Page 72 of Getting Wrapped Up

The first nodded. “Oh, I think so.”

Yeah, Kate was thinking that maybe that wouldn’t be Levi’s first experience with two girls at once. She cringed. She’d stopped him before he got to those details.

“Three-seventy-five!” someone else yelled.

“I don’t have that much,” the blonde said.

“Yeah.” The brunette slumped in her seat. “Me either.”

But Kate did. She could just bid on him. She had a nice healthy bank account, as a matter of fact, and without her San Francisco rent as a part of her bills soon, she’d have enough savings to last a few months if she didn’t find a job.

She could outbid most of the women in the room.

But for some reason she didn’t raise her hand. She wanted to see what Levi was worth in the opinion of the women in Sapphire Falls. And she wanted to see how he reacted to the winner.

“Four!” someone near the front called out.

“Okay, okay,” the auctioneer said with a chuckle.

She couldn’t tell one woman from another up front, so Kate was watching Levi. He looked almost embarrassed. Then he looked at someone in the front row. He widened his eyes and shrugged.

Kate tried to crane her neck to see if she could tell who he was communicating with, but the crowd was too thick—and filled with women. It could have been any of them.

Dammit.

“Do I hear four hundred and ten?”

“Four hundred and ten,” someone answered.

“Do I hear four hundred and twenty-five?”

“Four twenty-five!”

“How about four—”

“Five hundred!”

Kate felt her eyes widen. Five hundred was quite a compliment. Levi was worth it, certainly, but surely five hundred dollars for a Valentine’s date was extreme.

Levi again focused on someone in the front row, gave him or her a frown.

Almost immediately she heard, “One thousand dollars,” from the front row.

Kate had to see who it was. One thousand dollars to dateherboyfriend? Surely it was only fair that she lay eyes on the woman. Kate started toward the front, nudging people out of the way.

“One thousand from our good mayor,” the auctioneer said with a huge grin.

Kate stopped in her tracks.

The mayor. So Haileywasn’tan overly common name in town. It was Hailey Conner bidding on Levi.

Biddinga loton Levi.

Kate focused on Levi again. He looked…relieved. He was giving Hailey a huge grin.

Oh, really?

Kate felt a deep frown pulling her eyebrows together. Relieved and happy to be Hailey Conner’s Valentine’s Day date? While Kate was supposed to be in DC? And after weeks of spending time working with Hailey on town projects and a new marketing program aimed at bringing people to town to their shops and festivals and the new dirt bike track they were going to begin building in the spring in part thanks to Levi’s investment.

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