Falling for Her Bachelor (Bachelor Auction Returns Book 2)

by Robin Bielman

  Chapter Two

  The amount of people in Grey’s Saloon surely broke fire code, but considering the reason they were all there, and the fact that several emergency medical professionals were having a drink at the bar, Nick Palotay let the discomfort roll off his back.

  Tonight was about Coach Downey and raising the remaining funds needed to build a lighted, heated, deicing helipad on the roof of Marietta Regional Hospital. A year and a half ago, Coach’s grandson, Troy, had been critically injured during the high school’s final football game. He’d been airlifted off the field with heavy snow falling and flown to the medical center in Bozeman. Those extra minutes of travel because Marietta Regional couldn’t accommodate a safe emergency landing had been the difference between life and death.

  Nick remembered with vivid clarity Troy as a little boy running onto the football field during his high school practices. He, Cody, Gavin, and Colt had made the kid their special mascot, tossing him on their shoulders and teaching him how to catch a football. Troy loved the game as much as they did and he’d made varsity his freshman year. The star running back blew all previous records—including Nick’s—out of the water. College scholarship offers started pouring in his junior year. Coach D’s emails to Nick were full of pride and affection for his grandson.

  After hearing about the accident and Troy’s passing, Nick had hit the gym and punched the living hell out of the punching bag. For Coach and his family. But also for himself, because it reminded him of his own devastating loss. His high school girlfriend, Sloane, never left the back of his mind. He’d ditched his own football scholarship to join the navy, choosing firefighting because of her. And just last month he’d lost his two best friends, Jake and Alex, to a sub fire. They’d died in battle, while he’d survived and been deemed a hero.

  Honorably discharged from the navy, he was back in Marietta temporarily to help Coach with his bachelor auction, celebrate his dad’s sixtieth, and figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He didn’t know if he could be around fire again. Losing Jake and Alex had changed him. They were more than friends. They were brothers.

  “There you are!” Rowan said, weaving through the crowd. “What are you doing standing here at the entrance?” Hands on her hips, she gave him the I-may-be-younger-but-don’t-mess-with-me face she’d perfected when they were kids.

  “I just walked in.”

  “Five minutes late.” She looked him up and down. “I’ll forgive you because you look good.”

  “Just good?”

  Rowan rolled her eyes. She’d appointed herself style-maker for this evening, telling him exactly what to wear in order to bring in the most cash. A few days ago, she’d made a friendly bet with Lily Taylor, the woman who had arranged a bachelor auction last year, that this time they’d raise more money. Rowan’s competitive streak took over after that, and his fellow bachelors—and close high school football friends—had started calling her drill sergeant.

  “More than good and you know it. We are going to kick ass tonight,” she said with the winsome smile he’d missed while away. “Come on. Coach and the other victims”—she winked at him over her shoulder—“I mean bachelors are upstairs.”

  Back in high school, Nick would have loved attention from a room full of women, but it didn’t quite hold the same appeal at thirty. He’d work it, though. He hadn’t lost his charm and certainly wasn’t shy.

  They walked past the bar, Nick slapping search and rescue head of operations, Flynn Benson, on the back. A couple other SAR personnel nodded. Nick had been in town a week and met Flynn for the first time the other day. A former hot shot for the National Forestry Agency, Nick had thought Flynn could offer some insight into the National Interagency Fire Center. The NIFC wanted Nick on their team in Idaho. He had a month to tell them yes or no.

  “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Nick Palotay!” A woman squealed. Yes, squealed. So piercing that, no doubt, the entire saloon heard his name over their conversations.

  Nick turned his head to find a woman he didn’t recognize throw herself at him. He managed to extract her before her arms locked around his neck.

  “Hi, gorgeous.” The smell of bourbon hit him in the face. “I am sooooo excited to see you.”

  Not wanting to be rude, he said a simple, “Hi,” in return.

  “It’s Mandy.” That didn’t ring any bells. She waved her hand in dismissal. “You probably remember me as Amanda. Amanda Pryce.”

