Page 41 of Hope's Highest Bidders

She bites on to her lip and nods. “Sure.”

I want to reach for her and kiss her, but I don’t. “I’ll be right back.”

I go down the hall to my bedroom. I strip all my clothes off and take the fastest shower I’ve ever had. By the time I’m back in a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt, I’m making my way back down the hall to the kitchen, running my fingers through my hair. She seems surprised when I cut the corner. “That was quick.”

I just shrug in response. I don’t want to tell her that I was worried she’d leave before I got back out here. She sets a plate of cornbread on the table, and I stop her before she goes back toward the stove. “What took you so long?”

Her eyes widen. “Uh, I had to brown the beef-“

“No, I mean what took you so long to come over here?”

She shrugs. “Well, you said you wouldn’t let me go...”

I nod and brush a strand of hair away from her face. “I won’t.”

She smiles. “Right, well, I had to hire a full-time nurse and talk to Frank and the new hand I hired. I’ll have to go over there every day, but I think between Frank and the new guy, it should be okay. Plus, I had to pack.”

My body tenses. “You packed?”

Her cheeks turn a pretty pink. “Well, yeah, I mean... I thought..” She seems to pull her shoulders back. “Yes. I packed.”

I look down the hallway toward the front door and don’t see any bags. I know I didn’t see them in my bedroom. Surely she didn’t put them in the spare bedroom. “Where are your bags?”

“In my truck.”

I release her instantly. “I’ll be right back.”

“The food...” she calls after me.

I holler over my shoulder, “I’ll eat it, I promise. Set it to warm. I have a few things to take care of first.”

I walk outside, pleased to see the bed of her truck full of bags. I start carrying them in as she watches me. “I could have brought them in, but I wasn’t sure where to put them.”

I stop next to her and kiss her lips. “In our bedroom. You’re sleeping in my room... in my bed.”

She swallows, and her eyes light up with need. “Okay.”

I lift her bags up. “Relax. I’ll get these.”

She doesn’t listen, though. She follows me down the hall and watches as I set the bags down on the floor. I open the closet and point to the empty side and then go to the dresser and open the empty drawers. “I made room for all your stuff.”

She smiles. “You knew I’d come?”

I shrug, not wanting her to know how worried I was, wondering if she was going to want me or not. “I hoped.”

16

SASSY

“You hoped I’d come?”

I know I’m being ridiculous. He said he wanted me, but there are still parts of me – the tomboy that’s never been good enough – that still wonders if this could possibly be real. And then I remind myself that he paid six million dollars to have me. Surely, that’s telling.

Even though I’ve spent the last two days questioning everything – like how long is this really going to be for, if he’s going to get tired of me and he still hasn’t said he loved me – I knew that I would come.

Cole comes toward me and puts his hands at my waist. “Your eyes are going wild. Like a caged animal. You want to be here, right, Sass?”

I let out a deep breath. “Yeah, I want to be here. Of course, I want to be here. And I know there are no guarantees, but I’m just thinking when you get tired of me-“

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