21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
H e shouldn’t have agreed to this.
Owen looked around at the other men standing behind the curtain, waiting to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
At least, he had Maxi there to bid on him.
He’d given her money to bid on him. At first, he’d given her five hundred but just to be extra careful, he’d given her a thousand dollars.
There’s no way anyone would bid that much for a date with him.
He glanced over at Mayor Banks, who was one of the bachelors in the auction. He looked pale. “Hey, you feeling all right?”
The mayor nodded. “Yeah.” He leaned over and lowered his voice. “I just don’t want to be here.”
Owen subdued a laugh, since he was certain the mayor had given this event his stamp of approval. Then again that would have been before he found out he was expected to take part in it.
“That makes two of us,” Owen said.
Before he could say more, Aster Bell stepped on stage and gave a welcoming speech.
Second by second, it was getting closer to bidding time.
He just kept reminding himself he had nothing to worry about.
Maxi had his back. Soon this would be over, and he’d be walking out of there with Maxi on his arm.
"And now I want to thank each and every one of these bachelors," Aster said.
This was their cue to file out onto the stage behind her.
Owen swallowed hard as he straightened the collar on his white long-sleeve button-up shirt.
He’d left the top couple of buttons undone.
He’d paired it with dark jeans. This was as dressed up as he got these days unless it was a wedding or funeral.
When he reached his spot on the stage, he turned. He was surprised to find the room was filled to the point that there was standing room only. And the audience was mostly female.
The spotlights on them were bright, so it was difficult to make out the faces in the audience. Still, he squinted as he tried to make out Maxi’s beautiful face. He couldn’t find her. His heart started to beat rapidly. She wouldn’t have bailed on him, would she?
His palms grew damp, and he resisted the urge to swipe them over his jeans. He didn’t want anyone to see that this whole thing made him nervous.
Aster turned to them with a big smile on her face.
"Thank you, bachelors, for volunteering your time and yourselves.
We literally couldn't have done this without you.
" As the men nodded their heads, Aster turned back to the audience.
"Let's show this handsome group of bachelors how much we appreciate them with a round of applause. "
The clapping started. The next thing he knew, people were on their feet, and the applause had grown in volume. There were whistles and cheers. He swallowed hard. He was never doing this again.
Owen glanced around. He was surprised by how many guys were willing to take part in the auction. None of his brothers were included, because they'd all found their life's partner. Lucky them.
He was the only holdout. He'd thought he'd found the right woman for him the year before, but then he realized he'd been a horrible judge of character.
He didn't want that to happen again. His thoughts turned to Maxi.
She'd been so honest with him. He couldn't imagine her hurting him like Regan had done.
As the bachelors made their way behind the curtain once more, he noticed Mayor Banks was wearing his usual blue suit with a bowtie.
Owen subdued a smile. Even though the mayor was only a few years older than him, you wouldn't know it by the way he dressed.
He wondered if the mayor's unusual taste in clothes was part of the reason he was still single.
Not that Owen had any room to talk, since he was single too.
The first bachelor was called on the stage. A brief bio was read, and then the bidding started at one hundred dollars. Oh, boy. He was glad Maxi was out there, ready to bid on him, because nothing could be worse than to stand up there and have no one bid on you.
Bachelor number one went for a bid of two hundred dollars. The next guy got a bid of four hundred. Owen was feeling the pressure.
By the time they got to him, the bids had ranged between two hundred and twelve hundred dollars.
His palms were damp as he stepped up on stage.
His gaze immediately sought out Maxi. With only a spotlight on him, he was better able to see the faces in the crowd.
There were a bunch of smiling women. And they were waving at him.
Really? They didn’t know that he had a girlfriend?
"Ladies." Aster had to wait a moment for people to quiet down.
"Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to bachelor number seventeen.
This bachelor is a game designer by trade as well as a paramedic.
He likes pizza and walks on the beach. Ladies, I'm telling you that he's a catch.
So, let's start the bidding. Do I have one hundred? "
Immediately, a sea of hands holding bid sheets went up in the air. As the yellow papers waved, he struggled not to let his mouth gape. He honestly didn't expect the big response.
