Page 1 of Auctioned to Dr. Daddy

Chapter One

Nathan

ArdingwoodHotelisoneof the fanciest places that you can stay in Kirkland.

The city is only eleven miles away from Seattle, making the drive feasible, especially for something like this.

The parking lot is filled to the brim with nice cars; there’s a Firebird and an ‘87 Impala, and up near the front is the Tesla that my brother drives. My gaze also catches the glinting curves of a Bentley.

Someone steps out of it and nods at me. “You’re one of the Stone boys, aren’t you?”

He’s an older man, scruffy-faced, all white-haired. Must be a friend of my dad’s.

“Nate,” I say, with a nod. I take his hand and give it a firm shake. “And you are?”

“Dr. Reed,” he says. The man’s attention quickly turns to a woman heading inside, her black dress having a splash of color in it.

She is gorgeous, catching my eye like no one had since Emma.

The man notices my lingering gaze and a grin splits his face. “I know. The auction’s going to be a real treat. I’m sure there are a fair few people hoping to get top bid on that one.”

He ambles inside before I can ask what he’s talking about. Maybe the woman had been carrying a piece of art for the auction and I had just missed it—I had been too busy staring at her ass.

I round the front of my car and head up toward the grand entrance to the hotel.

The glass doors are sitting open, and there are signs inside directing me toward the large conference room that has been rented out for the charity auction that my parents are putting on.

They’re technically from New York, but they’ve been buying up hospitals all over the country since before I was born, creating their own little medical empire.

One of their more recent purchases is St. Peters, the main hospital here in Kirkland.

It gets a lot of accidents coming in from the waterfront and has a high rate of pediatric patients. But for the most part, it sort of runs itself.

Some of the equipment was majorly out of date when they bought the place though, and the charity auction is meant to help balance that out.

I recognize one of the two women standing outside of the conference room. Audrey works closely with my mother. She smiles at me, tossing her red hair over one shoulder. “Nate! It’s been ages.”

We air hug and fake kiss before she asks, “Where’s Emma?”

Her companion leans forward, peeking at my hand. No ring.

“I couldn’t tell you,” I say, holding up my hand for better viewing. Even the tan line from the wedding ring is starting to fade.

“We finalized our divorce a few months ago.”

Audrey gasps, one hand covering her mouth. “Oh my— I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject.”

“You’re fine, Audrey.” I give her a pat on the shoulder. “It’s not a sore subject at all. Things had been rocky for a while, so it was… about time.”

That is an understatement.

Emma and I had actually split up once before, a year ago. But she had managed to get back under my skin, just in time for one of my friend’s weddings. I agreed to go with her, lacking anyone else to bring as a date, and… Weakness won out for a while.

I guess it was for the best. It proved that nothing had changed in our marriage—we still weren’t good for each other.

Audrey says, “Well, you never know. Maybe love will bloom tonight!”

Her friend, an older woman with silver threading through her hair, says, “We should try and meet up later. I’m Janet.”

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