She’s intoxicatingly beautiful.
“Contrary to what you may think, I’m not a big drinker.” A sexy pink flush crawls across her cheeks as she speaks. “The Firefly was a lot for me.” I watch the color bloom down her throat and into the neckline of her shirt.
When she tilts her head, I know she’s caught me, so I mentally remove the cobwebs and attempt to behave as though I’m a grown man with a little restraint.
“Jesus.” I run a hand through my hair. “That feels like a lifetime ago.”
“Regretting your stay already?” Her voice wobbles, betraying a hint of vulnerability that makes me want to hold her all night long.
Every night.
Lowering my lips to her ear, I inhale her light citrus scent and allow my breath to caress her bare neck. “I may end up with a lot of regrets in my lifetime, sunshine. But it will never be spending time with you.” She shivers, and heat radiates down my spine.
“Never?” The fairy lights above reflect on her beautiful face, and I soften my features. The very last thing she needs is a Neanderthal crowding her space.
“Never,” I vow, then take a step back.
“Easy there, big guy. The auction’s about to begin,” Elle says, cutting in. She places a hand on her ginormous belly and motions toward her husband. “You can head up with Cian.”
“The feck he can. I’m not part of the deal,” Cian grumbles as he approaches the group.
Elle glares at him, then wobbles off her stool to stand with one hand on her hip and one pointing at her husband’s chest. “Yes, you are.”
“Ah, come on, Tink. I’m not eligible anymore.”
I mouth the wordTinkto Madison, and she giggles. It’s such a delicate sound, I almost lose it in the loud bass reverberating through the floorboards.
Goddamn, how can I be so affected by simple sounds?
She reaches up on her tiptoes, and I bend to meet her. When her lips reach my ear, a fissure of electricity runs through my body at the contact.
I’ve been a live wire my entire life, and she’s the grounding I’ve been searching for.
My hands immediately fall to her hips—to keep her steady. “They broke up once senior year of high school around Halloween. Elle showed up to the football party dressed as a slutty Tinker Bell.” She pulls back an inch to make sure I heard her. My face is screwed up into a permanent smile when she’s this close, and her eyes sparkle in return. “I’m not saying the costume did it, but he didn’t leave her side again for about three years.”
“Smart man.”
She lowers back to flat feet, her body rubbing against mine as she does.
“This year, the event is for Patty.” Elle has both hands on her hips now. “That last hurricane ruined her paddocks, and she didn’t have flood insurance. So march your ass up there, wave at the ladies, and pick a song.”
“Ah, what’s happening?” I ask, trying to gauge the situation, but no one seems too keen on giving me answers.
Cian snaps his gaze in my direction. “Aye, no one told you what the fundraiser was, did they?”
I look to Madison, hoping for a save, but she smiles sweetly and crosses her arms.
“That would be a no,” I grumble while lifting my hands from Madison’s hips. I instantly feel hollow, and I’m not sure what to do with that information.
“All the eligible men are getting auctioned off,” Elle says.
Now I’m paying attention.
“Auctioned off for what, exactly?”
Madison’s gaze turns downright sinister. “Three of the winners get a night at the inn, and those are just the runners-up prizes.”
“A night. At the inn. With whoever wins the bid?”
