Page 54 of Do Opposites Attract?

‘Thank you, sir,’ the auctioneer acknowledged him. ‘But surely, for our beautiful hostess, we can get more than five hundred pounds?’

‘One thousand pounds,’ came the response from a rather rotund man near the front of the stage.

Mitch gritted his teeth. ‘One thousand five hundred.’ He felt stupid, offering money to go on a date with the woman he was seeing anyway. Especially as the money went to the same charity he worked for.

‘Two thousand pounds.’ The man at the front wasn’t giving in.

Mitch figured he didn’t need to eat next month, after all. ‘Two thousand five hundred.’

He was relieved to see a shake of the head from the man who’d been bidding against him. Expelling breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, he risked a glance at Brianna, who was smiling broadly at him.

‘Two thousand five hundred pounds with the tall, fair-haired gentleman at the back of the room. Do I hear any further bids?’ The auctioneer was ready with his gavel. ‘Going once . . .’

‘One hundred thousand pounds.’

The crowd gasped and turned en masse to stare at the latest bidder.

Mitch didn’t need to look. He knew it was Henry. The man’s obsession with Brianna was obvious to everyone. Except it seemed to the lady in question. He’d seen the look of jealousy flare in Henry’s eyes after he’d deliberately kissed Brianna in front of him. It didn’t take a genius to work out that Henry would take any opportunity he could to embarrass Mitch, to belittle him in Brianna’s eyes. And he’d succeeded. Other than sellinghis house, which even Mitch wasn’t prepared to do just to save face, he had to accept that Henry had won.

Involuntarily his hands clenched into fists. The smart, grown-up way to admit his defeat would be to acknowledge Henry’s bid with a polite smile. But Mitch had never been the polite sort. What he really wanted to do was run a fist into the smug bastard’s smooth, handsome face. Glancing at the genteel crowd, watching him expectantly, and then at Brianna’s worried face, Mitch knew he couldn’t give in to that urge. So he did the only thing he could do. With a single shake of his head, he turned around and strode out of the room, making his escape.

* * *

Brianna couldn’t get off the stage fast enough. She’d seen the humiliation on Mitch’s face, mixed with a hefty dose of anger, and was desperate to get to him before he left. She didn’t know what she’d say when she caught him, only that it was vital she did.

‘Brianna, darling.’ Her mother stood in the aisle, blocking her way. ‘Where are you rushing off to?’

‘Not now, Mum.’ Frantically she scanned the exit, briefly catching sight of Mitch’s back view before he disappeared down the corridor.

‘You’re running after Mitch, aren’t you?’

Brianna flinched at the undertone. Her mother certainly had a way of showing her disapproval. ‘I’m going to find him, if that’s what you mean.’

‘I didn’t realise you two were still an item until this evening.’

‘After the way Henry’s just humiliated him, we probably won’t be.’ None too gently, she manoeuvred her mother out of the way. ‘Sorry, Mum, but I don’t have time for this now.’

‘Just be careful. I warned you about getting involved with a man who’s from a very different background to yours . . .’

They were words she’d heard before and they rolled off Brianna as she fled through the ballroom as fast as her towering heels would allow her. Then it was down the corridor, across the foyer, and through the revolving door to outside. There, to her intense relief, she found Mitch leaning against the wall, waiting for a taxi. His bow tie was unknotted, shirt open at the collar and his jacket flung over his shoulder. His face was as black as thunder.

‘Mitch.’ She rushed up to him, laying a hand on his arm.

‘Leave it, Brianna,’ he growled, yanking his arm away from her touch.

‘No, I won’t leave it.’ He was angry, but so was she. At the moment it was a toss-up who she was more angry with. Henry for being so arrogant, or Mitch for letting Henry get to him. ‘Were you going to go without saying goodbye?’

Mitch glared at her, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. ‘I’m not a great person to be around right now. Go back to your friends.’

‘My rich friends, don’t you mean?’ She thrust her chin up at him, daring him to disagree.

‘Yes, damn it, your rich friends.’ His dark eyes glinted dangerously, a sign he was battling to hold onto his temper. He was a proud man and that pride had just taken a big hit.

‘Mitch, Henry has just paid a ridiculous sum of money for one evening with me. Something you can do any night you choose for free. What does that make him?’ she asked, her tone gentler this time.

‘It makes him rich and stupid,’ he acknowledged with a grunt.

‘And what does it make you?’ She risked moving closer to him, putting her arm around his waist.

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