The room inhales a collective gasp.
Lindsay looks properly defeated, which should not make me as happy as it does.
“Sold!” Emma cries with a triumphant bang of our ceremonial gavel. “And on that note, our dating auction has come to an end!” She passes the microphone back to the emcee before anyone can protest.
“Thank you, Heart Springs, for those amazing bids!” The emcee’s soothing tone booms through the tent. “Let’s get all of our auctionees and our winners out on the floor for a celebratory dance.”
Shit.
I’m frozen here at the side of the stage, my eyes lockedon Ben’s. He hasn’t moved from his position on the stage itself. His expression is unreadable, but there’s no mistaking the heat in his gaze.
What the fuck did I just do.
I can’t even make myself look at Lindsay, let alone chance a glance at Noah. He must be furious, and rightfully so.
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s give the people what they want.” Ben’s voice rumbles low in my ear and burrows down under my skin. His hand finds a place on my lower back, and he guides me to the dance floor.
More than one curious pair of eyes finds their way to us, but most people are more interested in their own partners and the attention slowly shifts away.
Ben places a hand on my waist, linking his other hand with mine. For a minute, all we do is sway to the soft swells of the music surrounding us.
Then I allow myself to look at him.
The music and the people and the bright lights and the sheer mortification fade away and I tuck myself closer into Ben’s embrace.
“Why did you do that?” His words are barely a whisper. I have to move in closer to hear them. He adjusts his hold on me, keeping me there, our bodies pressed together in a way that kicks my heartbeat into overdrive.
I don’t answer right away because I don’t have an answer. “I’m sorry,” I finally say. “I shouldn’t have. I should have let Lindsay win. God knows she deserves you more than I do.”
He shakes his head, dislodging one of his brown curls from his carefully coiffed locks. “Don’t do that. Tell me why.”
I tentatively reach for the stray curl, tucking it back into place. “You know why.”
“Let’s pretend I don’t.” He takes our joined hands and presses them to his chest. His heart is pounding just as fiercely as mine.
“Does it matter why, Ben? If we want to get out of here, if we want to make it back home, we have to follow Mimi’s stupid rules.” I watch his eyes, looking for some hint of hope.
He lowers his head, the two of us no longer dancing so much as we are hugging with a little swagger. “Maybe I’m sick of following the rules, sweetheart.”
My breath catches and my eyes flutter closed as I press my cheek to his. His warmth is everywhere, but it isn’t just the heat of him, it’s the comfort and the safety and the utter peace I find wrapped up in Ben’s arms.
Peace that is shortly destroyed by the emcee once again taking to the mic. “Now how about everyone dances with the person they came with!”
Everyone on the dance floor looks confused, none of the couples separating at the emcee’s command.
Ben and I are the only two forced to separate by this declaration and my cheeks heat at the realization that everyone else either came single and bid or bid on the person they came with.
A strong pair of arms tugs me away from Ben, who doesn’t fully look like he’s willing to let me go until Lindsay steps into his line of sight.
I reluctantly step into Noah’s arms, keeping significantly more distance between the two of us than between me and Ben. I wait for him to say something, to put me out ofmy misery, but he really has learned how to best torture me given the short amount of time we’ve spent together.
“I don’t know what came over me, Noah.” I can’t seem to make myself apologize because I’m not actually sorry.
Noah puts even more space between us, forcing me to look him in the eye. “This was never actually going to work, was it?”
I shrug, turning away from his piercing gaze as if that will hide the tears beginning to pool in my eyes. “I really did try. I wanted this to work.”
“But it was never going to.”
