Page 131 of Mr. Picture Perfect
Neither did I.
But I did. I totally dared.
As I gaze up at the stage amid the audience excitedly talking and gawking at me—the strange person no one knows who shows up out of nowhere to steal away the auction—I find Cole’s eyes lost on mine, a look of complete bewilderment on his face.
I might have shocked him speechless, too.
Frankie, ever the showman, takes in the reactions from the crowd, then gazes out at me. He appears to have an idea. “Say … I think you’re starting to look mighty familiar to me.” He knows me. He literally knows who I am. He’s just playing to the audience. “I’d say … You don’t happen to be Noah Reed, do you? The young man whose life Cole Harding saved at the Spruce Spring Crafts Festival a few weeks ago that inspired this whole pageant?”
Mae’s brother pauses, his pretty eyes flickering with surprise, then he peers at me with a whole new show of incomprehension, awaiting my answer.
The tiny whispers and gawking seems to confirm that others in the audience recognize me somehow. Maybe from a tiny photo or two in one of our several articles. Or from other publications I don’t even know about in neighboring towns and cities.
I lower the paddle, then nod. “Yes. That’s … That’s me. Noah Reed. The guy Cole saved.”
A ripple of surprise rushes over the audience around me, once again astonishing me at the power I hold in my little words.
“Incredible,” sings Frankie with faux amazement. “And it all comes full circle, leading to this very point in time. What a … What a momentous occasion, am I right, guys?” he asks the audience with a stunned laugh. “I’m nearly in tears up here! Hey.” He turns to Cole and, with a cute and charming smile, wags his finger at him. “You hinted earlier tonight that there was more to this story, didn’t you? Mr. Doesn’t-Think-He’s-A-Hero?”
Cole’s smile has never left his face. “Yeah, I did.”
Frankie playfully taps a finger to his chin. “And am I right in assuming … thatNoahhere … is the ‘more’ to your story …?”
Cole’s smile deepens. “Yes.”
“Should I just go ahead and call it?” Frankie asks Cole before facing the audience to ask them. “Well? Should I call it, guys?”
The audience shouts their approval all around me while Mae’s gorgeous brother scowls in my direction, eyes narrowed bitterly.
“$3,000 going once … $3,000 going twice …” Frankie claps his hands together and makes a funny noise for a gavel. “Ga-dong-ong! It’s a done deal! Official! Noah Reed,mi nuevo amigo, you are going on a date with yourmuy guapohero Cole Harding! Everyone, give these handsome men a round of applause!”
Around me, a happy storm of cheers, screams, and whistling.
But Cole doesn’t head backstage as directed. He hops off of the stage, winds his way through the labyrinth of tables, and rushes straight up to me. He scoops me straight off the chair I was ever so carefully balanced on, sets me on the ground before him, and puts his lips on mine.
The roar of the crowd that follows is miles away. I hear little of it. All I know is Cole and this three-thousand-dollar kiss.
I would’ve paid a million.
Chapter 22
Cole
I can’t say I would’ve guessed in eight lifetimes how this event would have ended. But it certainly wasn’t with Noah bidding every last dollar to his name on me.
Of course, I was never letting that happen. “I’m covering your bid,” I tell him later. “Every last dollar.”
The event has wrapped up and everyone is gathered in the McPherson house for a (somewhat) intimate after party—the crew members, us bachelors and our friends and family, Tamika and the newspaper people, and a number of specially invited guests.
Noah makes a face. “No, you’re not.”
“I am. I mean, rumors are going around that the whole thing was rigged and you and I were this big rehearsed performance, so why not buy my own date?” I squeeze him against me. I swear, I haven’t let go of him since the auction ended.
He shakes his head. “We’ll discuss this later. Besides, you and I weren’t even the biggest deal of the night.”
We both glance over at Dean.
And a beautiful woman named Candace, standing by his side with a glass of champagne, who paid top dollar for him.
