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When Rose finished her short introduction, he stepped into the spotlight, as they’d all been instructed to do, and walked the length of the stage. The ballroom filled with applause.
Rose waited until he’d stopped next to the podium to speak again. “Once again we’ll start the bidding at five thousand dollars.”
Scott fought the urge to frown and examined the audience instead. Many of the faces he recognized, and just as his mom had promised women of all ages filled the chairs. Unfortunately, he didn’t know the woman who immediately raised her auction paddle after Rose spoke.
“I have five thousand dollars, can I get eight?” Rose asked the crowd.
How would it look if he bid on himself? Scott considered both his mom’s and Rose’s reactions if he did. No doubt it’d be amusing. Well, at least to him. Mom, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t think so. Neither would Rose.
In the audience, he saw Zoe Laurent raise her auction paddle. Although not as annoying as Tasha Marshall, she’d done her fair share of flirting with him and his cousins in the past. If he could help it, he’d rather not find himself stuck with her.
“Thanks to bidder number fourteen we have eight thousand dollars. Is anyone here willing to go to ten?”
In no time, the bid amount increased, and Scott noticed Tasha never once raised her paddle. Later, once this embarrassing night was over, he’d let Derek know how right he’d been. Tasha had her eye and money set on his cousin, so at least in that regard, he was safe. Unfortunately, the most recent bid had come in from a woman who looked old enough to be his grandmother. While he enjoyed spending time with Gram, they didn’t share many of the same interests. He suspected the same was true of the woman sitting at a table in the front row and bidding on him now.
“Our highest bid is at forty-four thousand dollars, which is also the highest bid we’ve had all night. But I think we can do better, ladies. Is there anyone willing to go to forty-six for some wonderful outings with Mr. Belmont?” Rose touched his shoulder as she spoke to the audience.
Much to his relief, he spotted a redhead perhaps close to his youngest sister, Juliette’s, age raise her auction paddle. He’d prefer someone a tad older, but chances were he’d have more in common with the redhead than the silver-haired woman in the front row. Now, if Rose would just do whatever she needed to do to bring the bidding to an end, he could get off the stage, get the redhead’s phone number, and call it a night.
“Excellent. Can I get forty-eight?” Rose asked, obviously not willing to settle for the dollar amount she had.
Scott held his breath and watched the audience. When no one moved, he started to exhale. No Zoe Laurent or silver-haired grannies for him.
“Going once.” From behind the podium, Rose paused and glanced around the room.
Almost out of here. He swept his eyes across the front row, his gaze stopping when he reached Belinda Fleming, or Bebe as she was better known. He’d seen the woman and her husband, Earl, at several of his family’s New Year’s Eve parties as well as at Gram’s parties. The woman didn’t have any daughters or granddaughters, so who was the attractive woman seated next to her tonight? If the family resemblance between the two hadn’t been enough of a clue that they were related, the whispering they were doing back and forth was.
“Going—” Rose began to speak again, but before she finished Bebe grabbed the auction paddle and her companion’s hand from the table and shot it into the air.
The unknown woman snatched her hand away and lowered her arm but not before Rose noticed the paddle number and said, “Thanks to bidder number ninety-nine, we have forty-eight thousand.”
The woman covered he
r face with her hands, although Scott doubted anyone noticed. He only did because he was watching her. Everyone else in the room had their attention focused on him and Rose. Whoever she was, she either hadn’t intended on bidding tonight or hadn’t intended on bidding on him.
“Going once,” Rose said again. She looked around the audience. “Going twice.” She gave it an extra ten seconds before she said, “Sold to bidder number ninety-nine.”
Chapter 2
Heat burned her face and Paige suspected her skin matched the side of a fire engine. How could Aunt Bebe do that? Hadn’t she told her aunt she wasn’t interested in winning any men tonight?
“They’re waiting for you up on stage,” Aunt Bebe whispered, leaning close to her.
Paige looked first at her aunt, a woman she loved but at the moment didn’t particularly like, and then up at Scott Belmont and Rose on the stage. So far each winner had joined their bachelor on stage for a kiss and some photos before sitting back down in the audience together.
“I hate being on stage too,” another woman at the table said. “But you don’t have to stay up there long. A kiss, a few quick pictures, and you can bring Mr. Hottie back to the table.”
If going on stage was the only problem, she’d march up there now and get it over with. The fact she had to go up there, kiss a man she’d never even spoken to in front of hundreds of people while being photographed was the biggest but not the only obstacle holding her back.
“The sooner you go, the sooner you can sit back down,” Aunt Bebe said, patting her hand affectionately.
Leaning closer to her aunt, she whispered, “I can’t believe you did this, Aunt Bebe. You knew I didn’t want this.” She didn’t wait for a reply before pushing back her chair and standing. Thanks to Aunt Bebe she had no other choice.
Perspiration trickled down her spine and her legs shook, but somehow she managed to climb the stairs. Left foot, right foot, Paige mentally repeated as she forced herself across the stage toward the podium.
Either Scott was getting impatient, or he’d picked up on her apprehension because he met her halfway, something none of the other bachelors had done. Instead they’d all waited for the women to reach them. Of course, the other winning bidders had made their way on stage in no time.
Smiling at her, he took her hand. “Relax, we’ll be out of the spotlight soon,” he said, his voice low even though it was unlikely anyone in the audience would hear him. With his free hand Scott indicated to the photographer that he should move closer if he wanted pictures, rather than make them walk back toward the podium again.
