Page 5 of To Win a Rebel

He nodded and stayed at her door.

Within minutes she returned, pushing some of her hair out of her face. Tonight, she had let it down, and there were natural curls in the long brown length.

“Shall we?” he asked, holding out his arm for her to take. She looked dubious and he was tempted to promise her that she wouldn’t catch anything from touching him. They were not schoolchildren anymore.

“Of course. Where are we going?” she asked.

“Well, that is for me to know and for you to find out.” He winked at her, and he loved hearing her light laughter.

He’d spent most of the day setting up a small picnic in the park. Nate knew how much she loved to walk as it helped to clear her head—again, what he’d overheard in snippets of conversation with her.

“It’s a lovely night,” Molly said.

“Yes, it is. Did you manage to raise all the money you wanted?” he asked, knowing for a fact she had.

“Yes, you wouldn’t believe the struggle I had with that auction. The board was not happy with the prospect of women being put up for auction.” She blew out a breath. “They were totally fine with the men.” She let out a chuckle. “Thank you for … you know, helping me.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“Why didn’t you allow any of the other women to buy you?” she asked. “I mean, you must have spoken to Randy before the auction?”

“I spoke to him within minutes of making that deal with you. Randy was already hanging around.”

“Oh,” she said. “I had no idea. So, what was so awful about the idea of being sold to a woman willing to pay for you?”

“Would you like men bidding on you?”

“Men wouldn’t bid on me, but I guess I see your point.”

“You don’t think men would bid on you.”

She shrugged. “I’m not searching for compliments, I just know I’m not the kind of woman men seem to lust after. It’s just a fact.”

She was so very wrong, it wasn’t even funny.

Nate had always liked Molly. She had been out of his league, but he was done with all that bullshit. He hadn’t lived like a saint, but he’d decided he was done watching Molly from the sidelines. She was going to belong to him, and he knew he was going to have her.

“So, what is your reason?” she asked.

“Simple, I don’t want to be at the mercy of some of the women. You saw what they were like, and they think because they spent money it gives them a license. Not happening, besides, I already asked the woman out that I wanted to bid on me.”

Molly stopped and he looked at her. “You really wanted me to bid on you?” she asked.

“Yeah, which is why we’re on this date.” And then he took a chance, like many of the heroes within her books. They didn’t wait for permission, nor take their time getting to know their heroine. There were a couple of books that were different, but most of the men took what they wanted when they finally realized what that was.

He cupped her cheeks, pushing her hair out of the way, and tilting her head back so he could look her in the eyes. She had such pretty green eyes. He felt like he could fall into them.

Closing the distance between them, he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her, claiming the kiss he’d been wanting, and he relished the moan that escaped her lips.

Chapter Three

Molly had been kissed before, but never like that.

She couldn’t quite think for a second, and then, as quickly as Nate had kissed her, he stepped away. She missed his touch and wanted to pull him closer, but instead she nibbled her lip and tried not to think about what had happened. Nate had kissed her. That seemed to be ringing around in her head.

“Shall we?” he asked, taking her hand.

Kind of dumbfounded, Molly followed him without a second thought. There was nowhere else for her to go. Her lips tingled, which was a stark reminder of the kiss he’d taken.

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