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“W-what?” she stutters as I hold my black card between us. Her gaze flicks to me then the credit card.
I gesture toward the place card. “I’m being auctioned off tonight, and I’m going to need you to save my sanity and bid on me.”
“What? But I?—”
I take her hand and put my credit card in it. “Use this. Spend as much as you have to.”
I lean forward, moving a few strands of honey blonde out of the way. “Just make sure I don’t go home with someone the likes of Jasmine Esperanza…when I’ve been dreaming about going home with you.”
“Micah…”
I kiss the top of her hand. “Spend whatever you need to. I mean it.”
“This is crazy,” she says, almost to herself while I stand from my seat as Peggy announces that we’re going to start with my auction. The crowd cheers, and Raeann looks as if everything she ate for dinner is going to come back up.
“Save me,” I say to her one last time before I walk toward the small stage at the front of the room.
And then I wait for my master plan to play out.
Throwing the ball into her court makes sense. If she doesn’t bid on me, it just means I need to be more charming…and figure out how to get out of a charity date. I’ve never done that before, but surely there’s a way.
A spotlight follows me when I get up there, making it hard to see the crowd. I place my hand above my eyes to shield the glare and find Raeann at the back table where I left her. She still looks like she’s panicking. I mouthPlease. If I can’t make her take action, I can at least appeal to her good nature.
The truth is, I never would’ve offered myself up for auction if I didn’t think Raeann would come out of her shell for this. I’m not interested in going anywhere with anyone else. Plus, if she bids on me, I’m no longer leaving our date up as an option. She’ll have won me fair and square.
Now I’m just going to have to stand up here and wait to see if Raeann performs like a good girl.
7
Raeann
“Just make sure I don’t go home with someone the likes of Jasmine Esperanza…when I’ve been dreaming about going home with you.”
His proximity, the tone of his voice. A brush fire takes hold and the whole of my body is inflamed. “Micah…” I mutter to myself. His lips move, but I don’t process what he’s saying. “This is crazy.”
Then he’s gone, leaving my body taut with heat. Did I understand him correctly? Maybe I didn’t.
A few moments later, though, he’s on stage. He waves good-naturedly at the attendees, performs a three-sixty spin, making sure to hold my gaze. The women in the crowd whistle and taunt.
He’d said I’d be saving him. I’m almost certain that’s what he said, anyway. With him so near, I get drunk off his aura.
“We’ll start the bidding at five thousand,” Peggy, the president of The Pet Coalition, announces.
Five thousand?
My stomach drops. I’m totally out of my league. Surrounded by fancy couples and more diamonds than I’ve ever seen in one place, I let the pad of my finger trace Micah’s credit card. Hiscredit card.
A woman near the front with sparkly triangle-shaped earrings, who is partially obscured by the other guests, yells out, “Fifteen thousand!”
The crowd gasps, and I nearly faint. Five thousand was bad enough, butfifteen thousand?I can’t spend that much money. That would literally pay my portion of the rent for over a year.
His credit card burns in my hand. Real quick, I do a calculation in my head. He’s a pro football player. He probably makes millions. To him, fifteen thousand is a day out. Maybe? My skin starts to crawl, and then a hand on my back makes me jump.
“Whoa, you okay?” Tab asks.
“No, I am not okay!”
Her eyes widen when tables a few feet from us turn to look. On stage, Peggy is pumping Micah up. I only hear bits and pieces, but she’s asking him dating game questions.