Royal Pains

By Magnolia Robbins

“Es gibt nichts schöneres als dich.” There is nothing more beautiful than you.

Geeky wallflower Penelope Waters hadn’t signed up for falling in love with royalty. A new medical school student, all she’d ever wanted was to be a doctor. When Penny unknowingly meets a young Liechtenstein princess, she finds herself falling hard for more than just her German accent.

Charming and beautiful Astrid Vogt was well known in the small country of Liechtenstein. Pressured by her parents to pursue their hopes of her marriage to a Prince, Astrid flees to America with a dream of medicine in mind. When she starts to fall for Penelope, their instant attraction proves to be an additional complication to her already crazy life. Unable to reveal her true identity, Astrid finds herself trapped between her duty to her country and her newfound feelings for Penny.

Will Astrid tell Penny who she truly is? Or will she let her past come between them?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Magnolia Robbins
• Release date: Jun 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463083604

Magnolia Robbins

Hi there! I'm Maggie. I like writing lighthearted romances for women, about women. I live with my partner-in-crime on the west coast of the US and when my fingers are not on the keyboard, you can almost certainly find me with a cup of coffee in my hands. I hope you enjoy my quirky and unique spins on life and love. I sure enjoy writing and look forward to sharing more adventures with you!

Book preview

1

Penelope

Iam late. Horrendously late.

Brutus for the LOVE of GOD, GO PEE! My voice comes out in a hushed and snappy tone. He looks up at me with his big brown eyes and rolling tongue and I swear he’s mocking me. It is all I could do not to throw the leash on the ground and let him roam free down the New York City streets.

Finally, the English bulldog manages to find a small spot he likes and relieves himself. We run back up three flights of stairs to my father and my lofty apartment and I let him romp around. I scatter to the kitchen and pour Smokey some food. As I set it on the floor he rubs against my legs and I lean down and scratch him behind the ears. He purrs for a minute before stuffing his cute little kitty face in his dinner.

Only recently had my closet acquired a new selection of clothes. Where there was once a collection of band t-shirts and well-loved jeans, now contained a few sets of dresses and blouses from which I pick through at rapid speed. I decide on a light purple dress that the stylist at the department store said would bring out my eyes. Whatever that meant.

Once I change, I run to the kitchen again to check on the lasagna in the oven.

Good, it still needed a while longer. Wait, that was bad. Very bad. I needed to be out of this house and soon.

I rush to the bathroom to find that my short blonde hair was going in eight different directions. After fidgeting with it for a while, I run a straightener through it as best I can and wear it like normal. That is a fight I’m not going to win. My new contacts proved to be another losing battle, so I reluctantly settle for my glasses.

As soon as I give myself a good look-over in the mirror, I realize there are remnants of Brutus and Smokey all over me. I do my best to remove the evidence as I make my way back into the living room.

We’re reporting live from the small country of Liechtenstein, where the royal family is celebrating the birth of their newest son, Jakob Vogt III. The Vogt’s have reigned over this sixty square mile nation for hundreds of years.

The news on the television flickers off and I toss the remote on to the couch as I move into the kitchen. When I check on the lasagna, the cheese is browning nicely on top. It smells delicious when it comes out of the oven. I cut a small slice for myself and scarf it down.

Afterward, my sloppy handwriting makes its way on a post-it note for my father. I slap it to the counter next to the rest of the lasagna. Enjoy! I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you, Penny

It’s almost too painful for me to look at the time. I give Brutus and Smokey some love before I leave. Then I stumble out the door in my high heels towards my old Subaru parked out front of the complex building. As usual, the neighbors have left me barely enough room to back out onto the street and it sends me into a small panic.

As I’m getting in my car, the drizzling rain starts. If I hadn’t already been mind-bogglingly late, the crappy weather hadn’t commenced, and I wasn’t wearing two-inch heels, I would have opted to walk the eight blocks to the University. Instead, I made the even worse mistake of getting into Manhattan traffic.

Obscenities fly as I sit, not very patiently, to make it to a parking space near the building that I could only pray the social was being held in. As I find my way out into the street, I feel my leg give out from under me and a loud snap fills the air. My entire body nearly crumbles to the ground, but I manage to catch myself on the side of my car. As I hobble to the street curb, the rain starts to pelt down.

With one missing heel, I rip open the back door of my car, digging through mountains of crap I should have removed years ago for something else to wear. A pair of old black and white converse sneakers appear in the pile and I stuff them on my feet without thinking twice about it. I check the time as I rush to the meter to pay. I was now officially an hour late. Damn it.

