Dare Menage 2: Daring Proposal Read online

  Eve ignored her.

  Melody knocked her elbow into her ribs once again. Melody was no longer whispering. “Eve! What’s your max bid?”

  Eve finally murmured, “Whatever wins him.”

  “What?”

  The lady behind her bid again, yelling out, “Twenty-six hundred.”

  Eve wanted to turn around and give the other bidder the stink eye, but instead she pursed her lips and let out a ragged breath. She wasn’t going to play this game anymore. She came here to win Ren Landis and, damn it, she was going to win him. No matter what.

  She stood up without her paddle and said, “Five thousand.”

  This time it wasn’t only murmurs. Eve heard a couple gasps, a “You go, girl,” as well as some wild clapping from the corner behind her. She turned to look at the loud clapper and saw Quinn Preston, flanked by her two lovers, at the back corner table.

  The other bidder said with disgust in her voice, “You can have him.”

  The MC repeated her bid a few times, waiting for someone to yell out another bid. Eve closed her eyes, waiting to hear the next bid. The MC kept prodding the audience, trying to get anyone to bid a little higher. Thankfully, no one did.

  Finally, the MC yelled out, “SOLD! Five thousand dollars to bidder number ninety-eight!”

  Still standing, Eve opened her eyes and looked across the tables to the stage. Her gaze met Ren’s. His eyebrows were raised at her and she gave him a shaky smile. He responded to her with a shake of his head and a smile of his own. There was something in that smile, though, that caught Eve off guard, but she couldn’t place it.

  She sank into her chair. She might have bitten off more than she could chew.

  He turned on his heels and strode off the stage, disappearing through the curtain.

  “Damn, Eve. Five thousand dollars. I know you wanted him at any cost, but damn! I’m not sure why you wanted him that badly…”

  Eve didn’t want to have to lie to her friend, so before she answered she thought carefully. As she struggled to find the right answer that wouldn’t embarrass her, the stage curtain opened again and the next “celebrity date” sauntered out. To say he was sauntering was an understatement. There was an actual sway to the man’s hips, enough to catch Eve’s eye. A smile crossed her face. Now with one win under her belt, her confidence had ratcheted up a few notches.

  “Are you ready to go settle up?” Melody asked her.

  Without even turning her head, Eve asked, “You’re not bidding at all tonight?”

  “No. I can’t afford most of these dates. So I’m ready to go if you are.”

  Eve pursed her lips and watched the man currently on the stage. He was enjoying the spotlight. “I’m not ready.”

  “Uh, okay. I guess it doesn’t hurt to look at a little more eye candy.”

  The MC introduced the broad-shouldered man currently on the stage. “Ladies, ladies, ladies and gentlemen, here’s another handsome face for you. And the rest of him isn’t bad either! And what do you know? A former teammate of the last hunka-hunka-burning love!”

  He wasn’t quite as tall as Ren. But he was close. She’d guess around six feet or so.

  “Cole Dixon is the former NFL running back that also helped the Bulldogs bring home the Super Bowl Championship. I hear he’s got some great moves!”

  He flashed the audience a sparkling white smile, which contrasted with his deep tan, one only achieved when you spent a lot of time outdoors. He strutted out to the end of the stage, then stopped, his legs spread and his arms crossed, dripping attitude. His tux tightened over his shoulders with the move, giving all the ladies a hint of how broad his shoulders really were. She remembered seeing lots of pictures of Cole Dixon when she was researching Ren. They were close friends and they got their photos taken together a lot by the paparazzi. She couldn’t quite see his green eyes from where she was, but in the pictures his eyes had been stunning.

  “So, ladies, who wants to bid first?”

  He didn’t look uncomfortable on stage as Long-Arm Landis had. She wondered what Cole’s nickname was or if he even had one.

  Melody leaned over and said softly, “He’s hot.”

  Eve pushed her chair back and said, “Yes. He is.” She stood, forgetting about her auction paddle. She tried to say “Five thousand,” but her voice cracked, and she tried again, louder this time. “Five thousand!”

  Melody yanked at her arm. “Eve! What are you doing?”