  He tried not to wince. Of course he remembered her. She’d stalked him in high school. Nothing mean-spirited or overly worrisome, just fanatical and hard-core devoted, even when he had a girlfriend.

  “Right. Amanda. How are you?” He glanced to the side. Rowan finally realized he wasn’t beside her and had turned around, her eyes widening when she saw Amanda invading his personal space.

  “I’m soooo good. I’m gonna win you tonight.”

  “Oh?” Hell no. The thought of spending the weekend with Amanda put every muscle in his body on high alert. It was bad enough Rowan had shot down his idea for a laidback weekend of wine tasting and art galleries in favor of an adrenaline fueled adventure—her words, not his. So much for his playing it safe and keeping his mind off another person’s well-being for a while.

  Amanda put her hand on his chest. He took her wrist and placed her arm back at her side. “I’ve got thousands to spend on you, big boy. You. Are. Mine.”

  “Hey, Mandy,” Rowan said, finally reaching them. “I need to get my brother ready to go on stage. Have fun tonight.” She took Nick’s hand and spun them away before Amanda could say anything else disturbing.

  When they reached the stairs leading up to the storage room that was serving as tonight’s makeshift dressing room, Nick pulled Ro to a stop. “You cannot let Amanda Pryce win me tonight.”

  “What?”

  “She said she’s prepared to win me. You can’t let that happen. The woman is…”

  “Still off her rocker. I know. But what can I do?”

  He scanned the room. “Ask someone else to win the date.”

  Ro put her hand on his arm. “Nick, there’s a ton of people here tonight, but not a lot of them can afford to bid like Mandy can. At least not without pissing off their husbands.”

  “I’ll cover it.”

  “What do you mean, you’ll cover it?” She eyed him warily. They didn’t keep secrets from each other.

  Except one. One secret Nick hadn’t told a soul. An image of Sloane, so pretty in a white sundress with tiny blue flowers, flashed in his mind. He always pictured the last time he saw her when thinking about her now.

  “Jake left me half a million dollars. I only found out last week.” His navy buddy hadn’t any immediate family, his parents passing away several years ago and leaving him a nice inheritance. One that now belonged to Nick. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but giving money to tonight’s event was something his best friend would have happily done.

  Fuck. His chest hurt sharing that news. Not a day passed that he didn’t wish things had gone differently. It wasn’t the first time their crew had faced volatile conditions. They knew the danger. But once in a while containing hazardous situations didn’t end in their favor.

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. So my bidder can go as high as she wants. As high as she needs to.” He corrected.

  Rowan tapped her chin. “I think I know just the person.”

  “Palotay, get yourself up here,” Coach said from the stair railing. “We’re waiting on you. I’ve got a pep talk to give.”

  Nick smiled, his shoulders relaxed. “On my way,” he called up.

  “I’ll just go find your rescuer and then I’ll be up to give you guys my pep talk.” She straightened the collar on his white button down. “Mine has to do with channeling Channing Tatum.”

  He cringed at the thought. “Thanks for the save, Ro.”

  “No worries. This just means you have to do my interview now.” She waved her fingers over her shoulder and to
ok off.

  She’d been on him about a piece for the Copper Mountain Courier since he’d arrived. She usually covered the sports beat, but had been given the go-ahead to write a story on him. Other local media wanted interviews, too. But he wanted to keep attention off his occupation and “hero” label. He wasn’t a hero. He was just doing his job.

  A certain green-eyed photographer from this morning came to mind. He’d come to Cassidy’s rescue and it had felt good. She had felt good. He’d almost groaned when she purposely wiggled in his arms. Which completely threw him off balance. Sid had never registered on his female antennae, not the way she once secretly wanted. She’d had a crush on him growing up, he knew, but he always thought of her like a kid sister, bugging him quietly while Ro bugged him loudly.

  Today, though, he hadn’t looked at her like a sister.

