Page 16 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

Before I could recall my abhorrence for rain, I charged for the open door and yanked it fully open, exposing myself to the cold downpour.

My jaw collapsed to the floor.

There she was. Princess Esmeralda. Sitting on a nearby bench under a black metal lamp with her back to the door. No umbrella and no jacket either just as Raj said.

“How long has she been out there?” I asked.

“I—I don’t know.” He looked at his watch. “Maybe ten minutes.”

My blood ran cold as if I’d been the one outside. “Ten minutes? And you didn’t think to go get her out of there? You know how cold it is when it rains.”

Raj’s face paled. “I tried, Sir, but Her Highness—”

Without another thought, I stormed away from the guard to the tall wooden wardrobe nearby. There was no time to put a coat on, so I grabbed the longest umbrella hanging on the door and picked up my old pair of trainers off the cupboard floor, charging back over to the door. As I quickly shoved my feet into the trainers, I couldn’t help but feel like this was my fault.

Why else would she be sitting outside in the rain in the middle of a freezing cold night? Unless she just enjoyed playing Raven Roulette with her health and wanted to get hypothermia. In which case, it might not have been my place, but I was going to set her straight when I got her inside. And then finally, I was going to apologise too.

With that plan in mind, I opened the umbrella and braced myself before voluntarily charging out into the pouring rain for the first time in my entire existence. When I rounded the bench, whether she saw me or felt me, her gaze drifted sideways. Then up and up until her wide eyes met mine.

Princess Esmeralda shot up from the bench, stumbling back a step. “Prince Kai.”

I just about heard her breathless voice over the consuming noise of the rain. I was too focused on trying to control the irrational frustration filtering through me at the sight of her.

Her shorts, of some light colour, were plastered to the very top of her thighs, her shirt had become a second layer of skin, and her hair was beyond dripping wet and combed back off her face.

She was fucking barefoot too.

My brows bunched together fiercely. “What are you doing out here?” I demanded loud enough to ensure she could hear me.

Her gaze flicked to the side, but she stayed silent, so I stepped closer, covering her with the umbrella. Her big eyes grew wider as I reached for her hand. “You need to get inside.”

“No.” She pulled back, stumbling out from under the protection of the umbrella. “I’m staying out here.”

I gaped at her.

She was mad. This girl was insane. There was no other explanation as to why she wanted to stay outside where the wet wind was biting away at her skin.

I gritted my teeth. “With all due respect, Princess Esmeralda, you cannot stay out here in the freezing cold rain.”

She tipped her chin up. “I’m perfectly fine, Prince Kai. I want to be out here. I need to be out here.”

Need to be? Oh, she needed to be sick, did she? And get me wet in the process? Yeah, right.

I stepped closer to her. “You’re going to risk getting hypothermia if you stay out here.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Then I will take the risk.”

“No, you will not.” The frustrated words left me before I even realised they had. “You are coming inside. Now.”

For a long moment, her expression remained blank in shock. Honestly, I was a little shocked myself too. This was not the polite prince I had always strived to be. But I meant it, with everything in me.

She recovered quickly, giving me her own little scowl—if that’s what it could even be called. “With all due respect, Prince Kai, you cannot tell me what to do.”

I moved closer again. “If you weren’t being so stubborn then I wouldn’t have to, would I?”

Her mouth pulled apart before snapping back together. “I’m being the stubborn one? What about your insistence on taking me back inside against my will?”

This is what I got for coming out into the rain for her. A mouthful from this tiny—

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