Authors: Darah Lace
through an apology when his thoughts strayed
uncontrollably, misconstruing her every movement
into something provocative and sensually erotic?
More importantly, when he knew if they were alone,
he would probably repeat the mistake he’d made in
the mayor’s garden.
“Well, thanks for the dance. I’ll see you later.”
“Wait.” He grabbed her hand as the band struck
up another two-step, this one much slower. “You
can’t leave after half a song. You won’t know for sure
how light on my feet I am unless you dance an entire
song with me.”
Marcus didn’t wait for Charlotte to refuse. He
placed a hand at the small of her back and drew her
closer, resisting the urge to crush her to him, to bury
his face in her hair. Instead, he remained careful,
keeping enough space between them so as not to
reveal the bulge beneath his cummerbund.
“It must be hard.”
Marcus almost choked on his next breath. “I beg
your pardon?”
“Being a bachelor on the auction block. I’ve
always felt sorry for you guys, making yourself, or
rather your time, available to the highest bidder,
never knowing which woman...” she smiled that half
smile again, “...or man that will be.”
This time he did choke.
Charlotte slapped him on the back and laughed,
her blue eyes twinkling. “Hey, it could happen.
Ralphy Jernigan would just love to get his hands,
not to mention other body parts, on a virile young
buck like you.”
He shuddered and frowned even as he reveled in
her description of him. “Don’t even joke about a
thing like that.”
“Oh, don’t worry. No self-respecting socialite
would let a specimen like you fall into Ralphy’s
clutches.”
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Darah Lace
“Does that mean you’d bid on me?” Now why the
hell had he asked that? The last thing he needed
was for Charlotte to purchase him so he’d be forced
to spend time with her. He’d never survive.
“I already have.”
He couldn’t contain his surprise or his unwanted
excitement. “You have?”
“Yes, as head of the silent auction, I place the
first bid on each bachelor to get the ball rolling.”
In other words, she had only bid on him because
it was part of her job. It didn’t bother her that he
would end up with some other woman. He shouldn’t
be disappointed. He’d just admitted he couldn’t
handle time alone with her.
Then he remembered she’d passed on her duties
as the benefit committee chair to Melody. “I
thought—”
A sudden nudge at Marcus’s back knocked him
into Charlotte and together they stumbled. He
quickly righted them and adjusted the space
between them before she realized his condition, then
frowned at Spencer over his shoulder. But his
brother was so wrapped up in Melody he didn’t
realize what he’d done. Or simply didn’t care enough
to acknowledge it.
“Sorry about that,” Marcus said as he moved
them in another direction just to be on the safe side,
then picked up the conversation. “You’re not in
charge of the auction this year, Melody is. Why
would you open the bidding?”
She gave him a smirk that said he must have
lost his mind. “And do you actually think Spencer
would allow her to bid on another man?”
Marcus shrugged. “If it were for a good cause.”
“Would you?”
He considered how he’d feel if the woman he
loved wanted to put her name on a bidding sheet,
leaving herself open to the possibility of spending
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Bachelor Auction
time with another man. He thought, too, about
Charlotte’s admission that she always initiated the
bidding. Neither sat well with him. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“I figured I owed it to Melody to step in since she
took over the auction for me.”
“I never realized you were even involved with
the auction, much less in charge, until she told us
she was taking it on for you.”
She turned her attention toward the crowded
edge of the dance floor as if bored with the
conversation. “It’s for the children at the hospital.”
Marcus never thought she’d be one for thinking
about kids. It was more her style to enter into a
bidding war with a bunch of man-hungry
debutantes. Yet he couldn’t remember her ever
having done so. She’d never bought a bachelor
either.
“This can’t be making Snow White very happy.”
“I thought—”
A shove from behind pushed him flush against
her. She clutched his shoulder this time to keep from
falling, and he was certain she felt the jerk of his
erection as it came in contact with her hip. He
shifted to allow more space between them then
turned to see who had bumped into him.
Mitch gave him a sheepish grin and a mumbled
apology over his dance partner’s head, causing
Marcus to suspect he’d become the target of a
misguided matchmaking scheme. His brothers were
in no way clumsy.
Marcus ignored Mitch and turned back to
Charlotte. By the frown she wore, he figured her
opinion
of
his
coordination
had
dropped
considerably. He muttered another feeble apology
and steered her to an area near the open door,
hoping the November air would cool both his
irritation and his desire.
Once there, it took him a moment to remember
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Darah Lace
what she’d said and whom she’d dubbed Snow
White. He failed to see what Natalie had to be
unhappy about. In fact, she had seemed giddy all
night just to attend one of society’s big events. It
wasn’t often a ranch foreman’s daughter found
herself invited. He had tried to keep her company
and introduce her to as many people as possible.
Good connections never hurt.
Still, Charlotte may have seen something he
hadn’t and Marcus was compelled to protect the girl
who had dogged his steps as a child. “I thought
Natalie was having a good time. Why would you
think she’s not?”
