Engaging the Bachelor (Pulse) Read Free Page A

Carson stood poker straight, glaring at her, and every few seconds her glance darted to his. Good God, everything about him threw her off her game.
    Stop looking at him.
    She was just about to ask for her first bid, when the scrape of a chair gained her attention. Her gaze flew to Carson’s as he stepped from the shadows, clearing his way to the bar. There was an edgy rawness about him, the domineering control of a man who went after what he wanted—and got it.
    The pulse in her neck leaped, every nerve in her body alive as he closed the distance. His confident strides, athletic body, and overwhelming presence captured the attention of the ladies in the room. They began clapping, and Gemma swallowed the apprehension rising in her throat. What the hell was he doing? She didn’t think for one second that he was offering himself up for auction. He was up to something.
    He stepped up to her, his body close—too close. In a move that took her by surprise, he snatched the handcuffs from her fingers and slipped one ring around her wrist and the other around his, linking them together. His eyes darkened, the intensity of his baby blues stealing the oxygen from her lungs.
    She gasped, and tried to tug away. His powerful hand grabbed hers, and she swallowed. God, those hands. So big, strong…perfect. “What do you think you’re doing?”
    He flashed perfect white teeth in a smile and turned to the crowd. Everything in his casual stance and flirty, bad boy grin belied the steely determination in his eyes. “Gemma here has been putting everyone in the hot seat tonight. What do you think? Is it time to give her a taste of her own medicine?”
    The clapping from the crowd damn near deafened her. “Go for it, dude,” said the guy she’d just dragged to the front of the bar. He slapped Carson on the shoulder, a knowing grin on his face. “Have fun,” he said, and turned to make his way back to his seat.
    She struggled against him, and he pulled her tight. Her body quivered all over, and he dipped his head, the telltale look in his eyes letting her know her body’s reactions hadn’t gone unnoticed. Dammit. Everything about him rattled her control, and she really didn’t want him to know how much he affected her.
    Without ever taking his eyes off hers, he said, “One thousand dollars,” and if she weren’t cuffed to him, she would have sunk to the floor in shock. He just bid one thousand dollars to take me on a date?
    He either seriously wanted answers, or…something else. Her mind drifted. Perhaps what he was really after was a repeat of the night they had together? She chewed on that for a moment and once again let her gaze rake the length of him, a slow perusal that warmed her from the inside out. Heat gathered between her legs, dampening her panties. When the hell was the last time she had a man in her bed, anyway? Maybe a quick roll between the sheets was just what the doctor ordered.
    As his obscene bid hovered over them, shocked surprise rippled through the room, followed by curious chatter. Someone in the back started clapping, and Gemma peered into the dark ready to muzzle the whole lot of them.
    “Well done, Gemma,” a woman called out.
    “You can have me for free,” someone else said.
    “I am not for sale,” Gemma responded through clenched teeth. “I’m…I’m not…I don’t even work at the hospital.”
    “Two thousand,” Carson called out.
    “Oh. My. God,” Andy said, stepping up to the two of them. Hands on her hips, Andy narrowed her eyes—and then they widened like a lightbulb had gone off. “You’re…It’s you.” She looked from Carson to Gemma back to Carson again. “We…”
    “Yeah, that’s right. It’s me. Carson Reynolds,” he said. “And yes it was my party you crashed.”
    “And now you’re crashing ours,” Gemma said, seething.
    “Nope, just trying to raise money for your cause.” He dipped his head and pitched his voice low. “Are you really going to say no to two