Amber narrowed her eyes at her friend, but Trish just took a sip of her champagne and smiled.
Amber sighed and took her seat. It didn’t look like she was going to get more than that from her friend. Jessica and Trish took seats on either side of her. Amber tasted her drink for the first time. It was chilled and went down like liquid gold—the good stuff.
She almost laughed at the thought. Of course it was. She’d seen the mayor’s wife here. As well as many other women who were just as notable. Feelings of not belonging with this crowd made her nervous. Even growing up with a lot of these women, Amber felt like an outsider.
“You brought your chequebook, right?” Jessica asked, elbowing her.
Amber nodded and drank more of her champagne.
“I have a feeling tonight,” Jessica whispered.
“Yeah me too.” Amber responded lowly. Only Amber was sure her feeling wasn’t as good as her friends.
The lights flickered, signalling everyone to take their seats. Jessica motioned to the waiter for more drinks. Amber gratefully finished hers and exchanged it for a new one. At least there was good booze.
The auction started with a welcome from the mayor’s wife and a speech from a board member of the children’s hospital that would benefit from the auction.
Both women told the crowd to bid big. It was for the children, after all.
Jessica was downright excited as the bidding got under way. She bid on the first two bachelors, not winning either one.
“I think you’re going to have to go higher if you want to win,” Amber commented dryly.
Jessica threw her head back and laughed. “Oh dear, this is just practice. I’ll get my man by the end of the night.”
Amber laughed and looked over at Trish. Trish just waved her paddle at them. “I’m saving myself for the right man.”
Surprised she was having fun, Amber settled in to be entertained. The next two bachelors went for even higher prices and had both Jessica and Trish bidding. The three friends laughed when Trish was outbid at the last minute.
Jessica kept the waiter close by, and with her fourth glass, Amber was getting in the spirit. She bid a couple of of times but her friends wouldn’t let her go higher.
“I thought I was supposed to win!” Amber teased.
“We have to see who else is here. You never know who might come strolling down the walkway,” Jessica answered.
Amber picked up her drink as the next bachelor was announced. She leaned over to whisper in Trish’s ear just as his name was called.
“Thomas Baldwin.”
Amber choked on her champagne and Jessica pounded on her back.
“You okay?”
Amber nodded, staring at the man who walked down the runway in a black tuxedo. She missed what was said about him, completely enthralled at the sight of him.
He walked closer to their table, smiling at the crowd, and Amber felt her heart pound. How could he look that good? she wondered. It just wasn’t fair.
She must have said it out loud because it was Trish who answered. “Genes, really good genes.”
Thomas reached the end of the platform, which just happened to be in front of Amber. His gaze met hers, and Amber felt a jolt to her system. He smiled and she was sure she was smiling back like an idiot. Amber just stared, unable to break the connection. He didn’t seem to want to break it either because his eyes never left hers.
It wasn’t until Jessica nudged her that she remembered where she was and finally looked away.
“What?” Amber complained.
“I think he wants you to bid on him,” she stage-whispered.
Amber looked back at him. No way! Could she? Should she?
Was that a small nod he gave?
“Hurry! Bid!” Trish ordered, picking up Amber’s paddle and handing it to her.
Eyes locked on his, Amber raised the paddle.
Thomas’s smile broadened and he winked. Amber was pretty sure she’d just creamed her panties.
Amber bid over and over. When she missed a raise, she’d receive a nudge from one side or the other and would raise her paddle. She stared at Thomas the entire time.
If he minded Amber bidding on him, he didn’t show it. He just stood and stared down at her, a smile teasing his lips.
Entranced, Amber missed the sale until Jessica jumped up and down and hugged her. “You won!”
She looked around the room, noticing she had indeed won. The crowd clapped and some women, other bidders, frowned at her.
“Ma’am, if you’ll come with me,” a man asked, stepping in front of her.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Jessica leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You have to go pay for your man.”
Trish kissed the other cheek. “Yeah. Go get your man!”
“But…I…”Amber suddenly felt dizzy. She couldn’t do this. How had she gotten so carried away?
Jessica pushed her from her seat. “Go!”
Amber stood and looked down at her friends. Their smiles were huge.
“I…I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Much later,” Jessica suggested, raising her glass. “Oh and don’t be good!” she added.
Amber followed the man outside the ballroom to a smaller room. There she handed her paddle in and was given her price.
“How much?” she asked, shell-shocked.
“Five thousand,” the woman repeated too happily.
Amber took out her chequebook, shaking her head. She’d just spent five thousand dollars on a date! She was beyond embarrassed and wasn’t sure what she was going to say to the man she’d won. How could she explain why she’d paid so much for him? He probably thought she was some desperate woman who would end up stalking him or something. Oh, how in the hell had she gotten here? Paying for a date? She sighed heavily, not even listening to the woman who hadn’t shut up.
“That was a wonderful bid. Probably will be the highest of the night,” the woman continued.
Amber handed her the cheque and forced a smile.
“Okay, Ms. Wilson. Right through those doors is your date.”
Amber looked over to where the women pointed. Well, she’d paid for him so she might as well go face him.
On shaky feet, she made her way to her five-thousand-dollar man.
Amber’s hand shook as she pulled open the door. It was a small sitting room and Thomas sat in a chair with his hands clasped in his lap. When he saw her enter, he smiled and stood.
“I was afraid you’d changed your mind,” he said as she approached.
His deep voice sent tingles through her body and robbed her of speech. Amber barely managed to shake her head.
“Good.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
As his lips touched her, she felt a sizzle and closed her eyes. Silly that this man could bring feelings no one else had ever managed with such a chaste kiss.
“I have a suite upstairs if you’d like to join me for a late dinner,” he said, his mouth close to her ear.
“A suite?” she managed without choking. Barely.
Thomas’s arm was already around her waist as he led her towards the door. She took several deep breaths, trying to control her raging hormones. It would just be a simple dinner. He’d let himself be auctioned for charity, it wasn’t anything more than that.
But her body shivered with excitement at the thought of being alone with him inside a suite—which would have a bed.
Amber tried to take in the décor of the hotel as they made their way from the room to the bank of elevators, but Thomas still had his arm around her. The strength of his arm, the heat of his body, was making it hard for her to think of anything but him. She liked the protective ease in which he held her.
Once in the elevator, she kept her gaze down and tried to think of something to say. Anything.
Thomas didn’t seem inclined to talk though. He just kept his arm around her, his thumb rubbing erotic currents against her hip.