His Royal Request: Royals of Lochland Book I

by Mulliner, Brittney

  This was it.

  This was how it should feel.

  About the Author

  Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed Aiden and Charlie’s story!

  Word of mouth is so important for authors to succeed. If you enjoyed His Royal Request, I’d love for you to leave a review on Amazon!

  Keep Reading,

  Xoxo B

  Coming in October:

  His Royal Regret

  The last person Serena Jones expects to meet when she walks into her local bookstore is Cian, the crown prince of Lochland. Things get weirder when she arrives at her brother’s house for dinner and Cian is there! After running into each other throughout LA, Cian has to return to Lochland and invites Serena to visit him and his country, but she has work to do before she can think of herself and what she wants. After Cian is gone, she realizes how much she misses him and Cian knows he made a mistake leaving. Will either one of them be brave enough to admit they were wrong?

  Keep reading for a sneak peek into His Royal Regret, Book Two of The Royals of Lochland Series.

  His Royal Regret

  The line in front of the Seventh Page bookstore wound its way down the sidewalk and wrapped around the corner of Seventh street. The sprinkling of men were looking at their phones or staring down the road longingly as if they’d rather be stopped in traffic than where they stood unmoving amongst the excited women and teenage girls. I moved past them to the store entrance. I wasn’t going to wait in line for a book I’d ordered two weeks ago.

  “Do you think he’s here yet?” A young girl, maybe around fourteen, asked the woman next to her.

  “I hope he signs my copy.” An older woman said to another with an impish smile.

  Was there an actor or singer here? The small bookstore often held book signings, but it was usually local authors and there was rarely a line.

  I almost stopped to ask one of them but resisted. I doubted I’d know who it was anyway. I’d lost touch with most of pop culture happenings while in Nepal for the last two years.

  I pulled open the front door to the complaints of those in line.

  “Get in line!”

  “It’s back there.”

  “No cutting!”

  I ignored the calls and entered the empty store heading directly to the cash wrap. When they called to let me know the book had arrived, they said they’d have it waiting for me, so I could avoid waiting. Well, that didn’t look like it was going to work out for me. No one was around so I stood on my tiptoes and looked around. I was too short to see over the towering bookshelves so I wandered further in listening for voices.

  I was in the middle of the store when I came to an open area filled with a dozen rows of chairs facing a podium that hadn’t been there the previous week. So, this was where the big event was taking place.

  I sighed. Still no employees. “Hello?” I called out and moved past the chairs.

  “Sorry Miss. We’re closed until two.” A man about my age cut through an aisle and approached me.

  I shook my head. “Sorry, I’m just here to pick up a book. I got a call yesterday that it was here.”

  He seemed to relax. “Oh, sorry about that. They should have let you know we’d be closed for an event. I’ll grab it for you. What’s your name?”

  “Serena Jones.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  He disappeared and I turned to look at the display table of new releases. I wasn’t a big fiction reader, so I glanced at the covers but didn’t really take them in.

  “Excuse me?”

  I turned to the sound of the accented voice and stepped back. A different man, probably around my age with light brown hair and a stern expression was staring at me. His piercing blue eyes were like magnets drawing me in but warning me away at the same time. He was gorgeous yet imposing like he knew he was attractive but was annoyed by it.

  “Yes?”

  “I asked for my coffee thirty minutes ago. How hard it is to get a drink in this town? There’s a Starbucks every thirty meters.”

  I looked around and realized he thought I was an employee. “Sorry, sir…”

  “Stop apologizing and get my coffee.”

  I smirked. He was a real winner.

  His face reddened. “Why are you laughing?”

  I shrugged. “Cause you’re going to be waiting a lot longer for your coffee by yelling at me.”

  “You incompetent--”

  “Here’s your book, Ms. Jones. Sorry for the mix-up.”

  I smiled at the real employee. “No problem. Thanks for your help.” I moved to step past him, but stopped at his side and looked over my shoulder. “Might want to get this man his coffee. He’s simply suffering without it.”

  The demanding jerk had the decency to look apologetic. “I didn’t know.”

  I waved him off. “Don’t worry. I’m sure walking around yelling at people is how you get things done. There’s simply no alternative to how you treat people. Decency seems like a completely foreign concept to you.”

  I kept walking with my head held high. My tolerance for entitled, privileged man-children was down to zero after spending time with orphans in Nepal who had literally nothing and wanted only for the very basic. The children didn’t even cry. They knew their tears and pleas would go unanswered. Living in those circumstances change a person. I no longer took things like clean water and access to food for granted. I had so much. More than other people could dream of.

  Wasting time and energy being angry at that gorgeous brute wasn’t on my to-do list.

  “Pardon me.”

  I cringed and slowly turned. “What?”

  “I’m sorry for yelling at you and assuming you were an employee.”

  “It’s fine.”

  I turned but he reached out like he was going to grab me. I stepped back and narrowed my eyes.

  His jaw clenched. “I’m sorry.” He took a breath. “I get...anxious before these events and I get a bit short with people.”

  I nodded like I understood. I didn’t and I didn’t particularly care to. “Sure.”

  This time he didn’t try to stop me when I turned.

  “You can stay if you’d like.” He called after I took a few steps.

  I looked over my shoulder. “For what?”

