The Auction
The Billionaire Wins a Date
Starla Harris
Copyright © 2016 by Starla Harris
All Right Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of very brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
ISBN: B01MSPR0MQ
This book was published by Starla Harris
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Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
(SIX MONTHS LATER)
About The Author
ONE LAST THING...
CHAPTER ONE
Lia Malcolm took a deep breath. “All right, here we go. Wish me luck.” She smiled briefly at Maggie and turned toward the stage. From their vantage point behind the set, they could see the action perfectly. The show was coming to an end and now it was almost time for Lia to announce the winner of tonight’s fundraising auction. A delicious wave of excitement traveled through her body as she took a step closer to the stage. This moment was the culmination of months of her hard work, and she intended to enjoy every second of it.
“Erm, Lia, wait,” Maggie said. “There’s something you should know.”
Lia turned back to face her friend, who stood behind her fiddling awkwardly with a strand of frizzy red hair. Lia loved Maggie’s wild curls; she thought they matched her friend’s bubbly personality perfectly. “What is it, Maggie?” Lia ran a hand over her own dark brown hair. It was usually pulled back in a ponytail, but tonight Maggie convinced her to go for a stylish updo. A few strands escaped the pins and framed her heart-shaped face. “Did my hair come loose?”
“No, it’s perfect. You look beautiful.” Maggie beamed at her, but then bit her lip sheepishly. “Do you remember when I told you I had a brilliant idea for the main prize tonight?”
Lia nodded. “Sure. You wouldn’t tell me what it was, only that I should trust you.”
“And? Do you?”
Lia smiled. “Of course I trust you. You’re the best finance director this theater has ever seen and could ever hope for.”
Maggie lowered her eyes. “Thanks. I don’t know about that, but I’m certainly the most dedicated.”
Lia took Maggie’s hand. It was uncharacteristically cold. “Yes. I know you’d do anything to keep us going. Pages Theater needs people like you.”
Maggie blushed. “And people like you. I’ve never seen an art director more invested in her job than you.”
Lia shrugged and smiled. “I’m just doing my job.”
Maggie nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly. You are Pages. Without you, none of this would be possible.” She gestured around the backstage area. As usual, it was buzzing with activity. Actors stood in the wings on tiptoes behind the set, listening intently while they waited for their cues. Wanda, the stylist fussed with some last minute adjustments to costumes and make-up. Ronnie, the stage manager peeked out from behind a large tree (the theme for tonight’s gala performance was ‘The Enchanted Forest’), and pantomimed instructions to the sound and light board operators. Lia’s heart swelled with love and pride as she took a moment to reflect in all that was happening around her. These were her people, her friends, and her theater family. I won’t let you down. We will save this theater together, she thought to herself.
A violin sounded on stage and Christina, the female lead launched into the final song of the evening. A delicious shiver ran down Lia’s spine. It was her favorite song and Christina’s version of it was pure perfection.
“Maggie, I really need to go now,” she told her friend, extracting her hand from Maggie’s grip.
“Right. So, considering that you basically are Pages, I thought the main prize for tonight’s auction should be you,” Maggie blurted out.
Lia’s eyes widened with disbelief and the color drained from her face. “What are you talking about? You’re selling me?”
Maggie chuckled nervously. “Well, not exactly. I’m selling a date with you.”
Lia took a quick breath in. “What? Why would you do that?” She suddenly felt queasy and lifted an icy hand to her stomach. A date? With a stranger? For money? Wasn’t there a name for people who did that?
“Listen, Lia.” Maggie placed a placatory hand on her friend’s arm. “You said you wanted something out of the box. Something personal that would really get people bidding. Well, what’s more personal than quality time spent with the very person behind Pages? The heart and soul of our theater?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of a costume from one of our shows,” Lia mumbled.
“That’s totally not out of the box. That’s right in the very middle of the box,” Maggie pointed out.
Lia shrugged. “Whatever. But you know I’m not dating right now. How could you do this to me without asking?”
“Because you would never have agreed. And frankly? You need to get out more.”
“I’m out all the time,” Lia protested.
“Yes, because of work. You never go out for the fun of it. It’s a crime, really. This will be a perfect opportunity for you to re-enter the world of dating.”
“I hate the world of dating.”
The song was coming to a close. After a second of stunned silence, the audience broke out in applause. Ronnie waved at Lia to let her know it was time. Maggie pushed her toward the spotlight. “Go. Announce the winner.”
Lia snorted. “Yeah. I’m quite sure dozens of people bid great amounts of money for a date with me.”
Maggie held up a finger and pulled out her phone from her clutch. She tapped at the screen. “Let me see.” She grinned. “We’ve had fifty-eight bids so far. No, wait. Another one just came in.” She gaped at her phone. “Wow.”
“What is it?” Lia asked miserably.
