AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I now have twenty-seven, can I get thirty?” Rose asked the crowd.
Paige like everyone else in the room couldn’t help but look in the Novaks’ direction. However this time, Milan didn’t come back with a higher bid as she had the previous times Rose asked.
“Going once.” From behind the podium, Rose glanced around the crowd. “Going twice.” Still no further bids came. “Sold to bidder number thirty-five.”
The things I do for family. Scott watched Colton exit though the door that connected the room that had been set up for the men participating in the auction to the main ballroom. He’d tried to get out of the event. He’d even offered to make a donation to the foundation in lieu of taking part. In the end though, he’d given in because he loved his mom and whenever possible did what she asked. Not that she asked much from him. Unlike some mothers, she never made ridiculous demands on her children. She respected that he and his two younger sisters were adults with their own lives. Perhaps if she made demands on him regularly it would’ve been easy to say no to the fundraiser tonight.
Even though the connecting door remained closed, he heard Rose’s muffled voice as she introduced Colton to the crowd and then the round of applause which followed. He didn’t know Colton well but suspected the guy was eating up all the attention. On the few occasions he’d seen him at Derek’s place, he’d seemed like the type to love the spotlight and everything attached to it.
“And so the fun begins,” Derek said, stopping next to him with a bored expression on his face.
“Interesting choice of words.” Scott knew his cousin wanted to be there about as much as he did. “Considering who you’ll probably find yourself sitting next to tonight, you look rather relaxed.” It wasn’t a secret that Tasha Marshall wanted in to the Sherbrooke family. She’d flirted and at times all out flung herself at several of his other male cousins in the past. Scott knew for a fact she was in the audience tonight with her mother. He’d seen them step off the elevator together.
“Maybe she’ll see Colton or Drew and forget all about us.” Derek’s expression remained unchanged as he took a sip from the glass in his hand.
“Won’t happen. You’re in trouble tonight, buddy.”
“I could say the same about you. Tasha might decide to bid on you instead when you walk on stage.”
Scott shook his head. “We both know she not only wants in to the family, she wants the Sherbrooke name too. You have it, not me. Tonight she’ll go as high as she needs to bag you. And you know she will, so why do you look so relaxed?”
Derek drained the liquid in his glass before answering. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“As soon as Mom told me you agreed, I assumed you had some plan to keep yourself out of Tasha’s hands.” Derek would never provide any more information, so asking for more details was pointless.
“You said plan, not me. I’ll be out there in a little while like everyone else in this room.”
He couldn’t hold back his sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, right. Whatever you say.”
Derek clapped him on the shoulder and gestured with his glass. “Looks like they’re about ready for the next sacrifice.”
Across the room, one of the volunteers was speaking to Daniel Johnson, the second bachelor for the night. As he watched, the volunteer and Daniel began walking toward the door to the ballroom. When the door opened, Rose’s voice flowed inside. “And now I’d like to introduce our second bachelor this evening, Daniel Johnson.” The door closed behind Daniel, muffling the brief bio she gave to the audience.
“I need something else to drink. What about you? You’re not up for a while either,” Derek said.
He guessed Rose had put together the order for the night, and he wasn’t surprised to find he was somewhere in the middle at number seven while his cousin was dead last. “Good idea.”
Two club sodas with lemon later—the powers that be had decided not provide the bachelors with any alcohol prior to their visit to the stage—Scott spotted the foundation’s backstage volunteer heading his way.
Derek, who’d remained with him, noticed her too. “Looks like you’re up, my friend. Good luck,” he said with amusement.
“Laugh now. But you’ll get your turn and I’ll be in the audience to watch.” Scott’s comment removed the grin from his cousin’s face.
The volunteer stopped near them, putting an end to their personal conversation. “Mr. Belmont, if you’d please follow me. The photographer is just taking pictures of Mr. Niven and the winning bidder. Once they’re done, Rose will introduce you.”
“Anyway I can watch the fun?” Derek asked before Scott and the volunteer walked away.
Rose and the volunteer with them now had instructed all the bachelors not to enter the ballroom until after their turn on stage. They’d claimed it might be distracting to the audience if they were within view while the bidding was going on.
“I suppose you could watch from backstage, Mr. Sherbrooke. The curtain we set up blocks much of the audience’s view but not all, so you’ll need to be careful,” the volunteer answered.
“Wonderful, what are we waiting for?” Derek said, giving him an “I got you” smile.
The three of them exited the room and walked onto the temporary stage. From behind the curtain, Scott could see part of the audience as well as Rose standing at the podium.
“Before I introduce our next bachelor, I’d just like to say how overwhelmed I am at the generosity everyone has exhibited so far this evening. It goes beyond what I expected,” Rose said. She waited for the applause to stop before she introduced him.
“Our seventh bachelor this evening is Scott Belmont. Although originally from Weston, Massachusetts, Scott now spends much of his time in New York City where he works for Sherbrooke Enterprises. However, whenever he can, he escapes to his home in Newport.”
