Bidding On The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 8) (7 page)

“I’m glad I ran in to you tonight because I was going to call you in the morning anyway. Can you help me shop for a wedding present tomorrow? Sara’s wedding is next weekend, and I still need a gift.”

He hadn’t intended to ask her to go shopping or anywhere else this weekend. And he didn’t need a wedding present. Sara and Christopher’s gift was wrapped and sitting in a closet at home. But he suddenly wanted to see her tomorrow.

Brooklyn went to push up the glasses she wasn’t wearing, and then she glanced at Trevor. “Sorry, I can’t this weekend. Cheyenne’s visiting me.”

She’d never mentioned a visit from her cousin. Normally she told him things like that. Sometimes the three of them would even get together when she came to Providence. While he didn’t like Brooklyn’s sisters, he liked her cousin. “Last-minute thing?”

“Um, yeah. She called right before I went out tonight.”

She didn’t have plans with her cousin this weekend, so why was she claiming she did? As far as he knew, she’d never made up an excuse before to get out of doing something with him. Was her little story now more for Trevor’s benefit? Regardless of the reason behind her lie, he’d go along with it. The next time they were alone he’d ask her about it though. “I’ll see if Courtney’s around then to help me. And I’ll see you at the office on Monday. Trevor, it was nice seeing you again.”

Trevor gave a slight nod. “You too.”

Although he didn’t want to leave Trevor and Brooklyn alone, Derek couldn’t think of any reason to stick around any longer. “Brooklyn, say hi to Cheyenne for me.”

“Sure. Have a safe drive home.”

Derek walked away. When he reached the stairwell door, he turned around and watched Trevor and Brooklyn enter the elevator. He still had his hand on her lower back and the sight had Derek yanking the door open with more force than necessary. He really should’ve gone home after work tonight.

The large arrangement of flowers on her desk caught her eye the moment she walked into her office Monday afternoon. She’d popped into work briefly this morning before heading off to court but hadn’t been back since. Even without reading the card attached to the arrangement, she had a good idea who sent them.
Trevor.
She blew a stray piece of hair out of her eyes and plucked the card out. The knock on the ajar door kept her from opening the envelope, and she gestured for the receptionist to enter.

“A courier just delivered this,” Isabelle said, coming toward the desk with a large envelope.

“Thank you. I’ve been expecting these files.”

“Those flowers came this morning, not long after you left.” She nodded toward the arrangement. “Whoever sent them has wonderful taste.”

She heard the inquiry in the receptionist’s voice. In all the years she’d worked at the firm, she’d never received flowers or any other gifts from anyone and the entire office knew she was single. “They are pretty and brighten up the room.” Brooklyn added the package the receptionist handed her to the in-bin on her desk. “Is Max in this afternoon?”

“No, he hasn’t returned from his meeting yet.”

Since it was already four thirty, she suspected he might not bother coming back at all today. “If he comes in before you go, can you let me know? I’d like to speak with him before I leave tonight.”

After promising she’d let her know if the other attorney returned, Isabelle cast one more look toward the flowers before leaving the office and closing the door behind her.

Alone, she turned on her computer and then pulled the card from its envelope.

Thank you for a wonderful evening Friday. I look forward to seeing you again soon. Trevor.

Collapsing into her chair, she closed her eyes. They’d gone out once and already he was sending her flowers. Not good. Not good at all.

Another knock at the door had her sitting up straight. Perhaps Max had returned and she could distract herself from the flowers with a conversation about her newest case. “Come in.”

“Did you just get here?” Derek asked, stepping inside and shutting the door behind him.

“A few minutes ago.” She relaxed again in her chair. While not the man she’d hoped to see, she did need to speak with Derek too. “But I’m not sure why I bothered. It’s almost five already, and I’m beat.”

“Rough day?” He took the seat across from her and took a drink from the coffee mug in his hand.

“More or less what I expected. What about you? How’s this Monday treating you?”

“No complaints.” His eyes took in the flowers on her desk and then zeroed in on the card she still held. “Who’d you get those from?”

