The Highest Bidder by Sommer Marsden

Chapter One

    ‘ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, five …’ Casey blew out a huge breath to steady her nerves and pushed her hands into her hair.
    In a moment she was going to start screaming.
    ‘But aren’t we supposed to have–’
    ‘Six!’ Casey snapped. Then she felt bad and patted her friend’s hand. ‘Sorry, Annie.’
    ‘No problem, kid.’ Annie signalled the waiter by shaking her iced tea glass at him. ‘What happened to our sixth?’
    Casey rifled the papers in front of her and finally found him. ‘Lester Smith – yes – Smith was …’ She shuffled through the pile. She’d gotten a notice on one of the attendees at some point and, oh, yeah, here it was. ‘… Arrested,’ she finished with a disgusted grunt. ‘And is being held. And will not be out in time for the charity auction.’
    ‘As if we could give him away!’ Annie giggled.
    The waiter brought the iced tea pitcher and topped her off. She glanced up with a huge smile and her big blue eyes and her swingy brown hair and said, ‘Thanks, doll. Now how would you like us to sell you?’
    The waiter – whose name tag read Benjamin – blinked furiously and turned an alarming shade of tomato. ‘Excuse me?’
    ‘Oh, don’t worry. Not a man-whore or anything,’ Annie said, waving her hand.
    Casey took the moment to cradle her aching head in her hands. Dear God. ‘Annie …’ she whispered.
    ‘It’s for charity, Benjamin. And you are too cute.’
    Casey had to nip it in the bud. She looked up and smiled at the blushing boy. ‘How old are you, Benjamin?’
    ‘Seventeen, ma’am.’
    Annie hmphed quietly but then laughed.
    ‘When will you be eighteen?’
    ‘This summer.’
    ‘Case closed,’ Casey said. ‘You’re too young. Run like the wind, Ben. Run away from the crazy lady. And can I get the check?’
    ‘Yes – yes, ma’am,’ he said and fled. Good boy. He knew wisdom when he heard it.
    ‘Now,’ she said, turning to her friend, ‘Can you please help me find a non-law-breaking man to fill in this space? You have to know men. You’re single and hot and all that jazz.’
    ‘You are too.’ Annie looked her dead in the eye – she was getting that stubborn look again.
    ‘I’m–’
    ‘Brendan has been gone for over a year,’ Annie said softly.
    ‘I know that. And I’m–’
    ‘If you say fine I will totally rip a chunk of your hair out,’ Annie said conversationally.
    Casey chewed her lip. Her friend was right but she didn’t want to have this conversation. ‘Being a widow is different than being broken up with,’ she said.
    ‘Of course it is!’ Annie grabbed her hand and squeezed it. ‘But you are gorgeous and funny and smart as hell. You are vibrant and young and Christ, Case, if anyone would want you to be happy it’d be Brendan.’
    ‘Enough,’ she said, pulling her hand away.
    Annie caught the tone and was a good enough friend to stop talking. They took the check and Casey paid. This charity event to benefit diabetes was all she cared about right now. Type 1 had taken her husband; the least she could do was attempt to keep it from taking someone else’s spouse. ‘Now … we really need a sixth man. Each team provides six for a total of eighteen. A dozen and a half bachelors for charity,’ she laughed. ‘Work your magic, Annie.’
    Annie rolled her eyes but said, ‘Fine. Fine. I’ll see what I can do.’
    Casey didn’t say it, but she needed Annie to do it because she didn’t know any single men. She hadn’t paid a lick of attention to a man besides her own in years. And now he was gone she was following the same pattern.
    So what if she was lonely?

    ‘His name is Nick Murphy. And he’s hot.’
    Casey glanced at her intake form for the bachelor participants. ‘I do not see a box marked “hot”.’
    ‘Well, add it.’
    ‘How tall?’
    ‘Why don’t you just wait until he’s here?’ Annie sighed.
    ‘How tall?’ Casey was so stressed she felt like she might pop a blood vessel. This auction was for