“In addition to graciously agreeing to be one of our auctionees, Ms. Preston is presenting a donation check for one hundred thousand dollars from her firm.”
Jesus, she'd had no idea how much Frank and the senior partners had donated. Her mother must have put the screws to him. She'd have to apologize to her boss on Monday.
In honor of the donation, the crowd did a courtesy clap, setting Quinn's teeth on edge. The man took the check from Quinn and leaned it against one of the amplifiers. “Now on to what all the gentlemen have been waiting for. How much will the bidding start for this beautiful lady?”
Dead silence met him, and panic started to creep up on her.
Then a lone voice yelled out, “Five hundred dollars!”
Five hundred? What the hell? The men had been bringing in thousands. And what was worse was that she didn't even recognize the voice.
The auctioneer said, “Okay, the bidding has started at five hundred dollars.”
Quinn's father shouted, “One thousand.”
“One thousand to Mr. Preston.”
“Two thousand.” As expected, Peter joined in on the bidding.
Her mother had conveniently volunteered her so Peter could win her. And of course, Peter did as Quinn expected… He didn't have the balls to go against Quinn's mother.
Well, he wouldn't win her, and if he did, she was going to make sure he spent a fortune.
“Twenty-five hundred.”
Was that Renny? Shit.
Peter quickly countered with three thousand dollars.
Renny immediately upped the stakes to five thousand.
Renny was effectively putting a wrench into Quinn's plans. She had never expected him to bid on her.
With one more bidder than expected—hell, with her father, it was two—things were quickly getting out of hand. More out of control than she wanted. Before the evening she had expected the bidding to go no higher than a few hundred dollars. Then after the earlier auctionees had been won, she figured a couple of thousand at the most. But nothing like this.
Her father's voice rang out again. “Ten thousand.”
Before she could stop herself, Quinn shouted, “Dad!”
Why would her father want to outbid Peter? Didn't he want her with Peter just like her mother did? Didn't they both think they knew what was best for her?
Peter, sounding a bit panicked, bid ten thousand five hundred.
The crowd became restless; she heard murmurs but could not make out what people were saying. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the glare, desperately trying to see out into the sea of tables.
She met Logan's eyes from a distance. He slowly got to his feet, not breaking their gaze.
“Twenty thousand.”
Quinn sucked in a breath, and the blood rushed from her face. She had wanted the boys to win her. But not at this high of a price.
Never at this high of a price. Their business was still developing. They needed that money.
Peter jumped to his feet, his chair falling backward, clattering onto the floor. He was two tables away from her boys. “Twenty-two thousand.”
Quinn pressed a hand to her chest. “Jesus, stop,” she whispered, but no one heard her.
Renny, still sitting, brought the bidding up to twenty-five thousand. He barked out a laugh as if he was just as surprised as the crowd was at what he had just done.
The murmuring got louder throughout the crowd. All eyes were on the standing men, who were now challenging each other just with their body language.
Peter's gaze darted to Renny. “Twenty-six thousand.”
The auctioneer had quit repeating the bids. He stood as helplessly on the stage as did Quinn. The microphone flopped by its cord from between his fingers.
Ty's chair scraped backward as he rose to stand next to Logan. He placed a hand on Logan's shoulder and shot Quinn a grin.
She wanted to scream no. She couldn't. She wanted to tell Logan, tell Ty, to let Renny and Peter just fight it out between them. Her mouth refused to work.
“Thirty thousand.”
Though he hadn't yelled, everyone heard it. A collective gasp ascended from the crowd.
Peter openly gaped at the two of them. He looked up at Quinn, shook his head, then sat down abruptly.
As if the auctioneer suddenly awoke from a coma, he cleared his throat and lifted the microphone. “The bidding is at thirty thousand dollars, ladies and gentlemen! Are there any other bids for this lovely lady?”
