Deliver Me (42 page)

***

Monica joined in the
applause as Aria Jordan finished a soulful remake of a Roberta Flack classic.
That girl had a set of pipes on her.

Her nature had
always been overly cautious, which was why Monica wasn’t ready to give herself
a pat on the back just yet. But, as the night drew on, the urge was there. So
far, everything had gone off without a hitch.

The food was
absolutely marvelous. The entertainment was outstanding. Even Mother Nature was
on her side tonight; the magnolia blossoms gave off a light scent that perfumed
the air, wrapping around the grounds of the plantation.

She caught Dr.
Slessinger’s wink and returned it with a thumbs up. It looked as if she’d
impressed her colleagues after all.

Aria started another
song, this one a soft, mellow ballad. Monica closed her eyes and let the
soothing music drift over her. Standing on the outer perimeter of the grounds
with her eyes closed, it was the first time in nearly two hours that she felt
even a semblance of peace.

Since the moment
Elijah Holmes had arrived, Monica had not been able to stop herself from
seeking him out.

It was as if he were
a magnet, and she a sheet of metal. Throughout the night, whenever she looked
in his direction, Eli’s eyes were on her. It was the reason she’d left her seat
in exchange to stand back here in no-man’s-land. From where she stood, she
could not even see Eli’s table.

Monica stifled a
small moan. She
wanted
to see him.

She gave herself a mental shake. There were things to do.
She needed to check out the preparations taking place backstage. The auction
would be starting soon.

“Dr. Gardner?” It
was Patty.

Monica opened her
eyes and felt an immediate sense of dread at the look on the nurse’s usually
serene face.

“I’m feeling really
good right now, and I have a feeling you’re about to ruin my mood.”

“I think that’s an
accurate assumption,” Patty answered.

Oh, great. As if she
needed this, whatever
this
was.

“On a scale of one
to five, how bad is it?” Monica asked.

“Which means really
bad?”

“A five.”

“Okay, then this is
a fifty.”

An instant headache
formed between Monica’s eyes. She brought her hand up and squeezed the bridge
of her nose. She was afraid to ask.

“What is it?”

“There was an
ammonia leak at one of the chemical plants in Mississippi.”

“Uh, Patty, I know
that’s not necessarily good for some people in Mississippi, but to be honest, I
couldn’t care less.”

“Well, you need to start caring because half of your
eligible bachelors for tonight’s auction are stuck in Hattiesburg.”

“No, they’re not,” Monica said, dragging the words out
slowly.

“When were you last backstage?” Patty asked.

“Right after the meal was served. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Banyon
had just changed into their tuxes.”

Patty’s head went up and down with exaggerated nods. “Yes,
they were. Along with Dr. Myers and Dr. Jackson. But everyone else…”

Monica’s eyelids slid shut “Tell me this is your sick,
twisted idea of a practical joke. I’m going to kill you if it is, but—”

Patty shook her
head. “This is very, very real, Dr. Gardner. What are we going to do?”

This isn’t happening
.
This
is
so
not happening
.

“The auction starts
in twenty minutes. How many bachelors do we have?”

“Five,” the nurse
answered.

If there were a wall
close by, Monica would have banged her head against it. Of all the things that
could ruin this night, losing the majority of her bachelors had never entered
her mind.

“Why am I just
finding out about this?”

“The hospital
received several calls, but no one bothered to pass on the information.”

“You have got to be
kidding me!” Monica pointed at her watch. “Nineteen minutes! We’ve got nineteen
minutes, and instead of a dozen bachelors I have five?”

Her mind was a
jumble of wet knots. How in the hell was she supposed to handle this? The bully
tactics that worked for the tent rental company wouldn’t do a bit of good here.
And, unfortunately, crawling up in a fetal position and crying her eyes
out—which is what she felt like doing—wouldn’t help either.
 

“We need to find
some emergency bachelors. I can make my brother, Phillip, join in. Quick,
Patty, go to the head table and get Dr. Slessinger.”

Patty held up a
finger. “One problem, neither are bachelors.”

Monica opened her
mouth, then shut it. “I...I don’t care. We need some warm bodies, whether they’re
single or not.”

“I’ll tell Dr.
Slessinger. You find Dr. Holmes,” Patty said, leaving before Monica could form
a protest. The bottom dropped out of her stomach.

Eli fit the bill to
a tee. He was both a bachelor and a doctor. But, he adamantly refused to take
part in the auction.

Well, they both had
to suck it up. Desperate times called for desperate measures. And a hell of a
lot of sacrificing.

Swallowing the
forty-eight emotions lodged in her throat, Monica whispered to herself, “You
can do this.”

That positive
self-talk crap never did a bit of good. Her heart still beat like a tambourine.
Dread filled her chest, but when she rounded the tables where Eli had been all
night, he was nowhere to be found.

The emcee announced
the first bachelor.

Frantic, Monica looked over to the head table and caught Dr.
Slessinger’s wide-eyed expression.

Oh, goodness. This
was so, so bad.

Anxiety clawed at
her skin. She desperately searched the crowd for anyone who could fill in, but
she was still too new to the hospital to know all of the doctors. And,
unfortunately, many who were supposed to be in attendance were either in
Mississippi or covering for the doctors who were covering the strike.

On the verge of
breaking down in tears, Monica could only watch as the first bachelor strutted
across the stage. A night at Delmonico’s with Dr. Johnson from cardiology went
for a whopping eighteen hundred dollars.

