Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
ZOEY
I sit in the front row, paddle in my grasp, and wait for the show to start. The night has taken a turn I didn’t expect.
Matt was going to kiss me, and I don’t know what to do with that.
Or with the fact that he didn’t run away when I trauma dumped on him while we were surrounded by the entire town.
This whole night has gotten away from me, and now I’m about to bid on my fake boyfriend during a fake date to win a fake romantic dinner with him.
Yep. Just your average, run-of-the-mill Saturday evening.
I’m not even sure why I’m doing this anymore. For the hotel, my career, my father, yeah, yeah, I know. But tonight, it felt like I was doing it for another reason too. One I can’t quite explain to myself.
My thoughts are interrupted when Cooper jumps on stage, and the music in the room dies down.
“Well, folks, here we are,” he says, grinning. “The most highly anticipated moment of the night. That’s right! The bachelor auction.”
All around me, people clap and shout.
Carl whistles with two fingers and his wife lightly swats him on the arm.
“I know, I know.” Cooper lifts both arms, palms down, motioning for the crowd to settle.
“We’re all excited to see the most eligible men in all Pine Falls—me included—shake what nature gave them on the stage.
But first, a reminder that all proceeds will help Carl finance a week-long excursion in the Great Bear Rainforest for the freshman class.
So don’t be shy. Show these guys how much they’re worth, yeah? ”
“Show us the men!” a woman shouts from a few rows behind me, followed by a “Yeah!” and a round of catcalls sprinkled with laughter.
A few seats down, I spot Rosie. She smiles in my direction—small and tentative, but it’s there—and something in me twists in relief. I wave, then focus on the stage, unable to keep my own lips from curling up. I’m starting to find allies in this town, allies that sometimes feel more like friends.
The thought warms a part of me that’s been out in the cold for far too long.
None of my “friends” from home have checked up on me since I’ve been here.
Not that I expected them to, since we haven’t hung out in months.
I’ve been too busy to join them on trips and birthday weekends, and invitations are getting scarce these days.
It doesn’t help that Jake has slithered his way into my friend group by dating my ex–best friend.
They made their choice, and I’ve been pushed out.
“All right, all right.” Laughing, Cooper glances behind him. “Our first bachelor up for auction tonight is Austin. Austin, come on out.”
A man in his early twenties steps onto the stage, flashing his dimples to the crowd.
“As you all know, Austin is a firefighter,” Cooper says, clapping the man’s shoulder. “He’s offering one lucky winner a picnic date, followed by a movie. We’re starting the bids at fifty dollars.”
Music blasts from the speakers as a handful of paddles lift. When the bidding is done, the date goes to a young woman in the back of the room for a hundred and fifty.
“Next up, we’ve got everybody’s favorite florist. Matt, step on the stage, please.”
Matt comes into view, and my heart stutters and races all at once.
The minute his gaze finds mine, his resting bitch face—resting grump face?
—morphs into the most adorable golden retriever expression I’ve ever seen.
He walks to Cooper, a little bounce in his steps, as he keeps his bright eyes on me, wearing a goofy but genuine smile that sends my heart pumping even more.
Just as I get my pulse under control, the music plays once more, and Matt starts to move.
He works the crowd, all effortless swagger, pulling at his suspenders with his thumbs, swaying his hips in a way that makes my insides coil tight and brings hot flashes of memories to the forefront of my mind.
My thigh muscles tense instinctively. My body betrays me, my breaths growing choppy as I shift in my seat, desperate to relieve the pressure building inside me. While people cheer and whistle, I’m over here, unraveling in slow motion.
I hate how much he affects me.
“All right, Matt,” Cooper says, his tone playful. “After that performance, I’m expecting a bidding war any minute now. Matt is offering a romantic dinner and a bouquet. Bids start at seventy dollars.”
I lift my paddle so fast. “Eighty.”
Grinning, Cooper points to someone behind me. “One hundred.”
I frown and turn.
Patty flashes me a smug smile. Oh, so I’m making enemies as well as friends. It wasn’t on the to-do list, but if that’s how she wants to go about it, then I can play this game all night.
“One-fifty,” I say, holding my paddle high.
“One-sixty,” Patty adds before I’m even done speaking.
“Looks like I was right. Let the bidding war commence,” Cooper says with a smirk. “How do you feel about that?” He points the mic in Matt’s direction.
Matt ducks, his expression wicked. “May the best woman win.”
While the entire room breaks into laughter, he doesn’t look away from me.
