Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

Hailey: First, I want to throat punch this woman. Second, could you shoot her any more eye daggers, Emme?

Snapping my head up, I shot Hailey a dirty look and then got to work typing out my reply.

Me: I don’t know what’s wrong with me!

Hailey: I do. It’s called the green monster ;-)

Me: Stop texting me!

Hailey: Truth hurts, doesn’t it?

I glanced back up at the table and almost shot Hailey the middle finger when she laughed.

Focusing back on Janet standing on the stage, I pulled in a deep breath.

Green monster…go away! Please!

The first round of items went by in a flash. They were your typical auction items, donated gifts such as hotel stays or dinners for two at some of Austin’s most elite restaurants. My father bid on a weekend stay at a new resort right outside of Fredericksburg and won. He overpaid by at least three-hundred dollars, but it was for a worthy cause. Another big-ticket item was a donated BMW, which pulled in a large sum of money.

As we drew closer and closer to the bachelor auction, my heart started to race wildly in my chest.

Glancing around, I could see many of the women in the audience staring at Landon. Did they know who he was? That he was up for auction soon? Sure, he was the most handsome man here, save for my father, so it wasn’t surprising women would gawk at him like they did. But which one of them would bid on a date with him? Worse yet, which one would win? They were all so beautiful. And rich. Not that Landon was interested in that. But some of them looked like the type of women he had dated in the past, and I hated how that made me feel.

Then the truth of it all hit me so hard, I sucked in a breath.

I was…jealous.

“Hey, don’t be nervous, everything’s going off without a hitch,” Landon whispered against my ear as he placed his hands over mine. It was then that I noticed I had been wringing them together in my lap. A chill ran through me, and he asked, “Are you cold?”

I closed my eyes and took in a few deep breaths. How did I tell him it was the opposite? That his whispered words lit a flame deep inside of me that had me so confused. How did I tell him that his body leaning against mine made my stomach pull with desire? Or how his hands instantly calmed my beating heart?

“Is it…is it getting hot in here?” I asked without thinking as I glanced around the table.

“Hot? You just shivered,” Landon said.

I wiped at the back of my neck. “So. Hot.”

Before I knew what was happening, a cold, wet napkin was at the back of my neck. “Are you feeling okay?” Landon asked as my mother gently touched my forehead as she held the napkin in place.

“She doesn’t feel warm,” Mom said.

“Oh, I know what she’s suffering from,” Hailey said with a wide, knowing smile.

“I’m fine; it just got a bit hot in here, that’s all,” I stated as I motioned for Landon to take the napkin away and gave my mother a reassuring smile. “Honestly, I’m just nervous about the auction.”

With a warm smile that lit up my mother’s pale blue eyes, she nodded. “This is why I left that damn committee. It’s easier to write a check.”

I sighed. “Now you tell me.”

“Ladies, it has come to that time in the night when we have our most popular items up for bid. The charity date auction!”

“Oh hell,” Landon whispered as I stood and took his arm. I ignored the few gasps coming from the tables and walked Landon up to the side of the stage. Our table was close to the front, so it wasn’t a long walk, which I was thankful for. That meant the women in the back didn’t get a good look at Landon, so maybe fewer would bid on him.

I stood next to Gus Morgan, the auctioneer we had hired for the night, as he took a quick break. As he went back up to the stage, I grabbed his arm. “Gus, don’t…”

My words trailed off, and he looked at me with a befuddled expression. “Don’t what, Emmerson?”

With a shake of my head, I smiled. “Nothing. Never mind.”

He shrugged and headed back onstage.

“First up, ladies, we have a firefighter!”

I completely blocked out everything that Gus said as I scanned the tables and took in all the women bidding. The firefighter’s name was Luke. Or was it Duke? I saw Claire at our table, laughing at something someone had said. Most likely it was Hailey, who was probably finding something charming to say about Luke. Or Duke.

“Five-thousand, nine-hundred dollars to number twenty-two!” Gus shouted as he slammed his hammer down to end the auction.