MVP (12 page)

By the time she finished puking her guts out, Morgan was sure she’d had a near death experience. She sat on the floor of the bathroom with a wet guest towel on her neck. There was a light tap at the door, then Teri-Lyn entered.

“Are you OK?”

Morgan smiled. “I think that chili was a little spicy for me.”

“Would you believe Tyler turned it down a notch for you?”

“I appreciate it but I think my stomach is no match for the Blake digestive tract.”

Teri-Lyn looked Morgan over. “There’s something different about you.”

“I haven’t been getting enough sleep. I’ve been campaigning for funding for the library and it hasn’t been going well. Not to mention the bookstore has been busy and I promised Seth I’d be home at the decent hour every night. We were talking on the way down here and I don’t even remember falling asleep halfway through the conversation. He woke me up to tell me we were landing.”

“No, that’s not it.” Teri-Lyn looked her right in the eye.

Morgan tried to shrug but was too exhausted. “I’m sure this country air will put me back on track.”

“I’m sure it will. Maybe you should see your doctor about some vitamins or something when you get back.”

Teri-Lyn helped Morgan get up from the floor.

“Did someone mention apple pie for dessert?” Morgan asked.

Teri-Lyn smiled. “Sure did.”

It startled Morgan when her mother-in-law touched her cheek and laughed at her request for pie. They rejoined the family in the kitchen. Seth seemed so content laughing and joking around with his father and brothers. His smile faded, replaced with concern when he saw Morgan coming back into the kitchen with his mother. Morgan countered Seth’s worried look by sticking her tongue out at him. Teri-Lyn cut her a big chunk of pie, so Morgan took a fork out of the drawer, sat on Seth’s lap, and shared it with him.

“I think your brother tried to kill me,” she whispered.

“Babe, I forgot how Tyler is with the spices.” He rubbed her belly.

“I should have known something was awry when I saw him pouring that bottle of Jack Daniels into the pot.” She grimaced. She’d actually seen Tyler put at least twenty ingredients in the chili but didn’t want to chicken out in front of her burly in-laws.

“I guess I’m just used to his cookin’.”

Tyler apologized repeatedly while Channing assured her his turn at the stove would be much better. JJ admitted he couldn’t boil water, but he could whip her up a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich if she was ever in the mood. Her stomach flutters had calmed down by the time she and Seth had finished the pie. But they would return whenever she caught Teri-Lyn smiling at her.

* * *

The ballroom of the Crystal Lily Hotel was nothing short of spectacular. Every fat wallet in Texas was there and that meant the clinic would get more hefty donations. Regardless of why he had become involved with it, Seth was happy the clinic was there for people in need who couldn’t afford proper healthcare.

“Seth, good to see you!” Dex Montgomery, the director, shook Seth’s hand.

“This is my wife Morgan.”

“So good to meet you, Morgan!”

Morgan shook his hand with a smile. “Nice to meet you too.”

“This is going to be an epic fundraiser. Tate is here as well. Dear, I hope you don’t mind us auctioning off your husband?”

“Not at all. As long as he’s returned untouched and in one piece. It’s all in the name of charity.”

“Good.” Dex Montgomery scurried off to tell the auctioneer that Seth had indeed arrived.

“Morgan, you look absolutely ravishing,” a familiar voice said behind them.

“Thank you, Tate.” Morgan gave him a hug.

“Blake, I can’t believe you made it.” Tate laughed.

“Morgan suggested I attend.” Seth shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s a good cause and I get to see you two handsome devils in tuxedos.” Morgan smiled.

“Morgan, I won’t be offended if you bid on me tonight.” Tate winked.

“She’s not spending one dime on you, McGill,” Seth drawled.

“Gentlemen, we’re ready to start the auction.” The auctioneer motioned for Seth and Tate to follow her.

* * *

Seth and Tate stood next to the curtain backstage waiting for their cues.

“Is my bow tie straight?” Tate asked.

Seth repositioned it. “Now it is. You look more nervous than when you’re performing.”

“How’d you get yours so straight?”

“Morgan tied it.” He smiled.

“It was very cool of her to let you do this. You hit the jackpot with her.”

