Falling for Her Bachelor (Bachelor Auction Returns Book 2)

by Robin Bielman

  This was bad.

  Bad can be very, very good.

  Lost in inappropriate thoughts, she missed his introduction and the first few shout-outs of bids. The look of dread on Nick’s face brought her back to her senses. Mandy called out a number, a really high number with lots of zeroes.

  “Nine thousand.” Cassidy announced.

  The room fell silent. All eyes landed on her. Including Nick’s. Cass couldn’t look at him so turned to her girlfriends’ surprised expressions. She’d never made such a bold move before in her life so their shock was understandable.

  “Ninety-two hundred,” Mandy shouted.

  “Ninety-four,” Cass said.

  “Ninety-six.” Mandy jumped to her feet, sending Cassidy an evil glare.

  Cass almost laughed at being put in this unexpected situation. She never could have predicted being in a bidding war for Nick Palotay and finding it fun, exhilarating, worth all the attention on her.

  “Ninety-nine,” Cass said with a firmness she hoped begged no further opposition. Ninety-nine had been Nick’s jersey number. It seemed fitting to stop there given it was football that brought them here tonight.

  The resigned look in Mandy’s eyes told Cassidy she got it and, with shoulders sagging, she sat back down in quiet defeat. Cassidy mustered the courage to look back up on stage.

  “Going once. Going twice. Sold for nine thousand nine hundred dollars to Miss Cassidy Ware!”

  Cass gave a curt nod before finding Nick’s gaze zeroed in on her like a laser beam. Was he happy? Relieved? Nope, neither of those things, she decided. Because his eyes said something that made her want to run and hide. His royal blues whispered she was in over her head.

  Chapter Three

  “What were you thinking having Sid bid on me?” Nick asked, pacing around the small dressing room. The auction over, he needed a minute alone with his sister before they joined everyone downstairs.

  “Uh…that I was doing just what you asked.” Rowan didn’t need to add dumbshit at the end of her answer. He heard it loud and clear in her tone.

  He stopped moving and met the annoyed, pinched line of her mouth. “I didn’t want to exchange one problem for another.”

  Ro’s baby blues, already big and round, grew bigger and rounder. “What in the world are you talking about? You cannot possibly compare Cass to Manic Mandy. You do remember who Cass is, right? You didn’t suffer some head trauma in the sub fire, did you? Because you are talking crazy-pants right now.”

  Nick clenched his hands. “I know exactly who Cassidy is and exactly what I’m saying.”

  “No, you don’t. Because Cass is the best person I know. She is good inside and out and problem is the very last word anyone would associate with her.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but Ro cut him off before he could get a word out.

  “She did you a huge favor tonight and you’re sulking around like it’s the end of the world. She spent almost ten thousand dollars on you!”

  “Of my money.”

  Rowan threw her arms in air. “Oh, my God.”

  “You could have asked anyone.”

  “And I asked the person I thought—no, know—was best.” She shook her head and studied the floor like she thought him a total idiot. It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten this kind of reaction from her. “What’s really going on here?” she said, raising her chin and searching his face.

  “Truth?”

  “That would be nice.”

  He slid his hands into the front pockets of his pants. “I think she still has a crush on me and that’s a problem.”

  Rowan laughed. “What are you talking about? Cass is so not into you. She never was.”

  “You’re wrong,” he said confidently.

  “I think I know my best friend. She’s hated you ever since you put a snake in her sleeping bag when we were seven and camping out in the backyard.”

  Nick had forgotten about that. He’d caught the harmless gopher snake earlier in the evening and, being nine and tough, he’d wanted to show off a little. Plus, the girls hadn’t invited him to make s’mores and he’d been upset about that. He hadn’t anticipated making Cassidy cry, though. When he tried to apologize she told him she hated him.

  “She outgrew it.” Sid had developed the classic look of infatuation he’d read on lots of girls’ faces, starting in middle school and continuing through high school, with little encouragement on his part.