Quinn wanted to sock the dude in the gut. Ty and Logan were winning, and the last thing she needed was to have someone else jump in on the bidding. To bring the bids up even higher.
Thirty thousand dollars. Quinn's chest ached. She became aware of her nails digging half-moons into her palms. She tried to relax but failed.
It was too much money. She couldn't let them do it. They needed the money for their irrigation system.
She looked over at Peter, who folded his arms over his chest. She willed him to outbid the boys. She cursed silently; she didn't want Peter to win. But damn, she was torn.
She'd just pay them back. That was all. She'd make sure she paid them back every penny. No matter how long it took her. Even if it meant selling off her diamond tennis bracelet her father had given her. She didn't need it. She'd even pawn off every other useless piece of jewelry she had. Except her grandmother's necklace. She couldn't bear to part with that.
The auctioneer yelled out the thirty-thousand-dollar amount several times and asked the crowd if there were any more bids. Not one person stood up or yelled out.
“Sold! The date with the young lady, for thirty thousand dollars, to the gentleman at that table.” He pointed the microphone toward Ty.
The eerie silence was deafening. When there should have been clapping and cheering, there was none.
Those freaking rich snobs should be glad the charity was receiving such a great amount of money on her behalf. But instead of as a good thing, they were seeing it as a scandal. Quinn sighed in disgust.
Ty moved up toward the stage. She guessed to claim his win. Nothing like auctioning off live flesh for a good cause, she thought bitterly. When Ty approached, he held out his hand. Quinn took it and let him guide her to the steps and help her down to the dance floor. The spotlight followed her, as if the auction wasn't over.
As Quinn stepped down off the last step and reached solid ground, Ty swept her up in his arms and made a show of giving her a kiss. His broad, soft lips captured hers, and he cupped her hips against him. He took the quick brush of their lips and deepened it until his head tilted, and his tongue searched her mouth, sweeping against her tongue until she felt the pull of desire from deep within her.
For a few seconds she forgot they had an audience. Until a low murmur started. And the longer Ty and she kissed, the louder the event goers got until she heard a roar in her ears. Whether the roar was actually from the crowd or from inside her head, she didn't care. She broke away and looked around. All eyes were on them, and she was sure they had shocked everyone who knew her family. Not only was she showing unrestrained passion in public, but she had been locking lips with a black man. A cardinal sin for these country-club members.
She threw her head back and laughed loudly enough for everyone to hear.
She looked around until she found Logan. She grabbed Ty's hand tightly and dragged him to where Logan was, still standing at their table. Without releasing Ty's hand, she snagged the back of Logan's head with her free hand and yanked him down until she brushed her mouth against his. She wanted to give him as good of a kiss as she given Ty, but Logan kept his lips closed, making her keep it chaste.
When she let Logan go, he shook his head slowly at her but gave her a wicked grin. She returned it and snagged his hand too, so she had both of her men in tow as she approached her mother.
Her mother, appearing almost as pale as the tablecloth, sat stiffly at her table, surrounded by her snobby friends. She looked extremely disappointed that he
r plan had backfired. She couldn't be happy with the fact her club had made a nice chunk of change for the sponsored charity. No, that would make too much sense. She'd rather dwell on the fact Peter hadn't won Quinn. That Peter wasn't getting a second chance with her daughter.
Quinn stopped at the table and tilted her head at her. “Mother.” As the guys flanked her, Quinn tucked her arms in theirs. “I would like you to meet…” My lovers.
She hesitated. As much as she wanted to throw that fact in her mother's face, she couldn't. Not in front of everyone. Not tonight. No matter what, the woman was still her mother, and she still loved her. Faults and all. Her mother would figure it out soon enough anyway. “I'd like you to meet my good friends Ty White and Logan Reed.”
Her mother's mouth opened, but no sound came out. One of the other ladies at the table knocked over her water glass, crying out when water sloshed into her lap.
Logan nodded his head at her. “Mrs. Preston, we'll make sure you get the check for the charity as soon as possible.”
