Page 39 of Hope's Highest Bidders

Aaron doesn’t hang out after that. He finishes off his tea and makes an excuse to leave before he hightails it out of here.

As soon as he’s in his truck, Sassy turns to me with her eyes raging and her hands held tightly together in her lap. “You’re telling everyone we’re married.”

“We are,” I deadpan.

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Oh yeah? Did you tell Delilah?”

14

SASSY

Iregret saying it as soon as I open my mouth. “You know what? Forget it, I don’t care.”

Cole turns in his seat, stopping the motion of the swing. “You’re jealous.”

I roll my eyes but don’t answer him. Why do I feel like I’m being played or made a fool of? “It doesn’t matter.”

He puts his hand on my knee. “Sassy, honey, it does matter. I don’t want you to feel insecure or jealous. I married you, and yes, I told Delilah. She was happy for us.”

I look at him with sadness. “This isn’t a real marriage, Cole.”

He squeezes my leg. “I have a paper that says otherwise.”

“You didn’t have to...”

He grabs on to my hands with both of his. “I told you I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.”

I tilt my head and watch him closely. “So you want to be married to me?”

He seems as if he’s searching for an answer or trying to figure out what to say. He’s surely not admitting his undying love to me. I hold my sigh in and shake my head, overwhelmed with emotion.

He tilts my chin up. “What’s that? Right there, what’s that look about?”

I pull my chin from his grasp and look at my hands. “Maybe you shouldn’t have come to the auction.”

“Don’t say that. You don’t mean that.”

“You want to be friends... I want more.”

He rubs his hand across my shoulder. My nipples pebble, and goosebumps form on my arm. “I came to the auction because I couldn’t let you leave with someone else.”

My eyes lift to his, searching for the truth. “Why? Can you tell me why? I can handle the truth, Cole. Is it because you respect my dad? Because you’ve known me forever? Because I’m like a little sister to you? What is it?”

He laughs darkly. “I definitely don’t think of you as a little sister.”

“Then why?”

He reaches for me, but I pull away. He looks at me patiently and pats his lap. “Sit here.”

“You want me to sit in your lap?”

He nods. “Yeah, I have some things to tell you, and I’d rather do it with you in my arms.”

I should be embarrassed that I don’t hesitate, but I’m not. I stand up, and his hands go to my waist, pulling me to his lap. He turns me sideways so that his arm supports my back and my legs are up in the seat I just got up from. “Okay.”

He lets out a deep breath. “I’m fourteen years older than you, Sassy.”

My forehead creases. “So you think I’m too young for you?”

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