“Do you even know how long I’ve been trying to get them to do stuff like this?” she said, under her breath, gesturing with her looks-like-Sam princessed hand. “They fight me on everything. But then they just setitup? Because they want to setusup?”
“Yeah, they do that,” he agreed, moving the mouth of the puppet because there was an audience here and he did still understand the assignment. Also, puppet Tanner didn’t stumble over his words. “But they mean well.”
“That’s why I’m so frustrated.” Princess Sam moved her mouth as real Sam gave some evil eye to those sitting in the rows of chairs. “Who do you think bought this theater?”
Prince Tanner turned his hand-head toward the twenty-something people observing the entire exchange. “Not them.”
That got him a few chuckles. Even Sam’s frown disappeared.
“Ve have questions,” Babushka shouted.
“You want an out?” Prince Tanner asked, totally serious because he’d get her out of there if that’s what she wanted. “Or you want to see how this plays out?”
Betty Jane adjusted her glasses. “Yes. First question is for Tanner.”
“Hit me,” Tanner said, using the puppet.
“What do you think of Princess Sam?” Betty Jane read slowly from the card.
The heat rose in his cheeks. And a sticky feeling in his mouth made it impossible to speak.
I think I don’t know her yet,Tanner replied in his head.But I’d like to.
He did not say this. Because… sticky tongue. So instead he let the puppet talk.
“I don’t know her much. Not yet. But I can tell you all care about her,” he said, turning to give her his gaze, so she’d understand that he meant every syllable. “That means she’s probably amazing.”
“Sam.” Betty Jane looked at Sam over her glasses. “Same question.”
“I like princes.” Sam used her puppet to speak, but she snagged Tanner’s gaze with her own. “This one seems…”
There appeared to be a struggle going on in her brain. He could 100 percent relate. Usually, he’d step in and help her out—and using Linx as his model, he totally could do that—but he got the intense feeling she needed to do this on her own. So he’d let her.
“Prince Tanner is the type of person who makes me think that the decisions that brought me here might be for a really good reason.”
Yeah, that’s why he didn’t step in.
He nodded. A brief flutter in his belly that he hadn’t experienced in years brought him up short. But he dug it. Dug her.
“Prince Tanner. What is your favoritelegalactivity?” Betty Jane read again so slowly it was nearly painful.
He could’ve sworn Samantha dropped an f-bomb under her breath on the word “legal.”
He ran his hand over his jaw. Maybe he should do the scruff thing like Linx? Since he was doing so well at pretending to be the guy. Yeah, he could grow his hair long and grow some scruffy stubble.
“Legal activity?” he asked, using the puppet.
Linx would say something like—“Eating.”
One word covered so many bases, all at the same time it tested the waters. Wasn’t too basic, but not in your face, either. As he spoke, he hooked Sam’s gaze with his own, lifting his eyebrows the subtlest bit to see what she thought about eating.
They sat close enough he caught it when her pupils flared the smallest amount, and she squirmed a touch.
“Follow-up question.” Betty Jane made a note on the card. “Favorite thing to eat?”
Of all the questions, so far, this was the most dangerous. Linx would probably say “cake,” but Tanner didn’t want to throw too much kindling in that direction, so instead he said, “I like to try new things.”
He’d given up on the puppet at some point in that quest for an answer, so he only spoke to Sam.
