Page 58 of My Year of Saying No
He rolled his head, gave me a look and I got the message.
‘Fine. OK. So, you’re going on about feeling old and haggard, but as soon as we started brainstorming this gala, and ways to raise even more funds with the auction, one item kept coming up.’
‘One auction item?’
‘Yep.’
‘Can we get it?’
‘That’s purely down to you.’
15
Seb rolled his head towards me again and opened the eyes he’d been resting closed. ‘Why does the way you said that make me nervous?’
I waggled my eyebrows but remained silent.
‘So, what is it then? This mystery auction item.’
‘You.’
He shoved himself up onto his elbows. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You. More specifically a date with you.’
Seb said nothing. After a moment, he let himself slouch back down onto the bed. ‘Very funny.’
I gave a shrug. ‘I’m not joking.’
He pushed himself up again. ‘Isn’t that the sort of thing billionaires do in romance novels?’
‘Read a lot of romance, have you?’
He gave me a smile that illustrated perfectly why a date with him would be a very popular lot on the auction list and I squashed down annoyance that I didn’t have the funds to bid on it. ‘You’d be surprised.’
‘Brushing up on your skills.’
‘Something like that.’
I raised a brow.
‘Actually, I just read whatever I could get my hands on sometimes out on deployment. I’m not a book snob, and it was good escapism at times. And, as you say, enabled me to brush up on my skills as a bonus.’
‘Ah, see? The truth comes out.’
‘I still don’t see how you’ve come to the conclusion that putting up an evening out with me would be a good way of raising money.’
‘That’s the thing,’ I said, tucking my feet up under me. ‘I didn’t. That little gem came from several other directions.’
‘Several?’
‘Oh yes.’
He shook his head.
‘You can shake your head all you like. It’s going on the list, so you never know, those skills you picked up from the books might come in handy.’
‘What am I supposed to do?’ He asked, looking slightly awkward.
