The bid came from the back of the room, and I watched Pepper’s shoulders slump just a fraction. Relief? Disappointment? I couldn’t tell anymore. I used to be able to read her every micro-expression, but now she was a book written in a language I was no longer fluent in.
One of her other friends—Allie from Pie Hard—snatched the paddle from Pepper’s lap and flashed it, a determined expression on her face.
I watched Pepper’s eyes widen in horror. She made a desperate grab for it, but Allie twisted away, holding it just out of reach.
“What are you doing?” Pepper hissed, loud enough that I could hear it from the stage.
Allie ignored her, exchanging a meaningful look with Jess and Meghan that confirmed my suspicions. This was a setup. Those three had conspired to get Pepper here tonight, and now they were forcing her hand. I couldn’t decide whether I should be grateful that they appeared to be on my side or not.
“Four hundred!” someone called from the middle of the room.
“Five hundred!” Allie countered immediately, while Pepper tried to sink lower in her seat, that peaches-and-cream complexion flushing the same deep red I remembered from our first kiss behind the bleachers freshman year.
“Give me that!” She lunged for the paddle again, but Jess caught her arm.
“Six hundred!” A blonde woman near the back raised her paddle.
Meghan leaned across Pepper. “We’re doing this for your own good.”
“Seven hundred!” Allie shouted, waving the paddle like a victory flag.
The bidding intensified. I stood there like an idiot, watching the price of my company for one dinner climb higher than I’d ever imagined. Eight hundred. Nine hundred. A thousand. Christ. The department would be thrilled, but my stomach knotted tighter with each bid.
Every time the price jumped, Pepper’s friends would confer in whispers, then raise their paddle again. Pepper had given up fighting and now sat with her arms crossed, staring daggers at Hollywood, as if this whole fiasco was his fault.
“Twelve hundred!” called the blonde from the back.
“Thirteen hundred!” Allie shouted without hesitation.
“Fourteen hundred!” The blonde wasn’t giving up.
Pepper suddenly grabbed the paddle from Allie’s hand and stood up. The room went quiet.
“Fifteen hundred,” she announced, her voice steady despite the storm in her eyes.
The auctioneer glanced around the room. “Fifteen hundred going once... going twice...”
The blonde woman shook her head with a disappointed smile.
“Sold to Pepper DeLuca!”
The crowd erupted in applause, but all I could focus on was Pepper’s face. She looked like she’d just signed her own death warrant. Her friends were beaming, patting her back and whispering congratulations while she stood frozen, paddle still raised, staring at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
Shit. We were going to have dinner together. After everything that had happened between us, after all the things we’d said and couldn’t take back.
Well, I’d wanted an in with her. I just hadn’t imagined it would be this.
Relieved of my duty as meat, I stepped off the stage on unsteady legs, wanting nothing more than to beeline straight for Pepper. Our eyes locked across the crowded room, and for a moment, everything else faded away. Fifteen hundred dollars. She’d spent fifteen hundred dollars to have dinner with her ex-husband. What the hell did that mean?
But Pepper had already sunk back into her seat, her friends clustering around her like a protective shield. The auctioneer was already calling for the next “item” up for bid, and Chief Holloway caught my elbow.
“Good job, Tater. That’s a record.” He clapped me on the back, narrowly missing my bad shoulder. “Sit tight. Protocol says we all go up at the end for a final bow.”
Right. Protocol. The same thing that had me risking my life on the regular instead of fixing my marriage. I swallowed my frustration and took a seat in the back row reserved for the “merchandise.”
Kyle slid into the seat beside me, leg bouncing like he’d mainlined caffeine. “Dude. Your ex-wife just dropped more than my monthly rent to have dinner with you.”
“Thanks for the news flash, Twitch.”