“You wouldn’t believe how much cash this bidder is willing to pay for a date with you. We should sell you more often,” Maggie mumbled, still tapping away at her phone.
The applause died down. Ronnie was gesturing wildly to Lia. It was time. “Just great,” she sighed and drew herself to her full height. She smoothed the front of her dark blue velvet dress and walked onto the stage as the familiar faint smell of sweat and petroleum oil enveloped her and the stage lights temporarily blinded her. How on Earth was she supposed to announce that the main prize was a date with her and not come across without looking conceited or desperate? How could Maggie drop a bomb like this on her at a time like now? Lia’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Jeffrey, one of the audio guys. She hadn’t noticed him come on stage behind her. He gently pressed a microphone and an earpiece into her hand and left just as quickly and quietly as he’d come. Wonderful. I come out on stage without a mic, she thought with a frown. Get a gr
ip, girl!
She inserted the earpiece and immediately heard Ronnie and Maggie bickering about the budget and how they should allocate the money raised from tonight’s fundraiser. All right, now or never. She raised the microphone to her mouth.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for attending Pages Theater’s first annual fundraising gala. I hope you enjoyed watching the show as much as we enjoyed putting it on.” The audience applauded. Lia smiled and felt her confidence returning. “As you know, Pages is a newcomer on the scene. A few of us started it three years ago with a bold dream and very little cash.” Ripples of laughter flowed through the audience. “But we were lucky, because we found people who shared our dream. You.” Lia gestured around the audience. “You believed in us and proved to us that our dream is worth living, that there is demand, and interest for our unconventional approach to theater.”
The actors filed onto the stage, followed by Ronnie, Wanda, Maggie and most of the stage crew and technicians.
“And we are eternally thankful for that. You are the most wonderful audience we could hope for. This is for you.” Lia looked over her shoulder at her colleagues and nodded. The crowd erupted into applause and cheering. The audience laughed as some of them even stood up and took a bow. Happiness blossomed in Lia’s chest. She was right where she was supposed to be.
When the laughter and cheering died down, Lia continued. “We are intent on keeping our shared dream alive and we promise that we’ll continue surprising, shocking and hopefully, delighting you with great performances night after night, here, at Pages.”
The audience murmured agreement. Lia cleared her throat. “In fact, I can tell you that we keep surprising ourselves as well. Right until five minutes ago, I had no idea what the main prize for tonight’s auction was.”
A few members of the audience laughed.
“But I’m really grateful to Maggie Mains, our brilliant finance director for the idea, because I couldn’t be happier that I get a chance to go out with one of you and talk about our shared passion for the theater. Maggie?” She turned and beckoned for her friend to come forward. Maggie smiled and joined Lia at the front of the stage.
“Maggie here manages our online bidding page. How much time is left from the auction, Maggie?” Lia asked.
“About thirty seconds,” Maggie said into the microphone, checking her phone.
“Then I still have a chance!” somebody yelled from the audience. There was an outburst of laughter and a few people made a show of grabbing their phones and pretending to place last minute bids.
“They really are bidding,” Maggie whispered. Lia felt herself blushing. Even though she disliked being thrust into the spotlight like this, she had to admit that it was nice to have people fighting for a chance to take her out.
Maggie’s phone buzzed and the countdown started.
“Alright, people, you have ten seconds left,” Maggie announced breathlessly. “Nine, eight, seven…”
The audience picked up the countdown and chanted the numbers along with Maggie. “Six, five, four, three, two, one!” There was laughter, clapping and cheering. Then the audience fell silent. Maggie tapped away on her phone furiously. Ronnie barked a few instructions into his walkie-talkie and the spotlight swept over the audience. The low rumble of a drum flowed from the speakers.
Lia stared at Maggie who was still hunched over her phone. Who is it going to be? she asked herself. Her heartbeat picked up.
Maggie let out a small yelp and shoved her phone under Lia’s nose. It took Lia a few moments to understand what she was seeing. Her mouth fell open and she felt tears of excitement prickle at the back of her eyes.
“Wow,” she said in awe. A wave of adrenalin washed over her whole body.
“Tell us already!” a male voice demanded from the audience.
“We can’t take the anticipation!” somebody else added.
Lia glanced up, trying to gather herself. The drumroll became slightly louder. “A few minutes earlier I said that we were going to keep surprising you.” She took a deep breath. “But now here I am, unable to say a thing because you surprised me yet again with your passion and commitment to our theater. I’m incredibly grateful and happy to announce that we received seventy-five bids for the main prize. And the winning bid is no less than fifty thousand dollars! Thank you!” The last words were almost a shout.
There were loud gasps of shock from both the audience and the crew on stage. Maggie threw her arms around Lia. “This is so much more than what we hoped for!” she whispered excitedly into Lia’s ear.