Aster pointed to someone in the crowd. He wasn't sure which person Aster had singled out. "We've got a hundred. Can we get two?"
Again, the hands flew up in the air, waving their bid sheets.
"Do we have three?" Aster called out.
Hands shot up in the air, but there weren't as many this time.
"Do we have four?"
It was at that moment that he spotted Maxi. She was staring back at him. He immediately smiled at her, but she didn't smile back.
He felt guilty. He shouldn’t have insisted she be here. He would find a way to thank her.
By the time he turned his attention back to the auction, he realized they were up to eight hundred dollars, and there were only two bidders. Maxi and... He squinted into the shadows, and then he inwardly gasped.
He blinked. He couldn't believe his eyes. There, with her bid sheet raised high in the air was his ex. His stomach sank. What was Regan doing here?
"The bid is now eight fifty." Aster looked from Maxi to Regan. "Do I have nine hundred?"
Regan's arm shot up.
Owen's gut tightened. He never imagined Regan would show up in his life and what? Try to win him? He smothered a groan. What was he supposed to do now?
"Nine fifty?" When Maxi didn't immediately bid, Aster glanced over her shoulder at him and motioned for him to step forward.
When he didn't move, Aster turned the whole way around. "Don't be shy. You have two beautiful ladies fighting over you."
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Could this get any worse? It wasn't until the thought passed through his mind that he realized he shouldn’t have tempted fate. He knew all too well how fate loved to laugh at him.
"Smile," Aster said.
He forced a smile to his lips. He knew this auction was a bad idea. He just hadn’t known how bad of an idea it would be. He turned his gaze to Maxi, willing her to bid and get this over with. There was no way Regan was going to spend a thousand dollars on him.
"Do I have nine fifty?" Aster waited. "Anyone?"
Maxi raised her bid sheet as she shot a glare at Regan.
Oh, boy. This was not going well. Not well at all.
He'd thought he was being over-the-top when he'd given her one thousand dollars in cash. He never expected the bidding to get this high. Now he was starting to worry that he hadn't given her enough.
The smile fell from his face as his attention turned to Regan. He willed her not to counter bid.
"Okay, ladies," Aster said, "let's keep this going. The bid is currently nine fifty. Do I hear a thousand?"
Regan's hand shot into the air before Aster had even finished speaking. Frustration churned in the pit of his stomach. What was Regan up to?
Everyone's attention turned to Maxi. She was out of money. He wanted to tell her to keep bidding, that he would cover it, but there was no way for him to convey that message. He had absolutely no idea what she was going to do now.
That was it.
She was seething.
Maxi forced herself to stop glaring at Owen's ex. She refused to let the woman know just how far she’d gotten under her skin.
After all, what did Regan think? That by winning a date with Owen, he would suddenly take her back? Maxi didn't think so. Even if Maxi’s relationship with him had started off as a charade, it was now more genuine than anything he’d ever had with Regan.
Still, there was the problem that she didn't have any more money. She had the cash that Owen had given her, and that was it. Or was it?
"The bid is now one thousand and fifty." Aster looked directly at Maxi.
In a panic, Maxi held up a single finger. "Wait."
She reached for her purse. Surely there had to be some money in there. She pulled out her wallet and prayed there was some money in there that she'd forgotten about.
There was a twenty. She inwardly groaned. She looked in every conceivable spot in her purse and found an additional five-dollar bill. It wasn't much, but it was all she could come up with. She could only hope that his ex was out of money too.
Maxi lifted her gaze and met Aster's. "I bid one thousand and twenty-five."
Aster's brows momentarily lifted, but her voice didn't betray her surprise. "We have one thousand and twenty-five." She turned to Regan. "Do we have one thousand and fifty?"
Regan turned to look directly at Maxi. She had a smug smile on her face as her eyes sparkled with victory. She raised her bid sheet.
This time Maxi audibly groaned. Her gaze met Owen's, and he sent her a brief nod, as though telling her that it was okay.
He understood that there wasn't anything else she could do.
He seemed resigned to the fact that he'd have to go on a date with his ex. The thought that the pushy woman was angling to date Maxi’s boyfriend ate at her.
Lily leaned over to her and placed some money on the table. "Here. Take this."