The Date Auction (9 page)

* * *

Harry looked across the table, where his female companion was waiting for him to finish his telephone conversation. He wouldn't have answered the phone while he was out on a date, except the call was coming from a number he didn't recognize, and he thought it might be something important.

It wasn't.

“I, uh... sure,” Harry capsized. It wasn't as if he could refuse, not without sounding like a complete jerk. When possible, Harry tried to be a gentleman, and blowing off Cora didn't seem like the right thing to do. “When would you like to do that?”

“Whenever you're available,”
Cora replied.
“I don't want to bother you.”

“You're not bothering me. Not at all,” he lied. The woman sitting across from him was a tall, blonde goddess from Sweden. She was nothing like the woman on the phone, who he had no intention of dating again. Apparently, she wasn't going to let him get away that easily.

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?”

He wished he would have had an excuse, but he didn't. “Uh... no. Tomorrow is good. Text me the details, and I'll be there.”

“Alright. Great.”

“I'll see you tomorrow.” Harry knew he sounded dismissive, but he
was
in the middle of a date. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

He ended their call and turned off his phone entirely. As he slipped his phone into the pocket of his coat, the Swedish goddess asked, “Was that something important?”

“No, not in the least,” Harry replied, a bit coldly. “How's your food?”

Chapter Nine

Alaina had insisted on having a “floor picnic,” which was, in essence, a picnic that took place in the middle of her living room. She had packed sandwiches, potato chips and fruit. Alaina's turkey sandwiches must have been sitting around for the better part of the day, because the bread had turned a bit soggy.

“Do you like your sandwich, Will Will?”

As he stared at his half-eaten sandwich, the wilted lettuce and gooey bread, William decided it was in his best interest to lie. “I do. It's great.”

“You don't think the cheese is too sharp, do you?”

The cheese was the least of her sandwich's problems. “No, not at all.”

Alaina tossed a large potato chip in her mouth and attempted to talk while she chewed it, “Don't you shhink zhis ish romantic?”

“Is this romantic?” William repeated her question and waited for her nod. “Uh, yeah. I guess it is.”

“It's like a real picnic, isn't it?”

“Yeah.” It
was
like a picnic, minus the sunshine and the fresh air—which was really the point of having a picnic in the first place.

“We even have a checkered blanket and a picnic basket.” Alaina opened her wicker basket and peered inside, as if hoping something else would miraculously appear. “And I don't have to worry about bugs crawling in my hair.”

William didn't think it was an appropriate time to point out the spider huddled in the corner of the room.

“You know what?” Alaina continued. “I told my parents about you, and they're really excited to meet you.”

William almost sprayed the Wild Cherry Pepsi he was sipping. As soon as he swallowed, he squeaked, “Really?”

“Yeah. They said you sounded like a great guy. You want to meet them, don't you?”

He had been Alaina's boyfriend for all of two days. He didn't think he would have to worry about meeting her parents anytime soon. The relationship was moving too fast—
way
too fast—but Alaina was so sweet and smiley and beautiful, and he couldn't stand to disappoint her. “Yeah, of course I want to meet them.”

“Awesome. I think they'll like you. You're not like other guys I've dated in the past.”

“Really?” He braved another bite of his soggy sandwich. “What sort of guys do you usually date?”

“Big, muscle-y dickheads.”

William looked down at his gangly arms and sighed. Did she realize she had inadvertently emasculated him?

Alaina leaned toward William, simultaneously tousling his hair and giving him a loud, smacking kiss on the cheek. “I really like you, you know.”

“I know. I really like you too.”

“I
love
you, even,” Alaina reminded him. “You're really perfect for me. And you're so cute, you're practically too cute for this world.”

“And you're too beautiful for this world,” he parroted her compliment. “You're like an angel on earth.”

“Aww. That's sweet. But angels usually have blonde hair, don't they?” Alaina tugged on the ends of her hair with a frown.

“I don't think they have to be blonde.”

“But they're usually blonde. Blonde like you,” Alaina grinned at him. “When we have kids, I hope they're blonde like their daddy.”

That
was a bit much. William was starting to wonder if she was intentionally trying to scare him away. It didn't seem like she was. Her eyes were oblivious and her smile never left her face.

