AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s not my hottie.”
“Cassandra thinks he is. Why do you think she made sure you were watching as she swooped in for the fucking kill?” Amber’s lips twisted. She’d made it clear to Kelsey on more than one occasion that she wasn’t a particular fan of Cassandra, but there’d never been outright conflict between the two of them.
Kelsey chalked it up to simple competitiveness.
Amber was almost as stunning as Cassandra, except in her case the auburn-haired woman’s beauty was decidedly—and refreshingly—sans inflated ego.
She was right though. It was time to get Max’s mind focused on where it belonged.
Sliding through the crowd, she sidled up next to him just as Cassandra giggled.
“Are you serious?” Cassandra lightly slapped his arm, the woman’s tone a faux playfully shocked. “Kelsey? She really did?”
For a moment her blood froze, her mind instantly flashing to the rather risqué pic she’d ‘accidentally’ sent him last week.
He wouldn’t just tell her… would he?
His eyes instantly alighted on Kelsey, and to her delight there was a welcome sense of relief clear in those dark blue depths. “Hey, Kels.” He glanced at Cassandra then, giving her a conspiratorial wink. “Oh, I’m completely serious. She told me if I was very, very lucky someone might bid on me tonight—but not to get my hopes up.”
Cassandra giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, even as she looked over at Kelsey. “That’s so mean! And so not true.”
“It isn’t?” He gently prodded Kelsey’s side with an elbow. “You telling stories out of turn?”
Her cheeks heated slightly, but she was more confused than embarrassed. “Um, I don’t know…”
“I think you’re going to see more than a few bids tonight, Mr. Williams.”
“Please, call me Max.”
Cassandra’s cheeks pinkened, her thick lashes fluttering. “Oh… okay, Max.”
His chuckle was warm, relaxed. “That’s a whole lot better than what Kelsey calls me.”
Kelsey swallowed hard. Cassandra most definitely didn’t need to know that. “I don’t think we should—”
There was a muffled tapping on the microphone. Catherine, standing at the base of the stairs, was resplendent in her flowing black dress, which flattered her plump, if still pleasing, figure. “Ladies, I think we’re ready for the next auction. Don’t you?”
A loud chorus of “Yes!” rang out all around them, Max’s eyes going wide for a moment.
Cassandra touched his arm once again—and Kelsey suddenly wanted to rip it off of him.
“I’m going to go find my place. Watch the bidding, you know?” She beamed at him. “It was nice to meet you. Maybe we’ll run into each other again… Max?”
“Maybe so,” he said, shaking her hand.
Cassandra flicked one last glance over her shoulder at him as she made her way deeper into the living room, as if to check to see if Max was watching the roll and sway of her ass in her just a little too tight to be appropriate skirt.
For a moment, they simply stood together, looking on in silence, then Kelsey looked up at him.
“I never told you that. Why would you say that to her?”
Max shrugged. “I had to tell her… something.”
“Why?”
“She was… coming on pretty strong.”
Kelsey smiled even though she wanted to growl.
