Read Online A Bid for Love by Rachel Ann Nunes - Free Book Online

bidding because of the beauty of the piece. He felt a strange satisfaction when Cassi won the bid. The sculpture would not bring as much profit to her gallery but would most likely result in a satisfied buyer and repeat business. It was the way Jared would run a gallery, if he owned one.
    The Buddha finally came up for bid. As expected, Cassi was a strong contender, and Jared pulled out his phone to call Laranda in New York.
    “There’s stiff competition,” he said, keeping his voice low.
    “Get it.” Laranda’s voice sounded strangely tense. “I don’t care what it takes, I need that Buddha. I’ve got a buyer waiting.”
    “Okay. Don’t I always come through? I just wanted to be sure how serious you are.” As he spoke, Jared raised his card to up the bid on the Buddha again.
    “I know, Jared. You always do what you can with what I give you. This is just very important to me.”
    “You’ll tell me later?”
    “Yes. And I’ll give you a bonus you won’t ever forget,” she added huskily. Jared couldn’t miss the romantic innuendo but chose to ignore her.
    “G’bye, Laranda.” Jared clicked his phone shut.
    The bid for the Buddha was now at two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. As Jared raised his card again to top the bid, he saw a uniformed hotel worker walk up to where Cassi was sitting and hand her a note. Her back stiffened, and her gaze swung around to meet Jared’s. Her face was stark white against the dark of her hair and eyes, seeming small and lost in the array of wild curls.
    She stood abruptly, pausing only to shove something into the hand of the man seated next to her. As the man turned his head, Jared saw that it was Sam Boader. Before Jared could decide how he felt about that, Cassi was running out the door, her hair streaming behind her. In her deep mauve dress, she captured almost every eye in the room.
    What’s wrong? Jared thought, amazed that she would leave the auction at this critical moment. His first urge was to follow her, but he wondered if she would welcome his interest.
    Another buyer bid on the Buddha, and the auctioneer was calling for higher bid. Jared raised his card without thinking. His mind was on Cassi. He could almost see her white face still staring at him. He remembered the innocence of her voice and the makeup-less face on the morning they had met. Since when do I have to be given an invitation to care about someone’s problems? He was human, she was human. That was all that mattered.
    Jared bid three more times, but finally he could stand it no longer. “Four hundred thousand,” he said aloud, raising the bid nearly seventy thousand dollars. People gasped slightly at the jump, but the auctioneer only smiled.
    “I have four hundred thousand. Do I have four hundred thousand and one? Anyone for four hundred and one? Four hundred thousand going once, twice, and sold to number eighty-nine.”
    Jared was out of his seat in an instant and next to Sam. “Where’d she go?” he whispered, ignoring the stares from those around them.
    Sam handed him the piece of paper, and Jared read it quickly, his heart constricting at the contents. He recalled only too vividly when something similar had happened to one of his sisters. Her placenta had come loose at the onset of labor, and the baby was saved only by an emergency C-section. The doctor had gravely informed them that if Trisha had arrived at the hospital even minutes later, the baby would have died.
    Jared was out the door and in the hotel lobby before he realized he was moving. He only knew there was a possibility Cassi’s friend could lose her baby, and maybe somehow he could help.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TEN
     
    Cassi looked anxiously around as she neared the main lobby. The elevator dinged, and she whirled to see Renae supported by two women hotel employees. She was disheveled and in obvious pain.
    “Cassi!” Renae said when she looked up. “I’m so sorry. But the baby . . . I’m