Page 27 of Royal Hottie
I wipe the sweat from my brow with my shirtsleeve.
Anna has to yell at the top of her lungs to be heard over the chanting. “Here he is, the one, the only, the man of the hour, the royal hottie!”
I can’t move.
Someone gives me a shove. I turn and shove Lucas back. Oscar joins in, and they both push me forward. I shove them back with all my might, and we have a brief grappling match, two against one. I’m just furious enough to give them a fight. They release me suddenly, and the room goes quiet.Uh-oh.
I glance over my shoulder. The curtains have been fully pulled back—our brief wrestling match exposed.
“Come on out here, Phillip,” Anna says. “We won’t bite.”
The women laugh.
I step forward on wooden legs, and the curtain closes behind me. I’m sure I’m emanating more anger than sexy approachability, but it can’t be helped. I don’t appreciate my little brothers trying to push me around. I don’t care if they’re not actually little anymore. I’m the older one and deserve their respect.
Anna signals for the music to lower. “Now, ladies, before we get to the bidding, I want to let you know what an honor it is for us to have Phillip here. He wasn’t sure at first about my idea, but I won him over to the dark side.”
The women whoop and whistle.
She smiles at me. I can’t even force a smile while standing on stage in front of a pack of man-hungry riotous women. She turns back to the audience. “He’s the total package, ladies. He loves women—”
“We love you, Phillip!”
“I love you!”
“Love me!”
Anna goes on. “And he’s very involved in charitable work to bring clean water to poor communities. Not just by being their spokesperson, he’s on the ground, going into villages, meeting tribal leaders, spending time with their people, helping to smooth the way. He’s generous, doing good just for its own sake. So let’s call him what he really is, a prince among men, a dream prince.”
Crickets.
And then a voice calls out, “Yes!”
I zero in on Ruby sitting near the catwalk in the last row. She’s leaning into the aisle so I can see her beautiful face. “Thank you, Ruby!”
She grins and gives me a thumbs-up.
Anna gestures for me to walk down the catwalk. “Do I hear fifty?” Wow, that is a really low bid after Lucas’s crazy-high bids. Maybe she thinks the crowd has lost interest in the real me. I am a dream prince. And that is so much better than the objectifying title previously given to me.
Ruby raises her hand. “One hundred.” She bid on me. My chest expands with pride. It’s more than she bid on Adrian, even though she’s broke. She wants me.
“How about two hundred?” Anna asks.
My eyes are only for Ruby as I walk down the catwalk in my buttoned shirt, leather trousers, and boots. Fully dressed dream prince here. It’s definitely easier to do the walk focused on her familiar blond hair that just brushes the shoulders of her bright pink V-neck sweater. Her eyes are sparkling, her face lit up with a smile just for me. I’m dimly aware of women hollering numbers around me. Thousands.
Finally I reach her and drop to my haunches. “Thank you for the generous bid.”
Her cheeks flush pink. “Uh, sure. I’m afraid I’m out of funds.”
I lean down and whisper, “It’s the thought that counts.”
We smile at each other, and warmth spreads through me, calming my nerves.
I straighten and spread my arms wide to my adoring fans. “You rock, ladies! What a fantastic cause! How much can we help Anna with her good work?”
Anna immediately jumps in with, “Do I hear ten thousand?”
I turn and stride back down the catwalk, glad we’re nearly done. I catch Anna’s eye and cross my fingers at my side. She gets the message and holds up her cell phone. “I’ve got a bid here from an anonymous bidder. It’s eleven thousand.”