  “I’ll buy she stopped hating you, and I know girls have always fallen all over themselves for you, but sorry to burst that big ego of yours, Cass thinks of you like an older brother and nothing more.”

  “I guarantee you there’s more to it than that, and the last thing I want is a weekend away with her if she’s hoping to get some sort of romantic relationship out of the date.”

  Someone cleared her throat from over his shoulder. Shit. He hadn’t meant to be overheard and spun around, ready to do damage control. Only there was no defending himself against the woman standing in the doorway with a look of…well, hate in her pretty green eyes.

  “Nick Palotay, if you were the last man on the planet, I still wouldn’t want a romantic relationship with you.” Cassidy announced.

  “Told you,” Rowan said from behind him.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn’t been wrong. Trouble stood right there ten feet away from him wearing form-fitting jeans, a pale yellow sweater, and cowboy boots.

  “How long have you been standing there?” he asked.

  “Long enough.” She fired back.

  Nick turned so he could address his sister without giving his back to Cassidy. “You mind going downstairs so I can talk to Sid?”

  “I don’t mind if she doesn’t mind.” Rowan had always protected Cassidy with sisterly support so her answer didn’t surprise him. Come to think of it, Ro asking Cassidy to bid on him shouldn’t have come as a surprise either.

  “It’s fine,” Sid said. “It’s going to be a short conversation.”

  The two women shared a quick hug as they passed each other. “Sorry about grumpy over there,” Ro said. “You were awesome tonight. Thanks for saving his ass.” She cut him a quick glare, which he supposed he deserved.

  “No problem,” Cassidy said.

  Rowan lit up like a sparkler on the Fourth of July at that comment, her glare disappearing and a smug expression taking its place. Ro didn’t see his dilemma, but being with Sid for a weekend was a problem. Attraction or not aside, he didn’t want to spend forty-eight hours in close proximity with anyone he was friendly with. Friends thought it okay to ask questions. Pry. Ask him to share shit he didn’t want to talk about. He’d slammed the door shut on getting too personal with anyone, but ten minutes with Cassidy this morning and he’d called her out on her crush. That had surprised the hell out of him. And he didn’t like feeling out of control of his actions.

  “Keep it amicable you two,” Ro said with a wave over her shoulder as she disappeared from the room.

  Sid faced him, and in a very uncharacteristic move, tilted her head just a little to the side to contemplate him like she could reach into his soul and pluck out all his secrets. He dropped his gaze to the floor. What the hell?

  “We don’t have to go on the date,” she said. No anger. No disrespect. Only kindness accompanied her words.

  Nick didn’t want her kindness.

  “The point was to save you from Mandy and give money to a really good cause. There’s no reason we have to follow through. No one’s going to check up on us.”

  He also didn’t want her taking the high road. He’d agreed to take part in the auction and, yeah, the money raised mattered most, but he didn’t back out of something he promised. “I offered a weekend in Jackson Hole and I’m going to follow through.”

  “And be miserable?”

  “I never said I’d be miserable.” More like restless. Guarded.

  She crossed her arms over her chest, accentuating the generous, round swells there
. “Now who’s afraid to say what’s really on his mind?”

  Oh, so she thought she could use a little reverse psychology on him, did she? He stepped forward, shrinking the space between them. “Says the eavesdropper.”

  “I had something in my boot. I was trying to get it out.”

  Nick laughed. Sid had never been this quick to go toe-to-toe with him when they were younger. “What was it?”

  “I told you. Something.”

  “Does this something have a name?”

  “If it had a name I would have used it instead of saying something.”

  He watched in fascination as she pressed her lips together in an effort to keep from smiling and exposing her lie. They both knew she wasn’t telling the truth but it was fun to pretend.

  “Are you available next weekend?” He inched backward, reminding himself to keep their conversations fun-free.

