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I whirl around so fast, the room keeps spinning once my eyes have met his. He’s standing on stage in a black suit, the first few buttons of his shirt undone. He shoves one hand in his pocket as the other waves, shaking his head at the same time.
“Sorry,” he says proudly. “Not for auction tonight.”
“Awwww,” the announcer says, getting the crowd to join him.
“Only here to share that I’ll be matching the donation tonight—”
“Two thousand dollars!” a woman at the table nearby shouts with an excited giggle.
“Three thousand,” another woman shouts. When my gaze dances her way, I notice that she’s about my age, and my blood boils at the very idea of her touching him.
“Five thousand!” the first woman screams.
Pretty soon, the room erupts in bids and cheers. On the stage, Ronan looks humbled and slightly embarrassed as the announcer tries to control the crowd. But there is no controlling them. The bids are growing higher and higher, even without the announcer’s encouragement.
“One million dollars!”
Suddenly the crowd goes quiet and all the eyes in the room shift to stare in shock at me, my hand held proudly in the air. I’m looking at him with a buzz of excitement under my skin as his smile grows. The room is dead silent for three long seconds.
“Um…sold,” the announcer says, and the crowd breaks out in laughter. “I don’t know if anyone is going to beat that.”
On the screen next to the stage, the donation amount spikes, covering tonight’s goal and then some. My head starts to feel heavy and out of sorts as Ronan steps down from the low stage and walks toward me.
I distantly recognize that maybe I should be nervous about spending so much or losing the money he gave me, but it’s honestly the furthest thing from my mind. All I see is him coming closer. I manage a smile as he steps up to me.
“Why did you do that?”
“I couldn’t just stand by and let someone else win a date with you,” I reply. When I sway gently on my feet, Ronan reaches out a hand and catches my arm.
“Daisy, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I mumble to myself, but the words barely leave my lips before the tunnel vision sets in and the room tilts completely. Then, I’m falling. At least this time, he’s there to catch me.
RULE #43: LIVE IN THE MOMENT
Ronan
I scoop Daisy up in my arms, and she’s already opening her eyes when I carry her out the front door. Garrett is quick on my heels, followed by a few others concerned about Daisy.
“Do we need to call an ambulance?”
“She just needs some air,” I reply.
“Someone get her a bottle of water,” another person shouts.
Once we reach the warm night air, Daisy takes in a deep breath and a bit of color returns to her cheeks. I’m already carting her to my car without a destination in mind.
In my head, I’m running through all the things she needs from me. I can feed her. Take her to the emergency room. Give her a warm bed.Mywarm bed.
“Is she okay?” Garrett asks as I set her in the back seat of my car.
“I’m fine,” she mutters, sounding tired. Mia appears behind me with a bottle of cold water, passing it to Daisy.
“She does this a lot,” I say through gritted teeth as I stare down at her with disappointment. I’m willing to bet she didn’t eat enough today. And judging by the apologetic look on her face, my suspicions are correct.
“I’d feel better if she was seen by a doctor,” Garrett replies, and I understand from a liability standpoint that he needs to be sure his employees are healthy and well taken care of medically.
“I’ll take her,” I answer in a rush.