  Without a glance to her friend, she answered, “Bidding.” She met Cole’s eyes on stage and murmured, “No, not bidding. Winning.”

  She heard her competition behind her curse and say, “I didn’t even get a chance before she outbid me!”

  The MC was staring at her, almost as if she was waiting for Eve to cancel her bid, to say she made a mistake. “Ma’am, you already won the last date for five thousand dollars.”

  Eve lifted her chin a little, her eyes never leaving Cole’s face. “Yes, and I want this one too.” Her answer was met by a few chuckles throughout the crowd.

  Cole fought to keep his flashy smile in place, but he was clearly struggling with it.

  “Well, okay then. Any other bidders? Highest bid is five thousand. Five thousand. Five thousand. Anyone? Fifty-one hundred? Fifty-one hundred? No? No one? Then five thousand dollars it is. Going once. Going twice. SOLD! Five thousand dollars from bidder ninety-eight.” The MC stood frozen with the microphone in her hand. Then Eve could see her mentally shake herself back into action. “Um, okay then. Thank you, Mr. Dixon.”

  Cole Dixon didn’t move a muscle. He stood legs apart, arms still crossed over his chest. He simply stared at Eve.

  She swallowed and sat down.

  Cole licked his lips and his flashy smile was back.

  The MC covered her mic and said “Mr. Dixon, you can leave the stage now. Thank you.” It was still loud enough that Eve could hear. Cole remained where he stood. Then he began to step forward as if he was going to leap off the front of the stage. But the MC caught his arm and said, “Thank you, Mr. Dixon, please go back that way.” She gestured toward the back of the stage and the curtain.

  With a tilt of his head, he blew Eve a kiss before turning and walking away.

  No. Now she may have bitten off more than she could chew.

  Chapter Three

  Right after Eve had won Cole, Melody had pulled her from her seat and dragged her over to settle her bill. She wasn’t going to allow Eve to spend any more money on any more men. That was okay with Eve. She’d accomplished what she intended. She had felt a quiet calm while she was writing the $10,000 check. Or so she tried to tell herself. It ended up being a quiet calm before the storm.

  Did she really “buy” two men for nefarious reasons? She fought back the nervous laughter wanting to bubble up during their car ride home. No, she hadn’t “bought” two men, she’d bought two dates. Dates. That was all it was. And when it hit her how much she’d spent, she told herself it went to a good cause. Sure.

  Now two days later, she stared at the business card sitting on her kitchen table like a beacon. The business card belonged to the men’s sports agent, Daniel Osbourne. Since she had not seen either man after the auction, she had been given the agent’s card instead, with his contact information. This Dan guy was supposed to set up the dates. She had fought the urge to call him the next day, but she didn’t want to appear too eager. Plus, she was still gathering her nerves. But nerves or not, she was anxious to get the ball rolling. Or balls, she thought, and a little nervous giggle escaped her.

  She covered her mouth with her hand, horrified. That was so not like her.

  As she lifted her cell phone, it rang, startling her. The phone almost slipped from her shaky fingers, but she caught it before it fell to the tile floor. The number of the caller was blocked.

  She never answered unknown numbers. She put it on the table as if the person calling might see her holding the phone and ignoring their call. She was being silly. As the ringtone final
ly quieted, she sighed in relief. Why was she so on edge?

  Oh, it was because she was about to call this agent about the dates.

  Was she having second thoughts?

  No. She was not going to chicken out. No way. No how. Keep telling yourself that.

  She jumped as her phone rang again. Blocked number.

  Who blocks their damn number? And then expects people to actually answer it!

  She slid her finger across the screen. “Hello?”

  A male voice said, “Oh, hey. I didn’t think you’d pick up. I was going to leave a message this time.”

  “Who is this?”

  A deep chuckle filled her ear. “You don’t recognize my voice?”

  “Should I?” Should she know who this was?

  “Damn! I’m wounded.”

  “Do you have the wrong number?”

  “I sure hope not.”

  Wait. This couldn’t be—

  She pulled out one of the wooden chairs, her hand shaky from adrenaline.

  “It’s Ren.”

