Auction Time: Bad Boy Bachelors of Orange County BK3

by Gray, Khardine

  “Eric, I know I can’t exactly tell you what to do, but damn it, son, you can’t act like what Rory did didn’t dragged us into the dirt. Lost business because of him, and we don’t even work in the same field.”

  I didn’t know how anyone could treat their younger brother the way he did.

  Jesus.

  But why was I surprised?

  Dad had always had it in for Rory. Always, and it had to do with my grandparents favoring Rory over him. Rory had played ball and was always in the limelight. Dad had been the bookworm. I swore he must have rejoiced when Rory injured his leg and wasn’t able to play again.

  He wasn’t any help when Rory got taken to prison, and now that he was out, it would be worse.

  “Dad, I’m not going to stop seeing him.”

  “Eric, you are my son, and we should stick together. You’re in the public’s eye, for fuck’s sake. How would people feel if you were hanging around your loser uncle who got put behind bars because of fraud and possession of class-A drugs?”

  “I don’t care,” I retorted, sounding harsher than I’d intended. I was so sick of being pushed around and keeping fucking secrets.

  “Honey, please,” Mom cut in.

  She shouldn’t have spoken. I snapped my gaze to her, and her next words seemed to fade away.

  “What happened to him was as a result of something bigger. Something that sent him over the edge.” I said all of that while looking at her.

  She looked at me, keeping her gaze trained on me with fear in her eyes as I watched the realization dawn on her that my words had a deeper meaning and I knew what she was hiding.

  I kept my gaze fixed on her so there wouldn’t be any misconception. When her cheeks flushed, I stood up.

  “Where are you going?” Dad asked.

  “Can’t stay here. Not hungry anymore,” I answered and walked out.

  I jumped in my car and sped home. I’d never argued back to either of my parents before. People thought I was this bad boy bachelor. Sure, I was to a great extent, but there was a side of me that was helpless.

  It was the same part of me that held off on telling Gilly what was going on with me, and the same part of me that didn’t just flat out apologize to Mia for being the asshole I was.

  I’d never said sorry until yesterday.

  I saw the surprise in her beautiful eyes and knew it wasn’t enough, but no one would know how hard it was for me to say it and not go into more depth for my apology.

  Say sorry, then I’d have the explanation. The thing was, all that had happened, I’d never spoken about it to anyone. I’d never said anything to anyone. I just went through the damn motions by myself.

  Looked like that was about to change because when my Mom turned up on my doorstep the next day, I knew we’d be talking about things we hadn’t talked about before. That worried look on her face told all.

  She came in, hands clasped together, face stern.

  “Hi, I came to check on you,” she stated. Her voice held a tremor to it that was quite unlike the strong personality she had.

  “Really? You came to check on me, or check on what I know?” I threw back. That was it. I’d held my silence for long enough, and it was time to air the shit out of the cupboard.

  “Eric, yes. Is that what you want me to say?”

  “Not sure, Mom, depends on what we’re talking about.”

  She brought her hands up to her cheeks and sighed. “Oh god, you know, don’t you?”

  I really wanted her to say it, say the words, tell me the words I should have known all my life.

  “Know what, Mom?”

  She didn’t answer. Maybe she was hoping I actually didn’t know and this was a cross of information. I wasn’t about to let her off that easily.

  “Rory is my real father. Isn’t he?” I stated, and her face actually lost all color.

  “How did you find out?” she whimpered.

  “That’s irrelevant.” It completely was because how I found out was, I went snooping around all the right places. “What’s important now is that I want to know him as my father, and no one is going to stop me. You knew finding out was what sent him over the edge, and you did nothing. You left him to rot and would have been happy if he’d stayed behind bars for the full ten years.” All of that was true. I knew she did. It was what she was like.

  “Eric, you don’t understand. Your father would have left me if he knew.”

  “Yes, the average guy I know would leave their wives after they found out they’d cheated on them with their own brother.” That was a given.

  “I loved him first,” she blurted. “I was with him first, but after his injury he became different. It was clear football was more important than me. It broke us up, then I got with your father. Then Rory wanted me back even though I was married to your father.”

  “Mom, that’s all good and well, but you’re missing a chunk of story.” While I was surprised to hear that she’d been with Rory first, I felt I should stop her from selling me some sad story of half-truths. Knowing her the different she could be talking about meant his pockets weren’t as deep as they were when they were together. “Money and power. That is what this was about. Dad had both. I know Rory had it bad after he stopped playing football. I know, and Dad hasn’t exactly kept it secret that he enjoys being the brother with the empire. Richer than God himself. I’m not stupid.”

  “I couldn’t be broke, Eric. I had a hard life growing up, and I never wanted to be broke again. I made my choice. We had… It was one mistake, but you weren’t a mistake. I just never wanted him to find out.”

  I shook my head at her. It was all so wrong. “How did he find out?”

  “We were going through some old documents, and he saw that you had a different blood type. Same as him. He realized then that you couldn’t be Jack’s son. He just knew.”

