Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
CHAPTER 17
Marcie
Poor Ethan looks like a man marching off to a life sentence as he makes his way onto the stage. I cut a glance over at his mom to see the back of her hand pressed to her mouth to hide her smile. His sister isn’t worried about being obvious. She’s cheering and cackling at the same time and shoots me a wink.
I’m clapping as well but I’m momentarily distracted when someone sits down in the seat Ethan just left. I turn to see my sister and she’s not smiling and laughing the way everyone else is.
She leans over to me. “I have it on good authority that Diane Turner entered him in the auction and she intends to have the winning bid tonight.”
“What?” I exclaim, twisting in my seat to look at a table behind ours where I saw Diane sitting a bit ago.
Sure enough, she’s clapping enthusiastically and grinning like a damn fool as her hungry eyes follow Ethan onto the stage. She’s sitting next to another pretty woman who whispers back and forth, triumphant gleams in their eyes like they’ve pulled off a major coup.
Turning back to Michelle, I caustically mutter, “I’ve got twenty dollars in my purse and an educator’s salary. I assume Diane will outbid me.”
“Oh, hell no, she won’t,” Michelle says and puts her auction paddle—number 107—into my hand. “Consider that paddle an American Express Black Card with no spending limit.”
“No way,” I say, horrified at the idea of my sister buying my date for me. I push the paddle back at her but she holds both hands up and away, as if she’ll get burned by taking the piece of cardboard stuck to a popsicle stick.
“Marcie.” She levels a glare that says she doesn’t have time to argue. “Use the paddle and bid on him. Don’t you dare let that nasty woman win.”
I shake my head. “I am not using your money to bid on a man. It’s ridiculous.”
Harry Hagen booms into the mic. “Okay, ladies… it seems like Ethan Blackburn is a hot ticket item. Let’s just go ahead and start the bidding on him.”
I twist back toward the stage and see Ethan standing ramrod straight, his shoulders level but his hands clenched into fists. The glower on his face tells everyone he’s not happy about this.
“Five hundred dollars,” a woman calls out, and I cringe because it’s Diane Turner’s voice. I look back at her, find her challenging eyes right on me, her paddle still in the air.
I swing back to look at Ethan. His eyes are also on me, and he shakes his head slightly, indicating he doesn’t want me to spend a dime on him. I trust that if Diane wins, nothing will happen between them. He might be obligated to take her out to dinner or something, but the joke will be on her if she thinks she’ll get something more. I don’t know why I have that faith in him, but I do.
The paddle is pulled from my hands and my sister yells out, “Seven fifty.”
My head whips her way and she’s got her hand raised high.
“My, my, my,” Harry says with a chuckle. “We have us a battle brewing, folks. Anyone else want in on this?”
“Michelle,” I hiss at her, making a grab for the paddle but she scrambles out of her chair and takes five steps from the table.
“A thousand,” Diane practically screeches, and I see she’s out of her chair, waving her paddle maniacally. People start cheering and hooting.
“Fifteen hundred,” Michelle calls out, very calmly but loud enough to be heard over the crowd.
Everyone turns to Diane who opens her mouth but Ethan’s voice bellows, “Enough!”
The ballroom falls silent and Ethan turns to Harry. “I’ll pledge ten thousand dollars right now to take myself off the block.”
My jaw drops at the staggering amount Ethan is willing to part with to stop this lunacy. But Diane isn’t deterred.
“Ten thousand, five hundred,” she says and everyone gasps.
Slowly turning his head, cool green eyes move from Harry out into the crowd and lock on Diane. “You can make that bid, Diane, and I’ll let Harry accept it, but I’m not going on a date with you. I didn’t sign up for this bachelor auction, so I don’t have to abide by the rules,” Ethan says. The silence is so heavy, I expect everyone is holding their breath, including me. Ethan then turns to Harry. “Ten thousand. Take it or leave it.”
“Sold!” Harry yells with a flourishing arm pump. “Ten thousand dollars for… well… for Ethan to buy himself. Now that’s how you raise money, folks.”
The room erupts into cheers and everyone at the Blackburn table stands to give Ethan an ovation. Trey and Wade laugh hysterically onstage and I turn to see Diane storming out of the room, her cohort trotting along behind her.