I smiled at him. "I would love that. However, I did already promise I'd take part in the auction."
His eyes went wide. "You're up for auction?"
I gave him a flirty shrug. "Yes. It's for charity, so I agreed."
"Well, in that case, I will certainly bid on you. And immediately after, I’ll get to enjoy some time with you for the evening."
"That sounds perfect." I said it with the kind of smile I hoped that the seductresses in James Bond films would use instead of the tight revulsion with which I felt then. I saw Jennifer waving me over, and I sighed. It was showtime. But at least now I had whet his appetite.
After this auction, I was going to get alone time with Connor Lohman, and then I would get my questions answered.
Jennifer, wearing a black sheath cocktail dress, her blond hair coiled into curls on top of her head, smiled as she reached the podium. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, I know that you have been waiting ever so patiently for the final lot of the evening in our bachelorette auction. Well, the wait is over.”
I tried to remind myself that women did this all the time. They talked to nasty, disgusting men to secure their safety, to secure their futures, hell, even just a drink. Sometimes even health insurance. I could do this. We were just going to have a conversation without his babysitters.
But now, I must auction. Whose bright idea was this?
Yours.
God, what if people bid on me? That would be awful. But what if no one bid on me? That would be equally as awful, and I wasn't sure which one I preferred.
Jennifer gave an introduction and gestured toward me, and I sighed deeply. It was showtime.
I walked onto the stage and there was discreet clapping, hooting, and hollering. Some of the organizers that helped at the center were behind it, trying to make me feel better, no doubt.
Jennifer detailed my accomplishments and explained that I was a student who had, thus far, been unlucky in love and mostly spent my time volunteering with underprivileged youth. Then she opened the bidding.
I tried to not take myself seriously, so I gave her a little curtsy and did a little twirl. The girls over at the bar hooted and hollered again. And then to my horror, or my relief, I wasn't sure which, Connor Lohman/Phelps bid on me.
I gave him a wan smile and tried to push down my shudder of revulsion because… gross.
But then I saw someone else with a paddle in the air. I turned and my gaze locked on moss green eyes. I did a quick scan of the bloke's face too. It was… holy shit. There was an aura of intensity about him. Even though his smile was flirty, there was something about him that screamed I am a deadly predator.
He was a smorgasbord for the eyes. I couldn't figure out what part of him to look at first. The body, the hair, the eyes. All broad shouldered like a swimmer with an insane wingspan.
He was handsome in that way that was striking, where you were sort of compelled to look at his face and you couldn't look away. His jaw was stubbled, and heat flooded my veins as I wondered all the places that stubble could abrade the skin.
What? No. Oh, hell no. I didn’t date. I didn’t do relationships. And the one or two hookups I’d ever had were lackluster at best. Awkward and embarrassing or worse. Why was I having sudden horny feelings for someone I didn't even know?
He was very pretty. A carved jawline that made him look sexy and roguish. A sharp Roman nose that looked like perhaps it had been broken once before but expertly put back together by a very good plastic surgeon. He looked young. Under thirty definitely.
His hair was slightly longer on top, expertly styled with gel to look slightly haphazard but not too much. In a word, he was gorgeous.
And he knew it.
But worse, it was as if my pussy had called out to me, wanting to finally be put into action.
Oh God. Not on the stage. I resolutely snapped my gaze away from him. And when the hooting and hollering began again when Connor upped his bid, I laughed and shook my head.
Apparently, the laugh worked because suddenly more hands went up, and I flushed. This was horrible and embarrassing.
All the while, Jennifer was going on and on about how amazing I was. How athletic, my history of martial arts, and I wanted to be ill.
Had I really put all of that on the auction form? It had asked for hobbies.
Then she said that I read, and she highlighted my favorite romance novels. That got several hands up. Bloody hell.
When the price went up past five thousand quid, I laughed nervously. What in the world?
Finally, the bloke with the green eyes and jaw that looked like it had been chiseled called out, "Ten thousand pounds."
My gaze snapped back to him, and he grinned, his smirk melting that whole core of ice somewhere deep inside me, making me throb.
No, no, no. Which was the worst bet? Connor or this guy?
This guy, definitely. You need Connor.
I did need Connor.
My decision made for me, I sent Connor a pleading look.
He smirked at me and then the other bloke, as he called out, "Fifteen thousand pounds."
My jaw dropped. I thought he'd bid by a few quid only. I mean, what was a few bob? But five thousand? Jesus, this was getting out of hand. I mean exactly what did they think I was going to do on this date?
I certainly was not going to fuck Connor.
But you will be locked in a room with him. So there's that.
Fuck.
Well, I would deal with that when I came to it. Besides, I could grab a weapon, right? I saw some knives on the table that would make excellent defense weapons.
You really did not think this through very well.
Okay, fine. I'd walked into this auction situation not having thought it through.
After Connor’s latest bid, a hush fell over the room. Everyone whispered and tittered around. There was a dark-skinned black woman sitting on the other side of Mr. Green Eyes, between him and another man who was equally good-looking. He had dark curly hair, and he looked familiar. Why did he look familiar? Maybe he was an actor or something. But he was jaw-dropping. That bloke leaned over and kissed her shoulder, and she smiled up at him. Her smile was incandescent. They were in love. And then they whispered something about Green Eyes because he turned to look at them and just shook his head and kept his paddle up.
Connor too. Finally, Jennifer called out, “Gentlemen, I thank you for a very interesting evening. We are up to fifty-thousand pounds. Do I hear fifty-one?”
Connor kept his paddle up. The beautiful woman sandwiched between the two men lifted her brows, her dark skin glowing under the light in the ballroom. She was beautiful. It was as if several models had turned up from fashion week just for this auction. Green Eyes was about to put up his paddle again, but then she shook her head and whispered again. He sighed, and then gave me a look that said he was sorry and disappointed.
Jennifer glanced from him to Connor and back to Green Eyes again. "We are currently at fifty-one thousand. Do we have any other takers at fifty-two?"
When Green Eyes shook his head, she banged the gavel down. "And we have closed the bidding at fifty-one-thousand pounds. Mr. Phelps, we are beyond thrilled by your most generous donation." Everyone clapped. I did a little curtsy, and then I waved at Jennifer, who indicated she'd be right down at the bottom of the stairs to tell me where I was supposed to go meet Connor.
When she joined me, I was searching the crowd, hoping I could just grab Connor without even having to go to a room with him, but I knew that I needed the privacy. "Come with me. You'll wait over here for Mr. Phelps."