Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  Coming Soon

  More From Jena Wade

  About Jena Wade

  The Prince’s Blind Date

  Royals of Swena

  Book One

  Jena Wade

  Copyright © 2020 by Jena Wade

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.

  Published in the United States of America

  This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  www.thejenawade.com

  Warning

  This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Jena Wade’s e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  Chapter One

  Wendell

  I bounced my leg nervously underneath the table, so much so that the glasses of water sloshed over onto the pristine white tablecloth.

  “Damn it,” I said as quietly as I could. I reached for a napkin to clean up the water, looking around the mostly empty restaurant to make sure no one had noticed my nervousness. I’d never been to a restaurant this fancy and I stuck out like a sore thumb. At least I would have if anyone had been here to witness my misery.

  I worked as a receptionist at a doctor’s office, the pay was low and the hours were horrid, yet somehow, I’d managed to land a blind date with a person who had to have all the money in the world to get a reservation at this restaurant. The place only had ten tables and was the absolute definition of exclusivity. Rumor had it the waiting list was measured in years, not months.

  A friend of a friend had been invited to an engagement party here once. But that was the only person I knew who’d actually set foot in this place. They’d raved about the food.

  Although, today somehow the place was empty. I’d caught sight of the chef, as well as the waiter who had led me to my table, but that was it. I had been sat at a table in the corner, out of view of the windows. Had the place been full, this would have been a very private table, out of the way of the main dining area.

  When my friend from college had called to say he knew the perfect alpha for me, I’d rolled my eyes. But as a favor to him, since he had helped me get my job, I agreed to the blind date. He promised that the alpha was nice and perfect, and I would absolutely love him.

  I should have asked for more details. Like what did he do for a living? Where was he from? And if he was so perfect, why was he single?

  Still, I’d agreed to go, and my stomach had been in knots ever since. The conversation with my friend had my hopes rising and my stomach twisting. I wanted an alpha, wanted to settle down and have children. But my relationships had all fizzled into nothingness after a few months. They’d never gotten serious enough for me to even move in with an alpha, let alone think about having children with them.

  This date was different. I could feel it. Tonight, it felt as if there was magic in the air and I was on the brink of something exciting. I hadn’t even met my date yet.

  The air around me shifted and I couldn’t help but lift my gaze to the doorway. That was the first glimpse I got of Gus Steinhauer.

  He and I had only talked over text and I couldn’t find any pictures of him online when I’d searched his name earlier that afternoon. All I knew about him was that he wasn’t from America and he’d done a study abroad program with my college friend.

  He walked into the restaurant trailed by two other men who didn’t appear to be with him, just walking in at the same time. He held his head high. His short, brown hair was neatly combed and parted to the side. His face was clean shaven and a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He had an air about him that commanded attention and I almost wanted to bow to him. But that wasn’t a normal thing, was it?

  I hadn’t been on a blind date in a while. Should I stand? I was the only person here, he had to know that I was his date. Besides, I’d told the waiter who I was waiting for. Either way his gaze landed on me and his smile broadened. It was like a jolt of electricity went through me and my knee jerked under the table. This time the water glasses tipped over. I bolted out of my seat to avoid the ice cold liquid.

  “Are you all right?” he asked as he rushed through the dining area to my side. Even when he was moving quickly, he seemed to glide effortlessly through the room. If people had been in the way, I’d bet they would have parted for him.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “Just clumsy, I guess...” I laughed nervously, and he grinned.

  “I’m nervous, too. It’s been a while since I’ve gone on a date.”

  My stomach calmed and turned into a puddle of goo as he gazed down at me. His smile could move mountains, his eyes shone brighter than stars on the clearest of nights. “Oh, thank god. Me too.”

  “How about we just sit down then?” He gestured for me to sit, and I did.

  “That sounds great.”

  The other two gentlemen that had followed Gus inside sat in a booth in the corner without the maître d ever seating them. Perhaps they frequented the place often? I didn’t get a chance to think about it as Gus sat down across from me and my attention was only on him. The place could have erupted into a chaos all around me and I wouldn’t have looked away from his gaze.

  “You must be Wendell,” Gus said and he extended his hand over the table.

  I lifted mine to shake his and electricity shot through me again. “Yes, and you’re Gus?” This couldn’t be real. My stomach fluttered and goose bumps peppered my arms.

  He nodded. “Thank you for coming to dinner. I know it was short notice. I’m only in a town for a few days, but Randy had nothing but wonderful things to say about you and I didn’t want to miss this chance.”

