Page 6 of Welcome Home for Christmas
She was trying to decide if she was irritated because he kept popping up, if she felt sorry for him because he wasn’t going home for Christmas, or if she was attracted to his dark, sexy look. All of the above, she decided, which was not a good mix.
“I’m Troy Matthews,” he told her, squeezing her hand gently before letting go.
“Well, good luck on stage, Troy Matthews,” she told him, prepared to walk away.
His brow lowered. “Luck?”
This made her smile. “Some of the wives here aren’t the easiest to get along with. If one of them wins you, you’ll need it. And also”—she leaned in to whisper, catching the scent of his aftershave; whoever won him was one lucky woman—“even though she’s not a military wife, Melanie Harris is in the crowd, and I hear she has a purse full of cash to spend.”
Troy frowned.
She was satisfied to see that she’d sufficiently rattled his confidence. Good. Fair was fair, because just sharing breathing space with him hadherrattled. “We didn’t want to turn down anyone who might be able to donate and help the children at Mercy’s Place.”
With a wave, she continued walking. She headed toward an exit and stepped outside to get fresh air before the auction got underway. Leaning against the side of the brick building, she watched her breaths rise up in front of her in frosty white puffs. Her phone vibrated inside her pocket. She pulled it out and groaned. Her mother was relentless. On an inhale, she bit the bullet and answered. “Hey, Mom.”
“You said you’d call me.”
Allison nodded, focusing on the tiny stars lighting up the December sky. “Work. I’ve been busy. I’m actually at the Military Spouses Christmas function right now.”
“Oh, that’s right. So if you can make it to a work party, you will surely make it to the family’s Christmas Eve one next week.”
“I already told you I would.”
“Well, last year you were sick.” Her mother’s tone of voice made it clear that she hadn’t bought that lie for a second.
It had only been a white lie. Allisonwassick, of having the wrong guy or no guy. She wasn’t sure which was less tolerable. She was also sick of having to explain her choices.
“And you said you might bring someone next week?” her mother asked hopefully.
“Mom.”
“I just worry about you, dear. After that last fellow you brought home, you seem to have stopped looking altogether.”
The last fellow being James. Allison would’ve sworn to the fact that James was a stand-up guy. She’d have sworn to the fact that he’d never hurt her, even though her mother was very open about her opinion of him. Her mother summed him up as the kind of guy who’d break her heart and cheat on her. And her mother couldn’t have been more right. Allison’s judge of character was rotten. And, until and unless it improved, she’d be going to the family’s Christmas Eve party alone.
The door opened behind her.
“The big event is about to start,” Julie Chandler, her assistant director at the Veterans’ Center, said, waving Allison inside. “Come on.”
Allison nodded. Julie and her impeccable timing deserved a raise. Allison planned on putting that on her list of things to talk about to Mr. Banks, the Center’s owner, when they met after Christmas. “Gotta go, Mom. I’ll call you soon, okay?” She hung up before her mother could inflict any more questions. Then she hurried inside and toward the small stage in the front of the large banquet room. The plan for the auction was that one man at a time would come onstage. Julie’s sister, Kat Peterson, was playing the role of auctioneer. She would initiate the bidding and the highest bidder would win up to five hours from the guy being auctioned. Allison just hoped everyone was in a giving mood tonight.
She spotted Troy Matthews heading backstage in his jeans and fitted black T-shirt, remembering how he’d told her he had no plans for Christmas. Her phone vibrated. Allison pulled it out to read the incoming text from her mother:
Our discussion isn’t over. Maybe you should see someone about your reluctance to date.
Allison pulled back.See someone?Now her mother wanted her to go to therapy? She couldn’t win. It was either date a guy she might possibly really like and subject herself to heartache once her mother uncovered that he was inevitably a Mr. Wrong. Or date no one, which apparently made her mother recommend that she seek counseling.
Allison inhaled a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Then it came to her. The idea circulated in her brain, coming in foggy at first and gradually becoming clearer. She lifted one of the Christmas-tree-shaped bidding sticks that Julie and Kat had constructed for the auction, her heart bumping erratically in her chest. This was either the best idea she’d had in a long while. Or the very worst.
—
Troy wasn’t the type of guy to get nervous, but going out in front of a bunch of women and being bid on was pretty nerve-wracking.
He hesitated behind the curtain, listening as the crowd outside hooted over Lawson Phillips. Troy had thought these women were just interested in hiring someone for around-the-house chores. That wasn’t how it sounded out there, though. Instead, the crowd of women seemed ready to jump the stage, and Lawson’s bones.
He blew out a breath, reconsidering this. There were two other guys ahead of him. Maybe the women will have spent all their money by the time he got out there, he thought momentarily, then chided himself. This was for the kids. For the kids.
Allison’s face crossed his mind. She’d put this event together, which was pretty honorable in his opinion. She’d adopted this cause out of the goodness of her heart. She was counting on him and, even though he didn’t know her, he didn’t want to disappoint her.
