Page 54 of Crazy About Love (All About Love)

Chapter 14

PRESENT DAY

With all the nerves and excitement about the momentous gesture I’m making, I plumb forgot about all theworkI have to do.

“Line up, damn it!” I yell at the bachelors, andnone of them listen. I blow my already failed hairdo from my face and shove bachelor number two, who is too busy texting to notice me pushing. When I get through the very potent-smelling and oily crowd I start counting how many of the guys are back here.

I can’t even find bachelor number one, because not everyone has grabbed their number yet. And I don’t evenseeAlec. I was 10,000 percent sure he’d come tonight, yet I can feel the panic settling in my stomach that maybe hedidn’tcome.

“Fifteen minutes, guys!” I shout. “Fifteenminutes!I need all the bachelors lined up here.” I thrust my arms out and gesture at the curtain. My ability to give a shit about professionalism went out the window an hour ago. “If you don’t have a number, come get it!”

Some asshole moos as I just grab random arms and tug them into what looks like a line. I’m sweaty and gross and this just won’t do for tonight. I make a mental note to clean up before the bidding starts.

I grab number thirteen’s shoulders and steer him into the line. He’s calling back at number seventeen like I’m not even here. The oil soaks through his shirt and onto my hands, and I stare at them, because what the heck am I supposed to wipe them off on?

Then suddenly I feel a rush of warmth flow through my stomach, through my chest, and up my neck, and I forget the stress and the smell and the need to wash my hands. A smile hits my lips, turning them up and up until they’ve reached the moon. Alec hasn’t even said anything, I don’t evenseehim, but I know he’s right behind me.

“You said something about a number?” His voice is in my ear, making all sense and control flutter away. I turn around, he grins, and I melt right into the floor. Funny how he’s given me that same smile for years, but only recently have I realized how much it means to me.

“You’re here.” Like duh, of course he’s here. But the panic about him possibly not showing up is now transforming into panic that hedidshow up and I’m minutes away from declaring myself.

I toss my arms around him to hide my face, but also because I haven’t hugged him since the night he left and I’ve missed it. He’s oily, but I don’t even care anymore. My heart is performing a drum solo against his chest, but he doesn’t let me hang on long enough for him to notice, or at least I don’t think so.

“You are saving my life right now,” I say, looking around the chaotic room.

He pulls out the note card we handed out to the bachelors so that they could write down all their talents and jobs and things like that. “I don’t know about that. What the hell am I supposed to write?”

He could write ten million things on that card, starting with how humble he is. “How great a catch you are.”

He laughs, then leans in close. His breath smells like Icebreakers. Those grape duo ones he keeps in his car. I’m usually the one who eats them all, but he’s had a Theresa-free three weeks.

“If it’s dead quiet during the bidding, start bribing some of the girls, ’kay?” His deep, playful eyes stay on mine. He really should get a ribbon in eye contact. “Preferably a blonde,” he continues, and his awesome eye contact falters a bit as he looks at my mess of a head. “Long hair.”

If I wasn’t already nervous enough, he has to go and say,Hey, get a hot chick that has exactlynotyour hair style to bid on me.I’m sure it’s a joke, but I don’t find it funny right now, and it’s my own damn fault for pushing him away for too long.

Instead of giving him an underhanded slight like I normally would have, I opt for taking the card from his hand instead.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“The bribing part?” he asks, and his eyebrow tilts up. I force back thehell noresponse I have. I count to five in my head before waving the card at him. I know that I could probably fill the entire thing up in about two seconds with just adjectives:sexy, funny, happy, friendly, good in bed, tall, talented, protective, great in bed, loving, caring, sweet, fantastic in bed…

“Alec, I guarantee you’ll get at least one bid tonight.At least.”

He gives me a skeptical look, but he’ll be laughing in a few minutes. Because that winning bid will be mine.

3 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGO: 8:14P.M.

Thank God I get along with Landon’s best friend, because Liz and Landon will not stop humping like bunnies. As soon as intermission hit, they were out of here. I’m not complaining either, since they were giggling and the room was not dark enough to hide their wandering hands.

“You think they made it home or did it on the train?” I ask Alec as the curtain rises. He humors me with a laugh, but then gets to his feet and shouts praises at the actors taking their curtain call. I join him, dropping my coat onto Liz’s empty seat. The curtain falls and the lights go up and everyone starts filing out, except him. He stays a bit to bask in the Broadway afterglow.

“Perfect.” He sighs, grinning like a kid in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. “She was perfect, right? Great projection, reactions were spot on—”

“And you could see her giant boobs from clear back here,” I add, swinging my arms out in front of my chest. Alec tilts his head at me.

“They’realmostas nice as yours.”

“Can’t beat the real ones.” I tap myPlaybillon top of my breasts and watch him turn red and laugh before grabbing our coats and handing them over. “So…do we risk walking in on our best friends or do we go somewhere else?”

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