“Honey, I know we said he was attractive and all, but the money…” Irene said, her words tapering off. She was the only one who knew of my circumstances. Even Sarah Jane didn’t know I slept at the preschool. I was very careful, keeping my things like a toothbrush in a bag and tucking it in one of the higher cabinets. The small bed in the preschool’s back room I kept neatly made. The personal possessions my bitch ex-roommate hadn’t taken were tucked in a mini-storage locker on the edge of town. My clothes in the trunk of my car. What Irene was reminding me—because I’d clearly lost my mind—was that I didn’t have the money to pay for the bid. She didn’t care that I’d bought a bachelor but worried that I’d made my situation obvious by not being able to follow through. It would be embarrassing for me and for Sawyer. The charity would be short money some other woman, even Delilah, would have gladly given.
I nodded then admitted, “I know, I didn’t think.”
Irene chuckled. “Honey, you’re not the first woman to have her brain cells fried over a Manning.”
Sawyer hopped down from the stage, skipping the steps and sauntered over—yeah, that was what it was called when a hot cowboy walked my way—not looking anywhere but at me.
I licked my lips and swallowed hard, unable to tear my eyes from him.
“But why? Besides the obvious,” Sarah Jane wondered.
“I kneed him the balls,” I admitted, not looking at either of my friends.
Irene kept right on laughing.
“You what?” Sarah Jane practically shouted, but I wasn’t going to answer because Sawyer was beside me, setting his hat on his head.
I had to tilt my chin back to look up at him. He held his hand out, and I took it.
He gave a little tug and pulled me to my feet then leaned down. Before I could even question what he was doing, he tossed me over his shoulder and carried me out of the room.
4
SAWYER
The way I took her out of the room probably wasn’t the best idea. It might have been the fireman’s carry, and I was the fire chief, but there was no fire. If I wanted the town to stay out of my love life, that wasn’t the way to do it. But when it was Kelsey who had shouted out the winning bid, my inner caveman had taken over. I’d resigned myself to taking Delilah for coffee. In the morning. At the cafe on Main Street that had lots of witnesses, so she’d keep her hands off me. But then Kelsey, out of the blue, had shouted out a higher bid. Rev. Abernathy had called Sold faster than Delilah could respond, thank God. Literally and figuratively.
I’d gotten exactly what I wanted. A date with Kelsey. Was I insane? I was going to sure as shit find out. As soon as I’d found her in the crowd, I hadn’t looked away. How had I missed her? That wild red hair. That creamy skin. Those full lips. How gorgeous she was.
She might have been the one to buy me, but she was mine now. Why I wanted her I had no fucking idea. Maybe I was a masochist. Maybe I wanted a challenge. I wanted to know if her pussy had the same fiery curls as on her head.
Besides all that, we had shit to figure out, like why she’d kneed me in the balls. Why she’d done that then bought me at an auction.
With my arm banded about her thighs, I walked straight out of the building and didn’t put her down until we were beside my truck. While the parking lot was full, it was deserted since the auction was still going on. If Huck and Thatcher were the only two guys left, it wouldn’t be for much longer.
Summer nights were long in The Bend, the sun just having set behind the mountains. The town was nestled in a broad valley, the downtown built around a crook in the river. It was quaint and picturesque, but the only thing I could see was the woman I’d just placed back on her feet.
Her hair was long and wild about her face, the red tendrils seemingly having a mind of their own. Very Medusa-like. A pink flush brightened her cheeks, and most likely, anger brightened her green eyes.
She wore jeans with a pale blue top—no paint smudges—and leather sandals. Simple, but the lack of flash only showcased the soft swell of her lush tits, the curve of her hips. She was just naturally pretty. Hell, she wasn’t trying. I wasn’t sure if she really even knew just how fucking stunning she was.
She glanced around, as if figuring out where we were, then looked back at me. Her chin went up, so she could look me in the eye, but I had a feeling it was also because she was pissed off, although the slight play of her lips gave her away. She liked being manhandled, at least by me..
And yet, I had no idea why her sass made me hot for her.
“I could have walked, you know,” she said, setting her hands on her hips and cocking her head.
I grinned because somehow this little firecracker’s ire intrigued me. “And you could have kneed me in the balls again.”
Her gaze drifted away, and she smoothed her hands down the front of her jeans. She licked her lips, which had me stifle a groan and think of baseball stats, so I didn’t have a zipper mark in my dick. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
“Are you?” I asked, tipping my hat back to study her even more closely.
“Are you married?” she countered. That chin tipped up again. There was a little divot there that I wanted to tuck my thumb into while I kissed her.
“No.”
“Then I’m sorry. But I could have walked.”
“I was helping you from the room. I’m a fireman. I do the fireman’s carry.”
She looked me up and down as if surprised. “I don’t need your help.”
“But I needed yours?”
“Did you want to be bought by Delilah?”
I pinched my lips together, ran a hand over the back of my neck.
“You should be thanking me,” she said.
I tilted my head down to look her in the eye. Smiled. “Me? Thanking you? I’m the one who had to put frozen peas on his balls.”
“I saved you from a crazy woman.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
It was her turn to purse her lips because she caught on—we weren’t talking about Delilah any longer. The glare she gave me would’ve singed a lesser man, which only made my smile spread into a grin
That fierceness made me laugh. What the fuck was it with this woman? Sassy as fuck. She gave as good as she got. We’d talked in circles where I was about to thank her for something although I wasn’t quite sure what any longer.
“You don’t like to be hit on by married men,” I said, hopefully cutting to the crux of this whole mess.
“Would you?” She crossed her arms over her chest, which I guessed was to make her look put out. Instead, it pushed her tits up and made me want to see if her bra was lacy or something plain. I guessed lace. Lavender lace.
Fuck.
“What?” I asked, forgetting what we were talking about.
She sighed. “Would you want to be hit on by a married woman?”
Ah. She’d thought I was married, and Claire was mine.
I crossed my arms over my chest, mimicking her. “Why don’t we get this out in the open right now. I’m not married. Never have been. I don’t have a girlfriend. Hell, I haven’t even dated anyone in forever. That’s why Alice volunteered me for the auction. As for Claire, she’s my niece. Okay?”