Page 48 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

ESMERALDA

I couldn’t sleep that night.

Not that I managed to sleep very often but I never usually felt restless. Not like this.

I kept tossing from one side to the other in my bed, trying different breathing exercises to silence my circling thoughts, but nothing worked.

I couldn’t stop worrying about the whole situation with Kai.

He said he was more than glad I told him about my feelings for him, and I couldn’t lie, my mind was conjuring up theories and fantasies about him possibly feeling something towards me. But I was scared that maybe I was taking it all wrong and being too optimistic.

I wasn’t even sure I wanted to see him to confirm either one. That was why I was suffering through my restlessness in the darkness of my room instead of wandering the palace corridors.

Eventually, the sound of rain pattered against the balcony doors and windows. I threw myself out of bed, desperate to feel the cold droplets against my overheated body.

I didn’t bother donning a jumper over my grey silk short-sleeved shirt and shorts pyjama set. I simply pulled on a pair of white trainer socks and scurried out the room.

Raj’s familiar face greeted me down by the garden doors.

“Can I convince you to at least put a coat on, Your Highness?” the night guard asked as he unhooked the ring of keys from his tunic belt.

“You can try. But I think I’ll still skip the coat.”

He sighed overdramatically. “Princess, you’re going to get me in trouble again.” The keys jingled in his hand as he pushed a long silver key into the lock under one handle.

“Trouble?” My brows furrowed. “With whom? And why?”

He stretched his arm for the top lock of the other door. “Prince Kai is worried that you’ll get ill if you keep going out in the rain.”

Had Raj inferred that? Or had Kai said that to him?

“Well, we both know Prince Kai worries way too much,” I said with a haughty smile as Raj stepped back. I wrapped my hand around the dull silver handle. “And just because he’s a grumpy weirdo who doesn’t like rain, doesn’t mean I should have to—”

“So, I’m a grumpy weirdo now?”

I gasped and flew around in the direction of the voice.

Whatever uncertainty I had moments earlier about wanting to see Kai or not evaporated now that he was in my vicinity. There was no doubt that I would never not want to see his gorgeous face.

Kai pulled the hood of his dark burgundy hoodie down and swaggered slowly towards me, running a hand through his floppy hair. From behind his black-framed glasses, his stare was intense and bright.

“I thought I was a buzzkill?” he said, stopping near my side.

He remembered that? I pressed my lips together, fighting a smile. “You still are a buzzkill, and a grumpy weirdo too now.”

He glared down at me, but it was entirely playful. Then he looked over my head to Raj. “I told you not to let her go out in the rain again, Raj.”

“I did try to stop her, Prince Kai. Her Highness is just very stubborn.”

My mouth opened and closed in spluttering shock before I bristled and stood to my full height. Which, uh, wasn’t much in comparison to the two men. “First of all, you didn’t try to stop me, you unlocked the door for me immediately.”

Raj chuckled and flashed a mock sheepish grin. I jabbed a finger into Kai’s chest—solid, broad, warm, perfect, perfect chest. “And I am outraged that you dared to scheme behind my back to try to stop me from going out in the rain. How could you?”

“Very easily.” His expression lacked any emotion, but his eyes glinted with mischief. It was so damn sexy I couldn’t even attempt to feel frustrated with his highhanded behaviour.

“Well,” I said with a huff. “I’d like to make it clear right now that I don’t intend to listen to either of you.”

I grabbed the doorhandles on both halves of the arched door and yanked them open. Raj grunted and Kai growled a low sound of hatred as a chilly dampness and steady pattering sound flooded the space around us. But I smiled, relishing the way the cold stroked and pinched my bare skin.

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