over without waiting for security to escort us. “You’d think at my age, after twenty years in a public role, I’d have learned to look before I leap, but no.” She shook her head at herself. “No better than my children sometimes. Thank you for agreeing to take the photo. I remember when I was their age and went to see the Spice Girls. I would have completely lost it if I’d had a chance to take a photo with them.”
I posed with the kids while Carina chattered happily about all the American things she wanted to see next summer. “We’re going to America next month, too.” She pouted. “But no Disneyland.”
Gisella rolled her eyes. “We have a brief visit to America in early December since we’ll be official guests at the tree lighting in Washington. We’re also going to New York—”
“To skate at Rockefeller Center,” Auden chimed in.
“And shop at all the toy stores,” Isak added.
“You could come with us, Zee!” Carina begged. “We can go ice-skating together and see the big tree.”
I smiled at her and shook my head. “I’ll be with my friends in Wyoming then. The tiny town where they live has a Festival of the Bells a couple of weeks before Christmas. I’ll be playing there and then staying there for the holiday.”
Carina turned to her father, who’d walked up to join his family, and grabbed his hand in both her own. “Papa? Can we go to Wyoming for the Festival of the Bells after New York? I’d like to see Zee play.”
When the king glanced at me, I shrugged and smiled. “Majestic would love to have you, I’m sure. It’s a welcoming town with beautiful scenery and Christmas decorations, and there are plenty of large homes to rent.”
King Gerhard pulled Carina into his side affectionately and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We will see.”
All three of the kids started begging him, but I barely paid attention because Bear had slid up beside me. Just being in his presence, being able to smell his clean scent and feel his warmth, made my tense shoulders drop several inches.
I offered the royals a friendly wave goodbye and thanked them for coming before allowing Bear to lead me out of the room. Just before we reached the door, little Carina came barreling into the back of me, throwing her arms around my middle. “Thank you so much for everything! This is amazing. I can’t wait to tell all my friends I met you in person. Can we take a picture just you and me?”
I smiled and put my arm around her. Her little arm came around my waist as we posed for a silly-faced selfie and then a smiling one. I handed her phone back before saying goodbye again and letting Bear lead me out. Lou stepped into place beside us once we reached the door
As soon as we were down the long hallway and on the elevator to another level, I let out a long exhale. “That was hectic.”
Bear’s jaw flexed, but the only sound he made was a deep grumble in his chest.
I wanted to lean against him, wanted to bury my face in his chest and inhale deeply to center myself, but I couldn’t. Lou was busy typing something into her phone, and Bear… Bear seemed to be busy trying to keep from murdering me for all the unnecessary touching I’d done.
As soon as the elevator stopped, Boomer was waiting to escort us to the dressing room so I could prepare for the concert.
“Hey, Boomer? Why did you ask Bodhi to keep an eye on me?” I wondered. “I mean, it was no big deal. He’s a sweet guy, and I… I don’t actually think he has anything to do with the stamping, but—”
Bear shot Boomer an incredulous look. “You did what?”
Boomer shot Bear a guilty look. “He’s clear, Ryan. I told you, he almost definitely had an alibi for San Diego—”
“And I told you, I don’t care about almost definitely—”
“I got a callback tonight from the owner of the bar where he was playing. The guy has Bodhi on security cameras. He was in Reno that night. A hundred percent.”
Bear fumed, clearly not ready to let it go. “He could have paid someone—”