  Her green eyes had always been pretty, but now they sparkled with life. She’d seen things, done things, in the past dozen years, and interest had flickered deep inside his chest. Then he’d noticed how sexy the messy bun on top of her head was, the fine slopes of her cheeks, her full mouth.

  A mouth he’d pictured… Don’t go there, Palotay.

  He took the stairs two at a time, telling himself guys naturally thought of pretty, pink lips wrapped around their dicks. The image didn’t mean anything. She might have looked at him with interest, but that didn’t mean he’d take advantage it.

  Stress over deciding his next career step had him thinking all sorts of strange things, that was all. And until he made a decision and sorted through the crap in his head, he’d probably ponder a few more never-going-to-happen scenarios.

  *

  “You know what they say about doctors.”

  “No, what?”

  “They’re excellent with their hands.”

  “Gavin Clark might be good with his hands, but I guarantee you Nick Palotay is good with his hands and his mouth.”

  Cassidy tugged on her earlobe as she listened to the two young, pretty teachers from Marietta High on the barstools beside her talk about the guys on the auction block tonight.

  “If we put our money together we might be able to win his date. There’s no rule that says a bachelor can’t make it a threesome,” the blonde said, her voice taking on a kittenish quality Cass had tried to practice in the mirror once. She’d sounded like a kitten held under the devil’s armpit.

  “Hey, Cass,” Reese said from behind the bar, “another pineapple juice?”

  “No, thanks. I’m good.” She shook the ice in her tumbler before setting the glass aside.

  “Flag me down if you change your mind.” He tapped the bar and turned, orders coming at him with every step away.

  Cass wheeled around to lean against the smooth wood counter. She’d made herself comfortable standing almost in shadow at the end of the bar. It allowed her a clear view of the stage without bringing attention to herself. More than one friend tonight had already asked whom she planned to bid on. “Not sure,” she’d answered, because it was easier than saying “none.”

  You could bid if you wanted to. She glanced down at the program in her hand. Nick, Cody Matthews, Gavin Clark, and Colt Ewing were each offering impressive dates. Cass knew with certainty Ro would win her little side bet with Lily, sending another nice chunk of change—literally—Coach’s way.

  “I knew I’d find you in this exact spot,” Rowan said, appearing as if Cassidy’s thought had conjured her.

  “What’s up?”

  Rowan looked down the bar with a smile at the high school teachers. “I have to pee,” she said, grabbing Cassidy’s hand and hauling her toward the restroom. She stopped in the empty hallway. “I need your help.”

  Cass scrunched up her nose. “Peeing?” She’d do anything for Ro, just wanted some clarification.

  “No, goofy, with the auction.”

  “O-kay,” Cassidy said. Rowan had that twinkle in her eye that made her scary and beautiful at the same time.

  “Actually, it’s not me that needs the help, but Nick.” She glanced at the watch on her wrist. “I need to make this quick so the gist is you need to bid on and win his date to save him from Mandy.”

  “Crazy Mandy?”

  Ro nodded. “She’s still in love with him and he’s freaking out at the idea of spending a weekend with her.”

  “I would be, too.”

  “Exactly. So will you do it? It’s actually a great idea anyway.”

  “What do you mean anyway?” A weekend away with Nick was so not a great idea, no matter that her insides were currently rocking a confetti party.

  “You’ve been craving some adventure and this is your chance to get out from behind your camera for a weekend and have fun. You and Nick are like siblings so you can both let loose and have a great time without worrying about anything sexual going on.

  “Plus, he’s safe,” Ro said softly. “You can trust him to take good care of you. And I can trust you to take good care of him. He’s still reeling from losing his friends in the sub fire and could use time away without having to worry about his date planning their wedding.”

  Everything Ro said made perfect sense. Lonely and restless, Cass did want an adventure, and to do so with a man she could trust gave her the chance to be carefree without worry. A chance to step out of that box keeping her stuck. She’d just ignore Nick’s good looks and the way her body liked to perk up when around him.

  “Okay. I’ll do it.”

