Working It Out (3 page)

Great. She’d be quadrupling the bid for sure now.

Grace scanned through Cameron’s bio, picking up words
like
physical therapist
,
healer
,
athlete
, etc. When she
came to the type of date a woman would expect from him, she slowed down and
read the paragraph.

If you read my bio, you’ll know I’m a fan of the great
outdoors. The woman who wins a date with me will get a day filled with high
adventure and surprises around every corner. From the moment I pick you up,
I’ll take you away from normal, everyday life and into a world where your dream
date becomes a reality. Whether it’s parasailing across the Seattle skies,
taking a romantic horseback ride down the beach, or ziplining to a beautiful,
private location for dinner, the day will be one you’ll never forget.
Guaranteed.

Quickly, Grace covered her mouth to muffle the laughter
threatening to burst. No wonder Cameron was petrified of someone else bidding
for him. He’d actually have to put some thought, effort, and money into a date.
Cameron was more of a “Let’s grab dinner, hit a club, or catch the latest
sports game on TV” type of guy—at least based on his experiences with Talia and
past girlfriends. High adventure and surprises around every corner? Not likely.

Grace shook her head, thinking that maybe quadrupling his
bid would be letting him off easy. Maybe she shouldn’t bid on him at all.

“Sold to the woman in black!”

Once again, Grace had missed the amount the latest
bachelor had gone for. She needed to pay better attention and forced her eyes
to follow the movements of the next bachelor coming on stage. Tall, with wavy
dark blond hair and light eyes, he was incredibly attractive. Grace’s interest
was piqued.

“Welcome, Jake Peters.”

Jake. As in supplanter. As in would do whatever it took
to get to the top, like the Jake in her freshman biology class who’d swept her
off her feet then stolen her idea for the final project. Grace had been forced
to come up with a new idea on the spot and had ended up with a B because of it.

Her eyes narrowed. Okay, not so attractive anymore.

Grace shifted her weight from one foot to the other and
eyed the chairs once more. But if she sat down now, she might be tempted to
rest her head against the back of the chair and fall asleep. As much as she
wished she could do just that, her conscience would never allow it. She’d made
a promise to Cameron, after all.

Carefully, Grace shifted her weight once again and kicked
off one of her black heels, followed by the other. If she was going to stand
here for another hour, she would do it without her feet screaming.

“Can’t you drive a little faster?” Seth urged his friend,
Garrett, who took the speed limit very seriously, especially when it came to driving
within city limits. “I’m late.”

“I told you we didn’t have time to play one more game,”
Garrett said, referring to the two-on-two pick-up game of basketball they’d
just played. “But would you listen? No. Come to think of it, you never listen
to me.”

Seth frowned at the traffic light as it changed from
green to yellow, causing Garrett to slow the car to a stop once again. They
were so close. He could see The Bellevue at the end of the street, but it still
seemed so far away. “I wasn’t about to walk away as a loser—especially not to
them. We should never have lost to them.”

“Well, now we’re losers twice over, and you’re late to a
bachelor auction, which I still can’t believe you’re going to.”

“Lanna gave me no choice.”

Garrett snorted. When the light finally changed, he moved
the car forward at an almost painfully slow speed. It seemed like hours before
he finally pulled into the parking lot. For a guy who could elbow his way to
the basket with the best of them, Garrett drove like a snail. A really sluggish
snail.

As soon as Garrett pulled up to the front entrance, Seth
leapt from the car.

“What about your tux?” Garrett gestured to the garment
bag in the back seat. “I thought this was black tie.”

Seth grabbed a hoodie from the front seat and pulled it
over his head, hoping it would mask the smell of sweat. He didn’t have time to
change. “They’ll have to take me as I am. Maybe if you’d driven faster . . .”

Garrett rolled his eyes. “Whatever, dude, I drove the
speed limit. This one’s all on you.”

“I just hope they let me in.”

“It might be a good thing if they don’t.”

Seth shut the car door and jogged inside, following the
signs to the auction room. The doors were closed, and a porter sat at nearby table.
Ignoring him, Seth went straight to the doors and pulled one open.

“Hey, you can’t go in there,” the porter called.

 Seth ducked into the back of the room, hoping the porter
would prefer not to make a scene and leave him alone. But the man caught up and
stopped Seth with a hand on his arm. “Sir,” he whispered, “This is an
invitation-only event. You’re not allowed in here.”

“I’m friends with Lanna Carver. She’s expecting me.”
Okay, so that was only partly true, but Seth was desperate.

The porter looked skeptical, but finally nodded and
relinquished Seth’s arm. Breathing a sigh of relief, Seth made his way to the
back of the crowd, next to a woman wearing a shimmering blue dress.

“Two hundred to the woman in red,” Milly announced from
the podium.

Good, Seth wasn’t too late. He sidled closer to the woman
in blue. “How many more bachelors are there?” he said quietly.

Startled green eyes blinked at him. “What?”

“How many more guys are left?” Seth gestured to the
bachelor on stage.

The woman’s gaze shifted back to the man standing on the platform.
“Why?”

“Three hundred from the woman in green,” Milly continued,
accepting more bids.

“Because I want to know, that’s why,” Seth said. It was a
simple question. Why wouldn’t she answer it?

The woman looked him up and down the way she’d size up a
crazy person, probably taking in his sweat pants and hoodie and wondering what
mental hospital he’d escaped from.

“Going once, going twice . . .” Milly’s voice rang out.

The woman next to him quickly averted her gaze and raised
her paddle, indicating a bid.

“Five hundred from the woman in blue,” said Milly. “Do I
have five-fifty?”

Not wanting to chance it, Seth went to raise his hand,
only to realize that he didn’t have a paddle. He looked around frantically,
spying one on a table not too far away. He grabbed it and held it up.

