Page 100 of Between Commitment and Betrayal
“Stop.” She caught my gaze, but Wes was already backing away like he knew he’d gone too far. I’d make sure he knew for certain before the night was over. “He’s not worth it.”
Noah cracked his knuckles. “She’s right. He’s not. Plus, he’s been drinking. He’ll probably apologize tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow he won’t have access to communicating with us to apologize,” I ground out.
Noah shrugged and then turned to Everly, not there to soothe me but instead her. “Dance with me, Evie. You’re the only girl here I know without two left feet.”
She didn’t even turn to me to see if I’d be okay with it. She stepped out onto the dance floor with him immediately, and off they went, clean lines, beautiful form, and pure sensuality. Noah didn’t care who I was. He knew he had the most stunning woman in his arms, and he took full advantage dancing with her.
Did she know she had the whole ballroom enraptured? That Noah probably would date her if he could? That any man would have her here if I hadn’t put a ring on her finger—and even that wasn’t a surefire deterrent.
I wanted to own her, take her from his grip, and announce to everyone that she was mine, that it wasn’t just a fake marriage, that she was truly my wife. Yet, seeing her with my niece had caused something small and ugly to form in my gut, and it felt a lot like doubt. Everly only wanted love in her family, and she deserved it. Carl had wronged her, her ex had wronged her, and her stepfamily continued to wrong her still.
When Noah brought her back to me, I gripped her hand tight as we walked over to our table for the auction to start as we ate.
Clara, outfitted in a red as deep as roses, had offered to lead the charge of the auction that night. I got up to thank everyone for being there and handed the mic off to her. Everly commented that I’d done a good job as I sat back down next to her.
“Good enough for us to leave for the night?”
“Not a chance,” Izzy and Lilah said, because of course they were eavesdropping on me murmuring to my wife.
We all listened to auction items as our forks and knives clinked away at the steak dinner, and we sipped more champagne.
Clara finally announced, “Okay, the night is almost over, but we have a surprise. It’s the most fun part of the night. We’ve added a bit of a twist. We’ll do the spontaneous portion now.”
Dom glanced at me with a lift of his eyebrow. “You allowing any auction items now?”
I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “Clara wanted to put a spin on it.”
He hummed and folded his arms over his chest as she explained the rules to everyone. As long as the terms were agreeable to those participating in the auction, people could make requests.
Someone yelled out, “I want a date with Noah Romero. If he fights like that on the ice, I want to see how he fights in the bedroom.”
Clara smiled big. “I hope there’s no fighting in the bedroom.” She winked, and Dom grumbled that this was stupid. “Noah, what do you say?”
Noah was always a team player. He chuckled and shrugged, leaving his date in the dust as he sauntered up there like he didn’t give a damn. She must have not cared at all either, because she clapped for him as he hopped up on stage and did a little spin and bow.
When he pointed at Everly, I shook my head. The fuck did he think he was doing? My wife wouldn’t be bidding on him. I leaned over and muttered, “Don’t even think about it.”
With a flute of champagne in her hand, she turned those deep blues on me. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t compete with what he’ll go for.”
“You think he’ll go for that much?” What the hell was so special about him?
“He’s literally a walking dream, and he dances like one too.” She must have seen my jaw ticking because she tapped her finger to it before she licked those red lips and murmured in my ear, “In all honesty, I’d pay more for you.”
A woman yelled out six figures and her head whipped around, her jaw dropping wide open. Everly probably had never seen the lengths people would go to at a charity auction of this sort.
I expected no other surprise auctions to be announced, but Clara cleared her throat. “An anonymous request for the beautiful woman in deep blue who danced clean lines with Noah.” She glanced up from the note. “Evie, that must be you. They want a dance down in the garden under the starlight. What do you say?”
She gasped when she heard her name, and her gaze whipped to me.
I glanced around the room for the anonymous bidder, wanting to make sure I took note of who I would have to obliterate later. A private dance with her wasn’t on the table. I set my fork down and wiped my mouth before leaning close to her ear and saying, “Did you fucking agree to this?”
She bit that luscious lower lip and shook her waves of curls. “No, but I can’t say no.”
“You absolutely can and will.” My voice was low and held warning.
Yet, my wife studied my face, took a sip of her champagne, and then patted my thigh before she took a deep breath and met Clara’s gaze. “One dance in the garden.”
