“Don’t be,” he says, and when I look back up, he’s definitely smiling now. “She’s funny”
Oh.
“So.” He shifts his attention back to me. “Want to get out of here?”
I blink.
“Now?” I ask.His brow lifts slightly. “Unless you’d rather stay and bid on someone else.”
“I—no. I mean. No.”
Elizabeth kicks me under the table.
“I mean,” I add, scrambling for something that sounds like a complete sentence, “I did just win you. It would be weird to immediately replace you.”
“That would be a blow to my ego,” he says mildly.
“Good to know you have one.”
“Only a small one.”
Elizabeth snorts again. Traitor.
I glance back at her. “You’re good?”
She waves me off. “Go. Live your overpriced fantasy.”
“I hate you.”
“You love me.”
I do.
Unfortunately.
I grab my purse, standing up a little too quickly, smoothing down my dress like that’s going to somehow make me less flustered.
Douglas steps back slightly, giving me space, but his hand hovers at the small of my back as we move away from the table.
Awareness sparks along my spine anyway, even though he isn’t touching me.
We weave through the crowd, the noise of the auction fading as we step out into the hallway. The air feels cooler out here, quieter, like we’ve stepped into a different world entirely.
“So,” I say, because silence suddenly feels dangerous, “is this part of the package? Immediate exit?”
“Depends,” he says. “Are you regretting your purchase already?”
“I’m still deciding if it was a good financial decision.”
“Fair.”
We walk toward the bar just off the ballroom, a smaller space with low lighting and plush seating. It’s quieter here, more intimate, the kind of place that feels like it exists slightly outside of time.
He pulls out a stool for me before taking the one beside it.
I notice.
Of course I notice.
