Still, I wasn’t going anywhere. I had landed on the grenade, doing the right and noble thing even though it meant turning down one of the sexiest men I’d ever met. But I was still human. Like any “diet,” I would take my crumbs with a smile, thank you very much.
After one too many yawns behind my hand, he bent to say, “Come on, tired girl. Let’s get you back to the hotel.”
“Let me tell Fern I’m leaving,” I said, scouring the scene for my sister.
He pointed to the dance floor, where Fern danced slow with Gavin. Neither seemed to care that the song that was playing had a fast tempo. They were lost in each other. I didn’t have the heart to interrupt.
“I’ll text her,” I decided. Auggie’s smile broadened. He took my hand in his.
“Let’s go.”
I barely had enough time to text her from the limo as we drove the few blocks back to my hotel. The minute we emerged from the back, the ever-present paparazzi was waiting for us, leaping out to take photos, plunging us into immediate chaos. “Peaches! Auggie!”
He shielded me with his arm, guiding us through the gauntlet, eyes forward, undaunted.
For the record, he was a lot better at it than I was.
We made it to the elevator, watching it close between us and the vultures with a sign of relief.
He studied my face. “You okay?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that.”
“You’d be amazed what you can get used to,” he murmured. I suspected he was right. “On one hand, I might not have the career I enjoy today had it not been for the keen fascination my name and my title have always afforded me. On the other hand,” he said, gesturing broadly.
“One could say you made it work for you.”
He chuckled. “There are plenty of things said. And I’ve heard them all.” He leaned the back of his head against the wall behind him. “I tried to stop listening, but they just got louder. That’s when I decided it was more fun to jerk their chains.”
I laughed. “Hence the book.”
His eyes met mine. “Hence the book.”
His gaze was so intense I shuddered and looked away before I climbed him like a jungle gym. I turned back once I felt his fingertip against my forehead as he lifted my hair from my face. I got so lost in those green eyes that for a moment I couldn’t breathe. The door dinged open, but I was powerless to move forward. His fingers tangled with mine as he pulled me towards the open door.
Wordlessly, I allowed him to lead me into my suite. Racks of clothes were in every corner. Auggie laughed. “I take it you survived Hurricane Jorge?”
I giggled myself. “I felt just like Doris Day.” Off his look, I expounded. “You know, like that movie.”
“I know the movie,” he said. “I was just wondering how you knew it.”
“I used to watch old movies with my mom every Saturday. She was a sucker for all those old romances. Doris Day. Cary Grant. The fairy tale. The happily ever after.”
He led me to the sofa, pulling me down to face him from the other end. “You believe in fairy tales?”
“I didn’t use to,” I admitted. “Then I met a prince.” He laughed. “Seriously, though. It was very generous of you, thank you.”
He sent me a smirk. “A thousand pardons to Cary Grant, but it wasn’t all that altruistic. I do have a reputation to uphold and all,” he said, tongue firmly in cheek.
I laughed out loud. “I see. You don’t trust me. What did you think I’d be wearing?”
“I literally just plucked you from a farm. I had no idea.”
I gave him a playful nudge. “I thought you liked my Insta.”
He leaned an arm against the back of the sofa. His fingers brushed against my shoulder. “Oh, I do. I can’t wait until you add every one of these outfits to your timeline.”
I rejected the idea immediately. “No way.”
“Why not? I’m sure your followers will be curious to follow your story.”
“You’ve answered your own question,” I quipped. “Besides, I’m not trying to sell my story. I’m trying to sell yours.”
“You don’t have to try,” he said. It was stated matter of fact, without a trace of arrogance. If anything, it was resigned. “Morbid curiosity will sell the book. Every time you post a photo, it’ll sell two. That’s how it works.”