Page 7 of Just One Look

“I do not,” Emily huffed. “The sweetheart neckline is not Victorian.”

“Maybe not, but it’s still a discreet neckline. Add the long sleeves and no slit in the skirt, and I’d classify that if not Victorian, at least as conservative. My point being, if there were less dress it would be easier to clean and faster to dry.”

The voice over the loudspeaker called Devlin Baron to the stage.

“Oh, hell.” Emily flung the stall door open and ran across the empty ladies room. Taking hold of the dress now under the running faucet, she tipped her head at her sister. “Go to the table, grab my purse, and pull out the bidding number. You’re going to have to bid for Dev. I’ll finish up here and get out as fast as I can.”

Liz nodded. What more could she do? “Do we have a limit?”

“Nope.” Emily squeezed the water out of her dress and shook her head. “Whatever it takes to stop Courtney.”

“Got it.” Liz flung the door open and could hear the auctioneer opening the bidding at one thousand dollars. Scurrying across the room to their table, she listened as the bidding quickly jumped from one thousand to two and then twenty-five hundred and just as she yanked the number out of the purse, some woman with much too much make-up raised her hand to three thousand.

Liz made a dang good living, but who in their right mind would spend three grand for a dinner date with a man? Even if the man was Devlin Baron.

Standing at the table, her gaze shifting from the platform with Devlin standing at parade rest with his hands behind his back, and over to the bathroom door, hoping her sister would come out. She’d been given permission to bid as high as necessary, but at the moment three women, including the plastic face painted lady, had worked the bidding up to nine grand.

Who the heck pays that kind of money for a dinner date? She sucked in a breath, but no sign of her sister. Meanwhile, the bidding had reached twelve grand and at least one woman had the good sense to shake her head and back away from the bidding. Liz had watched enough episodes of that storage auction television show to know that if she jumped in too soon, all she would succeed at doing was raising the ante. Though, it didn’t look like Devlin minded. His head turning slightly from side to side, his smile intact, silently wooing the audience, the guy didn’t look like he had a care in the world.

One of the two women seemed to be slowing. The brunette had begun nibbling on her lower lip with every bid, and each rebuttal seemed to take a few seconds longer than the previous bid. Like it or not, there was no time for Emily, Liz was going to have to jump in. The plastic lady with a smug grin raised her card at twenty thousand dollars and the brunette’s shoulders slumped and her card face down at her table, she shook her head. She was out.

Even though the idea of twenty thousand dollars gave her goose flesh, it was her turn. The auctioneer called for twenty-one thousand and sucking in a long deep breath while she prayed she didn’t pass out, even if she was spending someone else’s money, she raised her card.

The auctioneer acknowledged the bid and the blonde’s head snapped around so fast that Liz thought it might fall off her shoulders.

Liz couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. Wouldn’t that be a cheap resolution for Devlin if the barracuda lady simply lost her head?

Chapter Four

Where the heck was Emily? It was taking every ounce of his poker face skills to keep from showing just how nervous he actually was. Two of the three serious bidders had fallen by the wayside and any second now, he was going to be at the mercy of Courtney Miller.

“Do I hear twenty-one?” At least that’s what Dev thought the auctioneer had said. The man had been told not to go as fast as a traditional bidding scenario, but a few times he’d rambled on so quickly, Devlin had lost track of where the bidding was.

To Dev’s relief, a card went up. Only it wasn’t Emily. Her sister was calling the shots. Not that he cared. As long as he didn’t have to deal with Courtney, he didn’t care which of the Carter twins bid on him.

More challenging than not letting the crowd see him sweat was not bursting out with laughter at the look on Courtney’s face when Liz waved her number with every increase. Courtney’s shock had transitioned to irritation, and now that the bidding was up to thirty thousand, he expected smoke to blow out of her ears any second now.

How he wished Emily were here to see the show. Last year, Courtney had walked away when the bidding reached thirty. She must be seriously ticked off to be pushing thirty-five now. For just a flash, he wondered if this was the year that she would stay in the game until Emily, or Liz, backed down. A few more waves and the two women seemed to have lost track of the money and were staring each other down clearly determined to win. Once again, Dev’s nerves were beginning to snap at him. All he could do is pray that Liz didn’t chicken out.

“Going, going…” the auctioneer’s voice penetrated the thoughts scrambling around in Devlin’s head. “And sold for thirty-seven thousand dollars.”

The room erupted in catcalls and applause, and Devlin’s gaze snapped around to Emily coming into the room, looking around and, her gaze meeting Devlin, she shrugged. That could not be good. Liz was gone from the table, and quickly scanning the rest of the room he spotted Courtney marching out the door.

What he couldn’t determine is who had lost and who was going to pay the bill, and considering Emily had his checkbook, his gut clenched at the thought that Courtney might be paying for him right this minute.

Nodding politely at all the guests still applauding and the MC carrying on over what a wonderful success tonight would be now that Devlin got the ball rolling, he strolled as casually as he could over to Emily. Even if what he really wanted was to sprint across the grand hall and if it turned out Courtney had won the bid, join his cousin Kyle on the family racing yacht and not stop till they reached somewhere safe, like Timbuktu.

The moment he reached his longtime friend, he glanced down at her dress. The sour cream was gone, but he could see streaks of light and dark where the gown was still wet. “You all right?”

“I’ve been better.”

At the same moment, their voices tumbled over each other, “What happened?”

“You don’t know?” Emily’s brows curved over the bridge of her nose. “You were there.”

“I was distracted. Didn’t you see?”

She shook her head. “No. I couldn’t tell who was winning the bets from inside the ladies room and by the time I made it back here it was all over. Where’s Liz?”

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