Singled Out

Chapter 3

Inever saw Harper Ellison coming.

Not her bid. Not her interest. Not the amount she’d spent for an evening with me.

Isabel hadn’t surprised me. She’d made no secret in the past about her interest, nor had Rissa. But Harper was out of nowhere.

As I walked off the stage, more than a little stunned at the preemptive bid, and made my way to the cocktail area where we were supposed to mingle with the crowd and connect with our auction winners, my mind spun.

Harper was attractive with her dark, glossy hair, big brown eyes, and engaging smile. But I’d never looked at her as a woman, as a potential date, for a couple of reasons. One, she was young. A year younger than my baby sister, if I wasn’t mistaken, which put her around ten years my junior. I wasn’t a cradle robber.

More importantly, she was my boss’s daughter.

Bob Ellison had been the principal at Dragonfly Lake High School since I was a student myself. He’d hired me eleven years ago.

I was sure Harper was an interesting girl, but I wasn’t willing to endanger my job. I genuinely liked both teaching math and coaching football. If I lost this job, it wasn’t like I could get another position doing the same thing on the other side of town. Dragonfly Lake High was it unless I wanted to move, and I didn’t. This was the town where I wanted to raise Danny, the town where my roots dug deep.

“If it isn’t the auction king himself,” Chance Cordova called out as soon as I hit the cocktail room. He was standing with Luke and Knox. All three of them were in the single dads’ group, even though Knox was no longer single. We gave him a hard time for opting out of the single part, but we kept him around in spite of his engagement to Quincy. “Big news travels fast.”

“What’s up, peasants?” I joked as I joined their huddle. When a server hovered nearby with a tray of waters, I grabbed one. I intended to get out of here at the first opportunity so I could check on my son.

“Seems like you got lucky with your bidder,” Knox said.

“I guess that depends on your definition of lucky.” Lucky was not the word I’d use, but I’d cut him some slack. He was a relative newcomer. Maybe he didn’t immediately understand my conundrum. “Aren’t you supposed to be in there with your better half?”

“Quincy wanted me to call my father to check on June Bug. He and Faye are keeping her tonight. She’s probably having the time of her life with Mimi and Papa. So you’re not happy about your over-the-top bid?” Knox asked.

“The bid itself is great,” I said. And a date with Harper would probably be fun for a lot of guys, just not me.

“Harper is the gender you tend to be attracted to,” Luke said. “That’s a good start.”

“Hey, Linc’s a decent guy,” Chance said.

My brows went up. “Linc? As in Switzer?”

“That’s the one,” Luke said. “He’s okay. I just hope he isn’t expecting a good-night kiss.”

“Open that mind,” Chance said. “Maybe the right person for you isn’t what you thought.”

“Who got you, Chance?” I asked.

Knox covered his mouth as if to hide a grin, but he didn’t quite do it fast enough.

“Helen Wainsworth,” Chance said. His tone dared me to comment, but I had no intention of saying anything about Helen. She might be close to eighty years old, but she was a sweet, spirited lady who attended every home football game.I was a big fan of hers. “Eighteen hundred dollars.”

“I wonder where she wants you to take her,” Luke said, sounding genuinely curious.

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Chance glanced toward the doors to the ballroom, where the auction was still going on. “Maybe we’ll hit the season opener together.”

“Be sure to come say hello,” I teased.

“So Harper Ellison,” Knox said to me. “I don’t really know her, but she seems age-appropriate and attractive.”

I laughed. “Says the guy who’s marrying someone a decade and a half younger than him.”

“Quincy’s only fourteen years younger,” he said, grinning that damn grin he always got when he talked about his nanny turned fiancée.

“Harper’s my boss’s daughter,” I told Knox, because the others already knew.

Anyone who’d gone to Dragonfly Lake High in the past twenty years knew. Which, come to think of it, probably made dating challenging for Harper. Bob Ellison was a personable guy, but that didn’t mean messing with his daughter, whether you were a student at his school back when she was or one of his employees at any time, would be a good idea. I couldn’t remember ever hearing about her having a long-term relationship. It had never mattered to me, but now I wondered.

“Ahh, dicey territory then,” Knox said.

“Dicey’s a good word for it.”I glanced at my watch. “How many more do they have to go?” I gestured toward the ballroom as another round of applause sounded.

“There were only about five left after you, right?” Chance glanced around the room, full of stand-up cocktail tables. A few other people besides the prey, er, bachelors were already out here, mingling and drinking. The doors opened, and a cluster of four women came out, animatedly discussing one of the recent auctions. “Looks like it’ll be soon.”

At that moment, both sets of double doors opened, and people streamed out, noisily talking about the bachelors as well as the silent auction of goods donated by residents and businesses. The service staff stood up straighter and busied themselves taking orders for cocktails and distributing water.

Knox headed toward Quincy and his brother and Everly. Chance put on his charmer smile and went to meet Helen as she appeared in the doorway.

“I think I need one more drink,” Luke said. “Can I get you one?”

I shook my head. I could relate to his uneasiness, but I didn’t intend to be here long enough to finish one.

I watched for Harper Ellison, wanting to take care of our date details quickly so I could leave.

When I turned to look the other direction, though, instead of Harper, I came face-to-face with her father. There was nothing of his usual friendly openness on his face.

“Coach,” he said.

“Good evening, sir.”

“Do you have something to tell me about my daughter?”

I let out what I hoped was an innocent-sounding, reassuring chuckle. “No, sir. I’m as mystified as you by what happened.”

He studied me for a few seconds. Took a swallow of his wine. “You don’t have anything going on with her?”

“I don’t really know your daughter personally. I was shocked by her bid.”

“Where’d she get that kind of money?” he asked.

“I have no idea about that either.”

