Then it’s Nate.
He climbs the stairs with that rigid control he gets when he’s locking everything down. Button-down shirt instead of his deputy uniform, but he still carries himself like he’s on duty.
“Deputy Nate Thorn,” Tessa announces. “Keeping our streets safe and always first to help a neighbor in need.”
Someone whoops from the back. Probably Mrs. Henderson.
“Starting bid, fifty dollars.”
Cara’s paddle is up before Tessa finishes speaking. “Fifty.”
“Seventy.” Mrs. Henderson, grinning like this is better than her soap operas.
“Eighty.”
“Three-fifty.” Cara’s voice cuts through clear and certain.
Dead silence.
Nate’s shoulders go rigid. He’s not looking at Cara—he’s looking at some point above the crowd, jaw tight.
“Three hundred fifty dollars,” Mayor Bradley says slowly. “Going once... going twice...”
“Sold.”
Nate walks off stage like a man walking to his own trial. When he reaches us, his scent has gone cold—no woodsmoke, no pine, just ice.
“She bought all three of us,” Lucas says quietly.
Nate doesn’t respond.
“What do we do?” I ask.
Silence. Then Lucas sighs. “We honor the auction. That’s the rules—winners get dinner with the bachelors they won.”
“So we sit with her.”
Nate doesn’t respond. Just pushes past us toward the main room.
That’s a yes, apparently.
Tables are setup throughout the room. Servers bringing out plates. The whole place smells like filet mignon and fresh bread.
We find our table near the back. Reserved for Cara Donovan + Guests.
And there she is.
Sitting alone with her hands folded in her lap, looking like she’s not sure whether to be terrified or defiant. She’s chosen defiant, from the set of her jaw, but her eyes give her away.
Her scent hits me the second I get close. Honey and citrus, sweet and familiar, but with something underneath—something nervous. Every alpha instinct I have wants to fix it, soothe it, make it better.
I slide into the seat across from her instead.
Lucas takes the chair beside me. Nate sits at the end, as far from her as the round table allows, and immediately picks up his water glass.
For a long moment, nobody speaks.
“Thank you,” Cara finally says. “For sitting down. I know you didn’t have to.”
