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A man appears on the stage as waiters come out of the kitchen and starts filling up wine glasses and taking orders.
The auction quickly gets underway with at least thirty cars to be sold. Each of them even fancier than the last.
The amounts of money these cars are going for has me gasping for breath each time the gavel comes down. I mean, who in their right mind spends this kind of cash on cars?
Just as the thought occurs, my father raises his hand, putting a bid in for an old classic car that I wouldn’t even know the name of. I shake my head and laugh. I guess that answers that question.
The Jaguar comes up next and suddenly every eye at my table is turned towards the stage. Nate rises and nods towards the crowd when his name is called before sitting back down beside me. His arm falls over my shoulder and his fingers draw little circles on my skin.
He’s nervous and he has every right to be.
This is the big moment he’s been waiting for. All of us have been waiting for it.
I reach across and take his other hand in mine, giving it a squeeze and reminding him to hold it together, at least for another few minutes. After this, the party can finally start.
The auctioneer stands tall as he looks out at the crowd. “We will open the bidding with three hundred thousand dollars.”
My mouth drops open. Is he kidding?
A bid comes in straight away before another replaces it, adding another fifty grand to the amount. Two guys fight it out until a third comes in, knocking the price well above four hundred thousand.
Nate sits beside me in complete and utter shock as he listens to the number rise. Jesse grins while looking around at the bidders while Maxen raises his glass before the bidding has even come to an end. Trish has a hand to her heart, so proud it’s probably hurting.
I just squeeze his hand tighter and tighter, waiting and listening to how it plays out.
“Fuck,” Nate grunts when it surpasses four fifty.
“You read my mind,” I murmur beside him.
The bidding comes to a close at four hundred and sixty thousand when the auctioneer slams his gavel against his podium. A round of applause rumbles throughout the function room and the buyer stands in what looks to be the most expensive suit in the room.
Nate gets up, walks to the side of the room, and shakes hands with the buyer. I watch as they get lost in conversation and Nate hands him a business card. They shake hands again and Nate turns around, coming back towards the table with a dumbstruck look on his handsome face.
“What was that all about?” I ask quietly as the bidding for the next car gets underway.
“The guy has a whole fleet of classic cars. He wants me working on them all. I told him to bring them around Monday morning.”
“You’re kidding?” I laugh.
“Nope,” he says. “I’m going to need a bigger shop.”
“That’s fine. We can scare off the neighbors and steal their space. I’ll set Jesse on it. You’ll have it in no time.” The thoughts start racing through my mind. “You can build a showroom in there.”
“Why don’t I just start by offering them something they can’t refuse?”
“Yeah,” I shrug my shoulders. “That will work too but my idea seems better.”
The auction comes to a close and soon after, the dinner party starts. Nate mingles with the other people in the industry and introduces me to big spenders who all ask about the other projects he has coming up.
The night goes by and before I know it, I’m on the dance floor with the girls having the time of my life. The guys are slowly creeping in and soon enough, Nate is spinning me in his arms and crushing his lips down on mine.
“I fucking love you,” he reminds me.
I smile up at him. “You know I’m so damn proud of you, right?” I tell him. “Every day I fall in love with you so much more. I don’t know how it’s even possible, but I do.”
His arms come in tighter around my waist as his eyes stare deeply into mine. “I’m going to marry you, Tora Roberts. I’m going to put my kids in you, and I’m going to love you for the rest of my days.”
My heart explodes with joy and love as I look into those eyes. We’ve come so damn far and I can’t wait to see what the rest of our lives hold. “Is that a promise?” I ask him.
“It sure fucking is.”
