Brynne
“ H e’s here with all his friends,” Trinity said, huffing out a breath. “He’s such an asshole.”
“You knew he’d be here.” I glanced at the stage. “He’s one of the bachelors.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think he was serious when he signed up.” Trin glanced over her shoulder at the stage where Theo—and Dean—stood. “His friends are loud and annoying.”
“Your friends are loud and annoying, too,” I said, and she rolled her eyes. “Did he say something to piss you off?” Her chest reddened, and she shook her head. I grinned. “ Trin .”
“He said I look pretty,” she mumbled under her breath.
“Oh, my god, you slut! I told you he fucking likes you!”
“He doesn’t,” she said quickly. “His friend said it first, and he agreed. That was it.”
“No.” I grinned. “He didn’t want his friend to flirt with you. He likes you. You like him, don’t you?”
She scrunched her nose. “Teenie Weenie? No freaking way. I’d rather fuck a rusty cheese grater than let that man near me.”
We made our way to the drink tables in the back. We sipped our champagne while we watched the auction unfold, Theo’s eyes never leaving mine from across the room. He looked casual. Calm. Like he wasn’t anxious, but there was something about the tightness of his shoulders that said otherwise.
“There’s your man,” I teased, nudging her with my elbow when I saw Dean.
“He is not .”
“Mrs. Teenie Weenie.” I clinked my glass against hers. “Has a nice ring to it.”
“Oh, my god. Stop talking.”
“Go bid on him,” I said, nudging her.
“I can’t do that.” She shook her head a few times. “No.”
“I’m going to bid on Theo,” I told her casually. Her head slowly turned my way.
“You’re what ? Why?”
I lifted a shoulder. “He told me to. He said he didn’t want to go on a date with some random woman.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “So…he asked you to bid on him. Essentially asking you on a date?”
“No.” I shook my head a few times. “No. Not a date.” I bit my bottom lip, glancing at her. “Would that be such a bad thing, though?”
“I don’t know why you’d want to go on a date with him,” she muttered, only half paying attention to me. When the words finally registered, she turned fully toward me.
But, like the coward I am, I pointed at the stage and blurted, “That woman is about to win Dean.”
That was enough to distract her. For a moment, I didn’t think she’d take the bait, but then she threw the rest of her drink back and hurried to the crowd. It took only a few minutes before the other woman backed down and Trin won.
“Five-hundred-dollars for Dean Barlowe!” the old man on the mic announced, his voice shaky. He was damn near decrepit, with paper-thin skin and a wispy layer of hair that barely covered his shiny head. “That’s the highest bid of the night.”
I stifled my laugh as Dean begrudgingly stepped forward as if showing off the goods , his face shifted into his permanent scowl. From the crowd, a few men drunkenly cheered, their arms slung over each other’s shoulders, the other gripping a beer bottle, held high in the air.
The announcer dipped his chin at Dean, and he stomped off the stage, his lips moving as if he were muttering something to himself—likely something about how much he hated being up there.
I didn’t blame him, though. It sounded like my worst nightmare.
“Next up, Theo Caldwell.”
Fire ripped through my body, heating my skin from the inside out. My feet dragged me into the middle of the crowd without my permission, and I stared up at him as he waved, giving everyone that charming, cocky smile of his.
I wasn’t sure where Trinity escaped to, but she and Dean were both gone. Likely off somewhere arguing about why she bid on him.
And why she won .
I rested my hand on my chest, feeling my heart fluttering beneath at a speed that couldn’t be healthy. My fingers absently searched for my diamond, just like they had a million times this week, but it wasn’t there.
“He’s an architect from New York City, and recently moved back to raise his daughter in his hometown.
” A few awww s sounded from women in the crowd, and I ground my molars together.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other.
“Family and friends mean everything to him. He lives in luxury, loves designer everything, and spoils everyone around him—you can’t go wrong with this one, ladies.
” The announcer chuckled at the words on the small paper he read from.
Every part of me knew Theo had written it himself.
Theo adjusted his cufflinks, eyes scanning the crowd as if he were searching for something. Or someone.
“First bid,” the announcer said. “Do we hear one hundred?”
“A hundred!” a woman shouted before he could even get the words out, holding her hand up. My head whipped around, heart lodged in my throat.
She was the same woman from the bar weeks ago.
“One-fifty,” I called, my voice louder and harder than I meant for it to be.
I felt every head in the place turn my way, questions burning in their gazes. Roughly, I cleared my throat, feeling queasy.