  Rowan clapped her hands together and tucked them under her chin. “Thank you. He’ll be so relieved when I tell him. Oh, and I almost forgot. He’s got the bid covered so go as high as you have to.”

  Cass had forgotten about the money part of this plan. “Is that allowed? I can—”

  “There aren’t any written rules that I know of. Besides, following rules all the time is boring and didn’t you tell me just the other day that you were tired of boring?”

  “Yes.” Cass relented. Nick’s auction date included a weekend away to Jackson Hole with skydiving, hot springs, a wildlife safari by jeep, and fine dining. Excitement coursed through her picturing an entire weekend with the boy of her teenage dreams. How many women got to do something like that?

  “Great.” Ro wrapped her arms around Cass in a warm, sisterly hug. “Remember, money’s no object. Just win.”

  “Gotcha,” she said to Rowan’s retreating back.

  Then she took a deep breath, in through her nose, out through her mouth. Given Ro was in a hurry, she hadn’t told her best friend the other reason she’d agreed to do this. Helping Nick meant he owed her one, and, she suddenly realized, she could use a favor in return.

  At the end of the month, she had a black tie photography association dinner to attend in Helena and bringing a date would save her from the unwanted advances of a fellow photographer. Jesse had asked her out repeatedly, but she wasn’t interested in anything more than friendship with him. And even that was getting harder since he continued to pursue her whenever their paths crossed.

  With Nick by her side for the evening, she’d be able to relax and enjoy herself rather than worry about trusting Jesse to keep his distance.

  Growing up, Cassidy’s parents had taught her to give her trust only to those who earned it. They’d lectured her on being cautious and avoiding risky situations. “It’s okay to say no,” her mom said all the time, proving it by forbidding Cass to do so many things her friends were allowed to do. Like go to parties and concerts or clothes shopping in Bozeman. Her only saving grace had been sleepovers at Rowan’s house. In college, though, out from under the thumb of her overprotective parents for the first time, she’d felt like she could finally spread her wings. She dated, joined a sorority, went to frat parties. And trusted the wrong person. Only Rowan knew what had happened that horrible night.

  Cass shivered involuntarily. She hated that the past still affected her present. It wasn’t that she immediately had doubts about every man she met. She’d had two boyfriends since college. Saf
e, uninspiring, vanilla guys that helped her get comfortable with the opposite sex again. But deep down she wanted to be a little reckless. Not that she was into anything kinky. She just yearned for sex that rocked her world with a man who placed passion over pragmatism.

  She and Nick wouldn’t get physical, but they could have a blast together. His fearless, devil-may-care mentality came wrapped in a protective bow. He proved safety and adventure could go hand in hand. A weekend with him was exactly what she needed to unleash the gutsy side of her she never gave freedom to.

  She didn’t relish the situation, didn’t want it to seem like her help rose from a need of her own. But she and Nick were “family” and family did stuff like this without guilt, right? As an only child, Cass had nothing to go by.

  Voices from the main room of the saloon grew louder, whistles sounded. Showtime.

  Cassidy hurried out of the hallway, squeezing in at a table with some friends seated front and center when they waved her over. No more blending into the background.

  Coach Downey stood up on stage, thanked the crowd for their support, and thanked everyone involved behind the scenes. He introduced Cody then started the bidding at five hundred dollars. The crowded saloon turned into a lively bidding war until Hayley O’Malley, a big, Hollywood movie star now, won the date with a huge sum of money.

  Next up was Cass’s bachelor.

  The second Nick appeared on stage, the saloon went wild. Cass got a little light-headed and warm at the same time, a fluttery current of awareness threading through her body. All the hundreds of times she’d considered him in her youth paled in comparison to the way she regarded him now.

  He. Was. Hot. He wore a crisp white button-down with the top two buttons open, khaki pants, and black military boots that were untied. The mix of dressy and casual really worked. For some strange reason, his loose shoelaces put quivers in the pit of her stomach.

  And the way he swaggered across the stage with a smile that put all other smiles to shame sent a rush of unfamiliar sensations to the parts of her body long neglected and aching for attention.