Page 7 of Auctioned to Dr. Daddy

“That would explain why you had my interview on the mind,” I say, understanding dawning. I pretend to be hurt for a moment, pressing a hand to my chest. “And here I thought that you were just following my career.”

“It’s a bit of both,” she admits.

The compliment has me smiling. “Do you like it? Not just the hospital, but the work.”

“I do,” she tells me. “The hospital is great. And it’s seen a lot of improvements since Dr. Stone bought it.”

She’s got the kind of smile that makes it clear she takes a lot of pride in her work.

Alright, she’s also got the kind of smile that a guy can get lost in.

I might be recently divorced, but I’m not blind.

Demi’s fucking gorgeous.

I knew that the moment I spotted her in the parking lot.

“You’re just saying that because he is my father.” I lean forward and in a faux whisper say, “You can be honest, Demi. He’s picked out the worst food for your cafeteria known to mankind. We both know it.”

Demi laughs along with me.

She tucks a single loose strand of blonde hair behind one ear. The necklace that she’s wearing catches on the light, drawing my gaze to the lean line of her neck, and the nice glimpse of her cleavage.

“Alright, the food isn’t great,” she admits.

“What about the food?” Tyler asks, coming back over with Selma on his arm.

Turns out their moment alone was a trip to the snack table. She looks about as pleased to be down here with the Stone brothers as Demi does.

And alright, fine. So I might be a little aware of our reputation.

Tyler’s known for being the flirt, but I’ve heard plenty of women whispering about what a shame it was that I happened to be taken. And all sorts of mock sympathy about the divorce.

“I was telling her that she could admit dad ruined the cafeteria food,” I repeat.

Tyler makes a face. “Oh, yeah, he absolutely did. It’s gross. I feel like I’m back in high school anytime I go down there, waiting for the science teacher to come yell at me over my homework.”

Selma laughs, “Did you get in trouble over your homework a lot?”

“Okay, no. That was a bad analogy. No more talking about me.” Tyler shakes his head and untangles his arm from around Selma so that he can wave his hand through the air.

“I wouldn’t mind hearing more about that,” Selma says.

“Me neither,” says Demi, clearly glad to be skipping out on the hospital talk. Alright, I can’t blame her. We spend so much of our time working in these places, it’s nice not to have to discuss it for a little while, even though the whole event is technically part of our job.

Tyler and Selma break off from the group again quickly enough. When they do, I find myself admitting to Demi, “I’ll be honest with you, he’s the only reason I picked up a paddle when they were being passed out. I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of buying a date.”

“I wasn’t totally sold on it either,” she says. “But when it was brought up that they were a few girls short for the auction, I felt like I had to do something to help the place out.”

“I’m fairly certain that not calling off every third shift does the trick,” I tell her, with a wink. “But I can’t complain about you showing up.” A stroke of honest curiosity cuts through me. “Has it grown on you?”

She looks me over, leaning closer into my personal space so she can press a hand to my chest. “I mean, something’s definitely grown on me.”

“The moment you came out on that stage, I knew that we should be getting dinner tomorrow. I saw you on my way in, just for a moment. God, you looked beautiful.” I admit to her, thinking back to the way that she caught my gaze as soon as I arrived.

Something about Demi had instantly drawn me in. I’m not normally like this with women, but… Well, she feels different. Which is why I had no hesitation about the auction once I saw her on the stage.

Demi’s cheeks go bright pink again. It seems like even the smallest compliment is enough to make her blush. It’s a cute trait, and it fits her.

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