But I forced my attention away from them, back to the stage. Theo’s eyes clashed with mine, and something burned within them. Something hot. Unrelenting. Something that made my pulse race for an entirely different reason.
“One-seventy-five,” the other woman called.
“Two hundred,” I shot back immediately.
His lips twitched in amusement.
I never took my gaze off him.
“Two hundred!” the announcer crooned. “Wow! Do I hear two-fifty?”
“Two-fifty,” the woman cried, her shrill voice nearly shredding my eardrums.
“Three hundred,” I gritted out.
I heard her huff out a breath, and I finally tore my gaze away from Theo long enough to look at her. Daggers shot from her eyes, stabbing into me. I smirked and raised my brows in silent challenge.
“Five hundred,” she shot back, venom lacing her tone.
People in the crowd gasped. Even the announcer looked surprised.
“Five hundred,” he said, stumbling over the words. “Wow. Okay.”
I turned fully toward her, arms crossed over my chest. “ One. Thousand .”
You could hear a pin drop.
Her pale pink lips parted, the gloss shiny and stringy. Eyes widening, crimson raced up her boney chest, into a throat lined with muscle.
“O–one thousand?” the announcer repeated, though he sounded unsure. “Do we hear?—”
“Five thousand,” the other woman said, stomping her foot into the ground. I glanced over my shoulder at Theo. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he flicked his gaze between us, but when our eyes met, they held.
Everything paused.
It all fell away until it was nothing but a backdrop to us. To this moment.
His chin dipped—barely, but it did. And that was the only permission I needed.
“Ten thousand.”
“You can’t be serious,” she scoffed, shaking her head. “That’s?—”
“No harm in losing,” I said sweetly.
Her throat bobbed as she glanced around.
“Twelve thousand.”
The corner of my mouth tucked up. Softly, I cleared my throat again. My gaze swept over the crowd. Everyone stared at me, their breath held in their chests as they waited for my reply.
I inhaled, then slowly released it, relishing this moment.
“Twenty thousand.”
A man’s mouth fell open. Another woman gasped. Someone else laughed nervously.
“Twenty thousand?” the announcer all but shouted into the mic. “Twenty—twenty thousand dollars.”
“You don’t have that money,” the woman hissed, and I flashed her a saccharine smile.
“Sure, I do.”
She sneered, her lip curling in disgust. But she didn’t try to raise the bid.
So I turned back toward the stage, finding Theo’s shoulders shaking with silent laughter. The announcer could barely contain himself as he said, “Going once. Going twice.” He looked around the room a final time, but no one said a word.
I didn’t think anyone was even breathing.
“Sold!” He pointed at me, and I felt my smile split my face wide open. Theo moved forward, waving a few times before he made his way off the stage.
His steps were unhurried but intentional as he strode toward me. The crowd parted for him, whispers filling the air as he stopped before me.
For a moment, all we did was stare. The only thing I could focus on were the different shades of gray, blue, silver, blacks webbing throughout his irises. They told the story of his life, of who he was. And in the center, a perfect black dot that expanded the longer he watched me.
“Twenty thousand, huh?” he finally said, his voice raw and husky. Half of his mouth lifted into an arrogant grin.
“It’s coming out of your account, Playboy.”
I wrapped my hand around his, laughing as I dragged him through the crowd. As we disappeared, chatter filled the event hall, hushed and full of excitement. Theo’s hand was warm, tight around mine, like he was terrified that if he loosened his grip, I’d disappear.
We stepped out into the night, the air immediately cooling my heated skin. A hand gripped my waist, pulling me backward. I spun, my eyes meeting Theo’s.
And that was where we stayed—waves lapping at the shore in the distance, a thin door separating us from the rest of the town. We were in a bubble of our own making, like we were the only two left in the entire universe.
His hand tightened, fingers digging softly into my flesh. I gasped at the need radiating from him, the near desperate way he held onto me.
“I can’t believe you did that,” he murmured, eyes dropping to my lips as I dragged my tongue across them.
He walked me backward until I hit the wall. Gone was the controlled man I’d just seen inside. All that was left was the beast lurking below the surface.
“Were you jealous, Red?” he asked quietly, lifting his other hand to brace it by my head. His body swayed forward, warmth melting into me.
“I wasn’t jealous,” I said, though it was untrue. We both knew it was.
His palm skimmed the silky fabric across my ribs, his jaw tensing at the brush of contact. A harsh breath pushed from his barely parted lips.
“You seemed jealous to me.” Slowly, his eyes dropped to where his hand claimed my side, his touch possessive.