Page 26 of A Royal Obligation
Rory’s mouth pulled to the side. “Is that what you want?”
“I don’t know what I want. But I know what I can’t have, and that’s him.”
Chapter Eleven
Jules
Juleswalkedintothedining room for breakfast five minutes early expecting everyone to already be seated. She was surprised to find that the only person in the room, aside from the staff, was Barrett. A sugary smell pulled her gaze to the left where there was a table already covered in an assortment of scones, muffins, danishes, bagels, and toast along with many different toppings. She sighed as she breathed in the intoxicating scent, and then she made her way over to Prince Barrett and curtsied.
His face was lit with excitement, and she looked away to avoid being sucked into his eyes.
I have to start reining in my feelings. That means I can’t stare into his lovely, sea-green eyes. No matter how much I want to.
His enthusiasm fell when he noticed she wasn’t returning it.
She placed her hand with the note she had written into his, hoping the motion would go unnoticed by the staff.Just a simple handshake here. Nothing to see, folks.
She tried to ignore the tingling sensation in her fingers as she released the note and dropped her hand from his. His eyes gave her a questioning look that soon disappeared from his face as Lady Charlotte walked into the room accompanied by King Henry. Jules dropped into another curtsy and took a seat next to where Charlotte would sit.
“Good morning, everyone. That was a fantastic ball last night,” King Henry bellowed.
“It was a magical evening, Your Majesty. Thank you so much for throwing such a wonderful event,” Charlotte responded.
King Henry smiled at her, looking pleased. Jules wasn’t sure if she was overthinking things, but it looked like Barrett gulped like he was nervous.What did he have to be nervous about?
“I know I already told you, but you looked wonderful last night, Lady Charlotte. Are the arrangements liking you? I mean, are your living arrangements to your liking?” Barrett asked. Jules could see the sweat forming above his brows from her seat.
“Thank you again. The arrangements are lovely. Your Majesty and Your Highnesses have gone above and beyond with making us feel welcome in Wistonia.”
Liam strode into the room and sat in an empty seat, drumming his fingers against the table as if he had been waiting to eat for hours.
King Henry gave a warning glance to his youngest son and nodded at the staff. They brought out individual plates with dome covers and placed one in front of each of them. All the servers lifted the covers at the same time, revealing a plate filled with quiche, smoked salmon, oatmeal, and multiple types of breakfast meat. They set a tray with a large assortment of fruit back on the table of pastries.
Jules’s mouth started salivating from the mixture of the sweet and savory smells in the air. Her stomach suddenly let out an audible growl that Prince Liam heard and smirked at.
“Well, I’m not sure about you, Father, but I’m not in the habit of starving our guests,” Liam said, as he made his way over to the pastry table.
Jules ducked her head as she grabbed the empty, smaller plate in front of her and made her way to the back of the line behind Barrett.
“After you.” He gestured when he noticed she was behind him.
“Oh no, that’s all right.”
“You’re my guest. I insist.”
“You’re a prince.”
“That may be true, but I am a gentleman first and foremost. After you.” He signaled again for her to grab her food first.
At this point, the others in the room were watching their verbal tennis match and Jules knew Barrett wasn’t going to back down anytime soon so she lowered her head again and quickly added some of the assorted fruit and a cherry danish to her plate. She rushed back to her seat and began to dig into her food, trying to remember all the lessons she had read online about which fork to use and where to place your napkin. The rest of the meal was filled with short pleasantries.
“I think we should meet in the library to work on the school renovation plans. Shall we convene in half an hour?” Barrett asked Charlotte.
“That will work for us. We’ll see you then.”
Charlotte rose from her seat and left. Jules didn’t want to be left alone with the royal family, so she shoveled the last bite of the danish from her plate into her mouth as gracefully as she could. She chewed quickly and gave a quick curtsy to them before she hurried from the room.
Aknock sounded at Jules’s door, and she opened it to find Charlotte waiting for her.