“I know. I’m going to take her on the date with me. I hope the winning bidder doesn’t get upset about it. Are you going to write another song about this auction date too?”

“That’s the plan.” Tate winked. “Have you seen Penny tonight?”

“No, I didn’t but then again I wasn’t looking for her.” That was true. He’d made up his mind that he was staying as far away from her as he could.

“Oh yeah?”

“Tate, she’s called me several times but I didn’t answer.”

Tate whistled at that. “Our pretty Morgan must have struck a nerve. Penny never could stand to see you happy. That’s probably why she stayed with you so long.” Tate laughed.

The lights dimmed and the crowd started applauding. It was time for the auction to start.

* * *

Morgan thought she’d seen Penny in the crowd but couldn’t be sure. When the lights dimmed and the auctioneer took the stage, she saw Penny, looking radiant in a crimson dress, scooting closer to the front of the stage. The auction began and the crowd went wild. The bidding went by fast; bachelor number five was already on the stage. It was obvious they were saving Seth and Tate for last.

When Tate finally took to the stage, Morgan got to see just how dashing he looked in his tuxedo. Hands flew up so fast the auctioneer could barely keep track. The bid was up to a whopping ten thousand dollars. Morgan was standing next to a group of ten women who were trying to calculate how much money they had all together. The last she heard they were up to thirty-five thousand dollars total but then an argument broke out about how they were going to share Tate. She never did get to listen to that infamous song Seth told her about, but now she was dying to hear it. The bidding slowed down to fifty-five thousand until Tate grabbed the microphone.

“Now ladies, I know you can do better than that. We’re trying to make sure the Main Street Clinic has another successful year. I tell you what, I’ll even bring my guitar on the date.”

There were a few cat calls and someone by the stage made a racy comment about how much fun Tate was bound to be. That fueled Tate’s fire and he began to sing
a capella
. The bidding finally ended at eighty thousand dollars. Tate grinned and strode off the stage.

“Our last bachelor for the evening is none other than Texas’ favorite football son. For those of you who didn’t get to see the cover of the last
Gentlemen’s Monthly
, I suggest you take a sedative before you look. Cause that man nearly burned up the pages. Give a warm welcome to Seth Blake!”

Seth walked on stage looking like a hot combination of a cowboy and a secret agent. The auctioneer was smiling so hard she didn’t even notice he’d taken the microphone out of her hand.

“Ladies,” his deep voice reverberated through the speakers, “I have a confession to make. Many of you don’t know that I got married recently and my beautiful wife, Morgan, insisted I do this event because she knew it was for a good cause. Now I can’t show you as good a time as Tate can, but I would love to have lunch with one of you.”

Morgan thought that would have put a damper on the lust riddled crowd but there was so much yelling and shoving going on, someone nearly knocked her down. Suddenly her consent to send her new hubby up there as fundraiser bait was getting irritating.

“We’ll start the bid at a thousand.” The auctioneer blushed as Seth draped his arm around her.

Morgan shook her head at him. He winked at her and the crowd went wild again. She found it hard to believe that every single woman in there thought he was winking at them and not his wife.

Paddles started flapping in the air as the bidding quickly catapulted into the ten thousand range.

Suddenly a voice shouted out, “Twenty thousand.”

Morgan knew that high pitched twang from the Bright Star: Dr. Penny Winterbourne.

Oh, hell no.

The other bidders remained engaged and the price kept climbing. Penny would not be out done and waved her paddle.

“Eighty thousand dollars.”

The look Seth directed at Penny was not a happy one, but he didn’t lose his cool. The auctioneer continued but no one else answered when she asked for eighty-five thousand. Morgan stood there, trying to get a grip on the situation. Penny was sticking it to her, in public, because she was mad that Seth wasn’t sticking it to
her
anymore.

“Excuse me ladies, can I borrow your paddle?” Morgan said to the group of ten deflated women who couldn’t match Penny’s bid.

One of the women sadly turned it over. “Good luck, sweetheart. The crimson queen up there looks like she’s loaded.”

Morgan held up the paddle. “Ninety thousand.”

