Page 20 of Royal Hottie
My head jerks up. “Yeah?”
“Lost you there for a minute. Would you mind being the bid starter for Adrian? Fifty euros.”
“Sure.” I figure her clients will quickly outbid me, so the money isn’t a concern.
“Great! We’re having a cocktail hour before, and then I’ve got more food, drinks, and a DJ for the big event with dancing after. It’ll be one big blowout party.”
I paste on a smile. “I’ll be there.” I’m up for a party. Watching women drool over Phillip while he flirts, not so much. I hate that I care.
She stands. “I’d better go check on the guest rooms on the third floor. The original eight I invited will get this suite. I didn’t want you to fancy up the other rooms because we really are trying to limit the number of visitors going forward. Of course, all of them will get their hair, facial, and nails done by me. Beauty treatments are part of the package. Gabriel says I shouldn’t be doing that now that I’m queen, royal protocol yada yada yada. I say I can do what I want in the privacy of our home.”
I stand too. “Sounds wonderful. When’s the auction?”
“Tomorrow night. Oh, and I got the cutest G-strings for them to wear under—” she grabs at imaginary pant legs “—strippable pants.”
I instantly imagine Phillip in a striptease, the women clawing their way to him. “My God.”
“I’m joking!” She gives my arm a squeeze. “Relax, it’ll be fun!”
Chapter Six
Phillip
“Look who showed up,” Lucas drawls. “Mr. I’m Above All This.”
“Shut it,” I snap at my younger brother. We’re standing backstage for the royal bachelor auction. So how did I get here, headlining the bachelor auction I was so staunchly against? One word—Ruby. Anna too. Okay, two words.
“Ruby will be at the auction,” Anna said this morning at breakfast when I told her to make her guests stop hounding me. Last night one of them actually ripped the rear pocket off my trousers to take home as a souvenir! If security hadn’t closed in, I’m sure my shirt would’ve been ripped off as well!
“Mmm-hmm.” I keep a neutral expression as Anna watches me like a hawk across the table. It’s just the two of us in the parlor for a late breakfast. I’m not sure if Ruby shared with Anna that we kissed. Ruby and I have done an admirable job pretending that kiss never happened. The electric attraction is harder to ignore. I’ve kept my hands to myself, and she’s done her part by not running into my arms. I bite back a smile at the memory of her “gallivanting.”
“She plans to bid on Adrian.” Anna puts a hand to her heart. “It’s so sweet of her to help out with my cause, even though she’s broke. She can only afford the fifty-euro starting bid.”
Adrian?He just arrived this morning from Monte Carlo. Ruby meets him once and spends her last euro on him while I suffer splinters and blisters helping her out all week? That ancient fireplace mantel and the chipped-wood columns didn’t fix themselves up!
Anna takes a sip of tea before smiling sweetly. “I so, so appreciate you doing this auction. Not only to get my clients jazzed about the project, but with the money we raise, I hope to fund survey and engineering for the day spa and get some architectural drawings done, which, of course, I’ll share with my clients. Then it’s on to research and development for the beauty product line.”
I’m both irritated that she assumes I’ll do the auction after I very clearly refused, and insanely jealous that Ruby wants Adrian. I never get jealous. This is stupid. I know Ruby won’t win the bid on him since she’s broke. Yet it seems urgent that I’m there to make sure she doesn’t do something,anythingwith Adrian. It’s not just the auction. Afterward, there’s a big party with a DJ, dancing, and plenty of alcohol. I can see that picture all too clearly—Ruby dancing with Adrian, Ruby grinding with Adrian, Ruby drunk, laughing, following him upstairs. No, she’s not like that. But if she’s tempted by Adrian after just meeting him, there’s no telling what could happen. There will definitely be touching.
I take a ferocious bite of toast and chew.
Anna digs into her omelet, seeming oblivious to my agitation.
Irrational jealousy finally wins out, and I find myself saying, “Fine, I’ll be there, but I’ll be contributing as an anonymous donor to bid on myself.”
Her brows scrunch together in confusion, her fork poised in midair. “You’re going on a date with yourself?”
“With a woman of my choosing.” Ruby. She’d never see me as an object, something to get a piece of and take home as a souvenir. She’d never brag she was with the royal hottie either because she sees me, Phillip Rourke, the man who works with his hands on fireplace mantels, speaks sexy French, and contributes to clean water efforts. “If I’m going to do this, it has to be under my control.”
She sets her fork down and smiles tightly. “Did you have someone in mind?”
“I’ll decide when the moment comes. Not the man-hungry woman who ripped my trousers, that’s for sure.” I go back to eating.
She tilts her head, studying me. “Kind of defeats the purpose of the auction if it’s rigged.”
“I don’t see why. Your friends can still meet me, scream their heads off, whatever they want as long as they keep their hands to themselves. They just can’t be alone with me.”
“One of them will be alone with you on your date.” She narrows her eyes. “It’s Ruby, isn’t it? She told me you helped her this past week working on the fantasy suite. Since when do you do manual labor?”