Like he needed to ask, because men sent her flowers all the time. Please, he knew who they were from and as soon as she answered he’d probably once again tell her what a mistake she was making. Why couldn’t Trevor have sent the flowers to her apartment where no one else would see them?

“Trevor.”
Okay, here it comes
. Some comment about him being too old or all wrong for her again. She did agree he was a little older than she would prefer, but they’d gotten along well on Friday. Did that mean she wanted him sending her flowers already? No, but she wasn’t ready to call him all wrong for her either.

Derek took another gulp from his coffee before he spoke. “How’d that go Friday?”

Part of her wanted to tell him it’d been the best date of her life. Considering how well he knew her and the fact he knew they’d gone to see Shakespeare, he’d see right through her lie.

“It was okay. We had dinner at Mon Soleil then went to the theater. Afterward we stopped for dessert. He stayed for a few minutes after we talked to you in the lobby and then he left.”

He smirked and pointed at the flowers. “He must have thought it was better than okay.”

Perhaps he had, but it didn’t change anything for her. “What about you? How was your weekend?” Right now she didn’t want to speculate on what Trevor thought.

“Relaxing. Took the
Affinity
out and spent a few hours on the water Saturday. Yesterday, I bummed around the house. Did you and Cheyenne stay out of trouble?”

“I didn’t—” She stopped herself just in time. She’d forgotten all about telling Derek she had plans with her cousin. Originally she’d made up the excuse because Trevor had asked to see her again over the weekend. When Derek mentioned helping him shop in front of Trevor, she’d had no other choice but to tell him the lie as well. She didn’t want to add any other lies into the mix now.

“She didn’t come by, did she?” Derek asked.

Judging by his tone, he already knew the answer to his question. “No. Trevor wanted to get together again on Saturday. I didn’t want to say no, but I wasn’t ready for another day out with him either. He’s… I’m not sure what the right word is. Eager? I don’t know. Trying to push things along too fast?” She’d tried explaining she wanted to take things slowly after he mentioned her meeting his daughter. The large vase of flowers on her desk suggested he hadn’t gotten the message.

“Rather than making up excuses, you could always tell him you’re not interested. You held up your end and gave him a chance like your father wanted. It didn’t work out. Let it go.”

She eyed the card in her hand again. Maybe she was being a little unfair by calling him pushy. It wasn’t like he’d called or sent her text messages over the weekend. He’d merely sent her some flowers. The more she thought about it, it was a rather considerate gesture. “I didn’t say I wasn’t
interested
, Derek. Only that I want to take things a little slower than he seems to. And one date isn’t really giving him a chance.”

“I take it you have another one planned?”

She didn’t get why it mattered so much to him. In fact, he sounded angry about the idea of her going out with Trevor again, which made no sense. She understood Derek sharing his opinion on the matter. She’d done the same a time or two when he’d dated certain women. She’d never gotten mad though when he didn’t take her advice, and she never continually tried to change his mind—as if anyone could change Derek Sherbrooke’s mind anyway. The man gave the word stubborn a whole new meaning.

“We might do something this weekend. It’s still up in the air. This is his daughter’s week to stay with him, and he didn’t know what their plans were yet. But I’m sure we’ll get together soon if this weekend doesn’t work out.”

Derek scowled and grabbed a chocolate from the candy dish on her desk.

With him already in a bad mood, now seemed as good a time as any to share her misgivings about the upcoming auction. “I was going to call tonight and talk to you about this.” She hated the idea of going back on her word, but the more she thought about it the more his plan seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. “I’m not sure about bidding on you at the fundraiser next week. Everyone in your family knows we’re friends, including your Aunt Marilyn. Don’t you think it’ll look odd when I win four dates with you?”

The frown lines near his mouth deepened. “I have considered what they may think—”

She intended to finish her entire speech before she let him say anything. “And who knows, if we don’t go through with this silly plan of yours, you might meet someone you really like. A lot of women will be there. I heard the event has almost sold out. And there’s no guarantee Tasha will make the highest bid anyway. She might even bid on someone else instead. You’re not going to be the only man there. I read there’ll be twelve of you up for auction.”

