Page 13 of Royal Hottie
She smiles, and I immediately relax. “She was the super in our apartment building in Tampa. The woman can fix anything! I was there for about a month when my refrigerator stopped working. Not only did she fix it, she told me to help myself to her refrigerator while I waited. I mean, we barely even knew each other, and she’s handing me the keys to her apartment so I won’t be inconvenienced.”
“That sounds like her. Generous and unconventional.”
“Yes! Anyway, I stayed and chatted with her while she was working on my refrigerator, and we just hit it off. We had an impromptu party at her place to celebrate my refrigerator being back in business. She made crushed ice with a wooden mallet and a sack! Actually, we both took turns smashing that ice, and then she made us Moscow mules.” She sighs. “I moved to Orlando for a job, but we still hung out. It’s not too far from Tampa. I’m really going to miss her now that she lives here permanently. She’s the real deal, you know?”
“We’re lucky to have her. So you’re here for a week, right? Or will you be staying longer to spend time with her?” I should’ve asked her that earlier. I assumed she’d leave when she’d finished her work on the suite.
“Two weeks. She arrives Sunday and I leave the following Sunday.”
“I leave the day after you for a five-week international tour with Global Sun Water. They’re a nonprofit that works to bring solar water pumps to impoverished countries. After that, I’ll start my work travelling as the UN Ambassador for Clean Water.”
She pauses, her iced tea halfway to her mouth. “I did not expect that. That’s great that you’re involved in such a worthy cause.”
I stiffen. Clearly she thought I was shallow. “You expected me to fill my days shopping and skulking around the palace?”
She laughs. “So how does it work with the solar water pumps?”
I fill her in on the technology, which is really just smart engineering. It’s hard to imagine life without such a basic resource readily at hand.For many villages, it’s the first time they’ve had a constant nearby water supply.
“The technology makes it possible to move past survival mode,” I conclude.
“And what’s your part?”
“I’m the one that brings the spotlight to their cause. I travel with Global Sun Water to the villages, but I also meet with diplomats and leaders and cut a lot of red ribbons for the press.” I’ve contributed generously to them as well, but I leave that out. I don’t do it for recognition. I do it because I believe in the cause.
She shakes her head. “Phillip, you have unsuspected depth.”
That stings, but I keep my tone light. “Not just a pretty face, huh?”
She slaps a hand over her mouth. “It did sound like that, didn’t it? I’m sorry.” She drops her hand. “I must’ve had some impression of what you were like, you know, from all the pictures of you gallivanting on the beach with supermodels.”
“I do not gallivant.” I crinkle my brow. “Or do I? Care to demonstrate a gallivant?”
She surprises me by standing and moving to the center of the cabin. I step down into the main cabin to get a better view.
“I imagine it’s something like this.” She grabs the end of her dress and swishes about the cabin before stopping, dipping an imaginary partner over her arm, and puckering up.
“Not quite.”
“More like this?” She runs in slow motion toward me, her arms out as if to embrace me. She has a big exaggerated smile on her face like she’s ecstatic to see me.
I match her big fake smile, opening my arms to her. She doesn’t halt at the invitation, instead she closes the distance. I hug her and spin her around, pretending I’m ecstatic to see her.
Except with Ruby in my arms, her gaze searching mine, it suddenly feels very real.
~ ~ ~
Ruby
My heartbeat roars in my ears, my senses tilting at the unexpected dizzying pleasure of Phillip spinning me around. He stops spinning, still holding me around the waist, my feet dangling above the ground. We’re eye to eye. He’s taller than me, so I don’t usually get this up-close view. I notice every detail, his dilated pupils, the dark blue ring around the iris, the thick lashes. A man should not be this beautiful.
His voice comes out rough. “I should put you down.” He makes no move to release me.
I stare at his mouth, at his full lower lip that’s been tempting me from the start. “Can I just…” I close the distance and dart my tongue out to taste.
He groans and then his mouth seals over mine. It’s not rough, not too soft; it’s perfect. Decadent. Lush. I’m drowning in sensation, in the pleasure of kissing this beautiful man. I can barely catch my breath and I don’t care. I just need more. I’m suddenly ravenous for him, my long-dormant needs lurching back to life.
He breaks the kiss and sets me back on my feet. I’m not done. I wrap my arms around his neck, go up on tiptoe, and bite his full lower lip. He growls low in his throat, turning me and pinning me against the wall, his mouth devouring mine. I slide my fingers through his soft hair, loving the thickness, loving everything about this—his taste, his scent, the way he kisses me like he’s as hungry for me as I am for him.
