Page 10 of Auctioned to Dr. Daddy

I lean over to him, letting my head rest against his shoulder. The touch feels almost too intimate, but I can’t help it. Something about being around him that just makes me feel at ease, like he wouldn’t judge me for anything I did.

And did I mention that he’s stupidly, ridiculously hot?

“I wouldn’t mind it at all,” I tell him. “So long as you come back quickly. Otherwise, I’m going to get lonely sitting out here all on my own.”

“Wouldn’t want you to get lonely on our pre-date,” says Nathan, with a low, warm sort of chuckle. The sound goes straight through me. I’ve totally not had anywhere near enough to drink for how absolutely attracted to the man I’ve found myself.

He stands up, and his palm presses to my shoulder. It’s warm on bare skin.

Fingers curl against me for a moment, and then he turns and heads back up the walkway, toward the main hotel lobby. He really isn’t gone for long, but it feels like the silence stretches out forever.

Five minutes at the most.

As it turns out, that’s exactly as much time as I need to get into my own head.

Have I been flirting too much? Coming on too strongly?

This isn’t the kind of thing that I do very often. I’m more likely to just look at someone handsome from the other side of the hallway than I am to just go over and start talking to them.

And Nathan Stone is not just a handsome stranger.

He’s going to be my mentor by this time next week!

I don’t want to come off as a total flirt and ruin my first impression… But I don’t want to seem like a cold bitch, either.

Thankfully, while the five minutes is enough time to get into my own head, the champagne that Nathan brings is enough to get me straight back out of it.

Plus, he’s a smooth talker.

“Shame there’s no music out here,” he says, after about twenty minutes of sitting outside in the fresh, cooling air. “Seems like this would be a good time for a dance.”

I’ve been enjoying the quiet, but I’m out of champagne and can’t help but feel like he’s right about this whole thing. It really is a shame that there’s no music out here.

I take the initiative, standing up and offering Nathan my hand this time around. “Then we should go back inside where there is some music.”

“That sounds like a great idea to me,” he says. His fingers curl tight around my wrist, and he leverages himself up. Once again, I find that we’re standing close together.

So close that I can almost lean up and kiss him.

So attractive that I want to lean up and kiss him.

But instead, we head back into the lobby of the hotel, down the hallway, and into the main conference room where the charity auction was held.

The crowd is still there, though most people have moved over to the tables to nibble at snack food and small slices of icing-covered cake, and a fair few of them have drifted over to the section of the room that’s been designated for dancing.

Halfway there, Nathan shifts to take hold of my own hand and leads me onto the floor.

His other hand settles on my hip, the touch electric.

My heart skips a beat as I step closer to him, settling my arms around his shoulders. The music is slow, perfect for the swaying of people that don’t actually know how to dance.

Nathan takes the lead, guiding me through the room, twisting me around other people that are happily entwined with each other.

It’s the most amazing night that I’ve had in a long time.

By the time the charity event is totally over, I’m tired, have had more champagne than is probably good for me, and am more than ready to head home.

Nathan walks out to where there’s already a cab waiting for me. He lifts up my hand, gives me a wink, and then presses a kiss to my knuckles like he’s some sort of smoky-eyed prince. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

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