He eyed me for another while. “My first thought was that you’d fronted her the money.”

“You can’t be serious,” I said.There was no hiding that I was financially comfortable from my NFL days, but my boss sure as shit should know me better.

His shoulders lowered slightly, and his demeanor became more relaxed.“I don’t suppose I am. It just doesn’t make sense. But then a lot of things that girl does don’t make sense. Her name’s on every last gray hair on my head.” His tone had lightened up a bit, conspiratorial instead of accusatory.“She’s got some explaining to do.”

I tended to agree, but I’d prefer to get a separate explanation. As much as I wasn’t interested in dating my boss’s daughter, I also didn’t care to be lumped in with her father as an older guy. Although I was older, I wasn’t old enough to be her father. I wasn’t sure why that mattered, but it did. Maybe it was ego or maybe just that nobody wanted to feel old, particularly in the eyes of a beautiful woman.

I shoved those thoughts out of my head.

“I can assure you, Bob, your daughter will get nothing but respect from me,” I said.

He met my gaze again, sized me up, nodded once. “I’ll hold you to that, Max.”

I held up a hand in surrender. “You can trust me, sir.”

“I don’t trust anyone with my daughter.” He frowned. “I suppose someday I’ll have to.” He muttered it more to himself than me, then pierced me with his gaze again. “I’ll see you Monday, Max.”

“Have a good weekend, Bob.”

I took a swallow of water, wishing it were something stronger as I again glanced around for Harper. I felt an arm come around me from behind.

“My brother, always the star of the show.” Dakota stretched up and placed a loud kiss on my cheek. “You probably know my friend Harper. Wait, were you her teacher?” Scandal rang through her voice, and I couldn’t quite tell if the question was sarcastic or real.

“No,” I said solidly. Thank Christ.

My first students were now the same age as Quincy, Knox’s fiancée. Fully adults, nearing thirty. And yet I hadn’t and wouldn’t date anyone who’d been a student in my classroom.

As Harper stepped up to us, I took in her appearance with a quick glance. Her magenta dress stood out among all the little black dresses, the sparkle of it seeming appropriate for her personality somehow. The hem ended high on her thighs, and the neckline showed off tanned, delicate shoulders. She wore heels nearly as tall as my sister’s and accessorized with a thick silver bracelet with a large stone the color of her dress and silver rings on several fingers. The dress draped rather than fit her closely. I had the fleeting thought that I wanted a better view of her curves.

Or I would if she were someone else.

“Hi, Max.” Harper’s voice was melodious and confident.

“Harper.” I extended my hand formally as my public-Max smile surfaced. “Thanks for bidding on me. You made me look good up there.”

“Anytime. You would’ve gone for the highest amount even without me though.”

“I’ll let you two get acquainted without me,” Dakota said. “Olivia and Emerson are waving at me. Take your time.”

I knew Harper and Dakota had come together. I’d seen them sitting together for dinner. Harper was the type who drew attention even when you weren’t specifically interested in her. She was the kind of woman who was hard not to notice.

“I’ve never gone out with one of my sister’s friends,” I said once we were alone.“Kind of forbidden territory.”

She moved in closer, and I caught her feminine scent. It had a hint of spice to it, the opposite of light and floral, in an appealing way that, like the sparkle in her dress, fit her. A long strand of her hair fell onto my lapel, and I had to clench my fists against the urge to brush it back.

“Dakota dared me to bid on you,” she confessed just above a whisper.

My mouth fell open as I let that sink in.

She hadn’t dropped the biggest bid of the evening on me because of any desire to go out with me.

She’d been dared.

By my sister.

I couldn’t decide whether I was more annoyed at my sister or relieved at Harper’s motivation.

Or insulted that Harper wasn’t actually interested in me.

Relieved. I was going with relieved. That meant I could relax during our night out and not worry about whether she was plotting to get me to the altar. As the small-town guy with a brief stint in the NFL, I’d had it happen before with women I barely knew. I hadn’t been looking for marriage then, and I sure as hell wasn’t now that I had a son to put all my time and energy into raising.

“That’s a lot of money to spend on someone you’re not interested in,” I said.

“The money’s a story for a different day,” she said, backing off and putting more space between us now that she was speaking at a normal volume.

“Yeah, your dad has questions about that. Just to warn you.”

“You talked to my dad?”

“He talked to me.”

She shook her head, her mouth curving into a partial smile. “He’s all bark. You know that, right?”

I wasn’t sure that was true when it came to someone dating his daughter, but I wasn’t going to date her.

“Did you have something in mind for our evening out?” I asked.

She made a face like she was worried I’d hate whatever she was planning.

“I do. Naomi Finley, who was responsible for this whole fundraiser, was my friend and mentor, so when the Arts in Education Foundation in Nashville decided to honor her with their Art Ambassador of the Year award, they asked me to accept on her behalf.” She frowned. “I hope you don’t have a game that conflicts.”

“When is it?”

“Two weeks from today.”

“I don’t have a game,” I confirmed. Saturdays were when my single dads’ group got together, but I could miss that. “Season opens the night before.”

“I could go alone but”—her gaze flickered downward for a barely noticeable instant—“it might be a little rough. I thought it’d be good to have a date.”

“Sure,” I said. “I’d be happy to go with you.”

“It’s black tie.”

“I can do black tie.” I’d have to dig my tux out of the back of my closet and hope it still fit.

We exchanged phone numbers. I found her easy to like, despite my current agitated state, which…

Hell.

I was less agitated about my son because I’d gotten distracted.

Harper had taken my mind off Danny for five minutes, made me forget my hurry to get home to him. And that was exactly why I hadn’t dated for over a year.

It was a damn good thing we were only spending one simple evening together.