One Night with her Bachelor (10 page)

His chances started looking up when Beau Bennett arrived. They’d gone to high school together but had barely seen each other since Beau made the stupid decision to become a Jarhead. Tonight he showed up in sweats, and Gabriel felt pretty damn good about his wardrobe choices in comparison. But then Beau rushed off and changed into a suit and tie.

Asshole.

He should’ve made his prize better. Or at least more specific. But Lily had shocked the hell out of him, and his brain hadn’t been functioning. When she’d asked what he had to offer, he could think of only one thing.
Nothing
.

As he stood with the other suckers and read the menu of prizes, his stood out:
Wild card. Your date, your choice.

Scanning the room of excited women, including old Mrs. Schwartz and her offer of a blowjob, he had a feeling he was going to regret that.

*

Wild card.

The words certainly described Gabriel. Whenever she saw him, she had no idea what she would get. Adorable, teasing Gabriel? Hard-as-nails, tough-guy Gabriel? Sweet, almost shy Gabriel? He was all those things, and every single one of them made her want him more.

“Well? What do you think?” Lily asked her.

Molly blinked and struggled to get her brain back on track. “About…?”

Lily followed her gaze and gave her a huge grin. “My original question was about the massive crowd we managed to get on such short notice, but suddenly that’s not what I really want to know.”

“Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.”

“Please don’t talk to me in riddles. You know they hurt my brain. Anyway, I guess I don’t need to ask who you would bid on tonight.”

“It doesn’t matter. You know I can’t. It would hardly be right for me to bid at a fundraiser that benefits me.”

Lily gave her a sly smile. “Fine. But out of curiosity, what would you have our wild card do if you won him?”

A thousand images shot through her mind, some of them sweaty, most of them naked, all of them naughty. “No idea. Shovel snow from my driveway probably.”

“I hope to God that’s code for something dirty. Now, we’re about to get started. Where’s Josh?”

She nodded toward the opposite side of the room. “Sitting at the table you reserved for us, having dinner. Before we start, though, I want to say something to the guys.”

“Sure thing, hon. You just let me know when you’re ready.”

Being the town charity case was the least of her problems right now, but it still cut deeply to know how badly she needed the help. She would accept it for Josh’s sake—so she didn’t have to read him bedtime stories by candlelight. Or worry about the heating being cut off. Or the house being foreclosed on. Pride was a small matter, but it was the only thing she still had control of. She might have to sacrifice some of it by accepting these men’s help, but she would hold her head up and accept their help with graciousness. That, at least, she could be proud of.

Lily led her up the stairs to the balcony where the brave men had gathered to look at the stage below. It probably felt like being condemned and having to watch the gallows being built. At least, Molly would’ve felt that way. These men had guts. She hoped some of it rubbed off on her.

And, good grief, they were a sight to behold. The closer she got, the more aware she became of how long she’d been testosterone deficient. Her girl parts throbbed, lonely and sad and desperate for some one-on-one time. And there was no question who she wanted that time with. She tried not to look directly at Gabriel. If she did, she would probably have a mental flail and end up stuttering something stupid, like
Take me, big boy
. Something that would sound sexy and appetizing from a woman like Lily but laughably ridiculous from her. She was Molly Dekker—Ms. Dekker to most of Marietta’s children—and she did not do things like that.

Except that one time. But she’d learned her lesson. No more trips out to Gabriel’s cabin, where people couldn’t reach her in an emergency. No more seeking gratification for herself when her son needed her so badly. That part of her life would have to stay on hold until she and Josh had a grip on what his different abilities meant and how to cope with them.

When they reached the balcony, Lily said, “Everyone, this is Molly. She wanted to have a quick word before we start selling you beefcakes off.”

“Hey, guys.” She gave them a little wave. “I know most of you, but a couple of you are new to me. I’m Molly.”

She shook hands with the guys she hadn’t met before and forced herself not to meet Gabriel’s eyes. “I wanted to say thank-you for all you’re doing for me and Josh. I would’ve brought him up here to thank you himself, but, well, stairs.”

Which made her think of the ramp Gabriel built, and she glanced at him. His face was inscrutable.

Mental flail.
“Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all. It truly is mind-boggling that you would do something like this for us.”

“It’s no problem, Molly,” Beau said. He gave her an encouraging smile. “We’re happy to help.”

The others nodded their agreement—except Gabriel. He kept staring at her in a way that made her breath quicken and her belly tighten. She rubbed her neck, which had gone all tight and tense. How amazing would his hands feel rubbing away her knots? How badly did she wish she could redo everything, go back in time and skip that disastrous day?

She cleared her throat. “If there’s anything I can do for any of you—
anything
—please let me know.”

Dear Lord, had she really been looking right at Gabriel when she’d said that? Judging by the suppressed grins on the men’s faces, she had.

She pointed at the stairs. “I’ll just… yeah. Good luck.”

She tried not to look as if she was fleeing when she fled. When she finally made it to the safety of her table right in front of the stage, she collapsed into her chair and steeled herself for an uncomfortable evening of pretending she was having fun.

“Mom, where have you been?”

Josh’s beseeching tone made her mama-bear instincts kick into overdrive. “Thanking the guys upstairs. Why? What’s wrong? You feeling okay? Tired? If it’s too much, we can go home. Just say the word.”

His eyes widened in panic. “We’re not going home yet. We can’t. It hasn’t even started.”

Slowly, her adrenaline faded away. “As long as you’re okay, we’ll stay. But let me know if you start getting tired or sore or—”

“
Mom
. I’m okay. I want to stay.”

God, would this ever get easier? Would she ever stop worrying about him, even for a second? She’d always mentally rolled her eyes at the helicopter moms at her school, the ones who hovered right over their kids, flapping their hands and shouting, “Don’t do that; it’s dangerous!” She didn’t want to smother Josh, but every nerve in her body lit up like a fuse when she thought of how close she’d come to losing him.