  “Mom, this is wrong. All of it was wrong. You kept me from him, and you knew how much I looked up to him. Heck, I followed in his footsteps.” I took to the field and played football as if I was made for the sport.

  “Eric, please, I’m so sorry. Your father must never know. Please,” she begged.

  “He is not my concern, and he’s not my father. I’m telling you now what I’m doing. You hurt both of us, and it was all for selfishness. You hurt us. You can deal with Dad if he finds out.” It was nothing to do with me.

  “Does Rory know that you know?”

  “Not yet, but I plan to tell him.”

  She hung her head low, then her tear-filled gaze climbed back up to meet mine.

  “Okay… I guess that’s it, then.”

  I didn’t answer. She looked away from me and headed out the way she’d come.

  When the door closed, I released the breath I was holding on to.

  This was all such shit.

  I was seeing Mia in a little while, and I didn’t want to be worked up like this.

  I didn’t want to be worked up and meeting her in possibly the worst place ever. The stadium.

  That was exactly where I’d fucked up.

  So, I had another idea.

  * * *

  “Eric, what am I doing here?” Mia asked. That sexy mouth of hers pursed into a frown as she looked around the area.

  I’d completely expected this reaction from her, so I was prepared for it.

  I’d called her ten minutes before we were scheduled to meet and told her to come here. To the roof of the old opera house. It was more of a terrace that had a little coffee shop open during the day. It closed at five, leaving the space vacant.

  The best part of the place was the view below, of the stage.

  “Meeting me to talk. The stadium was… It was too loud there,” I lied. It was louder here. Below us were the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream practicing their lines and routines for the upcoming ballet. She’d told me that was one of her favorite plays and Shakespeare novels.

  She walked up to me and stopped short in her tracks when she beheld the dancers bel
ow us.

  We’d come up here the night of what I termed as our first date.

  That whole idea of mine to conveniently be at the opera house at the same time had blown up in my face when we found out the tickets were sold out.

  However, all was not lost because I knew we could watch from up here and possibly have the best seats in the house.

  “We’re supposed to talk business with a play basically going on in the background?” She frowned.

  “It’s like having the TV on in the background.” I nodded.

  “A Midsummer Night’s Dream isn’t like having the damn TV on in the background.”

  “Well, today it can be. Want to sit?” I motioned to the little benches over in the corner of the roof. It would be slightly quieter over there because the sound became slightly muffled. We wouldn’t have been able to talk any kind of business if the ballet were going on for real. They’d have the live orchestra, and the sound would rise up to the heavens.

  She walked on ahead of me, lowered to sit on the bench and pulled a notebook and a pen from her purse.

  “I don’t have much time, so if we could get to our meeting, I’d be grateful.” She didn’t even look at me as she said that.

  “Where you off to, Mia Cartwright?” I smiled.

  She gave me a crude stare and frowned. “That’s for me to know.”

  “You going out with Captain America again?” That was who the guy she was with reminded me of. A good-natured Captain America.

  “What if I am? It wouldn’t be any of your business.”

  “Guess not. He seemed boring as shit though. Who takes a woman to a club like The Glow and sits down to talk? I’d be dancing with you the whole time, exactly the way we were… maybe worse.” I gave her a wicked smile.

  “If I remember correctly, I walked away from you when I realized you weren’t him. You wouldn’t get the chance to dance with me like that.”

  “Fuck that, Mia. You would only be able to dance like that with me. Know why? Chemistry, we have it big time. You don’t have that with him. Not one bit.”

  “How do you know what I have and don’t have?” Her nostrils flared as she glowered at me.

  “I just do, baby.” I might have sounded like a real ass, but I realized that with her, you had to take charge and go above the rim of normal to get her to see past what she thought was truth.

  “You are insufferable. No normal person behaves this way. I told you over and over again that we’re done, and you still keep on.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her and shook my head. All this time, and maybe she thought she’d told me that, but nope, she had not.

  “When did you tell me that?” I asked.

  “Every time. I said it every time.” She grimaced.

  “It’s news to me. I never heard you tell me we’re done. Wouldn’t stop me, but it would for damn certain mean I was forcing this with no hope.”

  “You have no hope.”

  “Okay, say it again… Tell me you’re done with me,” I challenged knowing she couldn’t say it. If she indeed wanted to, she would have said it well before now, the same way she thought she had.

  At first, she stared at me, her full lips parted, ready to give me a mouthful, then she caught up to where I already was in the grand scheme of us. I watched her try and fail. Then in fury, she balled her fists, grabbed her notebook, and got up ready to leave.

  I got there before her though and blocked her escape.

  “Just let me go,” she snapped.

  Let her go? I hadn’t been able to.

  That was the damn problem. I should have been able to forget her and drop the idea of what little chance I had, but I hadn’t. Couldn’t. The desire I felt for her was always there. There for her.

  I reached out and touched the silky skin of her cheek, and something melted in her eyes.

  The guard was down. Seeing a way to reach her, I cupped her face, secretly rejoicing that she was still here.

