Page 106 of Auctioned To Be Mine

“You’re fading,” he said.

“I’m not fading. I’m savoring your success.”

Even after a hundred people had moved through the space for three hours, it still looked like a magazine spread. “It’s really something, isn’t it?”

“It really is.”

Cleo appeared out of nowhere and wrapped both arms around me from behind. “I love you,” she announced into my hair. “I’m just going to say it. I love you and I’m keeping you.”

“You’re drunk,” I said.

“Tipsy.” She let go and came around to face me, her mascara slightly smudged. “The numbers, Victoria. Did you see the final numbers?”

“I saw them.”

She grabbed my face in both hands and kissed my forehead and then disappeared back into the thinning crowd. I watched her go and shook my head.

“She’s going to have a rough morning,” Callum said.

Mimi found me one more time before she left. “Come back to New York soon,” she said. “I mean it.”

“I will,” I told her.

Tiana and Max were gathering coats and saying their goodbyes on the other side of the room. Dash had Krista tucked under his arm. They were staying at Tiana and Max’s place from now on, along with the rest of the New York Blackwells.

I watched the family and truly felt like they were mine. It made me a little emotional. So much had changed in a month.

“Hey.” Callum’s voice was low near my ear. “You okay?”

“More than okay.” I turned to look at him. He looked tired. “Take me home?”

He arched his brow. “Yours or mine?”

I held his gaze. “Yours.”

The corner of his mouth curved up.

The car Callum had arranged was waiting outside. He opened the door and I slid in, grateful to be off my feet. I’d worn my comfortable heels, but even they could only do so much.

The drive up into the hills was quiet. I had my head against his shoulder. Neither of us felt the need to fill the silence with anything. I’d been to his house enough times to know the view, but it all felt different now. I felt different.

Callum went to the kitchen while I wandered to the windows and looked out at the patio and the view beyond it. He reappeared a few minutes later with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

“More?” I said.

“One more,” he said. “We earned it. I want to celebrate this. Us.”

We took it outside to the patio, which was easily my favorite place on the whole property. I slipped off my heels and left them by the door. Callum poured and handed me a glass. I settled into one of the lounge chairs. He pulled another close and sat facing me, forearms on his knees, glass hanging loosely from his fingers.

I took a sip of champagne and noticed him watching me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I’m just looking at you and thinking about how lucky I am.”

“You’re going to make me self-conscious.”

“No. You’re beautiful. And I’m never letting you go. So there’s nothing to be self-conscious about.”