“Of course.” Wow, Harper had certainly read that situation all wrong. Hopefully Hazel’s granddaughter didn’t mind her playing matchmaker.
Brielle pulled out her phone, apparently losing interest in both Harper and the auction. The young man came over to Hazel, looking more than a little uncertain. He introduced himself as Beckett, and once Hazel explained that he would be going out with her granddaughter, he appeared visibly relieved. When Hazel showed him a picture of her, he broke out into a grin. He gave Hazel his number and said he would catch up with her after the auction.
For the rest of the auction, Harper and Hazel chatted as the bachelors were brought out one by one. Brooks was an excellent emcee, Jack hadn’t returned, and Brielle was still scrolling through her cell. For the next half hour, Harper actually enjoyed herself.
Finally Brooks moved to stand at the center front of the stage. “That’s all for our auction tonight, ladies and gents. Unfortunately one of our bachelors had to cancel. Thank you for your generosity, and a big thanks to our bachelors for helping the fight to find a cure for ALS.”
Everyone started to clap—until Cammi ran onto the stage and whispered to her husband. He nodded and started speaking into the mike again. “Ladies and gents, the fun is not over yet. We have one more bachelor who’s just arrived.”
Harper frowned, hearing the murmurs of confusion and excitement in the crowd. Even Brielle was paying attention.
“Ooh,” Hazel said. “I wonder what handsome man is showing up next?”
“Our final,finalbachelor is about to come out,” Brooks said. “Is everyone ready to meet him?”
“Yes!” the audience said in loud unison.
Harper had to hand it to Brooks. He knew how to get a crowd going. He had even her wondering who the mystery bachelor was.
“Ladies and gents, here he is!”
The curtains opened, and Harper’s jaw dropped. “Rusty?”
Chapter19
If Rusty had been anxious before, he was plum terrified right now. He hadn’t even opened the truck door earlier before he marched back into the house and put on the clothes Harper had picked out for him. No matter how much he’d tried to talk himself out of going, he hadn’t been able to follow through in the end. He didn’t want to let down the ALS charity. Or Senior. Truth be told, he didn’t want to let down Harper either. He’d given her his word, and he would keep it.
Now he wanted to run and hide. Bad enough his dress shoes were squeezing his feet, but he was also breaking out in flop sweat as he walked onto the stage. All eyes were on him, the people applauding like they were at a football game and not some high-falutin’ charity event. But he was aware that the emcee had hyped up the crowd right before he’d come out. That was the reason everyone was excited, not because a working-class joe with too-tight shoes and a sweaty forehead was standing in front of them.
He tried not to look at the crowd too much, but hecouldn’t help it. Maybe focusing on only the front tables would help his pulse settle, he decided—until he saw Harper. His heart jumped to his throat. Despite her open-mouthed surprise, she looked gorgeous. Even more beautiful than she’d been at Anita’s wedding, if that was possible. He couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Then she lifted her head, and their gazes met. His heartbeat thudded in his chest, so strong he was sure everyone in the place could hear it despite the crowd noise. The emotion in her stunning blue eyes took his breath away... and somewhere deep inside his heart a flicker of hope ignited.
A man slid into the seat next to her. The same one he’d seen her with before. The guy leaned close to Harper and whispered something in her ear. The hope disappeared.
“Opening bid is one hundred dollars,” the emcee blared. “Who will bid one hundred—”
Numbered papers flew up in the air. Rusty frowned. He tugged at his collar, then caught Harper shaking her head. He stopped and saw her gesturing for him to move to the left. He did, then she tilted her head to the right. Oh, she wanted him to walk around. That was better than just standing there.
“We’re at nine hundred dollars, folks!”
He halted and gaped at the emcee.Nine hundred dollars?He turned to look at Harper, then saw Senior, who had appeared out of nowhere, sitting right behind her and grinning like an absolute fool.
“Nine hundred going once...”
Rusty scanned the crowd. Who was fool enough to spend that much money on a date with him?
“One thousand!”
He recognized that voice. He looked at Harper, who had a strained smile on her face as she held up her brochure. The guy sitting next to her was also looking at him, his perfect face scrunched into a scowl.
She’s bidding on me. What does that mean?
“Two thousand.”
Rusty turned to see Brielle holding up her number. But she wasn’t looking at him. She was smirking at Harper.
The hum of the crowd dimmed as his gaze darted from Brielle to Harper’s surprised expression. Then Harper frowned and lifted her own number again. “Twenty-five hundred!”