  My cheeks heated. Oh, goodness. What had my friend said about me? “I don’t usually do this whole thing. Actually, this is the first time I’ve done the whole blind date thing.”

  “It is my first as well. We could go through all the typical first date questions? Tell me about yourself? What’s your favorite color? All that. If you think that would be easier.”

  My cheeks burned red and I shrugged. “It might be.”

  “Then let us do that. Randy tells me you are a receptionist at a doctor’s office?”

  “Yes.” I nodded enthusiastically. I always got excited about my work. It might seem boring to some, but I loved it. It was my dream job, no matter how mundane it seemed. “I just started at an oncology office that I absolutely love. The people there are really great.”

  “That’s terrific,” he said. “What made you get into that sort of a role?”

  I shifted in my seat. He was getting to the hard-hitting questions early. “Well, I had to visit a lot of doctor’s office when I was a child with my omega father. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when I was very young and I accompanied him to his appointments. And a lot of times the receptionists ignored me. But there was one that was absolutely amazing. She scheduled his appointments to happen right before her lunch hour, so that way I could hang out with her while he had his appointment.” It seemed silly to share that information, but it was important to me.

  “That’s great. It amazing that you have a career you are so passionate about. After all, the atmosphere of the office is set in the waiting room.” He leaned forward as I spoke, paying attention to me like what I said was important and he was truly interested.

  “Yes, it truly is. Now I’ve made it my life’s goal to make sure that those tough appointments are as easy as they can be for the patient and their family. At least, at whatever doctor’s office I’m working at anyway. I greet every patient with a smile and sometimes I know more about them than I probably should. But they’re good people and I want to make their visits as comfortable as possible.”

  Gus’s eyes lit up and he grinned. “You’re amazing. I completely agree, visiting the doctor shouldn’t be so awful.”

  “Right, it’s not like it’s going to the dentist or anything.”

  Gus laughed heartedly and slapped a hand on the table. “That’s a good one,” he said.

  I bit my lip and looked away, fiddling with the napkin in front of me. “Tell me about you. What is it that you do? Randy didn’t tell me a whole lot.”

  “Well, I am the CEO, sort of, of the Medical Services Department in Swena. Basically, I help manage the medical services we have in our country.”

  “The whole country?” I said slowly. “That’s got to be massive.” His one sentence description had to be a massive over simplification of his role.

  “No, nothing of the sort. Swena is actually quite small.”

  I grimaced. “I am terrible with geography. Please forgive my ignorance. I should have done some research.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I love talking about my country, so I don’t mind filling you in.”

  “Please do,” I said. I could listen to the sound of his voice all night. How was it that butterflies already danced in my stomach and I wondered when I’d see him again? I hadn’t even stopped seeing him right now, but I already couldn’t wait for our next date.

  “We’re a small country in Eastern Europe. Wealthy as far as money goes and abundant in natural resources. Thankfully, we’ve been peaceable with our surrounding neighbors.”

  “That’s a plus,” I said.

  He grinned. “We only have about a million people. So, we aren’t even the size of one of your large cities here in America.”

  “And it’s a monarchy?”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw and I wondered if I had asked the wrong question. But his face cleared. “Yes, we are a monarchy. The King and his consort lead the country. Their family has led for many hundreds of years. Soon the first heir will take the throne. He is set to get married in the coming years. I’m not sure if an actual date has been set, but once that happens, then he will take over.”

  My brow furrowed; I had a lot to learn about royalty. I had never been one to follow the tabloids so all of this was news to me. “Doesn’t that usually only happen when the current ruler passes away?”

  “Not in this instance. The King wishes to retire. To quote him exactly, he said ‘I didn’t have five children to work the rest of my life and not enjoy my grandchildren.’”

  I had to laugh at that. “What is it about parents as they get older constantly wanting grandchildren? My alpha dad is the same way. How many grandchildren does the King have?”

  “Zero at this time.”

  “Really? Five children and no grandchildren?”

  Gus shook his head. “Not a single one. None of them are even mated.”

  “Well, I suppose his kids better get busy then.”

  That muscle ticked again, and I wanted to change the subject. Perhaps the ruler of Swena wasn’t a peaceful one and Gus didn’t have the same beliefs as the royal family. I would have to do some research on the side to understand the country better. “What was your childhood like growing up?”

  Gus took a deep sigh. “Fun.” A smile spread across his face. “My family is large, so every event was huge and loud.”

  “How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

  “Four brothers. I’m the second oldest. All alphas, except my youngest brother Iain. He’s an omega.”

