Hollywood Prince (Hollywood Royalty 3)

“I’ve changed my mind,” he whispers, and I look at him confused. “Tonight when we get home,” he whispers, almost so close, his head so close to my ear, it makes my heart beat faster and faster, “I’m finally taking what’s mine.” I try to swallow. “And that’s you.” He turns to smile at the cameras and then looks back at me. “Nod if you agree to this.”

I stand here in the middle of the red carpet all dressed up with cameras probably taking our pictures, and the only thing I can think of is him, of going home with him, so I just look at him and nod. He looks at me, his shoulders going back and his smirk coming out. He turns, and I watch him walk away. The whole time, I try to catch my breath, try to make it return to normal because after that exchange, I know I’m way past the point of no return.

Chapter Twenty-One

Carter

I walk down the red carpet, trying to talk my cock down. The minute I told her that I would claim her tonight, my cock went on full alert. Luckily, my jacket covers it, and the sight of the girl reporter with her heavy fucking eyeshadow and fake eyelashes makes him go into hiding. “Hey, Carter,” she says, and although she’s interviewed me a shitload of times, I can’t for the life of me remember her name.

“Hi, Ella.” I hear Erin next to me, and I turn and look at her. When she opened the door and I saw her, it took everything in me not to cancel tonight. I wanted to drag her back to my bed and bury myself in her. “Carter will answer three questions.” She looks at me, and then I look back at the reporter.

“Carter, the feedback about filming has been amazing,” she says into the microphone she has in front of her mouth. “How did you prepare for this role?”

“There really wasn’t much I could do,” I answer her. “I just put myself into the shoes of every parent out there who is missing a child. I can’t imagine,” I say, and I can’t. If someone took my child away from me, I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I had them back in my arms.

“From the gossip in the magazines, you’ve been on the down low lately, solely focused on work,” she says almost with a purr. “Are the rumors true? Did you find the special lady?”

“He isn’t answering any personal questions tonight, Ella,” Erin says. “Thanks for the questions.” She pushes me to the next person.

“Come on, Erin, you know I had to ask,” she says, and I see Erin in action.

“Oh, I know you had to ask,” she says, “but you have to know that I wasn’t going to let it slide. I gave you a shot at three questions.” She shrugs. “Not my fault you didn’t want to play by the rules.” She smiles at her. “Have a great night.”

“Bitch.” I hear Ella mumble, but Erin looks unaffected by it. I walk to the next reporter who is a guy, and he sticks to a script. We finally make it through the last reporter and walk inside the event. I look around and see all the A list people around. I’ve been to a million of these, and I’m already ready to leave.

“Carter.” I hear from the side and look over to see Beverly and Aaron, the ones throwing this event tonight. He walks to me, extending his hand to shake mine. “So happy you could make it.”

“It’s for a great cause,” I say, looking around all these people here dishing out money to make themselves feel just a touch better. A waiter comes over with a silver tray filled with glasses of champagne. I look over to see where Erin is, and I spot her over at the bar. It’s no surprise she’s already caught someone’s attention.

“If you two will excuse me, I see a couple of items I should bid on,” I mention, referring to the silent auction. I walk up to the sheets and place stupid bids and then walk toward the bar, and I hear the man talking.

“Yeah, I thought so with a beautiful smile like yours I know I would never forget,” he says, and again, Erin smiles politely.

“Are you done hitting on the woman?” I say louder than I want to, and the man turns around, shaking his head with a smile.

“Carter,” he says my name and extends his hand to shake mine.

“Tom.” I shake his hand, the hatred stewing in my stomach. Two years ago, we starred in a movie together. I thought it went well, but I obviously was the only one who thought that. During the press tour, he threw me under the bus over and over again, spewing shit out of his mouth. Something about me sleeping with his girlfriend pissing him off. I didn’t even know he had a girlfriend. “Have you met my girl Erin?”