Page 45 of Stay With Me

Ben looks at me and shakes his head. “You, too, little Flynn? I expect it from my siblings but now you?”

We all chuckle and then I hush them as Trina comes up for auction. Shayna and I hoot and holler as she strolls out onto the stage looking stunning, as usual. Her bidding is entertaining, with a few men and one woman participating. It looks like dinner and dancing with her is going to go for four hundred and fifty dollars.

“Going once. Going Twice,” Janie calls out.

“Six hundred dollars,” Ben yells.

Shayna and I both whip our heads around to stare at Ben. Shayna’s eyes are bugging so far out of her head it’s almost comical, but I imagine mine are the same. Jack is just chuckling at his twin and mutters, “Big surprise.”

What does that mean?

“What? It’s for a good cause,” Ben says. And it snaps Shayna and me out of our shock.

As Janie announces Ben as the winning bidder, I glance back up at my sister on stage just in time to see her roll her eyes in Ben’s direction and walk off stage.

I lean toward Shayna and whisper, “That was unexpected.”

“Sure was,” she says.

Janie announces Charlie as the next bachelor, and we turn back to the stage. And I lose the ability to breathe. Holy hell. Charlie Fitzgerald is always ruggedly handsome but tonight my friend is undeniably hot in a tailored tux. With his dark brown beard trimmed close to his jaw, his hair newly trimmed so short on the sides it’s nearly shaved and longer on top, he’s mouthwatering. And those damn fitted pants—the way they hug his muscular thighs—oh my God.

Shayna nudges me in the arm, not taking her eyes off the stage. “Damn, Em. Who knew Fitz would look like that in a tux?”

I can only grunt in response.

Janie starts the bidding for Charlie, and I shift in my seat. Four women are bidding on him, and for some reason it annoys me. Especially the curvy brunette to my left. She reminds me of the girls Charlie used to date and the thought of her having dinner with him makes me queasy. She’s currently the high bidder at four hundred dollars.

Fuck it.

“Five hundred dollars,” I call out. I feel Shayna’s gaze on me, but I refuse to look in her direction.

“Six hundred dollars,” the busty brunette to my left calls out.

Charlie puts one hand in his pocket and grips the back of his neck with the other, a tell that he’s uncomfortable, but damn if it doesn’t make him look even more sexy. I glance over at the other bidder, everyone else seems to have backed down now, but she’s watching Charlie and licks her lips.

And it shocks me when it makes my insides burn like I’m feral.

“One thousand dollars,” I say.

There are several audible gasps from the audience, and I look up at Charlie on the stage to find his jaw slack and his eyes as wide as silver dollars. A few seconds later, Janie announces me as the winning bidder.

I turn to Shayna. “Not a word,” I say.

But her smirk speaks volumes and she’s clearly very amused.

* * *

CHARLIE

My heart is pounding when I walk off the stage after Emily just dropped a cool grand on dinner and dancing with me for the auction. When I step off the last step onto the main ballroom floor, Trina is standing ten feet away, her eyes fixed on me.

I sigh. She’s probably pissed that her sister dropped a grand, so I walk up to her and figure I might as well face the music now.

“What’s that about, Fitz?” Her eyebrows rise so high I swear they almost hit her hairline.

“Beats me. I’m as shocked as you are.” I slide both hands into my pockets and rock back on my heels. “Any idea why Ben Donley thought to bid on you?”

She flattens her expression quickly, but not before an emotion I can’t quite place flickers on her face.

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