My credit card flies into the machine at lightning speed, and I wait for it to finish the transaction. Just as I feel as if the night couldn’t get any worse, I turn toward the road. A car came to a rapid stop, its wheels tossing up street water into the air. It is like the world moves in slow motion for those few seconds and I know that it is coming for me. A shower of a disgusting dirty mess, drenching me from top to bottom.

I stand there on the side of the road, contemplating turning around and walking back home when I hear a faint call over the traffic noise. The car that has wreaked havoc on me parks and I watch a woman run down the sidewalk toward me. She is beautiful, with golden blonde hair and wearing a striking black dress. If I hadn’t had been wet, freezing to death, and pissed off to all hell, I would have taken good note of her.

When she reaches me, she holds her umbrella over top of my head, and I let out a shivering laugh, in spite of everything. As if that was going to do any good now.

Are you alright? I can tell by the expression on her face how terrible she felt. Suddenly it is very awkward to look her in the eyes. My heart races as I try to think of something to say.

I’m fine, I reply, feeling the puddles of water surrounding my feet in the sneakers I now wore. From the backseat of my car I pull out a pair of jeans and an all too familiar band shirt from my undergrad years out and stuff them into my arms. As I look up at her again, my eyes grow wide. By the look on her face, she has came to the same realization.

Are you a new med student? she asks me, and my heart skips a beat. I nod to her, and she smiles. I’m Astrid. I watch as she holds out her hand to me.

Penelope, I reply, barely managing to shake her hand in return. Call me Penny. She has a striking accent. German, I think. When she finally releases her hand from mine, I can breathe again.

I’m so sorry again, she smiles at me embarrassed. The two of us start down the street towards the building. Are you sure you’re alright? I nod, and she looks relieved. At least we have a fun party to look forward to.

Yes, fun. If you thought socializing with a bunch of strangers that would be your competition for the next four years was fun. Then, sure.

As soon as we make it inside, I make a b-line for the bathroom, separating myself as far away from the beautiful lunatic driver as I can.

I grab a handful of paper towels from the dispenser on the wall and make my way into a stall to remove the sloppy wet dress from my body. As soon as I get back into dry clothes, I feel much better. The hand dryer runs non-stop for a long time as I hold my converse sneakers up to dry. Just as I’m finishing, a woman enters, and I panic. It’s occupied!

Except the woman had dark brown hair and looked nothing like Astrid. I feel myself getting horrendously embarrassed. Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude on you. I just really need to— She motions towards the stall, and I nod. When she comes out again, I am putting on my shoes once more. It feels much better now that I’m not squishing around.

Oh thank God, I was about to burst, the brunette woman says and smiles at me. I can blood rushing to my face, and I look away for a moment trying to calm myself. She washes and dries her hands and then comes to face me.

I’m Charlotte, she says, holding out her hand. What is with people and the hand shaking? I guess I needed to start getting used to it. She had an accent too, from somewhere in the south. If I had to take a guess, it was likely Mississippi or Georgia, but they all kind of ran together for me at that point. You’re Penelope Waters, right?

I am quite sure my surprise is written all over my face. She laughs a little when she looks at me. I am a notorious internet stalker, I apologize. I like to get a good idea of my competition ahead of time. Somehow, in spite of the fact that it really was kind of creepy, she makes it seem less so. Maybe it was the way she smiled at me.

Well, it was nice to meet you, Ms. Waters. I’ll see you outside. I watch her till she disappears out of the room and then breathe a sigh of relief that I’m alone again. It takes me another few minutes to work up the courage to go out and face my peers but finally I manage. I leave my ruined dress in the bathroom to retrieve later.

Much to my displeasure, the room is filled with people. I wander in carefully, heading towards the bartender at the far end of the room. What’ll you be having? He asks me, and I am immediately flustered.

Do you have a menu? I reply, and he looks at me funny.

As soon as I hear her voice, my heart feels as if it is leaping from my chest. You should try Apfelwein, Astrid says beside me. I stare at her for a moment confused. Hard cider, she smiles, correcting herself.

Instead of arguing, I nod to the bartender, and he goes to fetch me one. When I turn to her, she is still smiling. It sends a shiver through me, and immediately I am very uncomfortable.

I don’t drink either, she admits, sitting down in the seat next to me. Hard cider is my favorite. Especially if you like apples.

How do you know I don’t drink? I manage to ask.

You asked for a menu, she notes, giving me another one of her smiles and I have to look away from her when she does, embarrassed.

When the waiter brings me back the drink, I can smell the alcohol in it. Good, whatever it took to make me not feel like I wanted to get the hell out of dodge. Astrid watches me as I take a small sip. Before I knew it, I have taken another, and another. She smiles pleased when I finally set it back down on the counter.

I like apples, I say quietly. If she doesn’t quit smiling at me, I’m liable to drink the entire rest of the drink in