Page 58 of Devil's Kiss
This wasnota sex for money auction.
If you were interested in someone, you were to raise your hand in a calm manner.
Yeah, right. Jordan wasn’t sure the crowd currently jostling one another for a prime position by the stage knew the meaning of the wordcalm.
And finally, if you purchased someone and couldn’t write a check to be cashed the following day, the man would then go to the next highest bidder.
In other words,Jordan noted,you’re shit out of luck.
The auctioneer then invited them to enjoy themselves and get their wallets ready, because the first man up for grabs that evening was: “The manager of one of the local gyms of Sunset Cove. I’m sure even those in the back of the crowd will have no problem seeing his towering physique. Let me hear your best version of a wolf whistle, boys, because this guy is all kinds of alpha. Derek Pearson.”
As Derek’s name boomed through the speakers on each corner of the stage, Jordan’s jaw almost hit the floor, and then he caught himself right before Brantley glanced over his shoulder and mouthed, “That’s Finn’s Derek, right?”
When the spotlight moved from the auctioneer to the center of the stage and the curtain drew back to reveal Derek, Jordan’s only thought was,No, that’s my Derek.
He absently nodded as Derek walked forward to center stage, and Jordan couldn’t help the small grin that touched the side of his mouth at the expression on Derek’s face. The guy was not happy to be the main attraction in a room full of horny men vying for his attention, or, in actuality, bidding for it.
He was dressed the part, though, that was for sure. Derek looked gorgeous in his classic tux, with his hair cut short on the sides and styled back from his face. His broad shoulders filled out the jacket in a way that made Jordan’s palm itch to touch, then his eyes moved down to the hands by Derek’s side and Jordan noted the black nail polish and felt his dick twitch.
Jesus,Derek looked beyond hot. He was attitude and sex in a suit. One that Jordan desperately wanted to peel him out of.
Hands started to fly up around him and the bids rolled in. The auctioneer was going on about “talents” and “measurements” as Derek strolled up the stage to the left then turned to walk back to the center before heading to the right. The more Derek walked, the more confident he became, and on his second pass of the left-hand side his eyes roved over the crowd and found Jordan’s.
To Derek’s credit, he didn’t falter, he merely slowed his pace and narrowed his eyes a fraction, which anyone in the crowd would think he was doing to look suave and sexy, but Jordan knew better.
Derek was watching him now. Had him in his sights,and hell, that look had Jordan edging back into the crowd away from Brantley, who’d been swallowed up by the sea of men. When Jordan was as far back as he could get, he looked at the man standing beside him. He was tall, taller than he was, at least, and that was when he was struck with a brilliant plan.
Jordan placed a hand on the man’s arm and leaned up to speak in his ear. With the music so loud and the crowd going nuts, the man had to lean down, and Jordan said, “I will give you a hundred dollars to stand here and bid on that man. One dollar overeverybid, no matter how high it goes, until you win.”
The man’s eyes widened and Jordan pulled a hundred from his wallet.
“Deal?”
The man looked back to the stage and raised his hand, issuing the first bid. When Derek’s eyes flew to his bidder, and then to Jordan, this time his feet did falter.
Mhmm…Derek always had been smart, and Jordan was positive that he knew exactly which man was going to be taking him home tonight.
HOLY SHIT.HE would know that face anywhere.
When Derek had first stepped onto the stage and the lights had shone into his eyes, he’d squinted, trying to see if he knew anyone in the crowd. Then about a minute into the ridiculous song, like a magnetic fucking pull, his eyes had drifted to a man watching him, and there, standing in the rowdy crowd of men, was Jordan Devaney. AndGodhe looked amazing.
In tight jeans and an even tighter lightweight black V-neck, Jordan looked sexy. So damn sexy. And the heat that fired his eyes when he’d checked out Derek’s tux made it close to impossible for Derek to remain decent.
“Okay, it looks like we have a bit of a bidding war happening. The young redhead down the front here and the gentleman in the back.”
Derek’s eyes darted to the tall man who Jordan had been standing beside, to see that he was now alone. Jordan was nowhere in sight.
Where the hell did he go?Derek had been positive Jordan would try and make a play for him. Lord knows he was arrogant enough to buy ten minutes of his time. But he was gone. And it pissed him off that he was disappointed.
“Do I hear a final bid?”
When the man in the back shouted out a preposterous amount of money that Derek didn’t believe heactuallywarranted, the auctioneer hit the gavel to the podium and declared him sold.
Well, fuck.He’d hoped when he’d seen Jordan that he’d—Jesus, stop already.
“Congratulations, to the gentleman in the back. I have to say, you had a real run for your money tonight. If you head out the exit on your left, you can pay the lady by the stage door and then we’ll let you back to meet up with your date.”
Derek heard the whoops and whistles as his “date” made his way through the crowd. He did as he’d been instructed before heading on stage and took a bow, which the crowd loved, then pivoted on his heel and walked behind the curtain.