Page 58 of Royal Hottie
She giggles and rushes to the bedroom door, pulling it open. Her parents jump back, looking guilty. “Mom! Dad!”
“Congratulations, sweetheart!” her mother exclaims.
Her father pumps my hand. “Welcome to the family! Do we get to visit the palace?”
Chapter Fourteen
Ruby
Phillip and I are hot for each other, but first things first. We’re an engaged couple and my parents are ecstatic. We join them in the kitchen to toast with some chardonnay. Mom, of course, sticks to water.
“Congratulations!” my mother exclaims, clinking glasses with each of us in turn.
“Congratulations,” my father says.
Phillip clinks glasses with me last, his eyes never leaving mine as he takes a sip. I do too.
“Well, we should go,” I say. “Phillip needs me to drive him back to his hotel, where he can work with his press secretary to get the official royal announcement out.”
Phillip sets his glass on the counter, picking up my cue. “Yes, very important that it be done face-to-face, so the news doesn’t leak ahead of time.”
“Oh, wow!” my mother exclaims. “An official royal announcement! Will you get married here or at the palace?”
“Ruby?” Phillip asks.
I love that he’s leaving it up to me, even though I’m sure all royal weddings take place in the chapel at Amalie Palace. That’s where Anna and Gabriel got married. My parents recorded it, and we watched it later on TV.
I turn to my parents. “Would it be okay with you if we married at the palace chapel? We’d wait until it was a good time for you to travel with the baby.” They still haven’t picked a name.
My mom’s face lights up with a beaming smile. “We’d love that! Phillip, we saw Anna’s wedding on TV. That chapel is so beautiful. Will you have the horse-drawn carriage too?”
Phillip pipes up. “Ruby will have anything she wants.”
“He’s a keeper,” my mom says.
“Yup!” I hug her and then my dad. “I’ll call you. We’ve got so much planning to do.”
Phillip shakes both their hands, but my mom insists on hugging him and then kisses his cheek. It didn’t take them long to warm to him, considering I called him holier-than-thou, demanding, and arrogant. As a longtime royal hottie follower, my mom always said she thought he must be a sweetheart in real life. She based this solely on his warm smile. Turned out she was right.
We finally make our escape, and I lead him and the guards to the street where my Toyota hatchback has been baking in the Florida sun. I unlock it and fold up the sun visor from the dashboard.
I turn to Rafe and Henry, both over six feet tall, who I know are going to be squished in the backseat. “Sorry. I know it’s not the roomy Mercedes you’re used to.”
“No problem, ma’am,” Henry says. Rafe looks grim.
They squish their long muscular frames into the backseat, I hop in the driver’s seat, and Phillip slides in the passenger side.
I turn the car on, blast the air conditioner, and turn to Phillip. “Where to?”
“I actually didn’t plan that far ahead. I was so focused on fixing things with you that was all I could think about. Anna and Gabriel are staying at the Epicurean Hotel. We could go there.”
It’s a luxury hotel. This is my life now, tempered with the unusual combination of working in the trenches of the most impoverished communities. A future I never could’ve imagined for myself, but I know ultimately will be extremely fulfilling. Plus I still have my life back home for half of the year.
“Or wherever you think is good,” he adds.
“My, aren’t you accommodating now,” I tease.
He laughs. “It probably won’t last. I’m just so thrilled things went well between us. Better take advantage while you can. I’d pretty much give you anything right now.”
