lear and loud through the marquee.
“What the fuck?” Lily hisses audibly behind me, and a
general gasp of dismay and amusement ripples through the
crowd. The stranger holds his hands up in defeat, laughing,
and Christian smirks at him. From the corner of my eye, I
can see Mia bouncing up and down with glee. My
subconscious is gazing at Christian, utterly gobsmacked.
“One-hundred thousand dollars for the lovely Ana!
Going once . . . going twice . . .” The MC stares at the
stranger who shakes his head with mock regret and bows
chivalrously.
“Sold!” the MC cries out triumphantly.
In a deafening round of applause and cheering,
Christian steps forward to take my hand and help me from
the stage. He gazes at me with an amused grin as I make
my way down, kisses the back of my hand then tucks it
into the crook of his arm, and leads me toward the
marquee’s exit.
“Who was that?” I ask.
He gazes down at me. “Someone you can meet later.
Right now, I want to show you something. We ha一ve about
thirty minutes until the First Dance Auction finishes. Then
we ha一ve to be back on the dance floor so that I can enjoy
that dance I’ve paid for.”
“A very expensive dance,” I mutter disapprovingly.
“I’m sure it’ll be worth every single cent.” He smiles
down at me wickedly. Oh, he has a glorious smile, and the
ache is back, blossoming in my body.
We’re out on the lawn. I thought we would be heading
to the boathouse, but disappointingly we seem to be
heading for the dance floor where the big band is now
setting up. There are at least twenty musicians, and a few
guests are milling about, furtively smoking—but since most
of the action is back in the marquee, we don’t attract too
much attention.
Christian leads me to the rear of the house and opens a
French window leading into a large comfortable sitting
room that I’ve not seen before. He walks through the
deserted hall toward the sweeping staircase with its
elegant, polished wooden balustrade. Taking my hand
from the crook of his arm, he leads me
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