The Date Auction Read Free Page B

gentleman!”
    After a long pause, a third bidder entered the race.
    175
    200
    300
    The money was climbing, but not as quickly as he hoped it would. William wondered if he should have skipped shaving that morning. When he was clean-shaven, he looked more like a nineteen- year-old than a twenty-six-year-old. He wondered if his baby face was having a negative impact on the crowd.
    “We're now at five hundred. Can I get five hundred, Ladies? Look at these baby blue eyes!”
    William chuckled at the obnoxious emcee's comment.
    500
    600
    700
    “Now we're asking for eight hundred! Eight hundred! Come on... woman in the back, I'm looking at you! You know you want to!”
    The woman in the back was shaking hear head, which made William's heart sink a bit. Ouch .
    Suddenly, a hand in the front row shot up. When William made eye contact with the latest bidder, he struggled to keep his jaw intact. She was young, maybe twenty-five, and she was easily the most beautiful woman he ever laid eyes on. She looked like a supermodel, with long, chocolate brown hair, a heart-shaped face, and lightly caramelized skin. As he soaked in her beauty, he prayed no one else would bid for him.
    “900. Do we have a bid for nine hundred?”
    No, please, no. Suddenly, charity was the furthest thing from his mind. He wanted a date with this Megan Fox look-alike, because ridiculously beautiful women rarely gave him the time of day. As William continued to hold her in his gaze, she smiled. And it had to be the most beautiful smile in the world! He would have happily paid eight hundred dollars for her , for a chance to woo her , to kiss her cherry red lips. She was a siren. A muse. A stunner. He imagined her walking down a sidewalk, turning heads wherever she went. Men might have killed themselves for a glimpse of her.
    “Nine hundred? Anyone?”
    William could barely hear the emcee, as entranced as he was.
    “Eight hundred going once...”
    No more hands. Please, nobody raise a hand. He felt guilty for even thinking such a thought, because he knew the money was going to a good cause. But he could hardly blame himself, not when the goddess was smiling up at him.
    “Eight hundred going twice...”
    For once, William was happy to be unpopular.
    “Sold, for eight hundred dollars, to the woman in the front!”
    Thank god. After flashing a smile at the goddess who bought him, William hurried away from the stage. As soon as he rejoined his friends, Jamie clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, “Wow, you did well for yourself.”
    The only response William could manage was a dopey smile. He felt like he was in a daze. The girl of his dreams had manifested in front of him, and she wanted him . It was almost too good to be true.
    Jamie was next. He hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and swaggered onto the stage with confidence to spare. His intense blue eyes certainly had an impact on the crowd; a few women gasped when they saw him. With his intentional five o'clock shadow, chiseled cheekbones and swimmer's build, he looked every bit like the male model that he was. He struck a pose, cocked his head to one side, and let his good looks work for him.
    “You've probably seen thirty-one-year-old Jamie Thierry on billboards in Times Square,” said the emcee. “He's been making a name for himself in the modeling world for several years now, having recently modeled for Calvin Klein and Dior. We'll start the bidding at one hundred...”
    Countless hands shot up.
    “One hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred.”
    The crowd's fervor made Jamie grin.
    “Twelve hundred... thirteen hundred... fourteen hundred...”
    When the bidders started to slow down, Jamie pulled a trick from his sleeve. When he started plucking at the buttons of his shirt, the women went wild. A few of them even screamed and whistled. When his shirt was halfway unbuttoned, the bids flew in.
    “Twenty-one hundred... twenty-two hundred...”
    Jamie unfastened the last