Page 2 of Key Lime Kisses
Baked Goods for a Good Cause: Bid on a Date and Pie Package
Wait, what was that one? I quickly skimmed the article. Sure enough, it was a fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital. According to the details, bidders were vying for a package consisting of a pie and a blind date, arranged by the baker of the pie.
“Damn it, Stella!” I yelled to my empty apartment. I grabbed my phone and quickly dialed her. Voice mail. “Answer your phone, you meddlesome brat! At least tell me what the date going with the pieIbaked is!” I demanded before hanging up.
~~~
“It’s a Sunday brunch cruise,” Stella said when she finally answered her phone.
“Hello to you too,” I snorted. “A Sunday brunchcruise?”
“Yes. On Lake Michigan.”
“Lake Michigan?!” I yelped. “You expect me to drive all the way to Lake Michigan for a date I don’t even want to go on?”
“It’s notthatfar,” said Stella.
“You’re afraid of boats,” I told her. “Why on earth would you book me a cruise.”
“Because I won a cruise for two at the company Christmas party, remember?”
Ididremember; she had complained about it for weeks. Some of her coworkers had won upwards of tenthousanddollars from the event, one got a car, and another got a two week, all-expense paid trip. Stella got a lousy brunch she had no intention of going on.
“What are the details?” I grumbled. “And how does this stupid auction work? Andwhyam I the one doing it?”
“Let me see…” I heard the shuffling of paper. “Here we go! It was two tickets in an envelope. They say, ‘Lake Michigan Sightseeing Cruise. Looks like you leave at 10:30 on Sunday. Meals included.’ There’s a number to call to secure your reservation; I already got you registered and explained the situation, so when the omega who wins your pie boards, he’ll be able to claim his too.”
I groaned. “And the auction?”
“It benefits the Children’s Hospital. You bake a pie and put together a date package, then people bid on it. Then you go on your date.”
“And whyme?”
“Because my friend is a nurse at the hospital and she asked if I knew anyone who wanted to bake and pie and get a date. And you, dear brother, are a good baker and need a date.”
“I don’t need a date,” I grumbled.
“Gotta go, love you!”
“Love you too,” I replied, just a little grudgingly.
Chapter Two
Shea
“Is there anywhere I can just donate instead of bidding?” I asked.
“Oh, of course, right over there.”
“Thank you.”
Gratefully, I wove my way through the people crowding the baked goods, ready to donate and get out of here. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to donate to the hospital, they had saved my nephew’s life after all, but I didnotwant the dating package. No thank you. Maybe it was just bad luck, but it seemed every alpha I dated wanted me to quit my job, sellmyhouse, and turn into a little domestic house-omega. Sure, I wanted kids and I planned on taking care of them, but I wasn’t going to give up my life for it. And I certainly wasn’t going to sell the house I had worked hard for to satisfy some alpha’s ego.
But when my brother asked me to go to the auction, I couldn’t say no. He assured me that “most of” the alphas weren’t expecting anything serious to come out of the dates – it was all about the hospital. I wasn’t so sure.
Nevertheless, here I was. I glanced over some of the pie and date packages so that I could tell my brother a couple of them and act like I really had bid.
“Shea! I’m so glad you came!”
