“Do we have ninety-five thousand?” Langley asked.
“He’s the highest bid so far,” Persephone muttered.
An older woman raised her paddle on the left.
Persephone smirked as Cannon turned and started to walk back toward us.
“You promised,” I reminded her.
“I’m just waiting to see if the bid goes up. I don’t want to drive it up artificially.” She shrugged, but there was a devilish gleam in her eye as the bid rose again, and another older woman held the high bid.
“Sephie,” I warned.
Cannon arched an eyebrow at Sephie as another bid was called out. He was almost back to where we stood.
“One hundred, fifteen thousand!” Langley called out, pointing to a beautiful brunette in the second row with her paddle up.
Persephone glanced her way once and then turned her entire head to see the woman and sputtered. “One hundred fifty thousand!” She thrust her paddle in the air.
Holy shit.
Everyone turned to stare at Persephone. Even Langley.
“One hundred fifty thousand,” Sephie repeated at Langley.
“Uh, okay. Going once? Twice? This date is sold to Persephone Van Doren for the amount of one hundred fifty thousand dollars. You can take your date to the table for check out,” she finished that last part quietly. “Have you lost your mind?” Langley hissed out of range of the microphone.
Persephone blinked, looking kind of shell shocked.
“Funny, I thought I asked you to clear the women I wouldn’t want to fuck, not someone you wouldn’t want me to fuck.” A corner of his mouth lifted. “Let’s go, Princess.”
“I could have bought a house for that,” she muttered but followed him down the steps.
“Next up!”
Right, that was me. I silently sent up a prayer of thanks for all the bullshit between those two tonight. They’d kept me distracted from this moment. The moment she’d know that I tailored all of this to her.
“Logan Ward, ladies. He’s twenty-five years-old from Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the best offensive defensemen in the National Hockey League. But for tonight, he’s Henry DeTamble from The Time Traveler’s Wife.”
I started down the catwalk, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other to keep from remembering how Delaney had given me that title.
“This date is a weekend in the Outer Banks, in a spacious beach house. It begins with a shopping spree at Charleston’s own Buxton Books, then continues via helicopter to the Outer Banks.”
I swallowed and kept moving, trying to smile but barely lifting the corners of my lips.
Funny, I’d fought to keep myself off the damned catwalk my entire life, and yet the first time I get on one, it’s for a woman who didn’t want me anymore. Irony was a bitch.
“Sixty!”
“Seventy!”
Why the hell were these women bidding? Because of the date? The house I’d booked for Delaney? Because my features were symmetrical? Fuck, I hated how superficial people were.
I reached the end of the catwalk and made a huge mistake by looking down at Delaney. Once our eyes locked, there was no ripping myself away. Her paddle was in her lap, naturally. Fuck, had she bid on someone else tonight? A burning rage filled my gut. Was she already moving on?
“One hundred ten!”
Numbers flew, but my brain barely registered them as I turned to walk back toward Langley, keeping my eyes on Delaney. She bit at her lower lip, and that same hunger flickered over her.
“One hundred thirty thousand!”
I didn’t want to spend a weekend with some strange woman. I’d only agreed to this because I’d known Delaney would take me home, and now she was sitting by and watching it happen.
“One fifty!”
“One sixty!”
She tore her gaze from mine to stare at her paddle.
I felt it like a blow to my heart. I managed to start moving again, walking away from her.
“One seventy!”
My feet froze to the stage, and my ears strained. There was no way. I turned slowly to see Delaney’s paddle in the air.
My jaw went slack.
“One seventy five!” What the fuck? I knew that voice, too.
Sitting directly across the catwalk from Delaney, Blaire put a paddle in the air. Delaney looked as shocked as I felt.
“One eighty!” Delaney.
“One eighty-five!” Blaire.
“One ninety!” Delaney stood.
“One ninety-five!” Blaire echoed her posture.
Delaney’s lips pursed in that way I knew so well. She was getting flustered...flustered at the thought of me spending the weekend with Blaire? Or with any other woman?
“Two hundred!” Delaney shouted.
Langley wasn’t even involved at this point.
“Two ten!” Blaire.
I locked eyes with Delaney, and a slow smile spread across her face. Something that felt a lot like hope flared up in my chest. She was fighting for me.
“Three hundred thousand!” Delaney called out, as she stared at me, holding her paddle as high as her arms would let her.
The crowd fell silent.
Blaire whined and huffed, but she sat down.
“Going once! Twice! This date is sold to Delaney Collins for three hundred thousand dollars!” Langley called out.