Bound to the Bachelor (6 page)

She rolled her eyes and huffed out her breath, putting on a big show of being exasperated.

“This is ridiculous.”

He took a step closer, knowing how she’d react. “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re afraid?”

She tensed, and her arms tightened across her chest, but she didn’t take the step back he knew she desperately wanted to take.

“Of skiing? Hardly. Fine, if you want to do it, it’s no skin off my nose. I’ll check my diary and let you know when I’m free.”

He smiled. “If you’re thinking I’m going to let it slide if you leave it long enough, you might want to think again.”

She gave a dismissive little flick of her head, as if to say she’d wasted enough time on him.

“I’m free next Saturday.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at seven. Do you have ski gear?”

“Yes.”

“Wear it.”

As he walked to the door, Lily muttered something under her breath. He couldn’t be certain, but he thought it might have been “you’re not the boss of me”. He dragged his tie off and stuffed it into his jacket pocket as he made his way across the crowded room to the bar.

Given Lily’s patent reluctance to go on a date with him and his own reservations where she was concerned, next Saturday looked as though it was destined to be a disaster.

And yet he was still going to go through with it, come hell or high water. Which either made him a glutton for punishment, or a stubborn bastard. Or – most likely – a combination of both.

Catching Dillon’s eye as he bellied up to the bar, Beau signaled the need for strong liquor and tried not to think about how good Lily Taylor was going to look in a ski suit.

*

It took lots
of maneuvering, but Lily managed to avoid talking to either Molly or Andie for the rest of the night. Every time she saw one of them heading her way, she ducked into the kitchen or the ladies or used the nearest gaggle of women as a screen while she made her get away. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to avoid them forever, but she simply didn’t feel up to a friendly interrogation tonight, not after Beau’s not-so-friendly one.

She was relieved when she saw Heath and Andie leave just after nine, closely followed by Molly and Josh not long after. It had started to snow outside, but the crowd in the saloon stayed strong until ten-thirty or so. As the crowd thinned out, Lily started clearing away the auction menus littered on the floor and tables and other auction detritus. She’d only been working for a few minutes when Jason Grey came over and took her by the elbow, leading her to where Reese was holding her coat and handbag.

“Go home. We’ve got the rest of this,” Jason said.

Since there was no arguing with his steely-eyed seriousness, Lily changed her shoes and made the challenging journey through calf-deep snow to her Honda. The drive home was tense, and she let her head drop back against the rest once she’d safely parked in her spot beneath the building.

Scenes from the evening came back to her as she stared at the yellowed headliner in her car. Jett strutting and preening on the stage, working it for the audience. Josh’s delight at all the attention he was getting. Beau’s laser-like blue eyes boring into hers as he demanded the truth.

Thank God it was over. And thank God it had been a success. She hadn’t done a complete tally yet, but she was willing to bet they’d cracked the twenty thousand dollar mark. Molly would officially be able to relax, and Josh would get everything he needed.

Which was pretty cool, if she did say so herself.

Her lips curling into a tired smile, she dragged her sorry ass out of the car and went upstairs. She didn’t waste any time getting cozy once she was safely home, pulling on her warmest pajamas and falling into bed within minutes of walking through the door. It had been a hectic few weeks in the run up the auction, and she was beat.

She slept like a log and woke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. She staggered out of bed, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror on the back of her bedroom door. Half her hair was up, the other half down, and her make-up was an Impressionist’s blur across her face.

Well, that would teach whoever it was to come calling at – she glanced at the clock on her bedside table – nine on a Sunday morning.

“Give me a break, I’m coming,” she hollered as the knocking started up again.

She had two good guesses who it might be, so she wasn’t surprised when she looked through the spy hole and saw Andie staring back at her.

“You can’t run forever, Lily Taylor,” Andie said.

Lily opened the door.

“I wasn’t running. I was choosing my moment,” she said as Andie sailed past her and into the living room.

“You were ducking and diving like a kid playing dodge ball last night, and don’t deny it,” Andie said.

Her straight, fair hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, her long legs clad in dark denim. In many ways, she looked exactly the same as she always had, but there was a subtle difference in the way she held herself and the way she looked out at the world from behind her clear blue eyes these days. Andie had found love – or, more accurately, love had found her, in the form of Heath, the luckiest man on the planet – and it had given her a new confidence.

“You want coffee?” Lily asked, heading for the kitchen.

Andie stepped into her path. “Tell me honestly – do you have a thing for my brother?”

Lily laughed outright. “Get out of here,” she said, convinced Andie was pulling her leg.

When Andie continued to stare at her, clearly waiting for an answer, Lily blinked.

“You’re seriously serious? You really think I’m so hard up for your brother’s attention that I’d pay a small fortune to get it?”

“Tell me why you did it, then?” Andie asked.

“Because I got this in the mail yesterday.” Lily fetched the letter from her bedroom and handed it over.

Andie scanned it quickly, her expression tightening as she understood its import. Her eyes were soft with concern when they lifted to Lily’s face.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course. But I don’t want his stinking money.”

“God, no.”

Lily had to resist the urge to hug her friend then. Andie knew all about Luther, and having her unequivocal support on this decision meant the world.

“I couldn’t think of any other way to get Molly to take the money.” Not that she’d given it
that
much thought, seeing as she’d pretty much made up her mind on the spot and bid on Beau with her next breath.

“She can hardly say no to your bid without saying no to all of them,” Andie said.

“That’s what I figured.”

“I guess I should give up on the idea that you’ve been secretly harboring a crush on my brother for the last five years, then,” Andie said with an exaggerated sigh.

