8. Sebastian
Something had changed.
I stood near the bar, watching Aria walk away from me, her green dress catching the light with every step.
The crowd parted for her like she was royalty, and maybe she was, in this world she'd built.
People reached for her, touched her arm, tried to pull her into conversation.
She smiled at all of them. She was warm, open, and generous.
The exact opposite of how she was with me.
I lifted my glass. The whiskey burned going down, but it didn't clear my head the way I needed it to.
What the hell just happened?
I'd crossed the room with a plan. A simple plan.
Say something civil, establish that I could be in the same space as Aria Kealoha without wanting to strangle her, and move on with my evening.
Instead, I'd told her she looked good in green.
I'd grinned at her like some lovesick fool when she'd accidentally called me attractive.
I'd watched her pulse flutter in her throat and felt something I had no business feeling.
And she’d been the one to walk away first. That bothered me more than it should have.
Across the room, she was laughing at something Nalani said. Her head tipped back, exposing the column of her throat, and I tracked the movement like an obsessed man. Her hair was up tonight, revealing the delicate curve of her neck, the simple gold earrings that caught the candlelight.
When I'd first spotted her across the room, before the rational part of my brain had engaged, my first thought hadn't been the thousand reasons I should keep my distance.
My first thought had been: Beautiful.
I drained the rest of my whiskey.
This was Aria Kealoha. I did not find her attractive. I did not want to cross the room and pull her into a corner and find out if her mouth tasted as sharp as her words. I did not want to slide my fingers into that carefully arranged hair and watch it tumble down around her shoulders.
I signaled the bartender for another drink.
"Dad?"
I turned. Evie stood beside me, a plate of appetizers balanced in her hands. She'd found the pupu station, apparently. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright.
"Are you having fun?" she asked.
"It's a charity event." I accepted my fresh drink from the bartender. "I'm having as much fun as one can have at a charity event."
Evie's eyes narrowed. She glanced across the room, then back at me. "You've been staring at Miss Kealoha."
I went very still. "I have not."
"You have. Like, a lot." She tilted her head, studying me with that particular perception she'd developed lately. "Are you mad at her again?"
Was I mad at her? I wished that was it. Anger, I understood. Anger, I could manage. This was something that confused me and made me want to act out of the ordinary.
"I'm not mad at anyone," I said. "I was simply... observing the event. Making sure everything is running smoothly."
"By staring at Aria?"
"I wasn't staring."
"Dad. You were definitely staring."
I needed to redirect this conversation. Immediately. "How's the food?" I gestured to her plate. "Did you try the kalua pork sliders? I heard they were from a local Hawaiian restaurant."
"They're really good. Priya showed me how to bid on the silent auction.
I put in a bid for the spa package, but then someone outbid me by like five hundred dollars, which is crazy because who needs a spa that badly?
" She popped something into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Are you even listening to me?"
I was. I was also watching Aria accept a glass of champagne from a waiter, her fingers wrapping around the stem with elegant precision. She said something to the man beside her—Congressman Holloway, I recognized him now—and he laughed too loudly, leaning in close.
Did he have to get that close to her? What did he possibly have to say that required such proximity? The music wasn’t even that loud. I’m sure she could hear him just fine if he just moved a few inches away. In fact, that might be best, considering…
"Dad?"
I blinked and dragged my eyes away from Aria.
"Yes. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself.
" I glanced at Aria again. Congressman Holloway had moved even closer.
What were they even talking about? "Have you seen the main auction items?
There's a vacation package to the Maldives that looked interesting," I said, just because I didn't want to seem too obvious to my daughter.
Evie was watching me with that sharp gaze again. "You're being weird tonight."
"I'm not being weird."
"You are, though. You're all..." She studied me further. "Weird. You keep looking around. And then when you look at Aria, you get this face."
Busted. "What face?"
"I don't know. Just... a face." She shrugged. "It's fine. I'm going to go find Priya. She said she'd show me the donation tracking system."
She wandered off before I could respond, leaving me alone with my whiskey, my thoughts, and the inexplicable urge to cross the room and insert myself between Aria and the congressman who was still standing too close.
I didn't move. I had more control than that.
