While that might be true in most cases, it wasn’t when it came to Saffron. If I thought she was the slightest bit interested in being more than friends, I’d jump on the chance to date her. But she wasn’t. And rather than risk our friendship by awkwardly asking her out and forcing her to turn me down gently, I refrained.
“Switch seats with me,” I said to Kick, pushing away from the table.
“Not a chance. If you don’t want to take your shot with the lovely Miss Hope, I sure as hell will. Considering I have the best view of her from where I’m sitting, maybe she and I will make googly eyes at each other throughout dinner.”
I stared at him. “Googly eyes? What the fuck is that? Never mind, I don’t want to know. Now, unless you have a death wish, quit evenlookingat her and switch seats.”
As soon as my other four brothers laughed just as hard as Kick was, I knew he’d set this up before I got to the table. Him adding, “You’re such an easy mark,” only confirmed my suspicion.
“She’d say yes in a New York minute if you ever got up the nerve to ask,” my brother Bit’s wife, Eberly, who was seated on the opposite side of me, said quietly enough that only I could hear her. I was about to respond when my sister got up on stage for the second time and asked for everyone’s attention.
“Dinner is about to be served, so please take your seats. I hope everyone arrived tonight ready to spend lots of money! Between the fabulous silent auction items I already mentioned and our twenty amazing bachelors ready to charm you into generosity, I’m projecting we’ll double the amount we raised last year. Who’s with me?”
Several hands went up, along with a rousing round of applause. That was my sister. The woman could talk anyone out of their last dime.
I looked over at Saffron’s table, hoping to catch her eye. What I saw instead made me wince. The girl I’d rarely seen without a smile was lost in thought, looking like someone had kicked her metaphoric puppy. What in the hell was that all about? On the plus side, since she hadn’t noticed yet, I could keep staring as long as I wanted.
When I told her she was so pretty no one would be looking at her dress, I’d meant it. Three years ago, when I’d complimentedher on it, it was the first time she told me it was the same gown she always wore. The next year, when I offered to buy her another in exchange for bidding on me, I wasn’t sure what had been worse—how mad she was at me, or the hurt look on her face her anger was meant to hide.
Tonight, she wore her hair down, which I preferred over the ponytail I usually saw her in. The mahogany strands fell on her bare shoulders, making me long to sweep them away and kiss the skin they were lucky enough to touch. I was about to look away when her eyes met mine and I was held mesmerized by the pain so clearly etched on her face. It made me want to get up, ask her to join me outside, make her tell me what was wrong, then fix it. All of it. Every single thing that hurt her. If she’d let me, I’d make it my life’s mission.
“Isabel van Orr?Where are you, sweetie?” I heard my sister say after the dinner plates were cleared.
“Here I am,” Isabel said over the noise of the crowd, not that I’d look in her direction. I knew damn well where she was sitting, just like Alex did. What I didn’t know was what kind of shit my sister was about to stir up.
I scowled in her direction as a warning, not that she’d heed it, ever. She winked at me, then looked back at Isabel.
“Promise me that this will be the year you outbid everyone for a date with my little brother, Izzy.”
“You know I will, Al.”
Everyone at our table, myself included, chuckled at the two women’s use of nicknames they hated equally. Just like Saffron hated it when her sister called her pumpkin.
My gaze was drawn to her again, but when I looked that way, Saffron was gone. Where in the hell was she?
“Excuse me,” I muttered, tossing my napkin on my chair after I stood. Rather than cut through the crowded tables, I left the main room through one of the archways and made my way out to the bar, hoping that was where I’d find her.
“Hey, Snapper. What can I get you?” the guy behind it asked.
“Bourbon neat,” I said as I surveyed the otherwise empty room.
“Looking for someone?” the guy asked.
I shook my head, then changed my mind. “Saffron Hope. You know her?”
“Yeah, I saw her a minute ago. I think she was on her way to the silent-auction tables.”
“Thanks,” I said, walking away and leaving my drink on the bar.
Sure enough, she was coming out of the room as I was going in.
“Bid on anything?” I asked.
“No. It’s all too rich for my blood this year.” She smiled, but it didn’t meet her eyes.
I took her hand and led her back in. “Come on. Show me what caught your eye. I owe you, remember?”
“And I told you I plan to collect this year.” The second fake smile she sent me made me grind my teeth.
