Bid High

Chapter One

“You didn’t!” Amber Wilson was shocked. In disbelief, she stared at her two best friends.

Trish nodded. “I did!”

Jessica laughed with Trish. “It wasn’t easy either. The auction has been sold out for months.”

“I’m not going!” Amber argued. They really expected her to go to an auction, bid on a stranger and have sex with him? Her best friends should know her better than that.

“You’re going,” Trish told her sternly. Then Amber watched with horror as Trish took the tickets from her purse.

Amber tried a different angle. “You can’t afford those!” She was not going.

“Actually I didn’t. They were…a gift. And you two are my dates.”

Jessica stirred her coffee. “We don’t need dates. We buy them there.” She giggled.

Taking a drink of her coffee, Amber tried to come up with another excuse. “I can’t afford the men there.”

Her two friends exchanged amused smiles. “It’s for charity. A very good charity. And we all know you’re loaded anyway.”

Amber sighed, knowing no excuse would be good enough. “I’d be so embarrassed.”

Reaching out a hand, Jessica patted her arm. “We’ll be there for support. I’m sorry we had to do it this way but you need to get out there again.”

“It’s been three years, honey,” Trish added.

“I know how long it’s been,” she snapped, not wanting to dwell too much on why it had been three years. “And it’s not that I’m not ready, I just haven’t met anyone I find…interesting.”

“Maybe Friday night you will,” Trish pointed out gently.

Amber knew she was lucky to have such good friends. They’d been friends since college and had witnessed her meltdown after Dan. Just the thought of that man had Amber’s stomach turning. They had been together five years, and just eight weeks from getting married, when she’d found out he was with her because of a deal with her father. Marrying her would have given him control of her father’s company. If that hadn’t been bad enough, he’d been running around on her. And it seemed everyone had known but her.

Shaking those horrid thoughts from her mind, Amber gave serious thought about her current situation. She knew what happened at the auctions. Her friends had been telling her stories for years. She just couldn’t see herself doing it.

“I don’t know,” she finally said, knowing she was giving in. There had never been any chance she wouldn’t go. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. She didn’t have to bid. She could just enjoy a night out with the girls. That didn’t sound too terrible once she really thought about it.

“Don’t worry,” Jessica encouraged. “We’ll be there with you.”

Amber didn’t feel better. Her friends could get crazy.

Looking around her bookstore, Amber tried to see herself being as outrageous as they were. She’d never been one to party or have one-night stands.

She liked books. The fictional characters knew how to live and love. Lost in a book, she could be anyone—the seductive co-ed, the naughty librarian, the sexy secretary—but in real life, she was just Amber.

“Say yes,” Trish pleaded, and Amber felt the first stirrings of excitement.

Hadn’t she been complaining that she was bored? That she wanted something more than going home at night, alone? Well, this was her chance. She could check out the auction. It didn’t mean she had to bid.

“I’ll go.”

“And bid,” Trish finished for her.

“I’ve got to get to work.” Jessica said, glancing at her watch and standing.

Trish also looked at her watch and groaned. “Me too. Maybe today someone will rob the bank and give me some excitement.”

Amber laughed. That’s what she loved about her friends. They were never boring. And under the humour, they had hearts of gold.

Picking up the empty mugs, Amber walked over to the sink hidden off to the side away from customers and set them inside. “I don’t know what to wear.” Friday was only four days away.

“We’ll go shopping!” Jessica squealed.

Amber cringed. Shopping with Jessica always took hours.

“Tonight! We’ll meet here after work,” Jessica continued, not noticing her reaction.

Amber looked over at Trish who only shrugged. “Fine. If I’m going to do this, I might as well do it right.”

“You won’t be sorry,” Jessica told her before kissing her cheek and heading for the door.

Trish waited until Jessica left before speaking. “You really won’t. This is going to be great. The Bachelor Auction is always the biggest fundraiser of the year.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll probably end up with an accountant who talks about stuff I don’t have a clue about all night.”

Trish smiled back at her. “I can promise you that is not going to happen.” She picked up the tickets from the table. “I’ll just hold on to these to make sure they’re safe.”

Amber laughed. Trish was always one step in front of her.

“See you tonight. We’ll get you the sexiest dress they have.” Trish winked. “You’ll see.”

Amber wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t really have much choice. Her friends had gone through a lot of trouble for her.

Amber was still thinking about the auction when the bell on her front door jingled two hours later. She looked up and almost bit her tongue.