Monica said a silent
prayer of thanks. She had estimated how much each bachelor would go for, and
had only put Dr. Johnson at about a thousand. If the other four went for more
than she’d projected, maybe the night wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Except there was no
way five doctors would fetch as much as twelve would have. This was such a
nightmare.

The second and third
bachelors each went for under what she had estimated. Apparently, radiologists
were not as sexy as some of the other specialties.

Monica stood over to
the side and watched as the emcee tried to cajole the ladies in the audience to
raise their bids as Dr. Peter Banyon strolled across the platform.

“Twenty-two hundred.
Do we have twenty-two fifty?”

“Twenty-two fifty,”
came a shout from the audience. Was that Nia? Monica craned her neck. Yep, that
was her sister-in- law.

“Do we have
twenty-three?” the auctioneer asked.

“Twenty-three,”
someone in the back called.

Yes
.
Yes
.
Yes
.

Monica crossed her fingers, silently praying the doctor’s
youth and good looks would hike up his asking price.

Several minutes
later, after another round of bidding, including another bid from Nia, the
auctioneer finally concluded with, “Sold for three thousand, one hundred, fifty
dollars.”

Applause erupted for
both Peter and the woman who’d purchased him. Bless Peter’s heart, his date had
to be at least seventy-years-old. When he walked over to her table, the older
woman gave him a big kiss on the lips, which the young doctor took in stride,
dipping the woman and giving her another kiss.

Monica was ready to
kiss him, too. She would owe Peter big time.

They were up to six
thousand, three hundred dollars, way short of what she had estimated.

“The fifth bachelor”—and
last, Monica thought, closing her eyes in dread—”is Alexander Holmes.”
Her head shot up. “He’s not a doctor, ladies, but he does own one of the
fastest growing construction companies in New Orleans.”

What?

Alex sauntered
across the stage dressed in a sleek tuxedo. The bids were already up to a
thousand dollars. He flashed a smile and hands shot in the air.

Monica stood in a
daze, unable to comprehend what was happening as Alex, Toby, and someone named
Jonathan, whom she had never seen before, each promenaded as if they were
scheduled to be on stage from the very beginning.

Eli was behind this.
He had saved her.

Monica held back
tears as she looked over the crowd once again, searching for him.

“And our last
bachelor of the night is Methodist Memorial’s one and only Super Doc, Elijah
Holmes.”

Monica’s heart
practically stopped as Eli walked onto the stage. He was divine, dressed in all
black. He smiled at the crowd, a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Women were bidding
faster than the auctioneer could call them out. With each turn Eli made, the
price went up. Nia bid twenty-five hundred, which was quickly followed by a bid
for twenty-six.

Monica’s heart
swelled. She knew he was not comfortable being auctioned off like a piece of
cattle; he’d told her those very words. Yet there he was. For her.

“Ten thousand,”
Monica said, stepping out of the shadows.

A collective gasp
swept over the crowd as heads turned her way. But Monica only had eyes for the
man on the stage.

The look Eli gave
her sent a tremor of fear, hurt, and anticipation down her spine. His piercing
eyes shot through her like a flaming arrow.

“Do we have ten
thousand, one hundred,” the auctioneer asked. Silence followed. “Sold for ten
thousand dollars.”

Through the
resounding applause, Monica heard a whoop she was sure came from Nia’s table,
but she refused to look anywhere but at Eli. He stepped down from the stage,
never taking his eyes off her.

Monica was at a lost
for words.

“That was very
generous of you,” Eli said, taking her hand and planting a light kiss on the
crest of her fingers. “The Parenting Center appreciates it.”

“Do you,” she
managed to whisper.

He gazed into her
eyes. The breath Monica was about to take lodged in her throat. His bold stare
sending chills down her spine, Eli slowly nodded. “Yes,” he finally said.

“Oh, God,” Monica
gasped, throwing her arms around him. “Eli, I’m so sorry.”

He pulled her away
slightly, his stare intense. “She’s nothing to me, Monica. I need you to know
that.”

“Shh.” She put her
fingers to his lips. “No explanation is necessary. I’m sorry I ever doubted
you.” She stared into his eyes, her heart filled with sorrow and hope. “Can you
forgive me?”

The sexy smile she’d
missed more than air crept upon his lips. “I guess,” Eli answered with a shrug.

She burst out
laughing, relief washing over her in waves. “Are you always this forgiving,”
she teased, planting a kiss on his mouth.

“For the woman I
love? Pretty much.” His words reverberated against her lips. An intense burst
of joy echoed throughout her entire being.

Monica caught the
mischievous crook of his mouth, and the glint in his eyes she’d come to know
all too well.

“Wait a minute. Will
I have to pay a special price for this forgiveness?” she asked.

Eli’s sensual smile
broadened.

“Pretty much.”

—
The End
—

Thank
you so much for purchasing and reading
Deliver Me
.

Be
sure to check out Toby and Alex’s stories in
Release Me
and
Rescue
Me
.

The Holmes
Brother Series
:

Set
in New Orleans, the Holmes Brothers series follows the lives of Elijah, Tobias,
and Alexander Holmes as they find love in one of the world’s most romantic
cities.

RELEASE ME

Book
Two

Tobias "Toby" Holmes was destined for NBA stardom. But when
an SUV crashed into his car during his rookie year, his dreams of playing
pro-basketball, along with his spine, were shattered. After floundering from
one job to another, Toby has finally found his niche in the music business. And
when the singing sensation he discovered is pegged to star in a new reality TV
show, Toby finally sees light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel.