Page 10 of Coffee Break with the Billionaire

Is that a video, because she’s speaking to the screen?

“Enough,” her brother finally says. “I thought you didn’t want anyone to know where you are?”

“No one will know,” Fenella says off-handedly. “Even if I post it, no one will recognize this place.It’s so cute, though, isn’t it?”

“Sometimes I wonder about your taste,” Ashton grumbles.

Fenella elbows him. “My taste for pumpkin spice, you mean?”

Despite Fenella’s lightheartedness, their comments don’t feel great. Coffee for the Sole might be the first choice for coffee in Battle Harbour, but Battle Harbour is a tiny town on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Big fish, small pond and serving Fenella and Ashton Carrington makes me so very aware of that. We’re miles away from anything Fenella would consider interesting.

Why should I care about what she considers interesting?

Order in hand, the foursome waves as they take their leave. Leodie is at my side as soon as the door shuts after them. “Did that just happen?” she says excitedly.

“We have royal customers almost every day.”

“Not Prince Gunnar—them.” Stars are shining in her dark eyes. I have seen Leodie’s reactions of many things, but I’ve never seen her starstruck by a model/celebrity influencer, and her good-looking brother.

The Carrington twins are billionaires, but that doesn’t make them any different than the rest of us.

I flash back to Fenella’s purple eyes; maybe she’s a little different. But different isn’t always good.

“I heard she’s staying at the castle,” Leodie tells me excitedly. “Wyatt will blow his mind when he hears. Is he still stalking her online?”

“Who?” I ask, even though I know who she means.

“Fenella Carrington.” She gives me a knowing glance. “I saw how she looked at you.”

“She’s a model. She’s paid to look at people like that.”

“Nope, there’s something there,” Leodie insists.

“She needed her morning coffee.” I put a hand on the top of Leodie’s head. I may not have the Princes of Laandia’s height—those boys are tall drinks of water—but I’m a solid six foot and Leodie is pretty short.

She swats my hand away because she hates being reminded of the height difference, which is why I do it. “You’re a very silly girl if you think there’s ever going to be something there between Fenella and me,” I inform her. “That’s fairy-tale talk.”

“But we live in Laandia and that’s better than a fairy tale,” she points out.

She does have a point.

Chapter five

Fenella

Laandia is boring.

It’s my third day here and I had no idea hiding out in a foreign country would be so deadly dull.

It’s not that dull, but there’s nothing to do.

Prince Gunnar Erickson is one of my closest friends and best ex (don’t tell him), so when he offered me a safe haven in the castle, it was a no-brainer. It’s not like I’ve never been here—this is my fourth time, plus one of those visits was for Prince Odin’s wedding—but Battle Harbour is a small place and I’ve already checked out everything there is to check out.

We’ve been to The King’s Hat pub twice, gone into every store in what constitutes as a downtown in Battle Harbour. Yesterday, I bundled up in what seemed like every piece of clothing I had and went whale-watching. We had no luck, other than spotting a few seals, and I spent the evening moving from room to room in the castle so I could hug the fireplaces because I wasstill cold.

Gunnar’s new girlfriend Stella insisted we go to the Maritime Museum of Laandia so that I could learn the history of the country—how Battle Harbour was the site of the fight between the Vikings who came to plunder in the 1600s and the bands of First Nations who weren’t keen on being pillaged.

The First Nations lost, and the Vikings became the first settlers of what would eventually become the country of Laandia.

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