Second First Kiss

Her skin felt oily all of a sudden, like she was committing a vile sin, either from her dishonesty or by her mere proximity to Cade Calhoun.

Cade leaned in and whispered, in his most seductive cowboy accent, “Steaks-n-Stuff.”

Ha. Seriously? “The restaurant?” She kept her expression as innocent as possible. “With the good prime rib?”

“Yes, and the evening won’t just be prime rib. It will be prime everything, since you’ll be with me.”

Sage bit her lower lip hard to keep herself from snorting. “Thanks, Cade. That is exactly what I needed to know.” She managed to extract herself from him and made her way to the bidding table. Kennedy was already there.

“Are they serving hard liquor at the bachelors’ table?” Kennedy pushed her ashy blonde hair behind her ear. “Because Nick Martin was well and fully loaded.”

“Cade, too.”

“Why is it that men are so much less attractive drunk but think they’re so much more attractive?”

Sage could have offered a medical explanation, but no one really needed that. “Word to the wise: not only did McGreasy offer dinner at Steaks-n-Stuff, but so did Cowboy Pink over there.” She aimed a thumb over her shoulder in Cade’s general direction.

Oh, look. He was flirting with one of the women in Inchy’s age range. She was looking at him with wanton eyes. Poor, deluded thing.

“Check it out.” Kennedy lifted card after card, exposing the lists. “Steaks-n-Stuff, Steaks-n-Stuff, Steaks-n-Stuff, on every list. Prime rib for everyone.”

Oh, no. Now how would Sage know which not to bid on? She’d promised Inchy. She wanted to give generously to the cause, but not at the cost of placing herself in the power of either McGreeley, Cade, or Nick.

“Seriously? Is there even one without it?”

“Check it out. Here’s one with five dates listed.” Kennedy flicked at the card, not really answering the question. “It kind of looks desperate, don’t you think? To offer five dates when Inchy only asked for three? It’s got to be that guy on the end. The one with the leer.”

Oh, dear. The leer! “Does the one with five also name Steaks-n-Stuff?” She grabbed it. No prime rib! Leer or no leer, that made it the only option.

“I hereby pronounce that we are in the Gobi Desert of dating.” Kennedy tossed the card back on the table. “Now what do I do?”

“That is not inaccurate.” With a shudder, Sage barely glanced at the list of five, internalizing none of them. She pulled out her checkbook and obeyed Inchy’s request to be generous. At least she’d have the comfort of knowing she’d sacrificed herself on the altar of a good cause.