Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 58952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
All she wanted to do was blend in, not be the center of attention and gossip. With her ex having chosen her beauty queen sister, everyone would be watching Lauren’s reactions, and if she had someone by her side, a man who deflected all that speculation, she wouldn’t feel like the odd woman out.
Now that she’d vetoed Tara’s suggestion to take a bad boy home, Lauren eyed the brochure sitting next to her cereal bowl, the one she’d grabbed from work on her way out the door on Friday. “So, about finding a plus-one to take to the wedding… I think I might have found a solution to that problem myself.”
Interest sparkled in Tara’s brown eyes. “Yeah, and what’s that?”
“Remember me mentioning the upcoming Future Fast Track charity event I’m helping to organize at the Meridian?”
Tara nodded. “Yeah.”
Biting her lower lip, and curious to hear what her friend thought about her unconventional idea, Lauren pushed the glossy booklet across the table to Tara. “They’re having a bachelor auction at the event to raise money for the charity.”
Her eyes went wide. “You’re going to buy yourself a man?”
“I’m considering it.” Lauren leaned back in her seat and shrugged. “Whatever man I win, he’s committed to a weekend date, so it’s the perfect arrangement. I wouldn’t look dateless to my family or pathetic to the town gossips, and I’d be supporting a good cause. It’s a win-win situation.”
Tara flipped through the pages, quickly scanning the men up for auction and their profiles. “Meh,” she said, a teasing smirk on her face. “They’re all cleaned-up suits. Not a tattooed bad boy in the lot.”
Lauren laughed. “Exactly. I don’t want a man in a leather cut that grunts like a Neanderthal when spoken to,” she said, about the type of biker guy Tara had described. “I want someone ordinary and friendly and educated, who can make small talk and pretend to be smitten with me. And when we get back home, we can go our separate ways, no muss, no fuss.”
“Then yeah, buying yourself a man is the perfect solution,” Tara said encouragingly as she pushed the closed brochure back to Lauren with a grin. “But if that doesn’t work out for you, my offer to hook you up with a bad boy stands.”
“Good to know.” Decision made, Lauren reached for the RSVP card.
Grabbing a pen, she filled out the information and wrote in “2” for the number attending, then stuffed the card into its small envelope and sealed it closed so she could mail it on the way to work tomorrow morning.
One way or another, she was heading home for her sister’s wedding with a charming, amiable date on her arm. Now, she just had to figure out which man to bid on at the auction.
* * *
Chase Gossard closed out his emails and for the fourth time, glanced at the clock on his phone, his annoyance growing. His half-sister, Billie, was late for their monthly lunch date, and because he’d arrived early at the café, he’d been sitting at the table waiting for the past half hour.
The waitress, a pretty young blonde, came by to refill his half-empty glass of iced tea. “Are you sure you don’t want to go ahead and order?” she asked as she eyed him with appreciation, her gaze obviously taking in his tailored suit and the Hermès watch on his wrist before landing on his face. One he’d been told he could have graced fashion magazines with, not that he gave a shit.
“No,” he replied, doing his best to tamp down his impatience. “She’ll be here.”
The waitress smiled playfully. “I sure hope so, because any woman who would stand you up is a fool.”
He refrained from rolling his eyes and gave her a tight smile instead. Clearly, she was fishing to see if he was single, and he didn’t clarify that he was waiting on his sister, not an actual date.
She moved on to the next table, and he exhaled a deep breath. He wasn’t interested in striking up a flirtatious conversation, which wasn’t his forte, anyway. Having just gotten out of a situationship gone bad, he wasn’t looking to jump into another. He didn’t do committed relationships, which had been the issue with the last woman he’d been randomly hooking up with, only to discover she believed she’d be the one to change him.
Yeah, that hadn’t ended well—it never did—and he’d put his dick’s needs on hiatus. For now.
Chase picked up his phone again. He was just about to send Billie a “Where are you?” text, when she rushed out onto the restaurant patio and toward his table.
“Get that disapproving frown off of your face,” she said with an infectious grin. His sister was one of the few people who was unaffected by his typical grumpy demeanor. “I’m fifteen minutes late because I got an important work call and I couldn’t leave until I handled things. And I didn’t have the chance to text you because I was finishing up that same call while riding in the Uber to get here. It took a huge amount of brainstorming to resolve a crisis involving this weekend’s Future Fast Track charity event. It was business. You know how that is.”