As her mother still sat there wordlessly, Quinn tugged on the boys' arms and led them toward the exit.
The night air was a bit cooler than expected, and Quinn gave a little shiver. Ty shed his jacket and slipped it over her bare shoulders. He curled his arm around her, holding the oversize jacket in place.
“Better?” he asked.
She gave him a warm smile. “It's all better.”
Logan stepped in front of them, giving them both a serious look. He tugged the lapels of Ty's jacket snuggly around Quinn.
“We—”
“Quinn!” Her mother trotted after them out of the double doors.
Not again. She could not take another berating from her mother again. Though she should have expected this one too.
Especially after the display the three of them had given to all her mother's peers.
Quinn quickly dug into her clutch and shoved her valet ticket at the wide-eyed young man. He gave the men a fleeting glance and then took off to the parking lot.
“Quinn, damn it!”
Quinn turned in surprise to meet her mother's angry gaze. Her mother never cursed. At least, Quinn couldn't remember her mother cursing. Ever.
“Quinn. I can't find your father. I think he has died of embarrassment.” She looked at the three of them, her hands planted on her hips, anger twisting her face. “What is the meaning of all of this?”
Did her mother really want to know? They were no longer in front of a crowd. There was no time like the present for Quinn to get her point across. “Mother, these are my lovers.”
“I don't understand.”
Logan grabbed her upper arm through Ty's jacket, but Quinn ignored his unspoken warning and yanked her arm from his grasp. “What don't you understand? They're both my lovers.”
Her mother clasped a hand to her chest and stumbled back.
Logan rushed to assist her, but she stepped away from him, holding him off with a hand. “No, don't touch me.” Her gaze pinned Quinn, who was still being held tightly by Ty. In fact, it was more like Ty was holding her back now. As if he was afraid of what Quinn would do to her mother if he let go.
“Quinn, this might not be the time,” Logan warned.
“Are…are you saying you have sex with these men at the same time?”
“I didn't say that, but you can assume it.”
“So they have sex with each other? They're gay?”
Logan backed stiffly away. “She's on her own.”
“Mother, that's one thing you don't get. You shouldn't label people like that.”
“Get real, Quinn. People are labeled all the time. That's life. If you think you can go through life and not be labeled and judged, you need to face reality.”
Quinn jerked forward, trying to pull away from Ty. He tightened his arm around her, holding her in place. “So how would you label me?”
“You tell me,” her mother countered.
Quinn heard the unspoken words between them.
Slut. Whore.
She could see it in her mother's face.
“Why, Quinn? Why would you bring these gays with you to my charity event?”
These gays.
“Why not? Why shouldn't I? Maybe they are a big part of my life. Maybe they are important to me. Maybe—”
Quinn's voice cracked, and she took a shaky breath as she fought back the sting of tears.
“Mother, these gays, as you so eloquently put it, are the best thing that has ever happened to me. They love each other. They cherish me. They don't judge me. Not like my family does. Maybe they mean more to me than you'd ever know.”
“More than your father and I?”
Quinn kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to slam all doors shut tonight. She really didn't. But it was going that direction, and she had known it might when she decided to invite Ty and Logan.
“I see. Well, I guess if you keep this up, don't expect for me or your father to be there for you when you need us. The charities would be more than happy to get your inheritance.”
“Money isn't everything.”
“No. It isn't. But how about some sense of pride? Decency?”
The valet pulled Quinn's Infiniti around the curved driveway to the entrance.
Quinn felt all the fight leave her body. She was drained. She needed to crawl into a corner, lick her wounds, and reevaluate.
She hadn't wanted to alienate her parents. She had only wanted to teach them a lesson about trying to control her life.
Quinn straightened her spine. “I have plenty of pride and decency. That's why I am not running back to Peter.”
