Page 7 of The Celebrity Bidder

“There was this asshole bidding against me.” Her words pour out in a rush. “Some big shot with big ‘I-own-this-town’ energy. He strutted in like he was the main character in a movie no one wanted to watch, and I could tell Bella wanted nothing to do with him. I caught the vibe.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Youalwayscatch the vibe.”

She smirks. “I’m good at reading people. It’s one of the reasons you pay me so well. Anyway, this guy was a walking red flag dipped in expensive aftershave. I couldn’t let him win. He didn’t deserve to stand next to her, much less take her out. So I made sure hedidn’t.”

“So, you dropped twenty grand of my money just to crush his ego?”

She bobs her head in agreement. “Sure did.”

“Good girl. Remind me to triple your Christmas bonus.”

“Already done. An email is scheduled to hit your inbox the day after Thanksgiving.”

I smile, but my mind’s already drifting to Bella. I wonder how she reacted to the high bid. Is she nervous? Curious? Does she suspect who her mystery date will be with?

I hope she’s not disappointed. She probably expected to go on a perfectly average, small-town charity date. Dinner at Maple’s Diner, and maybe a slice of pie for dessert.

Instead… she’s getting me.

And I have no idea how tonotmake this a production.

“I need to plan something extraordinary,” I say, thinking out loud.

“Oh no,” Nadine groans. “You’ve got that look.”

“What look?”

“TheI’m-gonna-go-overboardlook.”

I ignore her and start pacing. “She’s a special woman, and she deserves the date of her life.”

Nadine rolls her eyes. “Please don’t rent a yacht.”

“What if I flew her to Nashville for dinner? Private flight with champagne, then dinner on a private rooftop with a skyline view?”

Nadine holds up a hand. “Okay, first of all,relax. You’re taking her on a date, not proposing. Second, this woman runs a dog rescue and probably hasn’t taken a day off since Obama was in office. You show up in a private jet, and she’s going to have an existential crisis.”

I pause, frown, then sigh. “You're right.”

She blinks. “Wait,really?”

“I mean, I’m still taking her somewhere nice,” I say. “But maybe... scaled back. Classy but not overwhelming.”

“And you’ll take her in yourtruck, right?”

I give her a look.

She shrugs. “Just making sure you’re not planning to arrive on horseback or something.”

I smirk. “That would add a touch of dramatic flair.”

Nadine’s expression softens. “She’s going to like you, Wylie. You don’t have to prove anything.”

“I want to impress her,” I admit.

“You already have. You adopted Scout. And you wrote a $20,000 check to support her nonprofit. And don’t forget—” she wags a finger at me “—you’re WyliefuckingCole.”

“I don’t think she’s the type of woman who cares about fame or fortune.”

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