What The Heart Finds (8 page)

“The loser of each
game agrees to put money in the collection,” a voice said from
behind her, gesturing toward the small goblet-shaped plastic
containers on each table with slits in the top.

Lena turned to find Liam
O'reilly standing there in slacks, a gray dress shirt, and an
oversized white sweater on top. “That's actually a really great
idea,” she admitted, mentally noting the idea for any future
events at EM Corporation. “I bet I can kick your ass at
backgammon,” she said, sending him a challenging glare.

“You're on,”
Liam said, smiling a disarmingly genuine smile.

It wasn't long before the
gym was filled, voices rising to almost deafening levels as everyone
crowded around each game table, cheering people on, and applauding
anytime money went into the charity collections. It didn't seem to
matter if the donation was fifty cents or fifty dollars, the person
who donated got cheered regardless. Liam beat her two games in a row
before she finally won and watched as Liam good-naturedly put twenty
dollars in the collection before they finally gave up the table for
the next group of players.

“So are you being
auctioned off?” she asked as they made their way over to a
refreshment table offering mint lemonade and sun-steeped iced tea.

“Why? You thinking
about putting in a bid?” Liam asked, smirking.

“You kidding? I
cant buy someone who can beat me in backgammon. I need someone stupid
and pliable,” she said, laughing.

“Yeah,” Liam
said, looking amused. “you'd crush that poor devil.”

“Hey,” Lena
broke in, shaking her head. “I'm not that bad.”

“No,” Liam
agreed, visibly wincing when over the loudspeaker they asked all the
bachelors to make their way behind the stage. “But you need
someone stubborn enough to call you on your bullshit,” he said,
shrugging. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get sold to
some lady who is going to spend the rest of the night trying to paw
at me.”

“Think that highly
of yourself, do you?” she asked as he walked away, rewarded by
a smile over his shoulder.

“I cant believe
they asked Eric to be in the auction,” a middle-aged woman said
from her side to another younger woman.

“I know,” the
other woman agreed, shaking her head. “I guess they were
desperate for bachelors this year. No one is going to bid on him. I
mean... their mothers would kill them.”

“Or he already
slept with them and tossed them aside,” the first woman said as
they started walking away.

Lena felt a momentary
stab of empathy. It sucked to be gossiped about. Even if he did bring
it upon himself with his whoring. Hell, she had even fallen for it
and she had only been in town a few days. She couldn't imagine the
kinds of walls a woman would need to put up to deal with Eric
O'reilly on a daily basis.

“Ladies, if you
will gather around the stage,” a familiar voice called from the
stage. Lena looked up to see Maude in a long deep blue gown, her hair
braided in the usual way with a stunning assortment of beaded
necklaces hanging from her neck. “Gentlemen,” she added
with a sly look in her eye. “if you would please avert your
eyes and stifle your jealousy... we are about to get started.”

The men were called onto
the stage, each of them wearing a suit with different colored dress
shirts underneath. Liam with his gray shirt, Devon from the inn with
a pink shirt only he could pull off, Alec in green, and Eric in all
black. There were six other young men she didn't recognize line up as
well in blue, purple, yellow, orange, white, and red.

“Alright ladies,
get your wallets out. We are starting bidding,” Maude said,
moving toward the podium at the end of the stage. All the men filed
backstage and the lights went low. A loud, thumping, sexual song
started playing from the speakers and Maude picked up the mic again.
“We are starting with Devon,” Maude said and Devon took
the stage, looking confident and natural. “Devon is an amazing
graphic artist and mediocre inn attendant who enjoys music, museums,
and networking,” she said as Devon started strutting down the
catwalk, winking at various women along the way. “We are
starting the bidding at twenty dollars.”

The bidding quickly went
up in a frenzy, women calling out numbers until a bid of five-hundred
dollars went up suddenly and everyone fell silent. Anna, Sam's wife,
stood there, cash raised above her head as she took the stage with a
wink at Devon. “He's mine, suckers,” she said quietly and
everyone burst out laughing.

“For those of you
who weren't here,” Maude broke in, taking the cash. “two
years ago at our Spring Into Summer dance, a nineteen year old Devon
broke up the bidding war between two of our male residents by calling
out a five-hundred bid.” Everyone clapped, their smiles
acknowledging the memory.

Lena looked around and
Sam was leaning against a wall in the back, laughing and smiling at
his wife.

“Next we have
Liam,” Maude called and the music started bumping again. Liam
took the stage looking sheepish and wholly uncomfortable, his eyes
looking off at the back wall as he walked down the catwalk.

Liam was sold off to a
woman in her fifties with fire engine red hair and a tight blue
dress. She led him off stage, arm-in-arm, talking about a candlelight
dinner at her house.

“And now, the other
O'reilly brother,” Maude called over the music and Lena could
swear there was a hushing of the crowd. “Eric O'reilly is our
sexy mechanic who enjoys action movies, classic rock, and long walks
around town at inappropriate times,” Maude said, smiling. “What
do you say ladies, anyone need a tune up?” Maude asked, her
voice full of innuendo.

“Twen...” a
young woman with blonde hair and a loose fitting peasant dress
started to call. Her arm was grabbed by an older version of herself
who quietly whisper-yelled at the younger girl for a moment, then
shook her head at Maude.

Eric shocked everyone by
winking down at the girl.

The silence fell then,
long and awkward. Lena felt a tightening in her chest and recognized
the empathy she felt for him, spreading and making her feel
uncomfortable in her skin. She couldn't imagine how he must have
felt.

At least someone on the
counsel should have called out a bid. Or one of his friends.

Maude's eyes went out
across the crowd and Lena could swear her gaze fell on her with a
lifted brow.