  “I don’t have any siblings, it’s just me and my alpha dad now,” I said. “My omega dad passed away a few years ago. “

  “You mentioned that your father has also asked for grandchildren?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yes, so much. At this point, I don’t think he’d mind if I got pregnant accidentally.” My hand flew over my mouth. “Not that I ever would. Not on purpose. I mean obviously, if it was an accident, it’d be an accident then—”

  Gus’s grin seemed to get wider the longer I babbled on. But it wasn’t as if he was teasing me. Thankfully, the waiter chose that moment to come by and I shut up.

  We ordered our food and before I knew it, it had arrived. The conversation with Gus was effortless and entertaining. He told me all about Swena, and I told him all about my family and growing up in rural Michigan.

  I fell deeper under the spell of Gus Steinhauer as the night went on, and I didn’t want it to end.

  Chapter Two

  Augustus

  I never thought that when my friend mentioned he knew an omega who would be perfect for me that he would be absolutely correct. Randy, a close friend from college and one of the few who knew my true identity, also knew about the silly rule that I was being forced to take part in.

  In order to keep my title as Prince Augustus Steinhauer Duke of Dravia, second heir to the throne of Swena, I needed to marry by my thirtieth birthday, which was only four weeks away. I’d been slightly desperate and decided to go undercover. It was a last-ditch effort to find an omega to fall in love with me and not my title. If I didn’t find my forever omega soon, then I had to face the reality that I would be forfeiting my title.

  The law was ancient, and the fact that my two fathers were going through with it was beyond ridiculous. It wasn’t as if I wanted to be single, I wanted an omega that I could love and cherish, have babies with, but that wasn’t how my cards were dealt. So far, I’d only been able to attract men to my crown, not my personality.

  I would not lock myself down to an arranged, loveless marriage. Not like my older brother, Prince Cort Sentjohn, and first heir, would be doing. He had been betrothed to the same omega for fifteen years. It was a treaty between the two families. I’m not even sure if the two of them had ever met in person.

  I snapped myself back to the present and focused on the omega in front of me. The one who thought I was just a CEO, not a prince. I reached across the table and grasped Wendell’s hand. “I’m hesitant to see this evening end, Wendell. I’m hoping you feel the same.”

  Wendell nodded and fiddled with his napkin. It seemed to be what he did when he was nervous, which he had been all night. I found it adorable. He wasn’t nervous because I was a prince, he was nervous, I think, because he was attracted to me. Just as I was to him.

  “Would you like to take a walk along the pier?” I asked.

  “Yeah, that would be amazing. Have you seen many of the sites since you’ve been in town?”

  I loved that he spoke so freely with me. I could be myself, not worry about appearances and how my words could be twisted for some tabloid headline. It was refreshing and pure.

  I shook my head. “I’m afraid not. It has mostly been meetings and preparing for this dinner.”

  His cheeks reddened. “Well, I appreciate it. It was a lovely dinner. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said. He had no idea the amount of time I’d had to spend with my bodyguards explaining that, no, they couldn’t sit next to me and no they couldn’t just plant undercover agents all around the restaurant. We’d negotiated and decided to buy out the restaurant for the evening to have dinner, and my two bodyguards sat at a table not far from us. If Wendell thought it was odd that no one else was here, he hadn’t said anything.

  “Well, if we take a trip down the pier you can see the lighthouse. It’ll be all lit up for the season. They do Christmas lights in December, obviously. And since we’re just a week away from Valentine’s, I believe it’s decked out in red.”

  “That would be great. I’d love to see it.” I paid the bill though it was just a show. I was pretty sure that particular credit card I handed the waiter didn’t have the limit I’d need to book this entire place. No, that payment had been negotiated separately.

  I helped Wendell with his coat and the two of us strode outside. I spotted my two other bodyguards who were prepared for when we left the restaurant to follow us at a distance, but I was sure that Wendell hadn’t. At least, I hoped not.

  It was looking like I would have to tell him soon who I was and explain why I hadn’t told him sooner.

  “Are you going to do any site-seeing while you’re in town?” he asked.

  I held my arm up and he linked his into it and smiled up at me.

  My stomach did a weird flop that I wasn’t used to. “Probably not. This trip is mostly business, I didn’t leave a lot of room in my schedule.” A decision I regretted now that I’d met Wendell.

  “Do you travel a lot for business?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Europe mostly, sometimes Asia and of course, the United States.” I didn’t tell him that most of those were related to my duties as prince and second heir, not my job as the medical services director.

 

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