Dear Lord! Thomas Baldwin. The six-foot-two hunk of man smiled as he approached.

“Ms. Wilson,” he greeted with that sexy and low voice that made her panties wet.

“Mr. Baldwin, what a surprise,” Amber replied then wanted to kick herself. She sounded so stupid. He was her landlord; he could come by anytime. He often dropped by to share a cup of coffee or pick up a book. In the last few months, he’d been in at least once a week.

He continued to smile and nodded. “Sorry to interrupt your day, but I wanted to let you know that we’re having a problem with the water line in the alley.”

“Oh,” she replied stupidly. Damn, she wished she could think of something else to say. Anything else.

“The alley will probably be blocked for most of the day. I hope that’s okay,” he said.

“Of course. No…no problem,” Amber stumbled over her words. She took several deep breaths and tried to gain her composure. She was a single adult woman. She should be able to talk to an attractive man.

“Great. I have two crews working to take care of it, to ensure we don’t inconvenience you too badly.”

“No inconvenience, Mr. Baldwin. I don’t have a delivery until Thursday so I won’t be using the alley,” she hurriedly assured him.

He nodded again and they stood in silence. Amber tried to think of something to say, but her mind was blank. He leaned a hip against the counter, confidence radiating from him.

Amber couldn’t help but admire the suit he wore. Dark grey material fit perfectly on his broad shoulders, the pants showed off his muscular thighs and a bright white button down shirt spread wide over his chest. Her father wore suits like it, but he never looked as good as Thomas did. Each time he visited her store, he was always dressed professionally. She wondered what he would look like in jeans or maybe naked. Yes, naked and sprawled on her bed while she dragged her tongue up and down…

Realising she was staring at him and neither was speaking, Amber looked up. He was watching her and she could feel a blush stain her cheeks.

What must he think? Her staring at him like some schoolgirl. Rubbing her damp hands on her pants, she offered a tentative smile. “Can I get you a cup of coffee, Mr. Baldwin?”

He shook his head. “I should go. I only wanted to explain about the alley.”

Amber tried to hide the disappointment. “All right. Well, thank you for telling me.” Amber stayed where she was, waiting for him to leave.

He opened his mouth but then firmly closed it again without speaking. Nodding once, he turned to leave.

Amber felt the unbelievable urge to call out to him. To get him to stay and have a cup of coffee or anything to keep him in her presence longer.

But she didn’t. Coward she was, she only watched him walk away, eyes on his fine rear end.

He stopped at the door and Amber raised her gaze to meet his. Amusement was evident in his eyes. Before he could reach for the doorknob, the door opened. Amber was surprised when he remained where he was instead of stepping aside and letting whoever was at the door enter.

When he started to speak in a hushed voice, she strained to hear. Unable to make out the words or see who was there, she waited. Disappointment swept through her when Thomas followed the other person out the door.

For a moment, she had thought, and hoped, it was Thomas’s business partner Jake Grant.

Jake was another male who made Amber wish she was the type of woman who chased after men. He was just as tall as Thomas but had longer hair and wild blue eyes. He had ‘bad boy’ written all over him. She’d never been attracted to the bad boy type but Jake had something about him that had Amber’s body aching for release.

Amber fantasised about him as much as Thomas. The two men owned every wet dream she had these days. She’d seen them several months before in a restaurant and the looks that they sent back and forth over the table had made her hot enough that she’d used her vibrator that night until she’d ran the batteries down.

She’d often wondered what exactly their relationship was. Was it more than business? While it would be a shame for every woman alive if the two of them were an item romantically, she also though it would be hot as hell!

The night she’d seen them eating dinner they’d come over to the table she and Trish had been at. They’d even joined them for an after-dinner drink.

Amber hadn’t felt as comfortable with anyone as she’d been with them that night. It might have been the wine or the fact that Trish had been there to run interference if she made some stupid comment, but Amber had enjoyed the two men’s company.

The fantasies had started that night and had continued until she was almost so desperate for them that she couldn’t stand to be alone in the same room.

It was also after that that both Thomas and Jake had become regular customers. While Thomas enjoyed true crime novels like Amber, Jake was all about fiction. Heavy on action and suspense. Their choices of books matched what she thought about them. And she thought about them often.

Lifting her hair off her neck, she used her free hand to fan herself. She had customers who would arrive soon and they didn’t need to see her all hot and bothered.