Read Online Bidding On The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 8) by Christina Tetreault - Free Book Online Page B

silly plan of yours, you might meet someone you really like. A lot of women will be there. I heard the event has almost sold out. And there’s no guarantee Tasha will make the highest bid anyway. She might even bid on someone else instead. You’re not going to be the only man there. I read there’ll be twelve of you up for auction.”
    “Brooklyn—”
    “You know how fickle she can be. She had a thing for your cousin once as well as Trent. Maybe she’ll see someone on stage and forget all about you.” Perhaps she was stretching the truth a little, because she doubted anyone who’d ever seen Derek could forget him. “I think we should forget about your little scheme and let things play out,” she concluded her argument and waited for his objection.
    “Can I speak now?”
    She nodded.
    “First, I considered that my family knows we’re friends. But it doesn’t really matter. Once the auction is underway, Aunt Marilyn won’t stop it. She might say something to me later, but I’m not worried about it.”
    “What if the media finds out about our friendship and accuses the foundation of rigging the fundraiser?” She’d forgotten to add that to her earlier list of objections.
    “Even if the media prints something about us knowing each other from college, since we’ll go on the romantic dates you win, there’ll be nothing to make anyone suspect the event was rigged or predetermined.”
    She wished he wouldn’t use the word romantic in connection to them. She’d accepted a long time ago they’d never be anything more than friends. She didn’t need him bringing any deeply buried dormant feelings back to the surface.
    “And what about Trevor? How am I supposed to explain this little arrangement to him? It’ll be all over the Internet and in the local papers, so I can’t hide it.” If she was going to be fair to him and give him an honest chance, he deserved more than the one date last weekend, which meant any further outings would not occur until after the fundraiser next weekend.
    Derek’s nonchalant shrug didn’t fit with the muscle twitching in his jaw. “Tell him the truth if you have to. Just please don’t back out on me now.” He moved to the edge of his seat and rested his forearms on the desk. “I’d do it for you. You know I would.”
    Why did he have to play that card? Not once when she’d needed help had he ever said no. He’d even offered his assistance when she’d been too stubborn to request it.
    “We’ll have fun together like we always do, and if Helping Hands does another event like this one again, I’ll make sure I’m out of town when it’s held. You’ll never need to do this again. Promise.”
    Even before she’d opened her mouth this afternoon, she’d suspected she wouldn’t get out of helping him next weekend. Helping her friends was what she did, period. Still, she’d known she had to say something because, despite his reassurances, she expected the plan to blow up in both their faces. “Okay, but when this whole thing turns into a disaster, I’m going to say I told you so.”
    Derek’s frown faded, but he didn’t smile. “Fair enough. But don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” He grabbed another chocolate from the dish and stood. “I need to finish a few things before I go. See you tomorrow?”
    “I’ll be here.”
    “Maybe we can grab lunch.”
    She nodded and watched him leave. When the door closed, she glanced back at the arrangement. When she called Trevor tonight to thank him for the flowers, she’d tell him about the fundraiser and the ridiculous role she’d agreed to play. Then again, perhaps he deserved to learn about it face-to-face. Some things really shouldn’t be shared over the phone. This struck her as one of those things. If she planned on telling him to his face, she’d need to see him sooner rather than later, because the fundraiser was less than two weeks away. If this weekend didn’t work out for him, she didn’t know when