2. Sarah
Sarah swiped a glass of champagne from the waiter and took a large gulp. She drummed the auction paddle on her thigh, but it did nothing to calm her nerves. She’d talked a big game in front of Theo, but could she really do this? Theo hadn’t given her a budget. He’d told her to just keep bidding until she won, but… surely there was a limit?
Sarah knew exactly who Theo was. Theo Park. International model. Korean/Australian. Thirty-three years old, six-foot tall, and gorgeous. She’d googled him when Alexis first mentioned his name… before they’d met. Was it weird that she knew his Wikipedia page details? He even had a fan club called The Moonlighters… not that Sarah had signed up; she had just done a bit of internet stalking. It was for Alexis’ benefit. What kind of friend would Sarah be if she didn’t go all private detective on the arse of any guy who started sniffing around her bestie? Besides, you could never be too careful when a strange man came into your life… Sarah should know. She’d learned from experience.
So, Sarah knew Theo was worth the equivalent of the GDP of a small island nation. He could afford to pay whatever the winning bid was, but it just felt weird for Sarah to be the one to determine it. She was effectively spending someone else’s money, and while that sounded good in theory, the practice was a little more anxiety-inducing.
‘Promise me,’ Theo had said before he left her at the doors of the event, holding up his pinkie. ‘Promise me you won’t let anyone else win me.’
‘Of course,’ she had replied, faking confidence as she twined her pinkie around his. ‘I’ve got your back.’
Sarah drained her glass and grabbed another from a passing tray. Liquid-courage was what she needed.
‘Oh, I love your jumpsuit,’ a woman said, coming to stand beside her.
‘Thanks,’ Sarah said. ‘It has pockets.’
She tucked the auction paddle under her drinking arm and slid her free hand into the pocket of her satin outfit to demonstrate. Along with a suit Theo had purchased for himself, he’d bought the jumpsuit for her… and shoes. They’d had no clothes from home… this was just a day trip… except now it wasn’t. An afternoon storm had stranded Alexis and Levi in Nimbin. Thankfully, Theo knew someone who had a place for them to stay, because there was no room at the inn… or any accommodation in Byron Bay on such short notice. Then they’d gone shopping, and while Theo hadn’t purchased much for himself, he’d gotten her a change of clothes, pyjamas, a bikini, underwear, and this outfit… including the shoes. He’d handed over his black credit card and let her choose everything without comment, although she had seen the way his eyes lit up when she’d walked out of the bedroom wearing the jumpsuit. It was navy blue and left one shoulder bare. Sarah thought she looked pretty good, even if she did say so herself. She’d kept her hair simple, leaving it down in loose waves, and her makeup neutral.
‘Who have you got your eye on?’ the woman standing beside her asked.
‘Huh?’
‘For the auction,’ the woman nodded to the paddle. ‘Who are you going to bid on?’
‘Oh… I haven’t decided.’
‘I’m all in for the new guy.’
‘The new guy?’
‘There was a last-minute change to the line-up of bachelors,’ the woman said before taking a sip of her champagne. ‘The new guy… phew… hot.’ She fanned herself with her auction paddle.
Sarah blinked at the woman. She had to be at least her mother’s age… which wasn’t old, but it was weird hearing her say something like that. She had to have at least twenty years on Theo, and although Sarah was all for December-May romances if that’s what floated a person’s boat, she did not like the predatory gleam in this woman’s eye.
‘It’s just for dinner,’ Sarah said slowly.
‘Oh, I know,’ the other woman replied with a salacious wink. ‘But dinner can lead to all kinds of… things.’
The woman walked away, and Sarah stared after her.
That woman would definitely not be winning Theo.
Sarah emptied her second glass of champagne and grabbed a third before walking toward the tables. She found her seat and looked around at her tablemates. They were all women and all similar ages to the woman she’d spoken to earlier. Sarah knew this was a community event, but it had a strange, Real Housewives-feel about it. As she looked about, she thought she recognised some of the women from a recent reality television show that was based in Byron Bay… not that Sarah had watched it. She’d just seen their faces in the tabloid magazines that came through the salon. It was her job to keep up with the gossip so she could chat with her clients.
‘Does anyone know anything about this Theo guy?’ someone at the table asked. She was wearing a white halter dress and enough bling in her ears to blind someone.
‘Ooh I do,’ another woman said, wriggling in her seat with excitement. She wore an emerald-green top with puffy sleeves that Sarah low-key lusted after. ‘He’s a model.’
‘Ah… I thought he looked familiar,’ another woman in pink said. ‘Tag Heuer, right?’