Penny looked back at her but held up her paddle again. “Ninety-five thousand.”

“One hundred thousand.”

“One hundred twenty thousand.”

The auctioneer’s repeat of Penny’s bid boomed in Morgan’s ears. Penny turned and gave her a small smirk. Seth looked like he wanted to jump off the stage and throttle Penny. Morgan’s heart was beating so hard she could hear it in her ears. It wasn’t about the fact that her husband was standing up on the stage about to fall into the evil clutches of an ex-girlfriend, it was about how all of it made her feel. The only thing she could compare it to at the moment was getting a favorite toy taken away when she was a child. That was ridiculous because Seth wasn’t a toy. He was a man. The same man that had purposely run into her on the beach to get her attention. He wanted her. She didn’t have to spring some trap to lure him her way. She felt silly for getting into a bidding war with Penny. It was time to put an end to her civilized battle.

“One million dollars,” Morgan said, trying to sound as casual as possible. As soon as she said it her stomach started doing flip flops, but the look of horror on Penny’s face was worth the million bucks already.

“One million going once, going twice, sold to the pretty lady in the pink dress.”

* * *

Morgan wrote a check to the auctioneer. There were plenty of people crowding around her, now that everyone knew she was Seth’s wife. She had a new fan club made of the ten women whose paddle she had borrowed. She graciously thanked them for lending her the paddle then informed them that they were going to spend the day with Seth.

When she was finally able to get away from the crowd, her hands were shaking.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Seth asked.

“I just wrote a check for a million dollars.” She breathed heavily.

“Feels good don’t it?” Tate smiled.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” She looked at Seth.

The room was getting stuffy, and she felt like she was swirling about on a carousel. Morgan high tailed it to the ladies’ room just in time to get to a stall and save her lovely pink dress from being ruined. She leaned against the door afterward, her skin feeling clammy. Had she eaten today? Preparing for the banquet had taken all day. She had wanted to look her best, especially knowing Penny would be there.

The click of the restroom door gave her hope the ladies that had been in there when she had sprinted in had left. She just wanted to splash some cold water on her face and find Seth. Morgan clutched her rumbling stomach. That wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

“Are you OK? Someone said you were in here throwing up?” Penny said as she walked toward Morgan.

“I’m fine. What are you doing?” She backed away.

“I just want to take a look at you.” Penny still came at her.

“I don’t think so. You couldn’t diagnose a hang nail for me.” Morgan held up her hand.

“I told Seth and Tate I would come in and make sure you were OK.” Penny hunched her shoulders.

“That must have been painful for you.” Morgan smirked.

“I take my oath as a doctor very seriously. And the way both men were concerned about you, I had to see for myself if you were all right.” Penny put her hand on her hip.

“Bet you were wishing I was dead, right?”

Penny clutched her throat. “What a horrible thing to say.”

“Not as horrible as pretending to be the pious doctor. I did outbid you after all.”

“Oh that? This is a fundraiser. I was trying to get the crowd hot and bothered so they would bid high.” Penny turned to wash her hands.

Morgan dug her nails into her palm. “You keep telling yourself that.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you. Besides you were the one who outrageously drove up the bidding price.” Penny smirked.

“I would think, since the money will be going directly to the clinic, you wouldn’t consider it outrageous.”

“Of course the donation means a lot. But you didn’t have to let the world know how insecure you are. If I had won, what’s the harm of one date with an old friend?”

“If your old friend Seth was still so accessible to you then you wouldn’t have had to bid for a date.” Morgan leaned on the wall for support. The nausea was coming back.

“He loves me. He always has. He goes off and distracts himself with women, but he always comes back to me. You remember that while you’re biding your time until he leaves you.” Penny dried her hands with a paper towel and threw it in the trash.

“If you really loved him at all, you would have never left him. But the real question is, if he still loved you, why did he let you leave and didn’t try to win you back?” Morgan retrieved her purse off the sink and pushed past Penny. As she moved along the corridor she saw a chair at the entrance. It was only a few feet away but her feet felt like lead and the clamminess returned. Now dizziness was setting in and the corridor spun. Morgan collapsed before she reached the chair.