Page 34 of Mismatched Mates

“It's for a good cause, right?"

A small smile tugged at Jane's lips. "It is. But... won't your father be upset?"

I laughed, a touch of bitterness creeping in. "Probably. But hey, maybe it'll improve my image. Win-win, right? So, sign me up. Give me a number and a price tag.”

“You’ll have to follow through,” she warned. “Actually go on a date.”

I winked at her. “I’ve been told I’m very charming.”

“Not by me,” she said, but the corner of her mouth curved into one of her trademark reluctant smiles, and it felt like a victory. “If you’re sure, that would be… very helpful. Do you want to come through to the back? I’ll get you outfitted up.”

"Well, well. Look at you, big brother. Playing the hero."

I turned to see Konrad approaching, a proud grin on his face. He clapped me on the back.

"Nice move, G," he said, his voice low. "Jane here seems to bring out the best in you."

I felt my cheeks grow warm. "It's not a big deal," I muttered.

Konrad chuckled. "Don't sell yourself short. It's good to see this side of you." He glanced at Jane, then back at me. "You’re a good influence, you know."

I watched Jane's cheeks flush as she busied herself with her phone, pretending not to hear. My chest tightened with an unfamiliar feeling.

Konrad nudged my back. “I like her even more now.”

“Shut up,” I muttered, and followed Jane through to the back room.

JANE

It felt as though I had suddenly stepped off a cliff, from reality into a dream. Grant came through the back with me and didn’t so much as utter a word of complaint as I talked him through how it was going to work—he was going to stay here in the hopes that it would be a surprise for the audience, and be presented last as the biggest prize.

And then, as per the terms of the deal, he would actually have to go on a date with the successful party. I outlined the expectations—dinner date, prepaid, at a reputable restaurant in the heart of Pine River, lasting for at least an hour—and tried not to imagine him sitting there with a nameless woman.

The thing was, Grant was right: hecould becharming. It was only when you looked closer, saw everything his smile hid, that you might suspect he wasn’t as easy breezy as he seemed.

“You okay?” he asked when I was done, reaching out to brush that annoying strand of hair back from my forehead.

“Yeah, good. Better. Just…” I hesitated, because I was grateful, but this event was a big deal, with a lot of society names in attendance, so I couldn’t afford for things to go wrong…

“Why did you offer to help?”

“What do you mean?” His eyes looked into mine without a hint of guile.

“I mean this isn’t part of our deal.”

“I didn’t come here of my own volition,” he grinned and bent down to kiss my cheek. “But now I am here, I might as well do something useful.”

“Yes, but do you actually want todothis?” Was it curiosity or suspicion that fueled my question?

The smile left his eyes, and he tipped my chin into the air. “I wanted to help you because you looked like you needed help, and I could. There doesn’t have to be anything more to it than that.”

My heart gave an alarming pang. If I was honest with myself, this wasn’t me. The person who was so distracted in the final days of organizing this event wasn’t me. I wasn’t the kind of person to fixate on a man to the degree that I couldn’t focus on anything else. For three days straight, all I’d been able to think about was the gleam in his silvery eyes and the low grunt he made at the back of his throat when I’d put my hands on him.

Control was slipping through my fingers, and it had everything to do with the man standing in front of me, rescuing the day.

A few minutes later, the auction started. The men we’d selected were reasonably attractive, and they took it in good sport, posing and flexing as the ladies around the tables shouted out numbers to the auctioneer.

Then it was Grant’s turn.

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