“Do you want kids, Will Will?”

“I think so,” he said with a shrug. “I haven't really given it much thought.”

“Really? Aren't you twenty-six years old? Surely you've given it
some
thought.”

“Not really. I mean... I'm still young. I figure I still have plenty of time to consider that sort of thing... like, another ten years.”

Alaina's nose wrinkled. “Ten years?! Girls can't wait that long. Anyway, I don't think twenty-six is too young to start thinking about kids. I have a cousin who's pregnant, and she's seventeen.”

“Now
that
is way too young.”

“She's almost eighteen though,” Alaina said, as if that magic number would somehow make sense of her cousin's predicament. “She's going to have kids that are older than my kids. Don't you think that'll be weird?”

“No, not really.”

“It
is
weird. I remember babysitting her when she was a kid, and now her kids might end up babysitting
my
kids.”

William was lost. He was staring at her lips as she spoke, wishing he could kiss them. “I think you're over thinking it.”

“I'm twenty-four. My mom got married when she was twenty-one.”

“And you still have plenty of time to think about it.” If she was looking to get married right away, she was going to have to look elsewhere. No matter how pretty she was (and she was truly the embodiment of Aphrodite), he wasn't the type to rush into a hasty marriage. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I guess.”

“For example, we could talk about how beautiful you look with your hair pulled back like that,” William suggested. “Or we could talk about your amazing body, and how great your butt looks in those shorts.”

“You're sweet,” Alaina cooed. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you lay your head in my lap so I can feed you some grapes?”

She didn't need to ask twice. A split second later, William's head was on her lap. His eyes were gazing up at her, adoringly. When she started stroking his hair, he was reminded how much he loved getting affection from her.

Alaina twisted a grape from the vine and held it over his lips. “Open wide.”

He opened his mouth oh-so-slightly, intentionally disobeying her command.

“
Wide
,” she repeated. “Or you won't be getting any grapes.”

As soon as William opened his mouth, she lowered it to his tongue. When he chewed and swallowed, she presented him with another one.

“Now it's really starting to feel like a picnic,” William noted. “And a romantic one, at that.”

“Here. Catch.” Without further warning, Alaina tossed the second grape at his face. It rolled down his cheek, bounced off his shoulder, and tumbled to the floor. “Oops. You missed.”

“
I
missed?!” William laughed. “You didn't even
try
to get it into my mouth!”

Alaina pulled off another grape and popped it into her own mouth. “I didn't?”

“No.”

“What about this one?” She pulled off a grape and threw it at him.

“Hey!” William sat up with his arms playfully crossed. “I should tickle you for that!”

“You wouldn't!”

“Oh, yes I would!” He flexed his fingers like an animal's claws. “I don't think you're brave enough to withstand the tickle monster!”

“I don't think the tickle monster is brave enough to withstand
this
!” Alaina seized the bottom of her shirt and tugged it over her head, revealing a lemon yellow bra. “Do you like it? I just bought it at Victoria's Secret last week.” She puffed out her chest, encouraging him to get an eyeful. “I was single when I bought these. I didn't realize I'd have a sexy boyfriend to model them for.”

“You think I'm
sexy
?”

“I do. Very sexy.”

“That's ridiculous. I think we can both agree that
you're
the sexy one, Alaina Torres.”

When he reached out to cup her breast, she gave his hand a gentle slap. “Nuh uh uh. No touching. Not until I say so!”

“What?! Whyyy?” He whimpered, pouted, and generally tried to look as pitiful as possible.

“I want to torture you a little while longer.” She was unzipping her jean shorts as she spoke. “I want you to want me so bad, you can't stand it anymore.”

“I
already
want you that bad!” he whined.

She kicked off her shorts, hopped to her feet, and modeled the underwear for him. “Do you think I look good?”

“Very good. So good it hurts.”

“Well, that's too bad!” Alaina made a dash for the couch, which was several feet away from their checkered picnic blanket. “If you want me, you're going to have to catch me!”