‘And Luna,’ the woman in white said.
Sarah observed the competition over her glass while taking a sip. It seemed that Theo’s inclusion into the stable of bachelors had caused quite a stir… which would be great for the charity they were raising money for, but not so good for Theo’s credit card.
‘Okay, ladies and gentlemen,’ the MC said, and everyone turned to look at her. Sarah recognised her from earlier that day. She’d been the one to recruit Theo. ‘Thank you all for coming. I know everyone is excited to get the bidding going, but before we start, let me run through some housekeeping.’
Sarah tuned out the words as she studied the room. This might be harder than both she and Theo thought. When Sarah had talked Theo into signing up, she thought it was a small community centre deal, but it turned out to be a lot more glamorous. The cause was a worthy one, and she knew it was close to Theo’s heart, but was he really prepared to spend a lot of money?
‘And here is our first bachelor!’
A man walked onto the stage in a tuxedo that didn’t quite fit… or at least it didn’t fit anywhere near as well as Theo’s did. Theo’s eyes might have lit up when he saw Sarah in her jumpsuit, but seeing Theo in a suit had made Sarah’s insides turn to goo. Not that she would have told him that. The guy was a full-time flirt with an ego the size of Tasmania. He didn’t need her fluffing it any bigger than it already was.
‘Okay ladies, what is our first bid?’
‘One hundred dollars,’ someone called from behind Sarah.
One hundred dollars? Was that it? Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as she thought. She had been expecting thousands of dollars.
The bids climbed slowly by fifty-dollar increments and then stopped.
‘Sold for five hundred dollars.’
Sarah sipped her drink, relaxing into her seat. Okay. She could do this. Five hundred dollars was, well, not exactly nothing, but it was significantly lower than she’d expected.
The next four bachelors sold for around the same amount. One got up to six hundred, and another only sold for three hundred, but they all averaged around the five-hundred-dollar mark. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. Here she was, thinking she was going to cost Theo tens of thousands of dollars, but so far, no one had even gotten to a thousand.
‘And here is our last bachelor. Theo Park.’
Sarah straightened and noticed the women around the table doing the same. The MC rattled off Theo’s stats as he paraded across the stage like it was a catwalk. Sarah could practically feel the entire room lean forward in anticipation. Okay. It was game time.
‘Who’d like to start off the bidding?’
‘One thousand dollars,’ a woman called from across the room.
Sarah peered toward the voice and saw the same woman she’d been talking to earlier.
‘Eleven hundred,’ the woman in white said, raising her paddle.
‘Twelve,’ the woman in pink said.
The bidding continued to climb before Sarah could even get a word in.
Theo took it all in his stride, looking out across the audience.
Wait… was he looking for her?
They locked eyes, and Sarah saw the panic in them.
Huh.
She raised her paddle, not entirely sure what the bidding was up to.
‘Two thousand dollars to the woman in navy.’
Sarah hiccupped. Two thousand?
Theo winked at her, a look of relief flooding his eyes momentarily before he turned and strutted across the stage once more.
‘Twenty-five hundred,’ the woman across the room said.
‘Twenty-six,’ Sarah called out without thinking.
‘Twenty-seven.’
They were in a bidding war. It was Sarah against the woman from earlier, but Sarah was determined to win. Whatever it took.
‘Three thousand,’ she called, causing the crowd to gasp.
‘Three thousand, one hundred,’ the other woman said after a moment, but there was no longer the same confidence in her voice.
‘Any advance on three thousand, one hundred?’ The MC called.
Theo looked right at her, urging her to bid. He made a little flutter with his hand, encouraging her to go higher, but Sarah hesitated. It might not be a lot of money to him, but to Sarah, it was two months’ mortgage payments.
‘Three thousand, one hundred dollars going once.’ The MC slapped the program on the lectern. ‘Going twice.’
Theo widened his eyes at her and raised his pinkie finger, reminding her of the promise they’d made.
‘Three thousand, five hundred,’ Sarah called.
The crowd gasped. Theo grinned. The other woman shook her head before glaring at Sarah. The MC slapped the program down.
‘Sold!’
The crowd applauded, and Sarah reached for her drink, draining the glass. That was way more stressful than it needed to be.
‘Go and claim your prize,’ the woman beside her said, nudging her elbow.
Sarah stood, feeling like she was in a dream. She walked up the stairs to the stage where Theo was waiting, his hand outstretched. She took his fingers, holding on for dear life, and he tugged her close, brushing a kiss on her temple.
‘Thanks,’ he whispered in her ear, causing a riot of goosebumps to explode over her skin. ‘I owe you one.’