The higher the bids climbed, the more annoyed he got. Up on the stage, Bree had started fidgeting with her hands. Her visible discomfort triggered something dark and protective inside him. Bree might have a secret wild streak running through her, but she’d always been shy, and Jake could only imagine the thoughts swirling through her pretty head right now. She was no doubt contemplating how to run off the stage without causing a scene.
“Five hundred and fifty,” a deep voice called out.
Jake glanced over, his shoulders stiffening when he noticed the bid had come from Dan Bradford, a guy he’d gone to high school with. Bradford had played linebacker for the team, and he was still as huge as ever—broad shoulders, barrel chest. The beer belly was new, though…
The flicker of unease in Bree’s blue eyes told Jake that she wasn’t thrilled with the newest addition to the bidding war.
In fact, if he recalled correctly, back then Bradford had constantly harassed Bree to hook up with him, even after she’d turned him down a hundred times.
Jake’s jaw tensed and it took a few seconds before he could pry it open. When he finally got his mouth to work, the words that flew out of it stunned both his twin and himself. “One thousand dollars,” he yelled.
Dead silence crashed over the room. His bid was the highest by far, but he didn’t regret it one damn bit. Screw it. One look at Bree’s silky black hair and big blue eyes, one glimpse at that body-hugging dress, and he knew that the only man she’d be having dinner with tonight was him.
On the stage, Bree’s eyes had widened with recognition. Her head shot in Jake’s direction, her beautiful features creasing with shock and wariness.
As their gazes locked, Jake felt a current of electricity run between them. A resulting jolt of anticipation shuddered through him. Oh yeah. It was still there. The connection. The heat.
“What are you doing?” Owen’s expression reflected a twinkle of amusement.
“My part for charity,” Jake answered without taking his eyes off Bree.
“One thousand dollars, going once, going twice…sold!” Mayor Price declared.
Disbelief now floated into Bree’s face, as if she couldn’t comprehend why Jake had bid on her. He might’ve asked himself the same question, but the second their eyes had met, he’d known the answer. He wanted Bree Lockhart back in his bed. And if he was being honest with himself, this wasn’t the first time he’d fantasized about being with her again. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her in twelve years, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t thought about her. In fact, his memories of Bree had gotten him through many tough nights, not to mention countless missions.
But there would be no more missions, and that memory only reminded him of the goal he’d set for tonight. The distraction he’d craved.
His gaze drifted back to the stage, in time to see Bree ducking behind the curtains.
Well, what better distraction than some wild sex with his former wild girl?
Jake Bishop had bid on her.
Bree resisted the urge to fan her cheeks, which were so hot she knew she must be blushing like crazy. When she’d heard Jake’s deep, husky voice out in the ballroom, she’d nearly keeled over with equal doses of shock and desire. What was he doing back in Paradise? Why the hell had he bid on a date with her?
And how on earth could she get out of it?
“Did I imagine it, or did I really hear Jake shelling out a thousand dollars for a date with you?”
Bree spun around and spotted Maddie Bishop approaching. She had to blink a couple of times to make sure it really was Maddie, but yes, the brunette in the pretty yellow shift and satin flats was indeed the tomboy Bree remembered from high school. Maddie looked so cute and feminine Bree had to wonder what else had changed since she’d last come home.
Not her attraction to Jake Bishop, apparently. The second she’d heard that man’s voice, the second their eyes locked, Bree had experienced the same aggravating sexual rush that Jake had always managed to evoke in her.
“You heard right,” she answered, running a hand through her hair in frustration.
Maddie wrinkled her brow. “I didn’t realize you and Jake knew each other.”
She was about to point out that Maddie didn’t know Jake either, until she remembered the brunette was now married to his twin brother. Technically, that meant Maddie had way more knowledge about Jake, who Bree hadn’t even spoken to in years.
“We did go to high school together,” Bree said with a shrug.
“Yeah, but I don’t remember you two hanging out much. Then again, I was a couple of years behind you, so I could be wrong.”
No, Maddie wasn’t wrong. Bree and Jake hadn’t hung out—in public, anyway. The three months they’d spent together had been a totally private affair. Fucking in his pickup, fucking at the lake, fucking in Jake’s bedroom after she snuck in through the window. Pretty much just fucking everywhere. She couldn’t bring herself to call it anything other than that vulgar F-bomb, no matter how mind-shattering the sex had been. Sadly, their relationship had been strictly physical, something Jake had made painfully clear the night before he’d skipped town.
God, she’d been such an idiot. Actually believing she and Jake had a future.