“Hell yes!” he raised his glass again. “To a sore loser.”
“Here! Here!”
More laughter followed.
Despite her embarrassment over the auction, she couldn’t help but laugh.
What made it even better was that her parents seemed to be having the time of their lives too. She’d never seen her mother smile so much.
***
The function ended at midnight, and Lance went to speak with Marianne before he joined her again and led her out to the car. Marianne had left the table shortly after her father’s announcement over the engagement and went to sit with the man who’d bought her, after all, the men purchased the women for company for the remainder of the event. He was an older gentleman and she actually seemed quite at ease with him. Well, she probably knew him.
“Where are we going?” The car went in a different direction than his penthouse.
“Marianne’s.”
“Oh yes.” She’d forgotten.
He watched her for a moment before he spoke. “We don’t have to.”
“No, you told her we would be there. We should show. It looks like she worked really hard. Her speech was really great. You should be there to congratulate her.”
She smiled at her. “You have a big heart Tammy.”
She shrugged. She still didn’t like the way the other woman insisted on hanging off him, but really, she did a phenomenal job.
“I’d rather take you home, peel off that dress and make love to you. But I do have commitments. It’s what I came here for. My appointment book was full.”
She felt her own mouth pull into a smile. “Is that right?”
He nodded. His eyes burned with desire.
“Well pencil me in Mr. Hartley. I’ll take you up on that other suggestion.”
“Already done.” He bent his head and took her mouth.
God she could never get used to his mouth. It was so sinfully attractive. More so, because he knew how to use it.
“This dress is making me hard already. I can see every sensual curve of that beautiful body. No wonder you fetched such a high price.”
Her eyes widened. How could he be so blunt? Still, was it supposed to turn her on when he spoke like that? “High? You’re the one that paid a quarter of a million.”
“I meant before that.”
“I thought maybe you put them up to it.”
He chuckled. “You would think so, wouldn’t you? Tammy, you are beautiful. I just wish you’d believe it. I didn’t have to coax anyone. You did that all on your own. Your innocent display of humility is what set off the bids—that genuine flush of the cheeks, your tantalizing expression of shyness. All the other women put on a show. You were genuine. I was prepared to pay more.”
“More?” her mouth fell open.
He nodded. “The way Anderson was bidding on you was making me want to knock a few of those bleached teeth out. Now, you know I’m not a violent man.” Hi expression was poignant.
She laughed. Lance was far from it. His brother Colton was a handful as was Jacob in his younger years, but Lance was the peacemaker.
“What color of panties are you wearing?” he asked huskily.
Wow, that was out of the blue. She looked him directly in the eyes. A slow sensual smile spread across her face. She slowly crossed her legs. The move was deliberate. The split in the dress exposed her upper thigh. She wasn’t wearing any.
