Like a kidney transplant.
CHAPTER 18
Harrison
“The auction is over, Hannah,” I say.
She nods, entirely too calm. “I know.”
“Then why am I still here?” I look down at myself. “I’m still shirtless. A walking warning to any man stupid enough to agree to be auctioned.”
“I promise it won’t be much longer.” She checks her phone and smiles. That is never a good sign. “You just have to, um, wait.”
As a matter of fact, I do have to wait. Mostly because my not-so-innocent sister hid my phone and wallet. Even though she denies it.
“Can I at least get a shirt?”
“The venue is rented. For events,” she reminds me. “Brian and Zac searched high and low.”
“No, they didn’t.”
She snorts. “No. They didn’t. They like you like this, and I quote, ‘in all your manly glory.’ Apparently, you’re deficient in female attention.”
I cross my arms over my bare chest, suddenly hyperaware of every wandering eye in a five-mile radius as three women stroll past. One of them openly purrs.
“Great,” I mutter. “While we wait, how about you tell me what, exactly, we’re waiting for?”
She lifts one finger. The universal sign for just a second, I’m stalling.
“Hannah.”
Nothing.
“Hannah!”
She hides behind her phone.
I lean in, lowering my voice. “Give me a hint. Are we waiting on funds to wire? A check to clear? A ceremonial goat sacrifice? I feel like context matters.”
Finally, she makes eye contact. Then comes the look. The same one she wore before telling me she’d loaned my truck to her high school guy of the month.
Who totaled it.
She exhales slowly, and I brace for impact. “The woman who won the bid…” she starts.
My stomach tightens. “What about her?”
“She insists on meeting you. And starting your date tonight.”
What? I blink at her. “I can’t meet her like this.”
“Yes, you can. She sort of insists.” Hannah pockets her phone. “And apparently, she’s very camera-shy. So, we’re waiting until the paparazzi clear out.”
“Camera-shy?” I mutter. “I’m the one who should be camera-shy.”
Right on cue, two women slide in close and snap a selfie, giggling as my bare chest becomes their wallpaper.
I shut my eyes. “I’ve been reduced to an Instagram prop.”
