Page 86 of Auctioned To Be Mine

“I’ll have my office reach out to yours about the formal terms,” he said. He sounded like a different person than the one who had greeted me.

“Betty will be in touch,” I said. “She handles all the formal agreements.”

“Of course.” He placed his hand on my upper arm in one of those reflexive social gestures that men did. A pat. Barely any contact. I’d been touched like that a hundred times, but I still had my guard up around him. I couldn’t stop my immediate reaction to stiffen. His hand dropped immediately and he took a half step back.

“I apologize,” he said. “That was—I’m sorry.”

I opened my mouth to tell him it was fine because it actually was. It was very normal.

“Hey.”

The voice from my left startled and confused me. I didn’t understand why I heard it. Callum. He was there and he was furious.

“Back the fuck off.” Callum’s voice was all steel.

I heard the soft scrape of a chair somewhere behind me. I could feel eyes on me. On us. On the scene that was unfolding. I’d never been in the eye of a tornado, but I imagined it felt similar. All electric energy and danger. From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a phone being aimed at us.

Oh shit. This was exactly the type of thing that would go viral.

Jeff Connors took a full step back, both hands raised. “Easy, Callum, I wasn’t trying anything.”

“Callum.” I stepped directly in front of him, putting myself between the two men. His eyes were on Jeff. They were flashing with anger. I’d never seen him like that. He was furious. I put my hand flat on his chest. “Callum, please look at me. Hear me.”

He looked down at me.

“I have it handled,” I said quietly.

“He put his hand on you.”

“And he apologized. I accepted it. We’re done.” I kept my voice low and my hand where it was, feeling his heartbeat going too fast under my palm. “This meeting went well. Please don’t undo that.”

Something moved across his face. The rigid set of his jaw shifted slightly.

I turned back to Jeff, who was trying to hold on to his dignity but I could see he was embarrassed. “Thank you for lunch,” I said. “I look forward to hearing from your office.”

He nodded once, shot a look at Callum, and walked toward the exit like he wasn’t in a hurry to escape.

I watched him go. Then I turned back to Callum. “Outside,” I hissed.

I didn’t wait to see if he was coming with me. I shoved open the door and was grateful to catch a glimpse of Jeff getting into a cab.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I snapped.

“I was in the neighborhood.”

I stared at him. “Bullshit! You were spying on me. The entire time.”

“I wasn’t spying,” he said, shaking his head.

“You were sitting in that restaurant watching me have a business lunch.” My voice was sharp enough to cut glass and I didn’t care. “What would you call that?”

“I was nearby. In case you needed me.”

“In case I needed what, Callum? To be humiliated in front of a potential donor? In front of an entire restaurant full of people with phones?” I gestured back at the door we’d just come through. “Someone was filming that. Do you understand that? That’s going to be online before I get back to my car. I would imagine several people filmed, so every angle and expression will be available.”

He opened his mouth and I held up a hand.

“No. You don’t get to talk yet.” I was shaking slightly and I needed to get control of it. I pressed my fingers to my forehead and breathed. “This is the second time you’ve blown up a work event for me. The first one wasn’t directed at me. But this?” I dropped my hand and looked at him. “This was deliberate. You followed me here. You stepped in like I was some damsel who couldn’t handle a hand on her arm.”