  “Ren,” Eve repeated slowly.

  “Wow. You’re killing me here. Yeah, you know—Ren Landis? I’m the guy you paid five big ones to go on a date with? Remember him?”

  Eve sank down onto the kitchen chair, crushing the business card in her fist. “Oh, Ren. Yes. I’m sorry.” She swallowed hard. “I was about to call your agent. I wasn’t expecting—”

  “Aaaah, I’m just messing with you. I wanted to discuss the date. I had an idea and I wanted to run it past you.”

  “Oh really? I wasn’t sure who got to choose what the date included.” Eve heard him snort. She cursed under her breath. “I mean, where we’d go. Or whatever.” She bounced her fist off her forehead a couple times. She needed to get it together.

  “Well, I usually let the lady make the decision, but that’s why I’m calling. I didn’t want to go through Dan. I wanted to run this by you first.”

  Usually? How many times has he done this? “Shoot.”

  “I’ve got a buddy who is having a get-together next Saturday night. I thought maybe you could go with me as a date. That’s unless you had something else planned…”

  “No. I… I actually hadn’t thought about what we’d do. I guess that would be okay. He wouldn’t mind me coming?”

  “No. I was told to bring a date. There’s only one little catch.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s a commitment ceremony.”

  “What do you mean? I mean, I know what a commitment ceremony is, but why would that be a ‘little catch’?”

  The phone went silent for a moment. On the other end, Ren took a deep breath. “I’ll just come out and say it. It’s my former teammate Ty White. He and his…lovers…partners…uh, are getting committed to each other…since I guess three adults can’t marry each other legally. I guess… I don’t know.”

  Eve perked up. Maybe she should put poor Ren out of his misery. But her head was spinning too fast to process what he was saying. “Wait. Wait! Are you talking about Quinn Preston and her two boyfriends?”

  The surprise was clear in Ren’s voice. “Yes, you know her?”

  “Yes, I’ve actually met her before. I met her a while back.” In fact, it was the first time Eve had seen Ren Landis. It was at the House to Home Charity event that Quinn’s mother had organized. A date with Quinn had been auctioned off. Eve had watched the whole bidding war between Quinn’s boyfriend Logan and Ren. She’d never forget it. That’s when she noticed Ren and she hadn’t gotten him out of her mind ever since. It was one reason she, since she sat on the charity’s board, had suggested Ren, and later Cole, to be part of the auction that was held the other night.

  Watching Quinn with her two men by her side had piqued her curiosity about the idea of being able to love and enjoy more than one man at a time. She hadn’t even known where to begin to explore something like that for her own life. And now, because of her interest in Ren, the opportunity to be around Quinn and possibly even to be able to ask her questions, just fell in her lap. She hadn’t expected this when she had forked out the five grand for the date with Ren. This was a completely unexpected bonus.

  “I would love to go. I’ve been meaning to contact Quinn anyway and this would be the perfect opportunity for us to have a little girl talk.” At least Eve hoped Quinn would be willing to speak to her. From what she knew about Quinn, she was an open and friendly person. And she was very proud of her men.

  “Well, that was too easy.”

  Eve laughed. “Yes, I would really enjoy going to the ceremony with you. Will it be formal or at a church?”

  “No. The email said it’ll be at their home. It’s casual. Unfortunately, though, it’s a couple hours’ drive for me. I hope you don’t mind the travel.”

  “No, not at all.” Not if it gave Eve the opportunity to pick Quinn’s brain. Not to mention spend more time with Ren than she thought she’d get on a typical date.

  * * * *

  Since it turned out Eve lived almost an hour from Ren, he arranged a driver to pick her up. The car that arrived was a blacked-out town car. It might not have been a stretch limo, but she got to sit in the back and enjoy a glass of champagne during the trip. She never pampered herself like this. She hadn’t even had a limo for her wedding.

  Eve and her husband had not been rich. They had lived modestly, typical middle class—or what used to be the middle class, which was now part of a dying breed.

