A woman from the very back of the crowd clearly said, “Twenty-five thousand.” It was a voice Sophie recognized. It was the voice from the phone. The one who’d told her to stand down.
Sophie barely hesitated before saying, “Twenty-seven.”
“Thirty,” the woman replied.
“Forty-five,” a different person shouted.
Sophie looked closely at Oliver as she continued bidding on him. She was looking for a sign, any sign of who he wanted to win the bid. When she finally got a hint, a huge smile from him at a certain bid, Sophie stopped. Oliver wanted the woman from the threatening phone call to win him at auction. Interesting. Should she warn him? Or did they know one another already?
“Darling, why aren’t you bidding?” Ms. Birdie said, coming up next to her.
“My gut tells me he wants the other woman to win.”
“You my dear, are too nice. If you want a man, go after him.”
“Oh, I will if that man ever comes along.”
“He will. You’ll see. He will. Now, be a doll and stop being so nice. You’ve got deep pockets. Don’t make me regret taking you under my wing.” She handed Sophie another glass of champagne.
“Got it. I won’t.” Deep pockets? Holy Book Boyfriend, that was going to take some getting used to.
Chapter 33
Two hours into the auction, out of sight from the crowd, Stone stood slightly to the side of the stage, adjusting his mask, while the bachelor ahead of him was auctioned off. Each round of applause frayed his nerves. Who was he kidding?Frayeddidn’t do the situation justice. His nerves were jumpy as fuck—a new experience for him.
He normally approached the unknown cool and calculating. Hell, he’d stared into the face of death on more than one occasion and never broken a sweat. But now, the murmur of the audience, a constant roar, reminded him of the sea—relentless and unforgiving.
He ran his damp hands over his thighs. The nerves weren’t from fear. Instead, they were directly related to the pounding of his heart. A heart fully aware of the gravity of the moment. Agreeing to be up on the stage involved much more than getting auctioned off for a good cause.
It was the precursor to his confession. A confession of love but also a confession of identity. An identity that could be a deal breaker just as it had been with the last woman he’d thoughtcould handle the truth. If Sophie said no to embracing a similar identity, then his love confession would not be made. And considering she’d turned down his invite to have a drink after the event, what were the odds she’d move heaven and earth to win him at auction?
It didn’t take a genius to figure out the answer.
He shoved the thought on its ass. Nothing good would come from worrying. There had been a hundred dominos stacked to get him to this point, and now one of them had been pushed. Only a coward turned and fled just because winning suddenly didn’t look plausible.
From his concealed vantage point, Stone observed as the book-boyfriend bachelor known for his murky past effortlessly won over the crowd. The man’s smile and gestures were perfectly crafted to charm, and Stone wondered if the guy had used his good looks to lure Sophie during their interview. Had he asked her to save a date for after the conclusion of the auction? Was that the real reason she’d turned down his offer?
Of course, he’d had the same damn thought with every bachelor who’d been on the stage tonight. And why wouldn’t he? Had she interviewed him, he would have asked her out, rules be damned. It didn’t help that Sophie had enthusiastically bid on every last one of them.
Another animated cheer from the audience drew a curse from Stone. The bids were happening at a lively pace. With each new bid, applause and laughter followed. This because the bachelor in question was giving them a spectacular show, dancing and flirting from a distance. It was like watching a masterclass in appeal and allure. Stone wasn’t surprised by the bachelors’ ability to fascinate. That’s how guys like him were able to skirt the rules and live on the edges of the law.
A jaw-dropping offer reverberated through the hall, and the crowd went quiet.
“Sold,” Isabella said, clanging her gavel on her podium.
Stone’s gaze narrowed slightly as he recognized the figure who had placed the winning bid—it was Frankie,Naked Runway’sformidable editor-in-chief. A familiar prickling sensation crept up his spine. There was something unsettling about her, a certain sharpness in her demeanor that hinted at deeper, unseen motives. Though he couldn’t quite pinpoint the source of his unease, his instincts screamed that a secret was there, lurking beneath her polished exterior.
He’d mentioned his concern to Ms. Birdie, who’d brushed him off and said she was on top of it.
“You’re up next,” Ziggy said. The magazine’s fashion editor was tonight’s behind-the-scenes manager, making sure the book boyfriends were on time for their big moment. “You ready to out-stud the last stud?”
“That guy will be a damn hard act to follow,” Stone said.
Ziggy tittered. “That’s what she said.”
Stone scowled, causing Ziggy to titter again.
Resisting the urge to continue to wear his feelings on his sleeve, Stone instead straightened his bow tie and took a deep, steadying breath. While the rest of the crowd wouldn’t recognize him, he’d gone with one of Isabella’s cinnamon roll ensembles—other than the mask—in the hopes Sophie would.