The microphone screeched to life through the speakers. Wiry old Buck stood on stage and cleared his throat. “Folks, a hearty welcome here this evening, and our thanks to Grey’s management for the opportunity to hold this here inaugural great Marietta bachelor auction in the saloon, because it sure beats holding it at the stock yards. You know the cause, you know the reason. We’re here to make life a little easier for young Josh and his mother, Molly, and to this end we are putting some of the finest breeding stock this district has to offer at your disposal…”

Jett Casey was up first, looking positively scrumptious in his suit. He strutted his stuff, and by the time he finished women were falling all over themselves for a chance to get to know him better. But when Buck yelled out the final bid—“Sold, to the lady in booth three for $2,325!”—Molly nearly fell out of her chair.

“Mom! Mom! Did you hear that? Holy sh—” Josh shot her an excited look. “Sugar!”

Holy sugar indeed. Lots and lots of holy sugar. That was a couple of mortgage payments and at least one of her utilities taken care of. Her eyes burned as she stood on shaky legs and tried to catch the eye of the woman in booth three. She couldn’t see over all the people standing around, so she caught Jett’s attention and mouthed
thank you
.

He nodded in acknowledgment and headed off the stage.

One by one, the men went on stage, and one by one they left it. In between bachelors, Buck drew winners for raffle prizes. She forced herself to stop adding up the money. It seemed uncouth and ungracious. But each fall of the gavel chipped away at the tension that had encased her like cement. The smile she’d plastered on earlier this evening no longer felt as if it weighed a million pounds. People came over and bought her drinks. Since she was driving home tonight, she drank her weight in mocktails. She laughed with friends old and new, and she basked in the joy of seeing her son having fun.

Instead of feeling like a mooch, she felt like part of the community. And she had Lily to thank for it.

Every time she looked up, Lily was somewhere else. She hadn’t sat down in hours—Molly knew because there was a free chair for Lily at her table. After bachelor number four walked off the stage, she managed to grab her friend and tried to get her to stop, but Lily brushed her off with, “I’m fine. I’m enjoying myself.”

“You’ve been running around like a crazy woman since the moment we got here. Everything’s going great. Stop being an overachiever and take the weight off for a few minutes.”

“I can’t. Not yet.”

“Lily…”

“How’s this for a deal? I need to check in with Carol on the door. Once I’ve done that, I’ll grab a drink and chillax.”

Something didn’t feel right. Lily wasn’t usually this frenetic. When she was, it was usually because she was avoiding thinking about something. Lily had trusted Molly with secrets of her painful past, stories that had given Molly chills and made her want to shout at all the judgmental busybodies.
This is the bravest woman ever!
There were times when Lily’s past seemed to haunt her. Whether this was one of those times, Molly didn’t know, but this crowded bar was hardly the place to ask her friend personal questions. So she let Lily escape, barely noticing the wink she gave Josh as she disappeared into the crowd.

Forcing herself to sound excited, she grabbed the menu and pretended to study it. “Who’s up next?”

“Gabriel,” Josh said, his voice full of hero worship.

As if she hadn’t known. She’d memorized his place in the order the first time she’d glanced at the sheet. Her belly clenched in anticipation of seeing him highlighted on the stage a few feet away—and with the slightest twinge of jealousy for the woman who would buy him. “Ohhh, what’s he offering?”

“A wild card. What’s that mean?”

“Uh…” How to explain it? “It’s a gambling term. It means a card that can be whatever you want it to be.”

“So, like, whoever buys him can get him to do anything?”

“Anything within reason.”

“What would you have him do?”

“Clean your room,” she said without hesitation. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him grin. “Though, considering the state of it, that’s probably unreasonable.”

“Next up, ladies and dwindling number of gentlemen,” Buck said, “we have Marietta’s very own hero. The man who risked life and limb to bring our Josh back home alive.”

Molly clenched her hands in her lap to stop the tremor running through them. It was just the mention of bringing Josh home alive, not the fact that Gabriel was coming down the stairs, walking a little stiffly, and keeping his attention on the steps in front of him, never acknowledging the crowd around him. He looked like a wicked mountain man—focused, determined, and so, so sexy.

“Let’s start the bidding at a hundred, a hundred, a hundred, a hundred
there
. Gimme fifty, one fifty, one fifty, one fifty, one fifty there…”

As Buck prattled on, Molly couldn’t tear her eyes away from Gabriel. So far he’d just stood there, looking out over the screaming crowd as if he weren’t really here.

“Mom, what’s wrong with Gabriel? He looks really shy, and I know he’s not.”

But Molly knew Gabriel better than her son did. She’d seen the boy he’d been and heard how the town had spoken about his family. Being on display like this had to be killing him. “He’ll be okay. He’s just not used to being around all these people.”

Josh fidgeted next to her, and she realized he was miming dancing. “What are you doing?”

“He needs to loosen up.” Josh wiggled his shoulders and did the white-man’s overbite. Poor kid had inherited his father’s dance moves.

Gabriel rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, his cheeks tingeing pink as he gave a little shake of his head, as if to say
I can’t believe I’m doing this.

Her heart pounded for him. Her breath quickened. She wanted to rush the stage and save him. But then his gaze landed on her, and a corner of his mouth kicked up in that slow, sweet-and-sexy way that made her want to burrow into his embrace and never leave.

He reached up and flicked open the top button of his plaid shirt. The shouts in the room grew deafening. If Buck hadn’t had a microphone, she wouldn’t have heard him say, “Three hundred there! Who’ll give me fifty? Three fifty, three fifty, three fifty…”