Chapter 34
LAWSON
“What the hell is going on?” I growl.
Carlie looks as shocked as I am. “I have no idea. Anna said we could use other initiatives if the donation goal wasn’t met, but we only started taking donations. I don’t understand.”
“There he is! Come on up, Laws.” Ruby waves at me, and the entire room turns to stare at Carlie and me standing by the door.
Fucking hell, Rubes.
I set my jaw and start for the stage.
Fine fingers clasp my wrist, and I turn back. Her big brown eyes are tight when she says, “I’m sorry.”
I have no way to respond to that.
I stride for the stage, and Rubes pats the upholstered seat where I’m guessing the last guy sat as he was auctioned off to the highest bidder. I take the steps two at a time, and that gets a reaction from the audience. Apparently, the wealthy women of New York like a fit guy.
Just my luck.
Ruby gives me a shit-eating grin as I sit on the chair, tugging at my bow tie.
She leans over, holding the microphone behind her. “Untie it and lose a button or two. You’ll raise more money, Laws.”
I give her the foulest look I’ve ever mustered as she messes up my hair with her free hand.
Yep, Rubes is a dead woman.
Begrudgingly, I do as she asks.
“Alright, ladies. Don’t let this one get away.”
I watch as Carlie drifts to our table and sits in her seat, dumbstruck. I see Adds snickering. I shake my head at her.
Huddo gives me a thumbs up, and Mack shakes his head while Reed imitates feinting like a southern belle in need of goddamn vapors. This is why my family should have stayed in damn Montana.
“Shall we start the bidding at five thousand?” Rubes coos.
The hell?
A paddle shoots into the air. Some older lady in a shimmery pea-green outfit.
Christ.
“Can I get six thousand?” Rubes slinks behind my chair, shoving my hair forward and into my face. I shake her off but leave the hair messed up and half in my face. At this point, who really cares? My dignity died as soon as I crossed the threshold minutes ago.
I count a total of ten paddles as they fly into the air.
Well, fuck.
“Oh ladies, play a little hard to get, hey?” Rubes laughs and leans down, whispering, “Sell it, Laws. Come on, I know you can.”
With a grunt, I resist the urge to flip her off. But seeing as Serenity’s entire existence hangs on raising enough money, I do as she says. I tug at the bow tie and slide it from my neck, letting it drop to the floor. Next, I shoulder off the jacket and roll up my sleeves.
I glance at Carlie. Her face is unreadable, and not in a good way.
“Ten thousand!” a platinum blonde in a navy dress yells from a front table.
Trying my best to keep a straight face, I let my gaze burn into Carlie’s before I lean back, manspreading.
“Twenty thousand,” another screams, jumping up and rattling her whole table.
Rubes closes in by my side. “Did you want to say something to the ladies, Lawson?”
I swing my focus back to our table. Carlie’s hand is over her mouth as she leans into the table. I take the microphone from Ruby’s hand and hold it to my lips as I growl out, in my best Montana accent, “Yes ma’am.”
Ruby’s eyebrows meet her hairline as she smiles, moving the microphone closer to her and says, “And what would you like to say?”
Serenity is riding on this money. This fundraiser is the difference between us surviving or sinking. Without this money, all one million dollars of it, the women of this city will lose a lifesaving resource.
“Save a horse, ladies.” I let the words rumble from my chest.
The crowd goes wild, figures flying from lipsticked mouths faster than the shells of an automatic weapon.
Ruby simply walks to the edge of the stage and holds up a hand.
The room goes quiet as she raises the microphone to her lips. “Can I get one hundred thousand dollars?”
Three women send their paddles into the air.
Holy fucking shit. Christ, Rubes.
Through the ruckus, I swing my gaze back to our table.
Carlie’s seat is empty.
Double fucking shit.
Dammit.
“Can I get one hundred and twenty thousand?” Ruby calls.
Two paddles fly up.
