Page 60 of Coffee Break with the Billionaire

“Oh, I forgot.” Fenella steps back and picks up the bag she dropped during one of her dances. “This.”

She pulls out a cream-coloured woollen toque, with an enormous pink pom-pom. “So I can stay warm when you show me the stars again,” she laughs.

Chapter twenty-one

Fenella

I’m still excited whenI get back to the castle, my mind a whirl of ideas about the party. It will be my last night staying at the castle, so I feel like I should stay for dinner, even though I want nothing more than to throw my things in the car and move into Edie’s.

And then make plans for my party.

Dining with the royal family of Laandia is like having a meal at a local diner but cooked by a world-renowned chef. It takes a little to get used to when you consider the setting—a castle.

This may be the small dining room, but the table can still hold from twelve to twenty guests. The settings may be simple, but it’s Wedgewood and I can check my lipstick in the shine of the spoons. And I have been present when Gunnar and Princess Lyra performed a musical medley with the crystal wine glasses.

It’s very different from dinners with my parents.

When it’s just the family, no one dresses for dinner. There’s a variety of denim in the dining room when I appear, and a few flannel shirts. I shouldn’t be surprised, since the last time Iwas here, the meal was chicken tenders—succulent chunks of chicken breast, breaded with panko and Parmesan and more herbs and spices than KFC, but chicken strips, nonetheless.

King Magnus likes the simple things in life.

There are only two princes in attendance today—Kalle, the eldest, and Gunnar, the youngest. But the princesses-to-be are here: Stella is with Gunnar, and Edie with Kalle. This leaves Spencer Laz as the eligible bachelor for me to practice my smiles on.

Tempting, but not my type. I’m not sure what Spencer does for the family—he’s a lawyer and the son of Duncan Laz, who is basically the right-hand man of the king—and he’s known as the unofficial fifth prince of Laandia. But it’s not his status that has me hesitating.

Unofficially, there’s always been something going on between him and Princess Lyra. No one in the family will admit or acknowledge it, or even allow the thought to be spoken, but it’s there. Call it a woman’s intuition.

And if the only daughter of the king of Laandia has staked her claim on Spencer, then I will not be stepping foot on her territory. There are many women that I would go up against, but Princess Lyra is not one of them.

Prince Gunnar has a glass of wine for me as soon as I walk into the dining room. “Fen! Did I hear right? You’re working at Coffee for the Sole?”

I lift a shoulder. “You’re deserting me, so I need something to do. I like the way Silas makes my lattes, so why not hang out there?”

“Is that the only thing you like about Silas?” Stella demands in her no-nonsense way.

I glance at Edie before I answer. My thoughts about my new boss are a little confusing—okay, a lot confusing—but I don’t need to share that with this group, especially if Edie will be delivering another lecture about how I should steer clear of her cousin. “He’s a sweetheart,” I say instead.

Before I can say anything else, King Magnus enters like a late summer windstorm. I’ve never met a person with a more charismatic presence than the king, and I’ve known my fair share of royals and celebrities and Very Important People. It’s as if Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey, Lionel Messi and Keanu Reeves were shaken and stirred together—that would give you King Magnus.

The king, followed by Duncan, makes his apologies and greets his children before turning to me. “Ah, Fenella. I heard you roaring in from town in that yellow firecracker. So glad you took it off Coy’s hands—that car was wasting away on his front lawn.” He accepts the glass of wine Gunnar hands him and grins down at me.

“Your Majesty.” I drop into a perfect curtsey. “It’s a fun car. I should take you for a ridein it.”

“I will take you up on that,” he says, aiming for the head of the table. "I don't know why I’ve never got myself a muscle car. Seems like fun.”

The king takes his seat, the sign for the rest of us to sit. “What happens to the car when you go home?” Stella asks.

“I haven’t figured that out yet.” I take the seat across from her, beside Edie. “I’ll donate it to a worthy Laandian probably. Maybe Wyatt, if he gets his license.”

“And you’re working for Silas,” Duncan says. He’s like the king’s shadow, if shadows were sixty-plus and still as handsome as a model on the cover of a romance novel, which is what Duncan used to do. “He makes darn good coffee.”

“I also make darn good coffee,” I tell him. “It’s the only reason I persuaded him to hire me.”

“We’ve had a few requests from reporters to enter the country,” the king tells me. “You’re still interesting.”

“That will never change,” Gunnar says fondly.

“I appreciate you keeping them away from me,” I tell Magnus. “I’m not sure how you’re doing it, but it’s very nice.”

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