Page 73 of Sacrifice Bunt

“Don’t be sorry. Go.”

She gave him one last look, one that promised she’d make it up to him, and then walked away. He got a nice long look at her ass covered in the pink fabric and only the pink fabric before she was surrounded by a crowd of people.

“If you're hiding this, you probably shouldn't stare at Zara's ass as she walks away,” Heath said as he came to stand next to Noah.

“Nice of you to finally show up. I assumed you had faked your death so that you wouldn't have to do this.” Noah wasn’t going to acknowledge his comment about staring at Zara's ass.

“If I thought I could get away with it, I would have.”

“You're such a baby. It's a freaking auction. For charity. Somebody bids on you, you take them out for a nice dinner, and they pay a buttload of money to the animal shelter.”

“The only reason you're happy about doing it is because Zara is here. There is no other reason.”

“You think I'm happy about being auctioned off while the woman I love watches? You're sick and twisted.”

“I didn't say you were happy with the auction part. I meant you were happy that she was here, and you got to spend time with her.”

“When you have to keep your hands to yourself around the woman you love, you can complain. Until then, let's get drinks. If we have to suffer through this, we might as well have alcohol.”

“See,” Heath said triumphantly. “Even you think it’s suffering.” Noah shook his head, pushing him on the shoulder to get him moving. At the bar, they ran into a few other ball players they knew and a few guys who played other sports. Some he’d met over the years, and others he hadn't. The next time he looked around, he noticed that the ballroom had filled up with many new faces in the crowd.

The bidders.

There were a few people he recognized, celebrities, tech moguls, and team owners. But there were a lot he didn’t know. Just rich people wanting to support a good cause.

At least, that's what he was hoping for because there were a lot of women in the room. Young women, old women, women everywhere.

“Jesus, there’s a lot of people here,” Heath said to no one in particular.

Noah rubbed his forehead. “I had no idea it would be this many. Who are all these people?”

“Hannah said it's a lot of wealthy people from the area who like to do good and give back.”

Noah was happy people wanted to give back and donate to a good cause, he just hated that he was about to be caught in the middle of that. After about another 30 minutes of mingling, he headed to the backstage area with the rest of the athletes being auctioned off. One by one, they each took the stage where Jase would sing their praises and start the bidding. The crowd laughed and shouted with each guy, and it seemed like good fun. Noah let himself relax a little bit.

“Hey,” Hannah came up to him. “The crowd is generous tonight. I even ran into a few people waiting to bid on you.”

Damn it. He had just relaxed, and now he was nervous again. “Let's hope it's somebody nice, and who doesn't think this is going to be a real date.”

“From my mingling, it seems like there's a few of those out there that want these to turn into more, but for the most part, people understand that it's for charity.”

“Have you seen Zara?” He hadn't seen her since he first came backstage, and that was from a distance.

“She's back out in the crowd schmoozing with some possible donors. She's good at that. I hate it.”

He imagined she was good at it because she was good at everything she did.

“You’re up next,” Hannah said, tapping him on the shoulder.

He moved closer to the curtain and waited for Jase to call his name. When he heard his name, Noah parted the curtain and stepped out on the stage with a big smile.

No one needed to know that it was fake.

“And here we have Noah Ashe, outfielder for your very own LA Emperors. Doesn't he look great? Noah has planned a date at his favorite local park where you’ll have a picnic lunch. Sounds romantic, right?”

Noah held himself back from rolling his eyes in front of the crowd. He’d had no clue what to auction off but, thanks to Zara’s help, had decided on a picnic in the park. It was simple and easy and hopefully wouldn’t lead anyone on.

“Let's start the bidding at one thousand dollars,” Jace said, and Noah watched as a dozen hands went up.

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