Page 60 of Hope's Highest Bidders

I don’t have to look at him to see his reaction. I can see the smile on his face through the reflection of the glass. I hope I’m making the right decision.

10

BEN

She agreed to come home with me. I thought she would refuse me, so I press on the gas a little harder to get us home faster.

She’s quiet the rest of the ride, and when I pull into my driveway, I try to look at my cabin through her eyes and imagine what she’s seeing. To me, it’s my sanctuary, but what will she think about it?

I’ve only ever had my brother and sister here, so it’s hard to know how someone else would see it.

I grab her bag, and she gets out of the truck before I can come around to help her. She doesn’t trust me. I can’t see it by the way she’s glaring at me, and I can’t say I blame her. I pushed her away, and I invaded her privacy. I’m going to have to earn her trust back.

As we walk toward the cabin, I’m watching her as she looks up at the one-story house in front of us. She likes it. Her eyes are sparkling, and there’s a soft smile on her face, letting me know she approves. I don’t know why it means that much to me, but it does.

I open the front door and show her around the cabin. It’s an open concept, and I point out the different rooms. She’s quiet as she takes it all in. I walk across the room to the door that leads to the guest room. I would love if she would share a bed with me, but I know I’d be pushing it. “This is your room.”

She reaches for the bag that’s in my hands, and I let her take it. She walks into the room and slams the door in my face.

I scrub my hand across my face. Fuck, I need a drink.

I walk into the kitchen and pour a small shot of whiskey into a glass. As I swirl the amber liquid around, I think back to seeing her on that stage. I’ve never felt so attracted to someone in my life. I’d barely noticed the woman that went before her, but it’s like my body knew when she would be walking out. The other men in the room wanted her too. I knew they would, but I also knew that I wouldn’t be leaving without her. I would have bid whatever I had to bid to have this opportunity with her. All I want is to claim her and make her mine.

She’s not happy with me at all, though. I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but she’s not in any mood to listen to me.Fuck, what if she leaves?

My feet carry me across the house before I can think better of it. I knock on her door and stand impatiently waiting for her. She cracks open the door and looks up at me. “What?”

“Promise me you won’t leave. I mean, promise you won’t try and walk off this mountain. It’s dangerous.”

She leans against the doorjamb. “Well, then don’t give me a reason to if you’re so worried about it, Ben.”

She’s so beautiful as she looks up at me. The need to pull her into my arms is strong. “I know I don’t have a right to ask you this…”

She licks her lips. “What?”

Fuck, I feel like a schoolboy, but I know I need to take it slowly with her. “Can I kiss you?”

She bites her lip. She wants to say yes. Her eyes get darker, and her breath hitches. “I said…”

I cut her off and push the door open a little farther. “I know what you said. I’m not asking you to sleep with me. I’m asking you for a kiss, that’s all.”

Her knuckles are white as she grips the door. I prepare myself that she’s probably going to say no, but I’m surprised when she starts to nod her head. “Sure, why not?”

As soon as she says yes, I lean down. She raises on her tiptoes, and when her lips touch mine, a feeling of complete satisfaction overwhelms me. Ever since that kiss a few weeks ago, I’d wondered if maybe it was a fluke and that it was just the night or the emotions I was feeling then. But with her lips on mine, I know that there is something between us. I wrap my hand around the base of her neck and tilt my head to the side to deepen the kiss. My tongue strokes against hers, and the sound of her moan has me stopping and pulling back.

I’m breathing as if I’ve just run a mile as I search her eyes. She feels it, too. I know she does.

“I knew it.”

She blinks up at me in a daze. “You knew what?”

“I knew when I kissed you before that you were different. I fucked up, Maggie. But you have to know there’s something between us. You have to feel it.

She wants to believe me. The hope in her eyes is so evident it’s almost blinding. “But…”

I shake my head “But nothing. Admit it… you feel something for me.”

And just like that, her face drops. “I did. A few weeks ago in that courtyard at work, I felt something. Hell, Ben, I was ready to give myself to you then, and you pushed me away.”

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