The actors and the crew cheered, clapped and hugged each other. Lia felt hands patting her back, then pulling her into a large group hug. She opened her arms happily. Fifty thousand dollars meant they could pay off their debts and operate for another few months at least.
There were supporting cheers and yells from the audience. But after a few moments, impatient voices joined the chorus. “Who is it?” “Who won?”
Lia laughed. She extricated herself from the group hug and raised her mic. “Sorry, I got carried away.” She checked Maggie’s phone. The drumroll intensified. “The winning bidder is SpaceRanger.”
The drums stopped. There was a second or two of complete silence as the spotlight scanned the audience, looking for the winner.
The VIP section erupted in a loud burst of hooting and cheering as a tall figure emerged from the shadows in the crowd. He punched the air in victory as the people around him congratulated him. Lia squinted her eyes, wondering if she would recognize their benefactor. When the limelight found its focus it zoomed in on the winner. She saw a mop of dirty blond hair and a boyish grin. He looked vaguely familiar to Lia, but she couldn’t place him.
A techie shot out from behind Lia with a microphone in his hand. He trotted through the rows of the auditorium toward the VIP section. The winner was still celebrating with the enthusiasm and confidence of an athlete winning Olympic gold when the techie reached him. He took the microphone and cleared his throat.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” He spoke in a low and smooth voice. Lia tilted his head to the side. Where have I heard that voice before?
“My name is Travis Paulson and I’m a great fan of Pages Theater. And possibly, an even greater fan of Ms. Lia Malcolm.” He gave a self-confident grin and at that moment, Lia felt her heart drop into her toes. She suddenly remembered where she’d met this guy before.
Travis kept talking and his speech was interrupted by frequent outbursts of laughter from the audience, but Lia couldn’t concentrate on a word of it. She just kept staring at Travis, all sounds muted by the thumping of her heart.
CHAPTER TWO
It happened about a month ago. She was at an opening at her friend Julian’s art gallery. It was a nice evening, the promise of spring was already in the air. The gallery was packed and Lia was chatting with Julian, the gallery’s founder and main artist when the low hum of general chatter was interrupted by loud laughter coming from the back corner. She turned to see what the commotion was all about. A group of young men was standing in front of a painting (a semi-nude) and one of them pretended he was helping the woman undress completely.
Lia rolled her eyes. “Men,” she said dismissively, turning back to Julian.
“I beg to differ,” he said.
Lia laughed. “Sorry. Present company excluded, of course.”
“I’m not saying I wouldn’t do the same, provided it was a semi-nude of him,” Julian said jokingly, nodding toward one of the laughing young men appreciatively. “Let’s just say, I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers.”
Lia chuckled. “Well, he certainly does have his merits,” she lifted an eyebrow as she examined the man from the corner of her eye. He was tall and ruggedly handsome with an unruly mop of dirty blond hair and ocean blue eyes. His boyish grin suggested mischief.
Julian snorted. “You could say that. And you haven’t even seen his wallet yet!”
Lia raised
an eyebrow. “Why, is it even more remarkable than his looks? Do you know him?”
Another young man in their group, the one who made the joke about the painting, pretended to get undressed and simulated a sex act with the woman in the painting amid a fresh outburst of laughter. For a split second, the blond guy rolled his eyes at his friends before joining in on the gag. Lia frowned. “That’s Travis Paulson,” Julian said meaningfully, as if it explained everything.
Lia regarded her friend with a blank expression. “So?”
Julian gasped. “What? You don’t know Travis Paulson? Heir to the Paulson empire?”
Something scratched at the edge of Lia’s consciousness. “Paulson empire? As in, Paulson Technology?”
“Duh!” Julian gestured dramatically. “It’s quite likely that just by turning on your computer this morning, you’ve already made him richer.”
Lia snorted. “Cool. I work and he gets richer.”
“Well, to be fair, he has to work to get that computer onto your desk,” Julian pointed out.
Lia raised an eyebrow. “Him or his father? Or rather, their millions of unnamed workers slaving away for peanuts at their company?”
“Yeah, well, you may have a point.” Julian sighed dreamily. “And on top of that, he gets to look like that. Life is so unfair.”
Lia rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’d much rather be doing what I love all day than be a shallow jerk spending my father’s money on meaningless things.”
“Hey! Like my paintings? Watch your tongue!”
“No, silly. I meant other things. Being a patron of the arts is actually one of the few good things immensely rich people can do with their money. Instead of buying another yacht or spending it on cheap wine and even cheaper women. C’mon Julian, you know what I mean…”
“Did I hear someone’s buying a yacht? a female voice squealed from behind them. “Count me in! I love yachts!” Julian and Lia shared a meaningful look before they turned to greet the newcomer. It was Trudy, self-proclaimed art critic and social climber. Lia nodded in Trudy’s direction.
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