Page 9 of His Royal Request

I stared down at her. “I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

She leaned in closer, her eyes sparkling.

“It’s quickly becoming my favorite too.”

She laughed and shook her head like she didn’t believe me.

“It might have something to do with the present company.”

She bit her lip, failing at hiding her smile and pushed away from the wall. We walked down the stairs to the left side of the cliffs while she continued to pause to take pictures. “I heard there are puffins here.”

I nodded. “I've never actually been able to see one but I know that they nest in this area.”

She looked slightly disappointed and I felt bad for dimming her smile.

“That's okay I'll take pictures of the birds and tell my dad that they’re puffins. He'll never know the difference.”

I smiled at her scheming. “Do you want to keep going further down the path? It isn't paved and there’s no wall, so we have to be really careful. And you might get muddy.”

She looked at George who was hanging back, looking tired. He waved us forward. “Go on. I’ll wait here.”

She glanced back at the slippery path. “No, I think I’ve seen enough.”

I knew she was watching out for him and she wanted to make sure he felt included. This was something no one else I knew would do. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know my true title or that George was meant to blend into the background. She treated the people she met with respect and actually considered their feelings. She’d been sure to thank the barkeep last night and leave a tip even though it wasn’t necessary, and this morning she’d complimented the attendant at her hotel on her service. It was the most refreshing thing I’d experienced in…months, probably longer.

She took what could have been a million pictures smiling and shaking her head in wonder until gray clouds formed above us.

She looked up and frowned. “Go away!”

I laughed. “I'm not sure that's how it works.”

She furrowed her brows in defiance. “Do you think it’ll get bad?”

I looked up at the sky but before I could answer her a raindrop hit me in the forehead. “Unfortunately, yes. I think it will we should hurry back before we’re soaked through.”

3

Charlie

By the time we made it back to the car, all three of us were drenched. George was laughing, especially when he noticed Aiden’s disgruntled expression.

“What’s wrong, pr- Aiden?”

Aiden shot him a glare before shaking his head. “You know how I feel about wet clothes.”

George winked at me and took my wet jacket before opening my door. I slid in and brushed my hair away from my face. So much for the curls I’d added this morning. I should have known better than trying to defy the Irish weather.

Aiden got in beside me, shaking off the raindrops that had formed at the tips of his hair. I laughed and he froze. “Sorry,” he said, “I should have done that outside.”

I lifted my fingers into my hair and mirrored his movement. “There. We’re even.”

George got in the car and turned up the heater. “We’ll have you dry in no time.”

Aiden reached forward and tapped a button on the console between us. I looked down and smiled as the seat warmed up. I resisted the urge to rub my hands along the plush leather or geek out at the option that reclines but didn’t want to show how out of my element I was. This was by far the nicest car I’d ever been in. I knew the name Bentley meant luxury, but I didn’t allow myself to overthink things. Obviously, Aiden was wealthy or worked for someone who was wealthy, but it wasn’t my business to press for more information.

“We should be to Galway in about an hour and a half,” George announced.

“Would you like to watch a movie?” Aiden asked as he pressed another button and TV screens rose out of the back of the driver and passenger seats.