The third lady is whispering to who I assume is her partner as he shakes his head. What the hell was that dynamic going to be?
“One hundred and forty,” Ruby calls.
Both paddles fly up again.
These women have more money than sense. God above.
“One hundred and fifty.”
Two paddles are raised again. This time, they stare each other down. If it wasn’t my virtue on the line, it would be hilarious.
Why the hell did I have to say ‘save a horse’? World’s biggest idiot right here, sitting on this fucking chair.
“One hundred and fifty-five thousand.”
Only one paddle shoots into the air, the crowd so silent, you could hear a slingshot fork hit the pristine carpet.
“One hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars. Going once.” Ruby looks around the room, like there might be someone else to enter at the eleventh hour.
“Going twice . . .”
The room is still.
“Going a third time, ladies. Your very last chance.” Ruby moves to my side.
“So—”
“Two hundred thousand,” a voice yells from the back.
I can’t make out where or who she is with the stage lighting in my eyes. The last lady in the auction sits, shaking her head as she sets her paddle down.
The crowd’s gasps around the room drown out any rational thought.
A woman walks through the crowd with an air of elegance that has us all stunned as Ruby smiles at her.
What the—
“Lawson, meet Anna Winston. Board member of the Met, editor-in-chief of Elegance magazine, and one my oldest friends in the event space.” Rubes leans over, signaling for me to tidy up.
Anna steps onto the stage, and I stand, clearing my throat.
She looks me over. “A reasonable price to pay I suppose, for young love.”
I swallow, a little taken aback . . . and a whole lot confused.
Rubes beams at me as she ushers both of us off stage. The next guy to be auctioned off is Miles. As he walks on stage in his firefighter gear, the room is chaos.
A soft hand guides me through a side door, and we emerge in a hallway that’s littered with doors to what I assume are smaller rooms.
“Thank you for what you’re doing for the women of New York, Lawson. It’s my pleasure to help you achieve it. But I’m afraid I was not bidding for myself.” She opens a door on the left and leaves it ajar as she tilts her head so elegantly. “Have a wonderful night; you both deserve it.”
I can only stare at her as she leaves and reenters the gala.
I run a hand through my hair, hoping against all hope the person she bought me on behalf of isn’t going to hold me to the ‘save a horse’ comment.
Guess there’s only one way to find out . . .
The smaller room is set up for conferences and such. A polished large oval table fills the space, ten plush leather chairs surrounding it. A small sideboard sits at the back of the room. In the half dark, I find Carlie sitting at the head of the table.
Her legs crossed, she starts rapping her fingernails on the polished surface.
I close the door and flick the light on.
Instantly, the hurt that’s scrawled over her face is a kick to the chest.
“Fuck, I’m sorry—”
She holds up a single digit and rises from the chair.
“Is this how you planned on securing Serenity’s future?” She narrows her eyes, her lips a thin line. She flicks her hair behind her and sets her shoulders back. “Figures.”
The actual hell, woman?
“You know me better than that,” I snarl, unable to tame the annoyance lacing my veins.
How could she think I would . . .
“Do whatever you want, Rawlins. We’re done here.”
How fast did she flip her switch on me?
Sweet Jesus.
Fortunately, I wasn’t raised to give up on a good thing. When she stalks past, I catch her arm.
Her eyes meet mine and the fire from only a second ago fades before me. “Don’t,” she chokes.
“Don’t what, love you?”
Her face breaks.
“No, Carlie. You don’t get to bail at the first sign of trouble. No fucking way.”
Her chin wobbles as silver lines the dark eyes that roped in my heart on the first day I met her.
“Look, I understand you have to fight for everything. But I’m not one of those things. There’s no fight here. I come willingly. Always will.”
A sob slips from her, and she moves a little closer, her hand resting on my wrist.
I track my knuckle over her cheek, and her eyes flutter closed.
“I made you a promise, Princess. And fuck, I intend on keeping it.”