  “I think so. I’ll have to double check my calendar.”

  “Good. We’ll leave Friday morning.”

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  The cadence of her voice needled at him. He hadn’t always been a man of honor in his impulsive youth, but he was now. “Yeah, I do. I want to. Just keep in mind this is a business transaction and nothing more.”

  “I’m glad you put it that way.”

  “You are?” No way had he read her wrong. Her chin might be lifted in defiance, but the rapid pulse at the base of her neck gave her away.

  “Yes.” She put her hand on his chest. A move he had no idea what to make of. Apparently he hadn’t stepped back far enough. “I need a favor from you and figure you can’t say no now.”

  “You agreed to bid on me so I’d return the favor?” He didn’t entirely buy it.

  “Yep.” She dropped her hand.

  “So, you’re not looking forward to what I have planned at all?” Why that bothered him, he didn’t know. Her indifference should make him happy.

  She thought on that for a long damn time before she said, “I think I should plead the fifth on that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it doesn’t matter.”

  But it did matter. Nick wanted Cassidy to enjoy herself and if she had reservations about any of the activities, he could modify them. Which meant he wasn’t as unaffected by their situation as he needed to be. He’d want whoever had won his date to have a good time, but seeing the intelligent, yet vulnerable look in this particular woman’s eyes, he knew she upped the stakes.

  *

  “Okay,” Nick said. “What’s this favor you want from me?”

  That’s all this is about, one good turn for another. He’d successfully abolished any fondness she had for him with his conceited use of the word problem. And an ego big enough to squeeze all the air out of the room.

  Or maybe the hard to breathe thing had more to do with the soft waves in his dark hair, the way his lips moved when he talked, and the way he smelled like a warm summer night even though the calendar said April.

  Whatever. She could appreciate his appearance and not engage her heart or head.

  “I have a dinner to attend at the end of the month and could use a date.”

  “Because?”

  She pressed her hand against her jean-clad thigh to stop her foot from tapping. “There’s this other photographer, Jesse, who can come on a little strong and I don’t appreciate it. With you by my side, I think he’ll leave me alone.”

  “Oh, he’ll leave you alone,” Nick said protectively.

  Cass didn’t let herself read anything in to the sexy alpha tone of his voice. He protected people for a living. “So, you’ll do it?”

  “Yeah, I’ll do it.” Tiny lines fanned out from the corners of his eyes like it pained him to say that. She almost told him never mind before remembering it was okay to ask for what she wanted.

  “It’s on the twenty-fifth. You’ll still be here?”

  “I’m here until around the first, so yeah.” Boisterous laughs from downstairs drew Nick’s attention toward the open doorway. “We should probably head down.”

  “Probably.”

  Neither of them moved.

  Cassidy noticed some sandwiches on a card table in the corner and beers chilling in an ice bucket. “Or we could stay up here and avoid the awkward congratulations from everyone who may see this as more than a business transaction.” She walked toward the food and drink.

  “I’m on board with that plan.” He grabbed two bottles of beer, shook the condensation off, and sat on the only other piece of furniture besides the table, a tan leather couch.

  Cass handed him a sandwich. He handed her a beer. Their knees bumped when she sat beside him. From across the room, the couch hadn’t seemed so small and narrow. The six-foot-something, broad-shouldered, muscled navy firefighter took up some space. She pretended not to notice.

  And squirmed a little to find a more comfortable position so her tailbone didn’t hurt quite so much.

  He cleared his throat. “Can I get you a donut?”

  She glanced around the room for donuts, but didn’t see any. Sugary foods weren’t high on her list, she was more of a salty girl, but maybe this was his way of making peace and she didn’t want to be rude. “When I finish my sandwich, sure.”

  “Not right now?” he asked with amusement.

  What was so funny? “Okay, donut man, what am I missing?”

  “A donut.”

  She looked daggers at him.

  “Not the edible kind. The kind you sit on when your rear end is still sore from falling on it.”

