“Hi!” I say with a bubbly smile. “I’m Arya Hendrix. And I’m wearing Caroline Henna.”
“Carolina Herrera,” he corrects as his cameraman takes a picture of my outfit. I hear a growl behind me, but I just ignore my caveman of a date. “Is Mr. Cline your boyfriend?”
Nolan cuts in front of me and the microphone with his body all tight and rigid. “She’s my wife.”
I don’t know who’s more shocked, me or the reporter. Nolan grabs my arm and starts pulling me toward the building. This time we don’t stop in front of any more cameras.
“Your wife?” I ask with my head spinning when we’re inside where it’s less chaotic. “I thought I was supposed to be your girlfriend?”
“And I thought you’d just be my sister’s annoying friend and not the love of my life.”
My mouth drops as I look up at him in shock. Love of his life?
I’m about to ask him what he means when an older man walks over with a smile and an outstretched hand.
“Mr. Brown,” Nolan says as he shakes it. “Wonderful party you have here and for such a great cause. Thank you for inviting us.”
The older man turns his sharp brown eyes onto me. I can see a hint of disapproval in them when he sees how much cleavage I’m showing. Come on, man… It’s not that much.
“And who is this?”
“My wife,” Nolan says before I can answer.
I just smile and nod as he shakes my hand. “Arya Hendrix. I mean Arya Cline. Still getting used to that, I guess.”
Arya Cline. I kind of like the sound of that…
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nolan’s body flex and tighten like he’s going to rip our hands apart in a jealous rage. I spare my date and let go of Mr. Brown’s hand before Nolan lunges forward.
“I wasn’t aware that any of the Cline brothers were married,” he says as he turns back to Nolan with a calculating stare. “That’s a nice surprise.”
Nolan grabs my thick waist and yanks me toward him. “She was a nice surprise. A very nice surprise indeed.”
The heat between my legs begins to throb again with his firm hand gripping me so hard that I almost let out a whimper.
“Family is so important,” Mr. Brown says with an approving nod. “Conservative family values is what has made me my fortune. Believing in God and staying away from the temptations of the flesh. I always worried about trusting four bachelors with my investments, but I feel much better knowing that you’re a family man, like me. Will you be having any children?”
“As soon as I can put a baby into her, I will,” he says, watching me with a passionate stare that makes goosebumps rise all over my skin. I can’t tell if he’s saying it for Mr. Brown or for me…
“Very good,” he says with a nod. “Enjoy the party and please donate generously to help the turtles. They do need our help.”
Nolan and Mr. Brown shake hands again and he leaves to go welcome some more guests. The people are starting to swarm into the lobby of the building and everyone is dressed in their finest dresses, jewelry, and tuxedos. I feel like I just stepped onto the set of a Cinderella remake, and Nolan is making me feel like I have the starring role.
We hold hands as we walk into the enormous hall that’s beautifully decorated with flowers and little turtle figurines on the tables. I’ll have to steal one of those cuties at the end of the night…
People are chatting in circles as waiters and waitresses wind around them with trays of appetizers and champagne. You know you feel out of place when you probably have more in common with the serving staff than the party guests.
“What’s this?” I ask as I pull Nolan over to a long table with all kinds of cool shit on it. There’s even an old red sports car parked at the end that people are bidding on.
“A silent auction,” he says as I look at the sign asking us to bid on a trip to Hawaii for two.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Maui,” I say with a heavy breath. “It looks so gorgeous.”
“If I win it, will you go with me?”
“To Maui?”
I’m expecting him to be kidding, but he’s not. “Um, yeah!”
Nolan grabs a paper off the table and quickly fills it out. I nearly gasp when I see the amount he bids for it. $250,000.
He must really like turtles. Or Maui. Or, maybe he just really wants to see me in a bikini.
“A quarter of a million dollars?” I ask as he folds up the paper and stuffs it into the box. “Seriously?”
He just shrugs as he grabs my hand again. “You wanted to go and my wife gets what she wants.”