***
Seth cursed under his breath when he looked at his watch. The conference call had run later than he had anticipated and he had missed the start of the auction. If he didn’t hurry, he would miss the whole damn thing and Madeline Gentry would have his head. He wondered again why he had agreed to this in the first place. He had no desire to take some stranger out to dinner and make polite conversation. Worse yet, if Mia was correct, he might be fending off some older lady with roving hands. Maybe he should just stay in his office and pretend that he couldn’t get away. If you do, you’ll miss seeing Mia again.
Shit, why did he care about that? He would see her tomorrow. But, you’ll miss seeing how she’s dressed tonight. What if she’s showing more skin? That was a thought he couldn’t resist. He had to see her. If that meant embarrassing himself in front of a roomful of people, then so be it. How bad could it be?
The spotlights were glaring down on him, causing a fine sheen of sweat on his neckline, and the women in the room had turned into a bunch of horny piranhas. Mia, who was dressed in a fire-engine red dress that was indecently short, was seated in the front row next to Margie. Both of them were openly laughing as the room went crazy. Bids were being screamed from everywhere—and the amounts were in the thousands now. These women had more money than sense. Who would pay that much to go out with a stranger? They did know that this didn’t include sex, right?
There was one bidder sitting quietly at the end of the front row who kept discreetly raising her hand to outbid the last bid. Whereas the other women seem to have lost their composure and were now acting more like a bridal party at a male strip club, this woman was calm and collected. She appeared to be in her thirties with long, blonde hair and a blue cocktail dress. He admired her calm approach to the auction, but strangely enough, worried about what an evening with her would be like. She seemed too businesslike to be bidding on a date. She barely even looked at him. She seemed to be listening to each bid and automatically raising her hand. The other women might try to grab his crotch during the date, but this one just might try to emasculate him. Was he actually hoping that someone else would win? Why in the hell hadn’t he instructed Margie to buy him? He could have given her the money. The thought had never crossed his mind.
The bidding finally ended at $18,000 with him being sold to the eerily calm blonde in the front row. The amount of money boggled his mind. He had contributed more to various charities than that last year, but he would have never paid that much for a date. Of course, looking into Mia’s twinkling eyes and seeing the way her dress had crept up to expose a mile of tanned thigh, he had to wonder if he was wrong. How much would he give for one date with her? He averted his gaze and tried to shake her from his thoughts. Maybe the mystery blonde who had paid so much for a date would be a good distraction. Hell, she was attractive and he needed to get his mind off Mia. She was a complication that he didn’t need right now.
***
Mia couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed something more. Watching Seth shift uncomfortably on stage while the women in the audience went crazy was hilarious! Beside her, Margie added to the noise level with some encouraging wolf whistles of her own. She had to admit, he did look amazingly hot in his tailored suit. The fact that he wasn’t even trying to work the crowd like his predecessors made him that much more desirable. Women tended to want the men who didn’t seem interested and he was definitely giving off that vibe. When the bidding started, women were screaming amounts. As the action continued though a blonde at the end of their row clearly became the front runner. No matter the top bid, she would immediately counter it. She smiled at Seth, but found herself becoming strangely annoyed at this woman’s determination to have him. She wasn’t surrounded by a group of friends egging her on as many of the others were. No, she worked it almost like a job. Mia had no doubt: this woman was going to win the date with Seth. Why that bothered her, she had no idea, but it did.
When the bidding ended, Margie leaned in saying, “I can’t believe he sold for that much. I’m never going to be able to live with him. He’ll probably demand I call him Mr. Jackson now and spend half the day staring at himself in the mirror.” Nodding to where the winner was acknowledging everyone’s congratulations with polite nods, she added, “Boy, Blondie sure is hot for him, isn’t she? He might get more than he bargained for out of that one.”