“
I'm
the one who has to catch
you
? That doesn't seem fair.” William leaned back and lifted the bottom of his shirt, exposing his stomach. It wasn't much to look at, really. He didn't have a six pack like his brother, but he hoped Alaina liked it well enough. “How can you resist this?”

Alaina lowered one of her bra straps, teasing him from across the room. The coy maneuver reminded him she was the one who held the power, and if he wanted her, he was the one who would have to give chase. Growling playfully, William leapt to his feet and gave chase. When she was nearly within reach, he tried to make a grab for her, but he wasn't fast enough. With a delighted giggle, Alaina twirled away from his outstretched fingertips.

“You'll never catch me!” she taunted him. “Never, never, never!”

“Oh, we'll see about that!”

Alaina's threat was as weak as William's ability to resist her. Not only was William larger than her, he was quicker than her. When his arms coiled around her waist, Alaina let out a pitiful squeak of defeat.

“You're mine now!” he declared. Hoisting her over his shoulder, he gave her rear end a few light pats.

“Oh no!” she pretended duress. “What shall I do?!”

With his hand on her butt, William made his way to their bedroom.

Their
bedroom? What was he thinking?! It was Alaina's apartment. It was Alaina's bedroom. Why was he already thinking in terms of “they” and “their” when they had only been together for two days?

When he tossed Alaina on the bed and her knees slipped apart, he was reminded of the reason.

It was the best sex of his life.

Chapter Ten

When Eva heard the knock on her door, her head flew from the pillow. She sat up in bed, her heart beating fast, as the realization dawned on her. How did she forget that she was supposed to meet her sister for breakfast this morning? And how was she supposed to explain the half-naked Jamie Thierry who was slumbering on her couch?

She jumped out of bed, pulled on a cardigan, shoved her feet into a pair of flip flops, and ran into the living room. Jamie was already awake and rubbing his eyes. He looked groggy, and she assumed he had also been roused by the knock on the door. She didn't know what was more horrifying: the fact that Jamie would see her without her makeup, or the fact that her younger sister would find out she had been seeing a much younger man.

“
Clothes
,” Eva hissed at him as she ran to the door. “Put some on. Now.”

“Mmmpf.” Jamie was grumbling at her like a boy who didn't want to get ready for school. His eyes were blurry when he glanced at the clock.
7:04
. He couldn't remember the last time he had been forced to wake up at such an ungodly hour. With a sigh, he grabbed his jeans off of the floor and thrust his legs into them. When Eva answered the door, he had barely zipped his fly. It was already too late to pull on his shirt, so he simply leaned back, crossed his arms, and yawned.

“Hi, Sam,” Eva greeted her sister. With a nervous chuckle, she turned to the woman at her sister's side. “Hi, Cathy.”

“I hope you don't mind that I invited Cathy.” As she spoke, Samantha nudged her way into her sister's apartment.

“Noooo. Of course not. The more, the merrier.” And it was truly a surprise. It had been a long time since they had spent time with their mutual friend.

“So, where did you want to go today? I was thinking--” If her sister's voice was trailing off, it could only mean one thing: she had spotted Jamie on the couch. “Um, who is this?”

“Well...” While she tried to think of an answer that would appease her sister, she happened to glance in Cathy's direction. Was it her imagination, or was her fifty-something friend actually licking her lips? Jamie had that effect on Eva as well, but she tried not to make it so obvious. “This is... Jamie.”

“Jamie. Okay.”

Jamie lifted a hand and waved innocently. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Samantha returned his greeting, but her face was a blank slate. “Sis... who is Jamie, exactly?”

“Jamie's a, uh... he's a friend.”

“
Friend
?” Jamie rose from the couch, letting the ladies get a good look at his golden, sculpted torso. He snatched his shirt from the floor and held it for a moment, extending their show. When he was certain they had gotten a good, long look, he popped his shirt over his head and winked at Eva. “I don't know if I'd say we're just friends. We're more than that, aren't we?”

Eva could feel her friends' eyes on her, eagerly awaiting her answer. Did Jamie have any idea what this was like for her? Any woman would be lucky to date him, of course, but she couldn't help but feel flustered. And slightly embarrassed. “I don't know about that, Jamie. You might be jumping the gun.”