Plus, a weekend away with a stranger didn’t sound like much of a good time to me. It was bound to be awkward as heck and, even if I did have the money, I’d rather just have given it freely than to pay it for someone’s time.
Hoots and cheers went up when an emcee in a shimmering suit took the stage and gestured toward the guys behind him. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the only event this year where you’ll be able to make all your dreams come true with the simple lift of a paddle.”
He gave the crowd a mischievous look and waved his index finger at us. “Nah-uh, not that kind of paddle, but if that’s what tickles your fancy, you’ll have to take it up with the man you purchase.”
The audience laughed and the emcee waggled his brows while some of the men he was referring to grinned and others narrowed their eyes. I didn’t know if they’d planned it that way, for some to look happy and others not at all impressed, but it made for more of a show. As I looked around me, I saw that he’d definitely caught the attention of every single person in the room with that joke—if it had been a joke.
“We’ve auctioned off dates before at these kinds of events, but we’ve never seen a lineup like the one we have tonight. I don’t know about you, but I also haven’t heard of an auction where you could bid on an entire weekend away with guys like these.”
He did a half-turn to give them a little bow. “We thank you for your willingness to participate, gentlemen. We know it’s not easy for all of you to give away a whole weekend of your time to charity, but the money we’ll raise tonight will provide housing for many families, and on their behalf, we’d like to give you a round of applause.”
Leading by example, he put his hands together and everyone else followed until the sound in the hall was almost deafening. I smiled, caught up in the excitement even if I wouldn’t be putting in a bid of my own.
Although I tried my hardest to remember that the guy I’d almost crashed into was a rude prick who didn’t deserve to be ogled, I ogled him anyway. I just couldn’t help it. Now that he was far enough away not to notice me staring at him, I took the time to look him over properly.
The suit he had on was a dove gray, and it fit him like a glove. Accentuating the broadness of his chest and shoulders, it tapered down to his narrower hips and hugged the slight bulges of the muscles in his arms. He had a fit, athletic look to him from this distance, and he was leaner than most of the other guys.
Lean had always been more attractive to me than overly bulky, but what got to me wasn’t his looks. It was the fact that, once again, I got the sense that he wasn’t as entitled or as cocky as so many of the other guys. He definitely seemed more nervous than the other men on the stage with him.
“Starting us off tonight is none other than the one and only Jeremiah Williams,” the emcee announced. “The man hardly needs an introduction, but here it is. He’s the heir to Williams Inc, the guy responsible for convincing all our bachelors to take the stage tonight, and the one who will be developing the housing we’re raising the funds for.”
The emcee raved on and on about the good-looking, dark-haired guy who was strutting around the stage, rolling his hips and doing all sorts of things that had the crowd in stitches. My gaze wandered back to the guy I’d run into.
He was watching Jeremiah too, laughing at the other man along with everyone else, but he had a knowing look on his face. Like he wasn’t surprised by the silly things the billionaire was doing but was having fun watching him do it.
He also cheered louder than anyone when a pretty girl who was on the curvier side, like me, won the bid. She stood up, and when Jeremiah went down to join her, she laid a kiss on him that made it obvious they were together and that she was reminding every other woman who had bid against her that he was hers.
Once the noise died down a little, the auction continued and I went back to staring at him. When it was his turn, the emcee waved him forward but it looked like the guy was considering running away instead of walking to the edge of the stage. He slid his hands into his pockets, seeming almost sheepish as he flashed the crowd a smile. Which was when I saw the dimple in his left cheek. For the love of chocolate, could he not just have had a crooked tooth or something instead?
The emcee chuckled, motioning to urge him further forward and to do a spin. “Tanner Harris, everybody. Our next bachelor is a crypto-billionaire and an ex-professional baseball player. As you can see, he’s a little bit shy tonight. Why don’t we help him out of his shell by showing him how much we appreciate him being here, ladies?”
Cheers went up when he asked the question, and then a bidding war broke out while Tanner watched on in what looked like disbelief. When Brit raised her paddle, I nudged her in the side. “What are you doing?”
She just winked at me and kept bidding until she won. I stared at her, not really sure what to say. “Won’t Trevor be jealous that you’re going to spend the weekend with another guy?”
She laughed. “I won’t be spending the weekend with him, but you will. I saw you eyeing him and since you need to live a little, I decided to make it happen. Besides, I needed to bid on someone and since I’m married, I figured it might as well be someone you haven’t been able to keep your eyes off of.”
Damn it.I hadn’t realized I was being so obvious about it but apparently, I had been. That wasn’t my biggest problem, though. My biggest problem was the fact that I was suddenly staring down the barrel of an entire weekend with him, and I’d only just found out his name.
How weird is that going to be?