“What happens when we don’t make the quota tonight? Serelle will still let one of us go . . . If I stay, you’ll resent me. If I go, I’ll resent you. There’s no winning here, Lawson.”
“We haven’t even crossed that bridge yet. Why are you doing this?”
She pulls away and hugs herself. “Because! There is no way we’re making a million.”
“Hell, someone probably already put a cool million on Milo. If Rubes is smart, and we both know she is, she’ll auction Griff and Dex off as a set, that’ll surely get us over the line. You’ll see.”
“No, I won’t. I can’t risk Millie’s security or my career.”
“I would never ask you to. Will you please at least wait until the donations are tallied? Give me that much, please.”
She looks everywhere around the room, avoiding my gaze as I close in on her. She backs into the wall, and I cage her in. “I will find a way. I won’t let you down, Captain.”
She tilts her head, her face twisting.
She knows about the captain thing?
Ruby.
Fuck me.
Her fingers tremble as they ghost over my jaw. Searching my face, she opens her mouth to say something but rolls her lips before worrying that bottom lip through her teeth.
“Please, baby. You could break my heart, but I would really rather you didn’t,” I breathe.
“Fucking Anna,” she utters, her chest heaving under choppy breaths.
“I like Anna. She gave me this little moment.”
“Fuck it.” She palms my face, drawing my mouth down to hers.
I crowd her against the wall. Devouring her mouth, I splay my hands over her ribs. The thin material of her silky dress offers no barrier as her warm skin burns into my palms.
I drift my thumb over a pert nipple straining against the material. She whimpers, sagging a little, and I put my leg between hers, holding her up. I run a hand up her thigh that’s hosting an almost indecent slit in her long, shimmery dress.
A little moan slips from her lips when I find her panties.
Soaked.
“Fuck, Princess.” I sweep two fingers through her wet center. Dropping my head, I tug her dress down to find her braless. Sweet fucking Christ. I close my mouth over a pert nipple as she rocks on my leg, chasing friction.
“Laws,” she rasps. “Table.”
I scoop her up and stride three paces to the oval table, putting her down on it. As I lean back to adjust my position, she slams a hand into my chest.
“Fuck you, Lawson Rawlins, for making me fall in fucking love with you.” She seethes through rapid breaths. “Before your stupid handsome face and kind big-ass heart, I was completely fine on my own. Now . . . look at me.”
“I am, baby, and you look edible.”
“I am not edible. I’m ropable.”
“You can hate me while I fuck you, I promise.”
“I—”
“Or we can stop.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
I chuckle, and she huffs an annoyed breath.
Christ, I love her this way.
“You want to hate fuck, baby?”
“I do hate you, for fucking with my emotions. My heart. What is wrong with you, why are you so nice?” She’s in my face.
I grip her throat, and her eyes light with surprise that fades to a heated desire on a level I’ve not yet seen from her.
“Making you come while the people in the room next door prove me right is going to be worth every sassy word that leaves those pouty damn lips.”
Taking a step back, I release my aching, rock-hard cock, and she moves.
Standing with her back to me, she leans over the table a little and slides the silky dress up and over her ass.
Her long legs ending in high heels, her perfect ass canted up to me, she scowls over her shoulder.
“Fuck me like you hate me. Oh, that’s right; you did before. ”
“I never hated you, but I can still make you scream, Princess.”
I don’t give her any warning or go easy.
I slam into her, and the whole fucking table moves with a groan. I slap a hand over her mouth as a stunned cry flies through her lips.
She bites down on my hand, and I thunder into her.
Her legs tremble and my own release threatens to take us both down as I slide a hand beneath her, swirling my fingertips over her clit.
She unravels, bucking against the table.
I can’t help the roar that leaves my throat as I shoot hot ropes into her.
If this is makeup sex, I’ll take it.
Hell, I might even be the one to pick the fight next time.