“Five-fifty to the”—Milly’s voice drifted off as she
squinted at Seth—“um, person in the back,” she finally finished.

“What are you doing?” hissed the woman in blue. “That’s
not your number, and you can’t bid on Cameron.”

“Why not?” Seth looked around to see if anyone else
planned to bid. He couldn’t leave it at five-fifty. That wasn’t nearly enough.

“Six hundred, anyone?” Milly’s voice echoed through the
room.

When no one raised a paddle, Seth elbowed the woman in
blue, who stared at him as if he’d grown two heads. “Bid again,” he whispered.

“Excuse me?”

“Going once, going twice . . .”

“Bid again!”

She raised her paddle.

“Six hundred to the woman in blue,” said Milly. “Six-fifty,
anyone? For the date of your dreams?”

Seth raised his paddle once more. “Twenty thousand,” he
called out.

A hush fell over the crowd as every woman in the room
turned to stare at him, including the woman in blue. But Seth didn’t care. He
only cared about Milly’s reaction. Would she accept the bid or have him dragged
from the room?

A slow smile made its way to her face as recognition
dawned. “Twenty thousand to the man at the back.” She playfully elbowed the
bachelor standing next to her, whose face had drained of color. “Wow, aren’t
you a wanted commodity,” she teased. “Do I have any other bids?”

The bachelor’s eyes flickered from Seth to the woman in
blue, who turned her palms up in question, as if asking what she should do. The
bachelor shook his head slightly, and Seth got the impression he’d just messed
up whatever plan the two had going on.

“Going once, going twice—sold to the man in sweats at the
back!” Milly pronounced.

Seth’s mouth turned up in a self-satisfied smile as he
gave himself a mental pat on the back. No way could Lanna turn down the money
now, not when Milly had accepted his bid. It felt as though he’d crested
Everest, even with all the women in the room staring and whispering at his
expense. Apparently they didn’t understand that he’d one-upped the most
stubborn woman of them all.

The woman in blue faced him, her arms folded as she
studied him. A few dark curls escaped the knot at the nape of her neck, hanging
next to her dangling pearl earrings and giving her a casual elegance which Seth
liked. With her light-green eyes and arched eyebrows, she looked beautiful
beneath the dim lighting in the room. He held out his hand for her to shake. “The
name’s Seth.”

She ignored his hand, gesturing to his clothing instead. “This
is a black tie event. You’re wearing sweats.”

“You don’t say.”

Her eyes continued to search his face—well, more like
probe—as though she could see into his mind and thoughts. She held up the
brochure she carried, showing Seth the face of the bachelor he’d just bid
twenty grand for. He took it from her to get a closer look.

 “What do you plan to do about the incredibly expensive
date you won?” she asked.

Seth scanned through Cameron’s bio, a smile tugging at
the corners of his mouth. He returned the brochure back to her and tapped the
page. “Experience an unforgettable day of high adventure, apparently. Sorry if
I, uh, took that away from you.”

She looked completely unfazed, as though this strange
situation happened all the time. “You know he’s not gay, right?”

“I made that assumption, yes,” Seth said, wondering what
was going through that pretty head of hers. “Why? Are you hoping I’ll hand the
date off to you since I’m clearly not gay either?”

“Aren’t you?”

The way she said it made Seth’s jaw work back and forth.
She looked so confident, so unshakable, reminding him of someone who got under
his skin on a regular basis—Lanna. Except the two women looked nothing alike.
Lanna was petite and fair, whereas this woman was taller, with darker hair and
a darker complexion. But that expression—that impassivity—exactly the same. Maybe
Lanna had given her lessons.

Yet for whatever reason, it bothered Seth that this woman
might think he preferred men to women. “No, I’m not.”

“Then you won’t mind if I do borrow that date from you.
I’m sure Cameron would prefer me over you anyway.”

If she didn’t look so sure of herself, Seth would have
said, “Have it, it’s yours.” But something in the way she said it made Seth
bristle. “Yes, I would mind, actually. I happen to like ziplining, parasailing,
and . . . romantic horseback rides.”

“And Cameron, apparently.”

Seth took a step forward, leaning close so his eyes were
only inches from hers. “Like I told you, I’m not gay.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it. Give me the da—”

Seth immediately dipped his head slightly and covered her
mouth with his. Her lips were warm and soft, and she smelled faintly of citrus.
For a second, it seemed like she responded, but then she planted her palms
against his chest and shoved him away.

“What are you doing!” she hissed, looking a lot less
assured than she had moments before.

Seth’s mouth drew into a smile. “You said you wanted
proof, so I gave it to you. Is that enough, or would you like more?” He took a
step closer.

Her fists clenched at her side, but she stood her ground,
glaring up at him. She opened her mouth to say something then snapped it shut. Lifting
her skirts, she turned on her heel and stormed away, only to stop, turn back,
and pick up a pair of black heels lying on the ground where she’d stood.

Seth couldn’t help but chuckle as she strode away once
more, head held high, her bearing stiff and full of pride. Seth felt as though
he’d won a battle—well, two battles actually. Milly had accepted his bid after
all.

Seth’s eyes followed the woman in blue as she disappeared
through the door. Then he turned and scanned the room, his gaze landing on the
dessert table. He started forward. Tonight was a night for celebrating, and
he’d start with those delicious-looking brownies.

Small fingers clenched around his arm, stopping his
progress. “We need to talk,” Lanna said, her voice quiet but firm. “In the
hall.”

Slowly, Seth turned around and bit back a groan. He knew
he’d have to answer to Lanna at some point, but he’d hoped to get some
sustenance in him first. Facing her on an empty stomach was like giving himself
a handicap. “Can’t we talk by the dessert table? I haven’t had dinner yet, and
I’m starving.”