Page 29 of Devil’s Kiss (Sunset Cove #2)
The only problem was they hadn’t quite made it to the bedroom yet.
Stephan was a little older. Actually, he was right around Brantley’s age, and whenever they’d come close and Jordan would make a move, the guy’s pager would go off or he’d be called into work.
As frustrating as that was, though, Jordan was beginning to suspect that maybe he wasn’t as into Stephan as he should be, considering the lack of sex wasn’t bothering him.
But Stephan was kind and generous, and they had similar interests when it came to giving back to those less fortunate than themselves, and Jordan figured it was worth giving it a little more time to see if it could develop into something more.
“Oh yes, Stephan. How is he?”
“Busy,” Jordan replied. It was the truth.
He was always busy, but that worked out for Jordan, too, because honestly, he liked his freedom.
He not only worked at the university these days but also sat on the board of several charities he found important, and he was the owner of two of the major apartment towers being built down on the main strip of Sunset, and somewhere in the middle there, he saw Stephan when he was free.
“Maybe one day soon when he’s not busy, we can all get together and have dinner?”
Brantley had asked him this a couple of times now, and while Jordan wasn’t opposed to bringing Stephan around, he wasn’t sure how permanent he was and would really rather play it by ear.
“Yeah, maybe. I’ll have to ask him.”
“Please do. I think it’s only fair I get to meet the man who’s finally held your interest for longer than a night.”
Oh, there’s another one, you know… Jordan thought, and then immediately wondered why the hell Derek Pearson was in his head.
He hadn’t heard from Derek in years. After the night of commencement, Jordan had gone off on his family’s vacation and when he’d come back, just as they’d decided, that had been that.
Jordan had gone back to work at the start of a new semester, and he hadn’t run into Derek since.
It hadn’t escaped his notice, though, that in a town the size of Sunset Cove, it was likely that Derek purposely avoided him and all his local haunts, because otherwise they would’ve run into one another by now.
He was about to give Brantley some lame response to the question about dinner when the lights went down and a spotlight lit up a man on the far left-hand side of the stage.
“Good evening, everyone. Are you all ready to part with some Benjamins for maybe a Peter or Paul?”
When the crowd around them whistled their agreement, Jordan glanced over at Brantley.
He caught his friend’s eye and flashed him a grin before raising his hand and wolf-whistling right along with the other men.
As everyone settled, the auctioneer ran through the rules of the event for the crowd. It was simple.
This was not a 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 word calm .
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 over every bid, 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. And God he 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 he actually warranted, 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.
As he stepped backstage, Dylan stood there with a huge smile. He was up next, and Derek wondered if the guy was crazy enough to actually enjoy this kind of thing.
“Two thousand and one dollars.” Dylan shook his head and then clapped his arm. “I knew you’d break one K, but two? Hot damn.”
“By a dollar. That hardly counts,” Derek pointed out.
“Someone just paid two thousand dollars for your time, and Derek, it all counts. Now hurry along—your Richard Gere awaits you through those doors.”
“I thought you said I didn’t have to fuck the guy.”
Dylan frowned and then busted up laughing. “You don’t. I was thinking more Lancelot and less Pretty Woman .”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I just heard my name, so…wish me luck out there.”
“Oh please, you’ll bring in three grand easy with that face.”
Dylan pulled the curtain aside. “Hey, it’s hard being this pretty.”
“Yeah, for the other guys looking at you.”
Dylan waved his hand over his head and called out, “Have a good time on your date.” Then he disappeared out onto the stage.
Derek made his way to the side exit, and as he stepped out into the hall he came face to face with Jordan, who was lounging back against the wall with his ankles crossed and his hands deep in his pockets.
Derek looked him over, and before Jordan had a chance to speak, he said, “You’re not supposed to be back here.”