  Damn it. Her wriggle hadn’t been as covert as she’d hoped. “Ha, ha, very funny. You know, if you’re so concerned with the well-being of my rear end, maybe you should offer to massage it or something?”

  Nick spit out his beer, luckily not in her direction, and looked to struggle with a comeback.

  No worries. Cass had surprisingly more to say. Something about seeing Nick flustered brought out the flirty chatter bug in her. “Or are you afraid that would elevate my crush to lust and that I’d want to have your babies?” He choked. “Because I can save you the worry. The last man on the planet thing? That also extends to getting physical for purely sexual reasons. I’d much rather take matters into my own hands, which should tell you I have zero feelings where you’re concerned.”

  He wiped the back of his hand across his very nice—very plain!—mouth. “You done?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  They ate and drank in silence after that. Well, not exactly in silence since they could hear voices and music from downstairs. She’d eaten with the Palotay family at their kitchen table hundreds of times, but never just with Nick. Despite her new displeasure with him and his not so new annoyance with her, it felt strangely comfortable.

  She didn’t know him anymore. Not beyond the superficial things Rowan had shared from time to time. But one thing hadn’t changed. He still considered her a pest and she still harbored secret fantasies about him. Next weekend would take care of both. She’d show him the grown-up version of herself and get him out of her system at the same time.

  All while she kept her defenses in place and any disappointment a million miles away.

  Chapter Four

  Friday morning Cassidy put her weekend bag by the front door and looked out the bay window toward the For Sale sign, still not sure how she felt about her parents’ agreement that they sell the house she grew up in. And still uncertain about which coast she’d make home now. Her good friend Julie wanted her in New York. “Roommates!” Julie had suggested. But Cass liked her independence and wasn’t sure she could keep up with Julie’s zero-to-sixty in three seconds mentality.

  Evan wanted her to move to the west coast. He also wanted more than friendship if the one kiss they’d shared the last time she was in LA was any indication. She smiled to herself. The kiss had lasted for a good five minutes and been nothing like her previous boyfriends’ kisses. But Evan had recently broken up with his lon
gtime girlfriend and Cass didn’t want to be rebound girl. Even though that might be just what she needed. She could trust Evan to be good to her for however long it lasted.

  The sale sign, hanging from a wood post, swung gently in the morning breeze. Her parents wanted her to visit them in Florida next month. Retired there for the past three years, she’d made the trip twice, but that wasn’t enough according to her mom. And now that Cass planned to move out of the house, they wanted her to hand deliver a few special items they hadn’t taken with them.

  A sporty, black SUV pulled up to the curb, squashing any more thoughts about the house. A few seconds later, Nick walked around the back of the vehicle. He had on tan cargo pants, a light blue, long-sleeved Henley that molded to his chest and arm muscles, and the same black boots he’d worn at the auction.

  His gaze flicked to the window and she jumped back, hoping she hadn’t been caught watching him. How ridiculous that every time he focused his deep blue regard on her, she wondered what he looked like naked. She’d had all week to prepare for this, but seeing him twice over the past six days hadn’t helped to keep her mind off him.

  At Rowan’s insistence, Cass had joined the Palotay family for dinner the night after the auction. Nick had actually cracked a relaxed smile at something Cass said, earning him a genuine smile in return. Then on Tuesday she’d bumped into him at the supermarket—literally—when she rounded the corner of the produce section with a bag full of tomatoes, a banana, and two cucumbers. She bounced off him unscathed. He’d spilled the coffee in his hand down the front of his white T-shirt.

  Cass was mortified. He’d looked ready to bawl her out, but instead cracked up. “You’re a walking, talking danger zone.” He’d teased. She offered to buy him another coffee. He asked where the fire was, and then before she could answer, his attitude changed. The poking fun stopped. All signs of the charming, extrovert fled. He left with barely a good-bye.

  The doorbell rang a second time.