The lights dimmed slightly. A woman in a black dress stepped onto the small stage at the front of the room, tapping the microphone to get everyone's attention.
"Good evening, everyone. If I could have your attention, please."
The crowd began to settle, conversations dying down, bodies turning toward the stage. I moved to a better vantage point near the side of the room, where I could see without being in the center of things.
"As many of you know, our bachelor and bachelorette auction is a beloved tradition at the Kealoha Foundation gala.
This year, we have seven incredible individuals who have generously volunteered their time for a dinner date with the highest bidder.
All proceeds go directly to our mobile health clinic expansion. "
Seven people filed onto the stage, all of them dressed to the nines, wearing numbered cards around their necks. Six of them I didn't recognize. The other one was Aria.
She wore a cardboard placard with a large "5" written on it. Her chin was lifted, her smile fixed in place, but I could see the tension in her shoulders. She didn't want to be up there. She was doing it because it was her foundation, her event, her responsibility.
Hmmm… I thought to myself. If she was already uncomfortable doing this, imagine how mortified she would be if I bid on her.
I grinned and set down my empty glass.
"Let's start with our first participant," the announcer said. "Bachelor number one is David Higgs, a successful tech entrepreneur who enjoys hiking, photography, and supporting women's health initiatives..."
I barely heard the description. My eyes were fixed on Aria, on the way she stood slightly apart from the others, on the way her gaze swept the room and very deliberately did not land on me.
The bidding for bachelor number one started at five hundred dollars. It climbed steadily: two thousand, five thousand, eight thousand. A woman near the front won at twelve thousand, and the crowd applauded politely.
Bachelor number two. Bachelorette number three. Bachelor number four.
I didn't bid on any of them. I stood motionless, waiting for the time to strike.
"And now, bachelorette number five." The announcer's voice warmed with genuine affection. "I think most of you know her, but allow me to introduce the founder of the Kealoha Foundation herself, Aria Kealoha."
Aria stepped forward, her smile firmly in place. The crowd murmured appreciatively.
"Aria is a passionate advocate for women's health, a successful businesswoman in her own right, and according to her staff, makes the best homemade malasadas this side of Honolulu.
Dinner with Aria includes a private meal at the restaurant of the winner's choice, plus a personal tour of the foundation's facilities. "
The bidding opened at one thousand dollars.
"One thousand," someone called from the back.
"Two thousand," another voice.
"Five thousand."
The bids climbed. My hands hung at my sides, fingers curling and uncurling. I watched a man near the front, tall, dark-haired, expensive suit, raise his paddle again.
"Ten thousand."
Aria's smile didn't waver, but I saw her eyes flick toward the bidder. Assessing. The man was attractive, I supposed. But I knew what I wanted to achieve. I had to bide my time, make her think she was getting what or who she wanted, and then at the very last second, I would flip the board.
"Fifteen thousand," Congressman Halloway called.
I raised an eyebrow. So, he had been flirting with her.
"Twenty thousand." The dark-haired man again, his paddle raised with casual confidence.
Congressman Holloway frowned. "Twenty-five."
Another man suddenly joined. "Thirty."
The dark-haired man laughed, shaking his head. "Fifty thousand."
A ripple went through the crowd. Aria's composure cracked for just a second, I saw her eyes widen, saw her lips part in surprise, before she recovered.
The other bidders fell silent. Fifty thousand dollars was serious money, even in this room.
The announcer looked around. "Fifty thousand going once..."
It was time. I took a step forward. "Sixty-five thousand."
Every head in the room turned toward me. Aria's gaze found mine across the crowd. Her eyes went wide, then narrowed into a wilting glare. If looks could kill, I would have been a smoking crater on the warehouse floor.
I smiled at her. She glared back. Her entire demeanor said, Don’t you dare, Dubois. My grin widened. That only fueled me even more.
The dark-haired man turned, his expression shifting from surprise to irritation. He was trying to place me, I could tell. Trying to figure out who had the audacity to outbid him.
"Sixty-five thousand," the announcer repeated, sounding slightly stunned. "Do I hear seventy?"
The dark-haired man raised his paddle. "Seventy."
"Eighty," I said.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. People were staring openly now, phones appearing in hands, the scent of scandal perfuming the air.