She had to do something.
It felt like time was suddenly slow, like every second was long and
excruciating. She looked up at Eric, cool and confident as ever.
Seemingly unphased by his rejection. But inside he must have been
embarrassed, uncomfortable, something.

Lena took a deep breath.
She had to place a bid. She really didn't have much of a choice. She
couldn't just let him walk off stage without some kind of bid. It
would be too harsh a punishment, even if he brought it upon himself.

She had to bid. But she
didn't have to give him the satisfaction of a fair bid.

She reached into her
purse and raised the money above her head. Her voice came out strong
and sure all the while, inside, she felt like she was drowning. “One
dollar,” she called above the music.

The music lowered and
everyone's eyes turned and fell on her, their eyes curious and
surprised. She carefully made her way toward the stage when, breaking
the nerve-rattling silence, Eric threw his head back and let out a
loud, roaring laugh.

“Looks like I'm
sold,” Eric winked at Maude and made his way to the end of the
stage, bending down, and grabbing Lena from around the waist and
hauling her onstage. He kept his arm tight around her as he brought
her over to Maude to hand over the money. “So where are ya
taking me, baby?”

Eric pulled her down the
stairs as Maude called Alec onto the stage and a few women whistled
as he took to the catwalk. Lena looked back over her shoulder and
watched as Alec pulled his hair out of its usual bun and the bidding
went up in a frenzy.

“Eyes forward,
sweetheart,” Eric said, his tone lazy and unaffected. “you're
stuck with me now.”

“Oh, joy,”
Lena said, her tone dry.

They walked past Emily
who gave her a wry, knowing smile, as she raised her hand for another
bid on Alec.

“Awe come on,
Emmy,” Eric called, shaking his head. “leave him alone.
The poor guy has escaped your grasps for this long.”

“Which is more than
can be said of poor Miss. Edwards,” she shot back.

“Hey, she chose
me,” Eric insisted, his smile knowing otherwise.

“I'm sure you'll be
worth every dollar,” Emily said, her tone teasing.

Eric reached out, tugging
at a strand of Emily's hair playfully. She watched them with a sort
of fascinated detachment. They acted like siblings. Like people who
had played on playgrounds together as children. Even though she knew
from Eric that Emily hadn't shown up in town until they were
teenagers. Maybe it was because they were so similar. Both exuded a
sort of raw sexual energy and had very dry, sarcastic senses of
humor.

Or maybe they had dated.

The thought crept up on
her suddenly, grating and unwelcome. They would have made a good
couple- light and easy going. No pressure. Both too detached to pull
off an actual long term thing. It would have been fun and passionate
and over quickly.

She looked at Emily then,
really looked at her as a woman, not just an innkeeper. She was tall.
Taller even than herself. Her body was slight, waifish, the kind of
body models starve themselves for. She wore a black cocktail dress,
form fitting like her own, and short, showing off her long legs. But
it was her face that was mesmerizing with it's sharp features and
piercing blue eyes. Her shiny auburn hair was loose for the first
time since she had met her, flowing straight past her shoulders. The
kind of hair that was begging to have someone's fingers run through
it.

“Earth to Lena,”
Emily said, her brows furrowed.

Lena shook her head,
hoping she hadn't been caught gawking. “Sorry. I was just...”

“Considering all
the ways that taking this one,” she said jerking her head in
Eric's direction. “on a date is a horrible idea?”

“Exactly,”
Lena agreed, smiling. “Sorry you missed out on Alec,”
Lena said, watching him get led off stage by a girl who couldn't be
much older than eighteen.

“Oh, him,”
she said, waving a hand dismissively. “we have been playing
this game for years. I'm gonna get him one of these days.”

“Heaven help any
man who thinks they can turn Emily down,” Eric said, smiling at
her kindly.

“You turned me
down,” she added with a raised brow as she took a sip of her
iced tea.

“But just because
it wouldn't be fair to the other townspeople if we got together. I
mean... just think of the children,” he said, his eyes bright.
“Future generations would be helpless to defend themselves
against Emily-Eric offspring.”

“True,” Emily
smiled. “they would be too gorgeous. See?” Emily said,
turning to Lena. “we would never work out.”

“Apparently,”
Lena agreed, her ludicrous jealousy slipping away. What was wrong
with her? Eric's hand felt heavy on her hips, possessive.

“Go on,”
Emily said, nodding toward the door. “get him out of here
before the hens decide to organize and come at him with pitchforks,”
she said, letting her gaze fall for a long moment on a group of
young, pretty women who were starting at them, and especially Eric,
with open malice.

“She'll protect
me,” Eric said, his fingertips digging into her hipbone hollows
in a way too intimate way.

“Or throw you to
them, already trussed up.”

“You want to tie me
up, baby?” Eric asked, his voice low and sensual.

“Oh my god. You're
impossible,” she said, pulling away from him and quickly making
her way toward the door.

Eight

She was barely ten feet
out of the gym doors when she heard Eric running up behind her,
reaching down and casually grabbing her hand, and falling into step
beside her.

“What is with you
and physical contact?” she asked, feeling uncomfortable with
the uncertainty that was the rest of their night.

“What is with you
and your aversion to physical contact?” he countered, his tone
without any emphasis. His fingers squeezed hers. Reassuring, almost.

“So what are we
supposed to do now?” she asked as they walked out the front
doors of the school. The night air hit her, blessedly cool against
her overheated skin.

“Well that
depends,” Eric said, looking down at her with mischief in his
eyes. “Ladies choice,” he said with a shrug. “Some
ladies choose to have you back to their house for a quick dinner and
sheet mussing,” he laughed at her disbelieving look. “Scouts
honor,” he said. “I've only ever been in one other
bachelor auction. When I was about Devon's age. I didn't have...
quite as bad of a reputation then.”

“So who bought
you?” she asked, finding she was genuinely curious, not just
trying to fill the silence.