Forbidden Bride

“Evening everybody,” he says. “Thank you for coming to the annual Thompson’s Ice Cream Valentine’s Day Gala.”

There’s polite applause.

“I just wanted to make a couple of announcements. First things first, we’re raising money for the Leighton City Children’s Hospital tonight, and if you donate privately or if you win a date with one of our lovely bachelors in the auction, we can’t tell you how appreciative we are of your support for a worthy cause.” More applause. “And secondly, we’re about to be served dessert, and I’m happy to announce that dessert tonight will be a brand new Thompson’s Ice Cream flavor, designed by our flavor master, Nicola Thompson, who is also my daughter.”

There’s way more clapping than there should be for that, and I can tell that I turn pinker than the decorations with the blush. Across the room Tristan raises his glass to me.

“I hope you enjoy it,” my father finishes. “Have fun with the auction, and let’s get this party started!”

I roll my eyes, but it gets the laugh that he’s looking for, and Jill swiftly replaces my dad at the microphone, taking over and announcing the auction and how it will work. Nerves dance in my stomach. Tristan looks delicious, and I don’t pretend that I’m going to be the only one gunning for him. It doesn’t matter if I’m going home with him anyway or not. I want this.

The first bachelor is a guy from the production line. Closer to my age and hunky. I’m not surprised when he goes for several thousand dollars. We have a few more people from the office strut their stuff, and the warehouse manager that Tristan was talking to earlier goes for quite a lot.

“And last but not least, we have Tristan Swallows. A recent hire and Thompson Ice Cream’s new Marketing director.” Tristan makes his way to the front of the room and steps up on the stage. “Let’s start the bidding at a thousand dollars.”

“A thousand!” A voice calls from the back of the room. I turn to find a woman I don’t know grinning with determination.

There’s a call for fifteen hundred from another table, and the woman in the back raises it to two thousand. A third person enters the fray and the money starts going up faster. My dad gives me a look but I just smile. I know what I have to do.

The woman in the back has deep pockets and wants Tristan. “Seven thousand, five hundred dollars,” she says smugly. Her other two opponents don’t say anything and there’s a stunned silence around the room. That’s the highest bid there’s been. No one speaks.

Jill looks at me and says. “Anyone else? Seventy-five hundred going once. Going twice.”

“Ten thousand dollars,” I say loudly, and I hear the whispers run through the room. I turn to the back and lock eyes with the woman who had no idea she was competing with me, and I see her look defeated. Behind me, I can hear the smile in Jill’s voice. “Ten thousand going once. Twice. Sold! To Nicola Thompson.” There’s polite applause, and the woman looks pissed. I should probably watch my back.

“Time to start dancing, everyone. Enjoy the party!” Jill says before she scurries off the stage and the lively dance music starts up.

Tristan comes directly to me and bows gallantly. “The dance you promised me? I owe you one.” I know he’s saying it for my parents’ benefit. My mom looks a little confused, but I’m sure that my dad will tell her as soon as we’re dancing. I put my hand in his and allow him to pull me onto the dance floor.

“Nicely done,” he says as he pulls me into his embrace.

“I thought so. Though I think I may need to be careful of getting stabbed in the back with a high heel.”

He chuckles. “Don’t worry, she’ll have to go through me first.”

“I don’t want you getting stabbed with a high heel either.”

Together, we sway to the music. Around us other couples join in, and it feels a little more comfortable. All I want is to lay my head on Tristan’s chest. This chaste contact is driving me crazy. There’s way too much space between our bodies.

“I am so in love with you,” Tristan says.

I smile. “What made you say that?”

“I don’t need a reason to tell you that. In fact, I think I’m going to be telling you that whenever possible for a very long time.”

My heels make me taller, so I don’t have to even lift myself very far to capture his lips with mine. We lean together, and the kiss deepens, and then I hear a gasp. Oh fuck. I pull back from Tristan with a start, the reality of what we just did crashing down on us like concrete. It feels too natural, and we entirely forgot.