Page 68 of The Icing on the Cake
The applause is thunderous, the entire community cheering for one of their own. I practically run off the stage, ignoring protocol about waiting for the auction to end before mingling.
I stride toward Neesha at the back of the room and notice she’s arranging cupcakes that don’t need arranging. She looks like she might cry or throw something, and I’m not sure which would be worse. All I want is to tell her she didn’t need to spend a dime, that she already owns me completely.
“Neesha?”
She looks up and says nothing for a long moment.
“Why did you do that?” I ask.
“It was a moment of insanity, okay? I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“It was pretty clear to me what you were thinking,” I say, catching her hand. “You were thinking you didn’t want me going on a date with Brittany.”
“I couldn’t stand the thought of her—” She looks away from me. “Withyou. The idea of you spending an evening with the woman Nate cheated on me with…I just couldn’t face it again.” Her eyes grow watery before she turns away.
I reach for her gently, and turn her back to face me. “Neesha Gilmore, are you jealous? Because I have to say…” I step closer. “Watching you go to war for me? I’ve never had anyone fight for me like that. Even if it did cost you your entire savings.”
“You can’t convince me that I didn’t just do an incredibly stupid thing.”
“I wouldn’t call that stupid,” I say. “You just spent your entire savings to buy a date with me. You know what that means? You mustreallywant another one.”
“Don’t get too cocky. I don’t even know how I’m going to regain that amount. I must have lost my mind.”
“You know,” I prod, “there’s always the grant.”
She shakes her head. “That’s not a sure thing. And it requires me to stay in Maple Falls for two more years.”
“Is that a deal-breaker?”
Before she can answer, Ashlyn’s voice booms over the speaker system again.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special bachelor for the lineup tonight! Please welcome Nate Simpson!” We both look up as Nate saunters out, looking like a man who thinks the auction’s main event is him.
“At least Brittany can bid on her own boyfriend now,” Neesha mutters.
“She won’t…” I say, suddenly realizing that Brittany winning a date with me wasn’t the only problem tonight.
“Why?”
That’s when I realize Neesha doesn’t know the news yet. “Because they just broke up.”
She stares at me for a moment, her face a mixture of shock and worry.
From the stage, Nate’s gaze lands on us. He takes the microphone from Ashlyn before she even offers it. “Winning bid gets an amazing date with me,” he announces, “plus, a tour of the property I just put an offer on.” He pauses long enough to look at Neesha. “At Maple Lake.”
The same magical place where we shared our first real kiss, where we jumped in the lake together, and where she finally offered me her buried memories of her mother.
And now he’s trying to take it away.
“He wouldn’t,” Neesha whispers, but her expression says she knows exactly how vindictive her ex can be. “That jerk boughtourplace.”
CHAPTER 20
NEESHA
Ifumble with my keys as I approach my apartment, my mind still reeling over what just happened at the auction. Maple Lake might be gone and so is my money—seven thousand dollarsof it—all because I couldn’t stand losing to Brittany.
I check my email on the way up the stairs and see one from a Seattle realtor whom I contacted months ago, asking him to keep an eye out for open storefronts.