“Brooklyn—”

“You know how fickle she can be. She had a thing for your cousin once as well as Trent. Maybe she’ll see someone on stage and forget all about you.” Perhaps she was stretching the truth a little, because she doubted anyone who’d ever seen Derek could forget him. “I think we should forget about your little scheme and let things play out,” she concluded her argument and waited for his objection.

“Can I speak now?”

She nodded.

“First, I considered that my family knows we’re friends. But it doesn’t really matter. Once the auction is underway, Aunt Marilyn won’t stop it. She might say something to me later, but I’m not worried about it.”

“What if the media finds out about our friendship and accuses the foundation of rigging the fundraiser?” She’d forgotten to add that to her earlier list of objections.

“Even if the media prints something about us knowing each other from college, since we’ll go on the romantic dates you win, there’ll be nothing to make anyone suspect the event was rigged or predetermined.”

She wished he wouldn’t use the word romantic in connection to them. She’d accepted a long time ago they’d never be anything more than friends. She didn’t need him bringing any deeply buried dormant feelings back to the surface.

“And what about Trevor? How am I supposed to explain this little arrangement to him? It’ll be all over the Internet and in the local papers, so I can’t hide it.” If she was going to be fair to him and give him an honest chance, he deserved more than the one date last weekend, which meant any further outings would not occur until after the fundraiser next weekend.

Derek’s nonchalant shrug didn’t fit with the muscle twitching in his jaw. “Tell him the truth if you have to. Just please don’t back out on me now.” He moved to the edge of his seat and rested his forearms on the desk. “I’d do it for you. You know I would.”

Why did he have to play
that
card? Not once when she’d needed help had he ever said no. He’d even offered his assistance when she’d been too stubborn to request it.

“We’ll have fun together like we always do, and if Helping Hands does another event like this one again, I’ll make sure I’m out of town when it’s held. You’ll never need to do this again. Promise.”

Even before she’d opened her mouth this afternoon, she’d suspected she wouldn’t get out of helping him next weekend. Helping her friends was what she did, period. Still, she’d known she had to say something because, despite his reassurances, she expected the plan to blow up in both their faces. “Okay, but when this whole thing turns into a disaster, I’m going to say I told you so.”

Derek’s frown faded, but he didn’t smile. “Fair enough. But don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” He grabbed another chocolate from the dish and stood. “I need to finish a few things before I go. See you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here.”

“Maybe we can grab lunch.”

She nodded and watched him leave. When the door closed, she glanced back at the arrangement. When she called Trevor tonight to thank him for the flowers, she’d tell him about the fundraiser and the ridiculous role she’d agreed to play. Then again, perhaps he deserved to learn about it face-to-face. Some things really shouldn’t be shared over the phone. This struck her as one of those things. If she planned on telling him to his face, she’d need to see him sooner rather than later, because the fundraiser was less than two weeks away. If this weekend didn’t work out for him, she didn’t know when she’d get a chance to explain things. Perhaps a lunch date during the week would work. Although not ideal since they’d be in a public place, it’d be better than dropping the news over the phone.

What a crappy situation. And having to tell Trevor wasn’t even the worst of it. When her father learned she’d bid on Derek, he’d give her an earful and a half. He’d never liked Derek anyway, and if he believed it might interfere in his grand plan to finally take over Atlantic Coast Marketing, he may disown her.

Brooklyn rolled her eyes. Okay, maybe disown was a bit much, but he’d be furious.

Grabbing a chocolate from the candy dish, Brooklyn switched off her computer without even logging in. Whatever e-mails waited in her inbox would be there tomorrow morning too. With her computer off, she reached for the vase. The flowers brightened up the office, but it seemed a waste to leave something so beautiful here. Maybe if she thought of it, she’d grab a smaller arrangement or a flowering plant this week and bring it in. The last plant she’d had in her office had gotten too big and she’d taken it home. She’d never gotten around to replacing it with something else. With the flowers in her office now though, she realized how even the littlest color improved her otherwise plain office.