The valet finally found the nerve to exit the car. He stood by the open driver's door, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously. Logan finally took pity on him and moved around the car, shoving a tip into his hand. Ty tossed his keys to the young man and told him to retrieve his vehicle, giving him a description of his SUV. With a look of relief, the kid couldn't get out of there fast enough.
Logan went around to the passenger side of her car and opened the door. “Let's go, Quinn. Ty, take the SUV back to the farm.”
Ty just nodded his head and steered Quinn over to Logan.
“C'mon. I'll drive you home.” Logan helped her into the passenger seat, Ty's jacket still wrapped around her. The fabric held Ty's mix of woodsy, musky scent, comforting her somewhat.
Logan shut the door and moved around to the driver's side. The black SUV pulled up behind them, and Ty climbed in.
Quinn looked out of the window at her mother. She stood there, alone, watching her daughter, her only child, leave with two men she did not approve of, did not accept, and probably never would.
Quinn felt a pull of great sadness in her heart. If she thought she had disappointed her parents before by not accepting their choice in a mate, she couldn't imagine the disappointment her mother felt with her now.
Logan placed a comforting hand on her knee as he pulled away from the curb.
“It's a shame we are missing out on that dinner. Especially since it was a thousand bucks a plate.”
Quinn pulled her eyes off her mother and turned to face Logan's profile.
There was no reason they should walk away from this evening with empty stomachs.
“Hold on.”
He slammed on the brakes. “What?”
“Pull around to the back.”
With her direction, he steered the car around to the back kitchen.
“I'll be right back.”
Chapter Sixteen
Logan had spread out a picnic blanket in front of the fireplace. A mix of light contemporary hits and oldies drifted through the speakers strategically placed around the open great room. Because it was too warm, instead of lighting a fire, Ty had placed candles around the hearth and surrounding tables. Their light gave the room a soft romantic ambience.
The empty doggie bags Quinn had retrieved from the country club's kitchen littered the middle of the blanket.
The
boys stretched out on the floor, digesting their meal of honey-orange duck breasts, wild-mushroom raviolis, and green bean amandine. Ty lay on his back, his arms folded under his head. He had stripped down to just his black suit pants and white tux shirt, the shirt unbuttoned, exposing a tight undershirt hugging his muscular chest.
Logan reclined on his side, his head propped in his hand, his eyes occasionally drifting shut. He had released his hair from his ponytail, and it draped softly around his face. His lips had a slight, satisfied curve to the corners. He was bare chested and barefoot, a pair of worn jeans pulled over his hips but not fastened.
The boys looked like the ultimate examples of relaxation, while Quinn gnawed on her bottom lip with anxiety.
She felt in limbo. Even two glasses of the champagne she had hijacked from one of the waitstaff hadn't seemed to take the edge from her nerves.
“That was sure some expensive takeout.” Ty's voice was low and sounded groggy.
Quinn released a drawn-out breath before murmuring, “This whole evening ended up costing too much.”
In more ways than one.
Logan brushed a palm over the short whiskers on his chin. “I don't want to tell you I told you so, but…” His voice drifted off.
“You told me so,” Quinn finished for him. “I know. I know. Deep down inside, I knew what my mother's reaction would be, but I was hoping… I don't know what I was hoping for.”
Actually she did. She had hoped her parents would finally see her as an adult, see she could make her own decisions, and most importantly, they would realize her happiness should be more important than having the perfect son-in-law.
Well, that had been a colossal failure. Times two.
Just like her relationship with Peter had been.
But no matter what her parents thought, her happiness was important. And if it meant being with Logan, being with Ty, then that's what needed to happen.
Ty sat up, reached for Quinn, and pulled her in between his legs. He cradled her against him, her back nestled against his chest. He stroked a hand through her hair, plucking the bobby pins out one by one. Tress by tress, he released her hair, until it fell around her shoulders. It felt good to have those nasty contraptions out of her hair and away from her scalp.
Double Dare Page 20