  But her husband had not become a doctor to be rich. Never to be rich. He truly wanted to help people. He had been a humanist at heart, treating everyone equally, and she had loved that about him. It had been one of his most endearing qualities, one of his greatest attractions. He had even worked for over a year with Doctors Without Borders.

  His generosity and his selflessness had made Eve a better person.

  And though they lived modestly, he had made sure she would be taken care of if he ever died. He had a few life insurance policies. One she had known about. The others, she hadn’t.

  Because of that, she now she had money like she’d never dreamed of. But it was not worth the loss of her soulmate.

  Never that.

  Eve shook her head to clear the cobwebs. She meant this evening to be the start of the next chapter of her life. To be more unpredictable, to live more on the edge. To boldly go after what she wanted. Her husband’s death proved life was short, so enjoy it while you can…

  The driver pulled off the pavement onto a long stone driveway, dust kicking up from the tires. As they approached the clearing, a beautiful, sprawling log ranch home came into view. Even in the darkness it sparkled like a diamond, all lit up.

  The car came to a stop in the circular driveway, and before the driver got out to open her door, someone else beat him to it.

  Cole Dixon reached out a hand and she took it gratefully as he assisted her out of the car. He certainly wasn’t who she was expecting. As she unfolded herself from the back seat, it was hard to miss the mischievous grin he wore.

  Once she got her footing in her heels on the stone driveway, she smoothed down her short dress. Sometimes she wasn’t so ladylike getting out of a car in a dress, and wearing high heels didn’t help.

  She didn’t even attempt to hide the surprise in her voice. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” he answered, offering the crook of his arm. She took it, once again grateful for his assistance. “I bet you expected Renny.”

  She looked out the corner of her eyes at him, but quickly returned her attention to where she walked until they reached the smooth surface at the foot of the steps that led up to the huge wraparound porch. She paused. “Yes. This was supposed to be his date night.”

  He lowered his arm and grabbed her hand before she could move away. He raised her arm above her head and he slowly spun her around like a ballerina in a music box. He let out a low whistle. “Very nice!”

  She was not going to blush. No she wasn’t!

  She had worn one of her
favorite little black dresses that hung in her closet. This one fell about mid-thigh, and the front of the dress had a diamond cutout, so a tempting, but not indecent, amount of cleavage showed. Sexy, but demure enough to leave something to the imagination. The neckline circled the base of her throat, leaving her shoulders bare. The dress hugged her curves like a lover’s hand. The diamond cutout was mirrored on the back of the dress. With her hair pulled up, a few loose tendrils fell down her back to tickle the exposed skin showing through the cutout.

  As he finished turning her she came back to face him. The heat in his eyes was unmistakable. And suddenly she knew she had made the right decision to bid on Cole. He exuded lust and sex, but also playfulness. And that discovery made her shiver enough for goose bumps to cover her body. Her nipples pebbled under the dark fabric of the dress and the flick of Cole’s eyes showed he hadn’t missed her reaction either.

  “Cole! You gonna bogart my date all night?”

  Eve turned her head to watch the literally tall, dark, and handsome man walk down the steps to meet them.

  Cole murmured, “I just might,” his gaze never leaving Eve’s figure.

  “You should’ve brought your own date, fool.”

  Eve asked Cole, “You came by yourself?”

  “I came with Renny. But if I were him, I would’ve picked you up instead of me.”

  As Ren reached the base of the wide steps, he nudged Cole out of the way with his shoulder. “But it’s not your date, and you didn’t, so go away now.” He stepped in front of Eve. “Excuse his lame ass. You look beautiful, and thank you for coming.”

  She tilted her head. “Thank you for asking.”

  “Well, I couldn’t have Cole as my date all night. He was always good at handling my balls, but…”

  She laughed and took his arm when he offered it. He started to escort her up the steps but paused. “Cole, you go first. Otherwise, you’ll be watching her ass the whole way up.” He leaned into Eve and whispered, loud enough for Cole to hear “Not that I’d blame him.”

  “Damn, you can’t even throw a brother a bone,” Cole griped.

  Instead, Eve got to appreciate Cole’s muscular ass moving under his slacks as he ran up the steps and into the house. She had to admit the view was spectacular.