Read Online The Highest Bidder by Sommer Marsden - Free Book Online Page B

and Casey heard herself say, ‘And this is Nick.’ Only she nearly drew his name out as if in mid-orgasm. Niii-ick. She heard Annie snicker and was pretty sure, even from a distance, she saw Nick blush.
    Oh my God.
    ‘Nick is …’
    What? Nick is what?
    ‘Tall.’
    Annie actually burbled then, like some wild jungle bird and Casey had a fleeting wish for a shotgun.
    ‘And he is … um …’
    Think!
    ‘Big.’
    Annie literally whooped.
    Big! Oh God, you said big. Now you know everyone is thinking … penis!
    ‘Not like that!’ she amended loudly into the microphone.
    That was when Annie had to leave the room.
    Oh fuck. Now they all think he has a small cock…
    ‘I mean, that, um … he’s fine in the … oh, God.’
    Most of the women in the room were staring at her as if she’d suddenly sprouted a second head and it was spewing vulgarities in French or possibly shouting out orders in Swedish. The overall look of the room was annoyed confusion.
    ‘He’s got blue eyes and dark hair and … walk!’ she said to Nick who had frozen at the steps of the stage as if unsure of what to do.
    It was a disaster.
    But he gave her a small amused smile that lit her up from the inside and started to walk.
    ‘He’s a refurbisher,’ she said, having completely given up any hope of sounding in control of herself. ‘So he deals a lot with nostalgia,’ she said, remembering what he’d said. ‘And he is very good with fragile things,’ she added, her voice a little thick.
    He stopped to look at her and she saw so much affection in that look her heart skittered sideways in her chest and actually stalled for a second.
    ‘Like hearts and feelings,’ she barrelled on, holding the microphone in a death grip.
    His face softened and he started to come at her. She swallowed hard, shook her head, waved her finger as if to say, “walk”.
    ‘He’s a very good kisser and …’
    Someone gasped and someone sighed and someone laughed. No one was bidding. Why? Why!
    He looked concerned but not panicky. He was too busy listening to her.
    ‘And he’d never … ya know … there is no pity. He’s a genuine man,’ she said softly. And then, ‘One thousand dollars.’
    It wouldn’t be his money, this would be her own. This would be for the charity that would help save lives and to honour Brendan and to celebrate maybe a new start.
    ‘Did I mention he’s a good kisser and a good … ?’
    There was a pregnant pause in the entire room. She could feel it. Silence and attention crushing in on her like a silent, invisible weight. Nick had frozen in place on the runway and was watching her, eyes wide but full of humour, mouth a small “o” of surprise, huge handsome self in a holding pattern as she babbled.
    ‘Good at, um … other stuff. Two thousand. No, not two … I’m remembering last night …’ She realised she’d said it aloud and her cheeks flooded with heat, but fuck it. ‘So five thousand.’
    In her peripheral vision she saw a woman start to lift her paddle and she turned, pointed and said, ‘Don’t even think about it, Angela.’
    The woman promptly dropped her paddle and grinned. Casey said, ‘Sold! To me. For five thousand dollars. Where’s Annie?’
    Annie poked her head in from the hallway and she said as calmly as she could manage into the microphone. ‘And now my friend Annie – whose fault this is, FYI – is going to wrap up this program for you because I’m taking my bachelor to go.’
    She put the microphone down and walked out to grab Nick’s hand. But he grabbed her instead and bent her backwards, planting a movie-worthy kiss on her, right there.
    ‘Hurry. Hurry, take me home,’ she said. ‘I need you.’
    ‘Nicest thing a woman’s said to me in years,’ he whispered.

    They didn’t make it home. Her car was parked all the way in the back of the hotel parking-lot under a cluster of trees. They fell into the back seat tangled together.
    ‘Thank God for tinted windows. Thank God for–’
    He