  And still there as I lowered my face and brushed my lips over hers. Damn it to hell, did that brief touch feel like fire on my lips. Fire ready to consume me.

  It was enough to soothe my tired soul, the same way I got lost in her that night when she was mine.

  She breathed, and the soft caress of her breath was like a whisper to the innermost part of my being telling me to take her all over again, and again, and again. Just the way I’d wanted to that night.

  What had happened to make me walk away?

  Reality kicked in and brought with it the lie I was.

  The man I thought was my father was not, and the man who was had just been sentenced to years of imprisonment.

  That wasn’t happening now.

  Another breath from her sweet lips, and I pulled her to me, hard and possessive, like I owned her. Like she belonged to me. And she came to my lips, kissing me as hard as I kissed her.

  Kissing me hard like she wanted me too.

  And… she did. This was where we’d left off, and we were just picking up from there. Just picking up from there as if nothing else happened. I swept my tongue deep into her hot, wet mouth. Deep inside, and deeper, reminding me of being buried inside her.

  I angled her face so I could kiss her even deeper, relishing the feel of her gorgeous breasts pressed against my chest.

  And fuck, the loud sound of a trumpet made us jump apart. A trumpet, then a cello started playing.

  She looked at me and pressed her fingers to her lips, breathing hard as she stepped back. The expression on her face stunned.

  She turned from me and walked away.

  I allowed her to go, but fuck, was I ever more determined now to have her.

  And to have her the way I wanted.

  No more chasing.

  Chapter 6

  Mia

  * * *

  ‘Allow your passion to guide you. Just say yes! You never know what could happen.’- Madam Phoebe.

  Passion.

  It lay in all of us. Some people had it more than others. Some wilder than others.

  That was me. I wanted many things. There was a lot I was passionate about, and I was the kind of person who had no control when it came to having what I wanted.

  It was almost a double negative to what I loved about adventure.

  Living and seizing the moment, but holding back once in the moment.

  The moment I slipped and had no control. So I wasn’t sure if I could allow my passions to guide me. If I did it would lead me straight back to Eric. Back to his lips. Back to that kiss that told me I wasn’t done with him.

  I was stuck on that damn kiss while I should be doing more to organize the auction. I’d worked by myself for today, at home. Realistically, I should have been working with Eric.

  I couldn’t though. I needed time to think.

  Vanessa came by earlier. She was in the kitchen now making her trademark cookies. Since I wasn’t at the office today I had a feeling Abby sent her to check on me. Little Zack had a bad cold. If he didn’t, I was sure she’d be here too.

  She be here with her cray self, trying to cheer me up, and she’d be talking about the success we were having with this campaign.

  We had twenty players signed up so far and the buzz was insane.

  Twenty of the sexiest eligible bachelors this side of the planet, all signed up, and although it had only been a few days since word got out about the auction, people were excited. It was definitely going to be a success. It was just to make it happen.

  So far I’d ordered all the accessories we needed like bid paddles and stationary. I’d just gone ahead and assumed we’d get Rochester Hall because I knew Vanessa had her way of getting things like that sorted out. If we didn’t get it I knew she’d get somewhere just as good and it would be no biggie to set up what we needed. I’d organized the catering, photographers, event designers and mapped out what I needed to do in terms of the auction itself. The winner would win a date with their bachelor and have him for a maximum of five hours. I felt that wa
s reasonable for something like dinner and a movie, or maybe the theatre.

  Those were just ideas. Knowing these people, in true Orange County style there would be some juicy scandal. Rich women and sexy available men. It screamed trouble and saucy gossip that would hit the National Enquirer.

  I figured we’d make over a hundred thousand dollars just from the admission fees alone. Entry from what I could imagine were more women than men.

  Women who were probably counting down the days.

  Women who couldn’t wait for the event, while I was secretly dreading it. I was home, and while I may have distracted myself to some degree all I kept thinking about was the kiss and who would win the date with Eric.

  One of the most eligible bachelors of them all. Abby did a social media post just asking the question, ‘Which Centaur would you love to date most?’ and he had two million hits. Two million…

  Two million women wanted to date him, and here I was trying to avoid him.

  Him with his kiss that scorched me clean from the inside out.

  That kiss was… God, it was unreal. Completely and utterly unreal.

  How could I have lived on this earth for the last twenty-seven years and never had a kiss like that?

  All those guys I’d dated, and he’d made the most impact. His lips had the most effect on me.

  Vanessa came in and the delicious aroma of chocolate cookies filled the room.

  She set the tray down on the coffee table, sat opposite me and smiled. “These are my deluxe batch.” She giggled.

  “They smell amazing.”

  “Consider it a bribe. I’m hoping you’ll tell me what’s up with you. Any chance you might?” Her beautiful green eyes sparkled.

  “I don’t know, Vanessa. Sometimes…there’s just certain things I can’t tell you.” I wasn’t so sure about talking to her about Eric. Normally I wouldn’t care what anyone thought of me but she might judge and I wasn’t in the mood to be me tonight. “Might not be for your delicate ears.”