Oh. By ‘best woman,’ he means me. I’m his— the woman.
Okay, then.
I raise my paddle. “Six hundred dollars.”
The room goes dead silent.
“That’s ridiculous!” Patty yells into the quiet.
“What?” I shrug, scanning the crowd. “It’s for a good cause, isn’t it?”
On stage, Matt and Cooper wear matching wide-eyed expressions.
“Just to be clear,” Cooper says into the mic. “You’re bidding six hundred dollars for a bouquet and a dinner with this gentleman? The same one who’s already dating you for free?”
I smile. That proclamation in front of all Pine Falls is yet another win for me. “Absolutely.”
“Then at this price, you’d better get up here and collect your prize,” he calls.
Well, fuck.
“Oh, no. I’m fine, thanks,” I stammer, my heart pounding for a different reason now.
“Come on. Come get your man. Everybody, let’s give it up for Zoey,” Cooper cheers.
The whole room follows his lead, clapping, whistling, and stomping so loudly it rattles the floorboards.
On stage, Matt looks like he’d rather run into traffic than spend another minute up there.
But nobody’s paying attention to him. All eyes are on me, waiting to see if I’ll step forward and claim my fake boyfriend.
And you know what? Why not? I paid for it. Might as well go get my prize.
I square my shoulders and stand, earning a roar of approval from the crowd that rings in my ears as I make my way to the stage with an assured step.
When I reach Matt, his gaze locks on mine, hesitant, almost guilt-ridden. It’s as if he’s silently apologizing for putting me in this situation, which is completely absurd, since I’m the one who bid a ridiculous amount on him.
But still, he draws me in. His focus on me is magnetic, and I’m pulled into his gravitational force.
The noise of the crowd, the lights, the overwhelming heat of the room—it all disappears as I take him in, standing on the stage, waiting for me.
And for that brief second, I forget that we’re pretending.
And I can picture it, walking toward him like he’s mine and I’m his.
Hugging him when I’m close enough. Letting him kiss me in front of everybody.
Matt watches me intently, like he can read the thoughts crossing my mind, and you know what? Let him. Let him see how much I wish we weren’t faking it right now. How much I’d like him to stop playing the game.
“Let’s hear it for Zoey, folks.” Cooper’s voice is muffled, barely there.
The crowd’s cheer never stops, but the sound is distant too, like I’m underwater. All I can concentrate on is the tension crackling in the air.
Him waiting for me, a few feet away.
It takes everything in me to tear my attention away.
Focus .
Like a rubber band snapping, the noise returns to full volume.
I take a deep breath, empowered by the atmosphere soaring through the microbrewery, and climb the small step.
“Zoey,” Cooper says, “thanks to your incredible donation, Carl’s trip is 80 percent funded.”
Matt’s eyes stay firmly on me as I approach, making my stomach flutter.
“Hi,” I whisper once I’m next to him.
“Hi back.” His voice is just as low, the sound traveling through every part of my body. “I’m sorry.”
I brush my fingers against his. “Don’t be. I’m having fun.”
“All right, Zoey.” Cooper slides an arm around my shoulder. “Looks like you got your man. How about a kiss to seal the deal?”
Anticipation floods my veins and swirls deep in my belly. Without missing a beat, I snag the mic from his hold. “I think that’s only fair for the price I’m paying,” I say, the words loud and clear.
Matt’s face flushes as the crowd breaks into raucous applause.
He closes his eyes for an instant, but when he opens them again, I’m taken aback by the fire blazing in his irises.
Grasping my wrist, he pulls me closer and splays his hands high on my hips.
There’s no hesitation in his touch. No second thought.
He’s touching me like he knows exactly what he’s gonna do with me, the same way he touched me on my first night in his town.
But this time, there’s a weight to it. A history there that fortifies my belief that he knows precisely how to handle me. And that thought sets me on fire.
“Only fair, huh?” he rasps.
My throat is so thick, no words come out. So I settle for a single nod.
His gaze dips to my mouth. “Can’t argue with that logic.”
He brings me to him with ease, only stopping when my breasts are pressed firmly against his chest.
A gasp escapes me, heat pooling low between my legs.
“Is that what the guy in your book did before kissing the girl?” he asks, his voice dangerously low.
My pulse pounds in my ears. “What?”
He twists a loose strand of my hair around his index finger, like he’s testing the texture, and suddenly, his words sink in. The page he read earlier . The kiss that was leading to—
“Do you expect me to beg for it, then?” I say, popped up on my toes, my lips inches from his.