  He looked affronted. “My reading?”

  Who was this guy? Not only did he think everyone was around to serve him, but we all were supposed to know who he was too?

  “Of your book?”

  “Yes, my book.” He sounded stupefied.

  I looked down at the book in my hand about the global animal homelessness crisis. “I...um…” Have better things to do.

  “I’ll be discussing renewable energy and how we are working with less developed countries to create their own plans.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Really?” I couldn’t keep the skepticism out of my voice. This guy looked like he would be talking about himself and his skincare regimen, not solving a global problem.

  “I’m so sorry to interrupt, Cian, but we’re about to let people in. We need you to come to the back.” One of the real store employees was looking anxiously between the two of us.

  “Will you stay?” His eyes seemed to plead with mine. Why did he care so much?

  “We’ll save a front-row seat for her, sir.” The frazzled employee interrupted. “You need to get to the back.”

  Cian’s eyes held mine until I nodded. “I’ll stay for a bit.”

  It seemed like the only way he would leave and I didn’t want to be responsible for the other guy’s anxiety attack. He was very concerned about getting CIan to the back for whatever reason.

  “Come on,” He rushed down the aisle away from us. Cian nodded to me then followed after him.

  I wandered to the rows of chairs just as the front doors opened and the line rushed in. Employees were shouting to not run and there was no need to rush but it fell on deaf ears. The silent store was now full of excited chatter and a ridiculous am
ount of giggling.

  Were they all here to see Cian? Was he a new actor? One that fancied himself an activist?

  I skirted along the edge of the crowd, looking for an empty seat when the nervous employee from before approached. “I have a seat up front for you, Miss.”

  “Thanks.” I didn't want to sit that close, especially since I was planning on leaving after a few minutes, but it didn’t seem like I had a choice.

  “Here you go.” He waved to a chair in the center with a post-it note that said ‘reserved’. He took off in another direction leaving me alone to sit amidst the rabid Cian fans.

  I looked around, avoiding the eyes of the women and teens that seemed annoyed by my presence. Tall banners stood on either side of the podium, those hadn’t been there a few minutes before. The one on the left had the cover of his book “Renewable Energy, Achieved” while the one on the right read “Best-Selling Author Prince Cian, Crowned Prince of Lochland”.

  I balked then looked around at the crowd. They weren’t here for a famous author or actor. They were here to see a prince. A real-life prince!

  “He’s so handsome.”

  “I can’t believe we got in.”

  “Did you see the pictures of him at the royal wedding?”

  “He’s hot!”

  The voices melted together as my vision tunneled and my breathing quickened. I’d met a prince of Lochland? Cian? The oldest?

  I hadn’t seen pictures of him since his high school or college days, years ago. I’d been a bit busy and they didn’t keep tabloids on hand in the rural areas I’d been living in.

  I’d been so rude! I looked around and noticed the scattering of men dressed in dark suits. Security.

  Had he asked me to stay so they could take me away and punish me for disrespecting their prince?

  An employee stood up at the podium and began speaking but I couldn’t hear what she was saying over the cheers and screams. Then, Cian appeared directly in front of me, still looking all broody and serious. His eyes met mine for a split second before he opened his mouth to start, but the screams only intensified.

  He closed his mouth and tried three more times before employees stepped forward to hush the crowd.

  Finally, it was quiet enough for him to begin. “Thank you all for being here.” Cheers ensured for over a minute. He gave a tight smile while waiting for the room to quiet again. “I’m so glad to see so many interested in renewable energy.”

  He smirked and I found myself relaxing a bit. He had a sense of humor. I never would have guessed.

  “LochEnergy has been working hard on finding a solution to the energy and oil crisis facing all of us, and after years of research and trial and error we’ve found a solution that not only works for our country but others around the world. We’ve implemented test sites and they’ve yielded success so we’re ready to move forward…”

  I zoned out as he got into the nitty-gritty details of what LochEnergy has been doing, and read a selection. I thought he’d been kidding earlier. I’d assumed he was an actor releasing his autobiography at twenty-something.

  No, he was the real deal. He was obviously intelligent, well-spoken, and knew how to handle a crowd.

  Well, of course. He was a prince.

  I still couldn’t believe I didn't recognize him. Probably because he was missing his signature smile, he flashed his entire life. The man in front of me hadn’t smiled yet. He kept his expression neutral while he spoke, but when he’d spoken to me earlier, he looked...tired. Jaded.

  What had happened to him between then and now?

  The surge of sympathy I felt confused me. I didn’t know him and I doubted there was much as a prince he longed for.

  Still, there was pain behind his eyes.

  When he was done his security escorted him to the back of the store and the employee that introduced him stood up again. “We’d like to invite those of you who have purchased the prince’s book to the back of the store where he was so kindly agreed to sign your copy.”

  I took that as my chance to escape and fought against the crowd to the front doors. It seemed like I was the only one not rushing at the chance to meet Cian.

  Once I was outside, and back in the normal world, I took a deep breath and shook my head. That was the single weirdest experience of my life.

  I checked my phone and cringed. I was going to be late for my shift, and I doubted anyone would believe me if I said why. I sent a quick text to my manager and jogged up the street to my car while pushing the prince out of my mind. I channeled my focus on the babies that needed me.