Page 35 of Her Beastly Billionaire Rock Star
“It’s a cool car. A little small…” He grinned.
“It’s not small; you’re huge.”
His head tipped back, and he laughed. “Okay, you might have me there.”
Charlotte dropped her hands from his arm and hugged herself. “I never thought I’d see it again. Of all the cars to be…here…” She tilted her head and put her thumb to her lips, chewing on it. “What are the chances…”
A silver-haired man in a tux stopped next to Malakai. “Cute little car. It was a last-minute donation.” He stuck his hand out. “Jeffrey Collins. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Malakai replied and shook his hand. “This is Charlotte Gooding.”
She walked to the gas tank door, pulled it open, and gulped air. There was a tiny scrape on the paint. She’d accidentally done it when she was little. Octavia had the car this whole time? It was too much of a coincidence for it not to be her. Tears burned her eyes, and she blinked them back. The last thing she wanted was some photographer taking a picture of her crying.
“Is everything okay, Miss Gooding?”
Charlotte turned to the older man and forced a smile on her face. “Yes, Do you know who donated it?”
The man’s gaze landed on the car a second before returning to her. “No, I’m sorry. It was anonymous.”
“That’s too bad. I wish I could ask where they found it. I just love the car. It’s so cute.” Her gaze wandered to it again, half listening to the man.
He nodded, a peculiar look in his eyes. “Yes, my wife thought the same thing. She commented when she saw it that it was bug-in-a-rug cute.” A woman a few feet away waved for him, and he quickly shook Charlotte’s hand. “I apologize, but apparently I’m needed.”
Once the man was out of earshot, Malakai touched her arm, his eyebrows knitted together. “What’s wrong?”
“This is my dad’s car,” she choked out. “Octavia had it this whole time and I didn’t know it.”
His gaze raked from her to the car and back. “How do you know?”
“I was maybe eleven, and my dad thought I needed to know how to fill a car with gas. I was nervous because it was my first time doing it and he loved this car. My hands were shaky, and I chipped the paint. When my dad found out, he hugged me and told me it was just a car.” She moved to show Malakai the paint chip. “I did that. That’s how I know.”
He rubbed his knuckles down his jaw. “Wow. And all this time you had no idea?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Slipping his arm across her shoulders, he pulled her to him and curled around her, kissing the top of her head. “We’ll fix this.”
Charlotte palmed his chest. “That’s sweet of you, but it’s okay. I’m just a little shell-shocked at the moment. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m so sorry.”
With a small shrug, she leaned back. “Thanks. Want to mill around and see what all there is?” She smiled.
“Sure. Maybe I’ll bid on a few things.” He paused. “Then we’ll go have dinner or something.”
“That sounds great.”
With one last glance at her dad’s car, Charlotte slipped her hand into Malakai’s as they slowly walked each aisle. There were plenty of things to bid on, everything from sunglasses to a trip for two to New York and dinner with a twenty-four-carat dessert to finish it off.
Several celebrities were in attendance, and a few stopped to speak to them. Some seemed to purposely keep their distance like whatever image issues Malakai was having were contagious. Angus MacLachlan and his wife, Penelope; Tucker Hawk, his wife, Callie, and their newborn; and Sophia Parker and her husband, Gunner, were all friendly and didn’t seem to care what the gossip rags had to say. Tucker and Malakai seemed to be more acquainted than either Angus or Sophia, which made sense because they were both in the music industry.
The most interesting thing about the night was that Octavia hadn’t called to add salt to Charlotte’s wound. It was something her stepsister would typically do. The only thing Charlotte could figure was that the car was supposed to push her into making a scene, which was another reason she kept a smile on her face through the evening. She wasn’t going to give Octavia what she wanted.
“Are you ready to go?” asked Malakai.
“I could use some chocolate ice cream, a few bags of Doritos, and a large bottle of Cherry Sprite.”
He narrowed his eyes and curled up his lips. “What?”