“As if. No offense, but even if I was interested in dating right now – and I’m not – and even if your brother didn’t hate my guts – which he does – he’s a terrible prospect.”

“I know. He’s almost as bad as you,” Andie said.

“Hey!” Lily gave her friend a playful shove in the shoulder. “Play nice.”

“Come on, you have to admit, your track record sucks just as much as Beau’s,” Andie said, a teasing smile on her face. “In a way, you and Beau are a matched set.”

“No way. Your brother is a commitaphobe who cares more about his business than he does about the women who share his bed. I, on the other hand, don’t share my bed with anyone.”

“That’s what I mean – a matched set. The man whore and the nun.”

Lily headed into the kitchen. “Stop it. You’re making it all sound so romantic, I might swoon.”

Andie followed her, propping her shoulder against the kitchen doorway as she watched Lily measure out coffee.

“So, how did Beau take it when you told him you’d bought him as a smokescreen?”

“How do you think he took it?” Lily asked dryly.

Andie grinned. “He got all pissy and stubborn and insisted on taking you on the date, didn’t he?”

Lily gaped, genuinely surprised by her friend’s insight. “How on earth did you know that?”

“It’s classic Beau. Always thinks he knows best. Always has to win.”

“See, that’s my least favorite of his many unattractive qualities,” Lily said.

Andie nodded as though she was in complete agreement. “Have to admit, he scrubbed up okay in that suit last night, though.”

“Okay? He looked amazing. I’m surprised someone didn’t try to jump him and drag him to the ground,” Lily said, busy getting out two mugs from the overhead cupboard.

Andie cocked an eyebrow, a “gotcha” look on her face, and Lily reviewed the last few seconds and could have slapped herself.

“Just because I freely acknowledge Beau’s superficial appeal does not mean anything,” she said hastily.

“Okay. If you say so.”

Lily saw there was a speculative light in Andie’s eye, and it hit her that her friend wasn’t joking – she genuinely had hopes where Lily and Beau were concerned. Talk about misguided.

Very serious, she approached Andie and settled a hand on each shoulder.

“Listen to me. Nothing is going to happen between your brother and me. He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him. You hearing me?”

“So if Beau took you skiing and you guys had a really great time, and he tried to, I don’t know, kiss you or something at the end of the day, you’d spit in his eye?”

“Never going to happen.” Lily pinched her friend’s cheek. “I love that you want me to be happy in the same way you are, but you need to give up on this particular fantasy, stat.”

“We’ll see,” Andie said.

Lily snorted her amusement. “You are crazy in the coconut, lady.”

Talk switched to the auction then, and when they returned to the living room, Andie helped her add up the night’s receipts on the back of an old envelope. When they were finished, Andie sat back with round eyes.

“Dude. That is seriously impressive.”

They both stared at the total on the envelope. $24,575.

Andie slipped her arm around Lily’s shoulder. “You are an awesome friend.”

Lily smiled, feeling a little emotional as it sank in how much this was going to change things for Molly and Josh.

“Everyone pitched in,” she said.

“You made it happen. We just followed your lead,” Andie gave her a tight hug.

Lily had to blink away tears then, and she made a big deal out of getting up and clearing away the coffee cups.

“What’s it like outside, anyway? It was coming down pretty heavily last night,” she said.

“About like you’d expect. Speaking of which, I’d better get Heath’s SUV back to him. He’s got a potential development site he wants to go check out.”

“Today?”

“The man is unstoppable,” Andie said, clearly more than a little proud of her husband.

Lily walked her to the door, opening it to reveal Molly poised on the threshold, hand raised to knock.

“Tag team,” Andie said, tapping her hand to Molly’s raised one as she stepped out into the hall. “And congratulations.”

“On what?” Molly asked, surprised.

“Lily can tell you,” Andie said, heading for the lift.

“Ah.
Another
mystery,” Molly said pointedly, pulling off her gloves and stuffing them into her pocket as she entered Lily’s apartment.

Lily held up her hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. “Hey, I had nothing to do with last night’s mystery. That was all Josh.”

“We can talk about that later. I have bigger fish to fry right now, young lady,” Molly said ominously, unzipping her jacket.

“You wanted to talk about how smoothly everything went last night? I agree, it was awesome,” Lily said, unable to resist teasing her friend a little.

Because they both knew why Molly was there.

“I’m not taking your money,” Molly said, cutting to the chase.

“Read this before you make any hard and fast decisions,” Lily said, handing over the lawyers’ letter.

Molly’s brow knit in concentration as she read the single sheet of paper.

“Luther. Isn’t he the one…?

“That’s right.”

“Are you all right?” Molly rested a hand on her forearm.

“I haven’t seen him for years. I’m fine.”

“Good. Because he is – was – an asshole,” Molly said with unusual vehemence.

Before Josh’s accident, Molly’s swearing repertoire had consisted of “fudge” and “crumb”, but she’d turned into quite the salty sea dog these days, Lily noted.

“So you understand why I don’t want to take his money.”

Molly surprised her by shaking her head. “No, I don’t.”

“
What
?”

“Sweetie, you have been lecturing me on accepting the kindness of strangers and admitting that sometimes you need help for
weeks.”

“This is different. Luther is not a stranger, and this is not about
kindness
.”

“What is it, then?” Molly crossed her arms over her chest, clearly ready to battle this one out.

“This is him rubbing my face in it. He wants me to be so down on my luck, his money is the only thing that saves me. He wants me to think of him every time I pay the utilities or buy steak or treat myself to a manicure. And I won’t let that happen.” Lily became aware she was out of breath and that maybe she’d raised her voice a little toward the end there. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get all yell-y on you.”