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I do the same to her. A black dress with blue piping hugs her body. Athena matches, with the addition of a ruffle around her collar, and it’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen in my life. The leash she’s using today even has the same stripe of blue down the center to match their fabrics.

“You’ve outdone yourself,” I tell her. “You two look beautiful.”

“I…um…” She peers around nervously like someone will save her. Then she stares at the floor. “It’s from our dress-up line. And thank you.”

“No, thank you.” I place a finger under her chin and lift it so she meets my gaze again. “I needed this sight of you after a hard day of practice and team meetings.”

Her gaze flashes with interest, but then she quells it. I want to pull out whatever thought just popped into her head. I want her to be so comfortable around me that she tells me anything. Everything. “I didn’t realize you were going to be here.”

“I knew you were,” I tell her straight. “That’s why I needed to be.”

She presses her lips together, the shiny lipstick disappearing with the movement, then they pop free, full and sexy. “Tab thought you might have texted me.”

“Tab thought, huh? What did Raeann think?”

“I thought maybe you’d show up at the store again.”

“Did you want me to show up at the store again?”

Her blush is back in full force. I lean down like we’re co-conspirators. “You can tell me,” I whisper into her ear. “Would it help if I tell you that I almost did a couple times?”

She swallows, throat working. “I was hoping you would.”

“That’s what I want to hear.”

This game of seduction is intoxicating. It’s like luring a scared kitten out of her place of shelter. I get the idea that Raeann likes things safe, and since learning about her past, I can’t fault her for that. But I don’t want halves. I want all of her.

“Tab is closing up the store, then she’ll meet us here.”

“I like the sound of us.”

Raeann lets out a nervous laugh. “I meant me and Athena.”

“Oh, I know you did, but I like the idea of you and me better. And Athena.”

A soft smile teases her lips. “You just don’t stop being charming, do you?”

“Especially now that I know you think I’m charming.”

She grins and looks away, but then a horrified expression crosses her face.

“What?” I ask, glancing in that direction to see the group I left all staring our way.

“They’re gawking at us.”

“Oh, that’s probably my fault. The blonde was being a bitch, so I put her in her place.”

“Isn’t that Jasmine Esperanza? Her husband is the richest man in Nashville.”

I shrug because I truly don’t care. No one has compared to Raeann since I met her, and I’m pretty sure Jasmine has hit on me before. If I’m not mistaken, she and her husband have an arrangement where he likes to watch.

Not me. I would never stand for someone else touching my spouse. Even right now, I don’t like Raeann being in the same vicinity as those vultures. As if they’ll taint her purity.

I urge her to walk with me to a separate part of the room. A few people say hello, but I make it obvious that we don’t want conversation right now, and soon, we’re off in the corner, alone.

“How’s it really going?” I ask her.

“Fine.”

I bring out a few dog treats that I brought from home. I bought a couple of bags and tucked them away for the first time they come to my place. “May I?” I ask Raeann, showing off the bone-shaped chews on my palm.

She nods, eyes shining with clear approval.

Athena eagerly chews them up as I stare at Raeann. “How are we ever going to move past the niceties if you won’t tell me something real?”

“Something real?”

“Like, how do you feel now that people know your name? That you and Athena are invited to parties like this?”

“Scared, actually.”

“I get that. It can be intimidating.”

She peers around the room, her shoulders tensing. “I just like to be in my room back home, dreaming about some design I’m going to make. Or chilling and watching a movie with Tab.”

“You two must be close.”

She nods. “She’s been my first and only roommate since Athena and I moved to Nashville. She was the only person I contacted who had a room available that would allow Athena to live with us, and she’s been the best.”

“And now you’re business partners?”

“And now we’re business partners,” she confirms. “And best friends.”

“That’s a big move,” I press. I don’t know what I expect: Her to come out with the whole story about her dad? She doesn’t. “It was terrifying. But Tab’s been great. If it weren’t for her, Pet Threads wouldn’t even be a thing.”

Okay, noted. She doesn’t mind talking about Pet Threads, Tab, Athena. Those are her conversation safe zones.

But I want under all of that. I want the nitty-gritty fears and wishes. I want the parts of Raeann she’d rather keep hidden.

Peggy taps her fork against the side of a champagne flute to get everyone’s attention and then asks us all to sit for the meal before the festivities begin. Disappointment pulls my body taut. This was the first real conversation we’d ever had, and now it’s been interrupted.

No matter. I hold my arm out for Raeann to take, and then I lead her to one of the circular tables. We take our seats, Raeann telling Athena to sit and place. It isn’t long before she lies down, her eyes drooping closed.

“Please take a look at the cards at each place setting,” Peggy continues over the murmur of people getting settled. “It lists the items up for auction. I think you’ll find at least one particularly interesting.”

I expect Raeann to at least scan the place card with the information, but she doesn’t. The anticipation grows, but we go all through dinner without her even taking a peek.

It takes me a minute to realize that she’s used to not looking at things like that. Why would she when she’s never had the money before?

We finish dessert, and when I spy Peggy talking with one of the hotel personnel, I turn toward Raeann while pulling my wallet out.

“I’m going to need you to do me a favor.”

“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 mouth Please .

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.