Page 4 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

“Trying?” Mariyah nearly bellowed in incredulity before she lowered her voice. “Esmeralda, you have been crushing on this man for what, six, seven years, and you have yet to have one proper conversation with him. And you’ve been to so many of the same royal events as him too!”

I wanted to argue that she was wrong. The problem was she wasn’t wrong.

The prince, nicknamed Orange—my crush of nearly seven years—was Kai Touma.

Twenty-nine-years-old, he was the first-born son of King Rami and Queen Leila of Touma. Not to mention, he was tall, dark, and handsome, and charming in a quiet, understated way. Plus, his smile…he had a dimple.

I had grown up in the same royal circle as him. We attended the same events and birthdays and New Year’s parties. And yet other than the basic pleasantries, she was right, I had never had a proper conversation with him.

Ever.

How that was even possible, I didn’t know. I had no idea what I was doing wrong.

“Rub it my face why don’t you.” I threw the cushion at her lap.

She wrapped her arms around it with a smirk sitting on her full lips. “I will. Maybe it will finally spur you into action.”

She threw the cushion back at me and it smacked me right in the face. “Mariyah!”

“You have to talk to him this Peace Celebration, or I swear, Esmeralda, I will find Orange and tell him myself that you like him. Actually, no.” She waved her hand around. “Forget talking to him. Just straight up fucking seduce him. Befriend him and seduce him.”

I threw my head back and laughed. I hadn’t even managed to speak to the bloody man, and she thought I could seduce him? As if.

“I’m serious.” Mariyah crossed her legs and shuffled towards me. “Two weeks is enough time to seduce a man and look at you—you’re gorgeous.”

“It’s not about my looks—”

“Shut up and look at me.” I sighed but met her gaze head-on. “Now repeat after me. Befriend him, seduce him, bed him, and then shower him with roses.”

My mouth tugged in amusement. “Mariyah—”

“Say it. Manifest it.”

I bit down on my bottom lip, hesitant to do so, but I quietly forced myself to. “Befriend him. Seduce him…bed him. And shower him with roses.”

“There you go!” She pointed a finger at me. “And you better try. Like I mean try, Ez.”

I knew Mariyah was right. I had to try to get Kai’s attention this year.

And if I didn’t manage to, then maybe it was a sign I needed to give up on my crush.

Especially considering he’d been engaged once before already.

* * *

“That’s everything,” Shehryar, my secretary, bodyguard, confidant, and everything in between, said, ducking his head to get his six-foot-five, hulking frame through the doorway into the living room.

I stood opposite Mariyah, ready to head to the airport to fly back to Jahandar late the next morning, but reluctant to leave. Mine and Shehryar’s suitcases sat in the corridor where he’d left them.

“Did you double-check your room?” he asked, adjusting the sleeve of his crisp black suit jacket.

“That’s the fourth time you’ve asked me, Sher,” I said, grinning up at him.

He angled towards me, looking down at me through stern pale green eyes set under even more stern thick, arched eyebrows. To an outsider his expression might have been scary, especially with his tall, muscular build and shoulders as wide as a bull’s. His short, soft brown hair didn’t really soften the harshness of his face nor the shadow on his jaw. But I knew he was a big, loving, softie underneath that mask, so nothing about his glares and warning gazes bothered me.

That didn’t mean I was stupid enough to mistake his softness for weakness or incompetence. When it came to his guard over me, what he said was what I did. No whining or questions asked.

“But yes, I didn’t forget anything,” I assured him.

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