Page 10 of Powerful Prince
I paced my room and remembered how his hard muscles under my fingers had rocked me to my inner core. Then I paused in front of the mirror and saw how I practically glowed.
“At first I’d have said ‘total jerk’. But now, I’ll say he’s charming.”
She let out a sigh and said, “I’m going to be the only single Steel girl left in the family.”
Plenty of our cousins were not married, and technically, Stephanie was engaged but not married yet. I fluffed my hair and said, “I’m not getting married, Olivia, but I do have to go.”
“Hot date with destiny. Have fun.”
Now those were true words. Not that this date mattered. We’d never betogethertogether. Sure, I’d had a momentary blip where I’d imagined myself offering him my virginity, but that wasn’t going to happen. Our date tonight was about me netting myself more followers, and that was it.
In a moment, I’d see Ryder again and the thought buoyed me. I walked on air as I made my way through the hotel.
My heart pounded to be near him for a few more hours. My brain said this was a cash mine I’d be stupid to ignore.
But my heart berated me for that motive.
And part of me ached to believe there could be an “us” for me and Ryder. Until my brain screamed “stripper wedding”, which did help me focus.
I could never love someone so cavalier.
A group of women stopped me for a selfie near the elevator and I happily obliged, though they all asked about Prince Ryder.
Guess the “secret” was out—not that he’d ever do anything without the press knowing about it.
Besides, his kiss was smoking hot, but I’m not stupid. I stepped onto the elevator and reminded myself he’d married another woman only yesterday.
He probably kissed every woman he met with those potent lips, and I needed to be smart.
As the elevator doors opened, I saw him, surrounded by security guards.
And fuck my hips swayed. He gazed up and down my body and sweet tingles rushed through me.
At least I’d been cute enough to get a prince’s attention for an hour. I had zero expectations of ever seeing him again after tonight.
He came over to me and held out his arm. As I accepted, I realized people were snapping our photos.
This probably happened to him all the time, but it threw me off balance. My skin buzzed from contact as he pulled me closer and patted my arm like he’d hold me tight.
“You’re here.”
“You’re late,” he said, like he’d scold me.
Right. I bumped into him so we could get moving. Once we started walking, I bounced in step with him and said, “I’m getting tons of new followers because of you.”
He held the door of the waiting limo for me. “I’ve never gone a second of my life without being hounded by the press. Are you ready?”
I scooted in and, once he slid in after me and closed the door, I asked, “Where are we off to?”
The driver took off and Prince Ryder said, “Joël Robuchon at the MGM makes a decent dinner.”
Three Michelin stars and one of the hardest restaurants to make reservations for. I’d tried when I arrived—but then, I wasn’t a prince. I sat back and said, “Sounds great.”
For a few minutes we didn’t say anything. The strip had people on it, but no one saw inside our tinted windows until we arrived at the restaurant.
Doormen opened my door and once again flashes of light meant people were snapping our picture.
He placed his hand on the lower part of my back and goosebumps grew.
