Page 22 of Royal Hottie
Anna tosses her dark curls over her shoulder. She’s wearing a tight sleeveless red dress with black stilettos. Much more revealing than what our queen would normally wear, but her husband, the king, allows it because he’s crazy for her. “How’re you guys doing? You feeling good?”
“Great!” my brothers assure her in near unison.
She turns to me. “Can’t wait to see how high your bidding goes. The women are psyched. You’ll be going on last to build the anticipation.”
I nod once and work for a pleasant expression despite the grim fortitude I’m drawing on to see this through.Please let Ruby show up.
“We’ll get the bidding sky-high for you, Anna,” Lucas says.
Oscar leans in, speaking in a low voice. “We’ve got a pool going.”
“Phillip will crush it,” Adrian says.
“I like your spirit!” Anna exclaims, beaming at us. Then she hugs each of us in turn and kisses our cheeks. “I love you, guys. You’re the big brothers I always wished I had, except you, Adrian, since we’re the same age. You could be my twin or triplet, I guess, since you already have Silvia for your twin. Anyhoo, break a leg!”
My brothers smile and nod. I try not to dwell on being ripped to bits by a hungry mob.
“Is Gabriel coming?” Lucas asks Anna casually, and I know exactly why. He’s considering how outrageous he can be to win the betting pool.
“Of course!” Anna exclaims. “We’re a team. He’s with your mom right now, explaining why this auction is such a great idea. I guess I forgot to mention it.”
Su-u-ure, forgot.Just like she forgot to mention the auction to me until the last minute. She’s devious, that woman. But I have to admit, very effective.
She rushes through the curtains and calls to her friends, “Who’s ready to party?”
The women cheer enthusiastically. Music blasts out of speakers near both sides of the stage, a low thumping bass beat. Oscar and Lucas start moving to the beat, getting some pelvic thrusts into it. Adrian takes one look at the horror on my face and cracks up.
It occurs to me with a jolt that Anna may have used Ruby’s name to lure me here because she knows we’ve become friendly. She could’ve made up that bit about Ruby bidding on Adrian. Have I been outmaneuvered?
Hell, I may actually go to one of the wild mob.
~ ~ ~
Ruby
These ladies are so fun! I feel like I joined a raging party, even before the alcohol started flowing. I’m so glad I was invited to stay this extra week to hang with Anna. Not only has it given me time to reconnect with her and finally meet her husband, but I’ve gotten to meet her friends too. Anna took me with them on the tour of the royal fantasy suite and sang my praises. All of them wanted my number and swore they wanted me to take a look at their place the moment I get back home. I nearly cried. Sixteen potential clients in one fell swoop. What seemed like a lost cause suddenly feels like a real chance at a career. And it’s all me—an entrepreneur—proving myself. It goes a long way after feeling like a failure. I was at a real low point before this trip, wallowing at home with nothing great on the horizon. Now everything feels bright, like the sun finally came out after a long stream of rainy days. I’m even starting to feel like my old energetic self again.
Actually, I started feeling more like my old self again the moment I got here. Maybe the tight deadline forced me to focus on work and freed my mind from dark thoughts of the past. Maybe it’s Phillip. Despite his player rep, which frankly is a huge turnoff, he’s grown on me. All of my nerves light up the moment he gets near. Who am I kidding? I’m hot for him.
“Can we switch seats?” Ashley, a woman with honey blond hair, asks, leaning close. I can smell the alcohol on her breath. She’s a corporate lawyer. I’ve memorized as many details as I could on my potential new clients. “I wanna be close enough to reach out and touch someone.” She giggles.
I gape at her. “Um, I don’t think we’re supposed to touch.”
She laughs. “Maybe they’ll touch me. I could flash them.” She goes to lift her blouse in demonstration, and I put my hand over hers, keeping it down.
I think of Phillip on display up there and can’t help my indignation. “It’s an auction for a date,that’s all.”
“Geez, loosen up!” She tosses her hair, stands, and works her way around to the other side of the catwalk, sitting on the end over there.
Damn, I might’ve just lost her as a potential client. That worry is trounced by my indignation on Phillip and his brothers’ behalf. The men are doing this as a fundraiser, and they shouldn’t have to worry about grabbing hands. I know Phillip wouldn’t like that. He carries himself with a certain princely dignity. I’m not sure about his brothers. Lucas and Oscar are pretty flirty. Of course, there is security. Twelve guards total, two per royal for the four princes, the king, and the queen. Anna confided to me that they didn’t really need this much security for a closed palace event, but when the guards heard what she planned, theywantedto be here. Purely for their own amusement.Men.
Gradually, the women take their seats. Everyone has a drink in hand. I’m in the last row, still nursing the same glass of sauvignon blanc from the cocktail party earlier. I’m pacing myself since I’m such a lightweight. There’s servants circulating to replenish drinks too.
The doors to the ballroom open and a servant announces, “King Gabriel and Queen Anna.”
A hush falls over the room. Something about having them announced hits me with the importance of Anna’s new role. I saw her earlier and she was just my friend Anna from Tampa. She left the ballroom a short while ago to go smooth things over with her mother-in-law, who’s much more proper than Anna and apparently not happy about the auction.
Anna waves and smiles at everyone. Gabriel remains stone-faced, his posture stiff and proud, wearing a charcoal gray suit, no tie. I suppose that’s casual for him. He places a hand on the small of her back and escorts her to the front podium on stage, where she will be announcing the auction. She turns to him, goes up on tiptoe, and gives him a peck on the lips. He’s smiling when he takes his front-row seat and looks much warmer than when I met him earlier. I guess Anna has that effect on him.