“Oh, I just figured she’d have something to say
about you spending time with another woman even
if it is for the kids.”
He cocked his head, unable to comprehend her
logic. “What’s she got to say about what I do?”
She snorted. “It’s just like a man to be oblivious
to the world around him. That girl is over the moon
for you.”
“Nat? She’s just a kid.”
“Believe me, she’s no kid, and she knows exactly
what she wants.”
Her tone held just enough jealousy to give his
ego a much needed boost, though it was ridiculous to
think he could possibly look at Natalie as more than
a kid sister. Or to think the jealousy he heard was
more than female insecurity talking. Still, what
could it hurt for Charlotte to think he might be
interested in Natalie? He’d never seen her self-
confidence threatened, and for some reason it made
her seem more human, almost vulnerable.
He glanced to where Natalie stood at the edge of
the dance floor and pretended to study her. “Now
that you mention it, I guess she is pretty attractive.”
“Just your type.”
Now this was interesting. “What type is that?”
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Bachelor Auction
“Oh, you know. All small and meek and helpless
with don’t-touch-me-or-I’ll-break porcelain skin.
Sweet and innocent, round-as-saucer brown eyes.
Pure to the bone.”
Everything you’re not
Marcus thought with a
pang of something he never expected to feel for
Charlotte. Regret. Regret that she wasn’t his type,
and that no matter how much he wished it, she
never could be. Or at least that’s what he’d always
believed.
So far tonight nothing in his reaction to her had
been consistent with the past. Nothing except his
rock-hard arousal. “My type or not, there’s nothing
between Nat and me.”
“Well, from the way she’s been hanging all over
you this evening and the way she’s glaring at me
right now, I’d say she thinks there is.”
Surprise rippled through him. Not because Nat
might have a crush on him, though until Charlotte
mentioned it, he hadn’t considered Nat’s actions
during the evening anything but friendly. No, what
surprised him was Charlotte’s slip. He doubted she
even realized she had more or less just confessed
she’d watched him throughout the evening.
A smile threatened, but he forced his lips into a
thin line. If he was careful, maybe she would reveal
something else. Besides, he didn’t dare let her see
how her interest affected him. Especially when he
hated to admit it to himself. “I don’t think—”
Someone slammed into Marcus, this time
sandwiching Charlotte between him and the person
behind her. The feel of her soft body pressed so
firmly against his from chest to knees was too much
to handle. He jerked away, his entire body rebelling
against the restraint his brain was fast losing
control of. Hell, he fairly shook with wanting to drag
her out the door to someplace dark where he would
be free to explore her soft curves and more.
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Darah Lace
He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from
doing just that, realizing too late how stupid that
was since he couldn’t very well dance with her
without touching her. He withdrew them slowly and
held one out. A long moment passed before he
realized she hadn’t moved and was forced to look at
her.
“You know, Marcus,” she said, irritation flashing
in her cat-like eyes. “I figure half of one song and
half of another makes a whole. Why don’t I deem you
a competent dancer and put us both out of our
misery?”
With that, she turned around and left him
standing on the edge of the dance floor, feeling like
the fool he was for lingering in her company longer
than necessary.
“Sorry, bro. That wasn’t supposed to happen,”
Chad said beside him. “We were just trying to help
you along. I mean, we all know you’ve got a thing for
Charlotte, but you were dancing with her like you
had a poker up your ass.”
Marcus
watched
Charlotte’s
lithe
figure
disappear into the hallway before turning to his
brother. “When and if I ever need your help with a
woman, I’ll let you know. Until then stay the hell out
of my business.”
He walked away from his meddling brother with
every intention of putting distance between himself
and the woman he ‘didn’t need any help with.’
Instead, his feet carried him toward the same door
she’d passed through. He’d almost made it when
Natalie stepped in front of him.
“Marcus, I need to talk to you.”
Her dark eyes flared with anger, and he
remembered Charlotte’s warning that Natalie
fancied herself in love with him. He would have to
set Nat straight, but the mood he was in at the
moment, he wasn’t inclined to do so easily.
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Bachelor Auction
“Not now.” He patted her hand and ignored her
protest as he brushed past her. Determination filled
him with every step, though he couldn’t say why he
felt the need to rehash a history Charlotte obviously
didn’t remember.
One Marcus would never forget.
****
coat closet and read the sign “Back in 15 Minutes.”
“To hell with that,” she muttered as she slipped
around the counter and through the open door of the
closet. They would be announcing the winning bids
by then, and she’d rather not live through that
nightmare. The one she’d suffered moments ago was
bad enough.
She must have been out of her mind to think she
could dance with Marcus, be that close to him and
not fall victim to her own longings or risk another
rejection. But he had seemed sincere in wanting to
dance with her. At least until the music slowed,
forcing him to actually pay attention to his partner.
That he was uncomfortable with her was an
understatement.
She scanned the hundreds of coats that lined the