Josh was facing away from the football star. His eyes were fixed on her.
“All right everyone.” Mrs. Matheson took her familiar spot behind the podium. She pivoted and pointed to the banner tacked on the wall as a backdrop for the event.
Miller’s Grove Tenth Annual Heritage Days Bachelor Auction.
“Settle down.” She addressed the crowd as if they were unruly children and she was the principal. “Now, we all know why we’re here, don’t we?” A chorus of yells and catcalls answered her. Yes, the women gathered in the library definitely knew why they were here. “Let’s not forget this is for a good cause. As you can see, the library took quite a hit in last spring’s floods. Let’s help Mrs. Slaggle and the Library Board restore this treasured place to its former glory.” She smiled a beauty contestant smile as her eyes roamed over the crowd. “It looks like we have quite a few visitors in our midst. I have no idea why all of y’all decided to come.” She laughed indulgently.
Tara turned away from the speech to glance at the video monitor in front of her. “A little to the right.” She motioned to Lainey with her index finger. Mrs. Matheson slid to the side of the screen and the first few young men were visible. “That’s better.” Tara nodded and sat back to watch the show.
“Now, don’t be stingy with those pocketbooks. These guys have some great outings planned for their lucky winners.” A shrill whistle sailed through the crowd followed by a chorus of energized laughter. “Don’t you, boys?”
“I’ll bet they do.” A busty blonde stood at the back of the room and waved. Tara gave Lainey a thumbs-up at her quick camerawork to capture the lady’s excitement. She jotted a quick reminder on her notepad to get the woman’s permission to be shown during the news report.
“Well, I won’t keep you waiting any longer.” Mrs. Matheson turned to her first victim. Hayden Dodge, one of the town’s five dentists, flashed a grin a toothpaste advertiser would die for as he mounted the stairs. “Let’s start the bidding at ten dollars.”
Tara settled back in her seat as she waited for the evening to be over.
• • •
“One thousand, six hundred!”
“One thousand, eight hundred!”
“Two thousand!”
Tara and Lainey exchanged a look of disbelief as the bids flew through the air. Women were practically climbing over one another as they screamed to Mrs. Matheson.
“Two thousand, one hundred!”
“Two thousand, two hundred and fifty!”
Three women, all likely in their mid-thirties, squared off and stared at each other. Kelly and the other women Tara recognized from town had long since left the bidding war. With the looks the three remaining bidders were exchanging, Tara wondered if the winner would need a police escort to get to her car safely.
“Two thousand, five hundred.” The buxom blonde Lainey filmed earlier stood and placed her hand on her hip. She glared at the crowd in an unspoken challenge as she waved a stack of bills in her hand, clearly showing she wasn’t planning to back down. Wyatt Miller was going to be hers — at least for one night.
“Going once.” Mrs. Matheson scanned the crowd greedily. “Going twice.” She smiled at Mrs. Slaggle who’d been breathing into a paper bag ever since Wyatt’s bids crossed the thousand-dollar threshold. “Sold!”
The winner let out a shriek that threatened to shatter the windows on the far side of the library. “You’re mine!” She pointed at Wyatt and blew him a kiss across the room.
“Easy,” Mrs. Matheson laughed. “These are family friendly dates.”
The winner purred. “Oh, I plan to be very friendly.” She ran to the front of the room to fill out her paperwork. Embarrassed laugher filled the air as Tara massaged her temples.
The crowd began to talk among themselves as they waited for Josh to take his place next to Mrs. Matheson. The auction had already lasted over an hour. If it didn’t end soon, she wasn’t going to get the story edited in time for tonight’s broadcast. She looked out the window at the stage set up in front of city hall. Todd was covering the mayor’s official opening ceremonies. The choir from one of the local elementary schools filed onto the risers and the children took their places under the lights. Todd stood with his back to her, but she could still see him adjusting his tie as he prepared for the live broadcast of the early news.
Next year, she was trading stories with Todd.
“Mr. Owens?” Mrs. Matheson held her hand out to Josh as he climbed the stairs. “Are you ready for the Sexiest Man on Television?” she asked the crowd. Josh’s cheeks flushed an unexpected shade of pink as he gave a crooked grin. “Do you think you can beat Wyatt’s record?” She over-exaggerated her glance up and down his body.
“I guess we’ll find out.” He inclined his head in her direction.
“I suppose we shall.” Mrs. Matheson held her microphone closer to her lips. “Let’s start the bidding at eight hundred.”
Just as with Wyatt, the bids initially flew quickly. Tara didn’t know how the Library Board secretary was keeping them straight. She glanced at Mrs. Zimmerman and laughed when she realized she’d given up on the attempt.
“Twelve hundred!”
“Fifteen hundred!”
Mrs. Matheson surveyed the crowd, apparently surprised the bids had stopped. Any other year, over a thousand dollars would be considered a record, but this wasn’t just any auction. “Going once? Twice?”
“Guess we know who the most valuable bachelor in town is!” Wyatt stood and smirked at the audience.
Josh let out a long breath. “Looks like it.” He bowed to Wyatt in mock surrender as good-natured applause echoed from the women in the room.
“Five thousand.”
All the noise in the room stopped. Only the hum of the air conditioner continued as Josh’s head snapped up in disbelief.
Tara pushed her chair back and stood facing Mrs. Matheson. “I bid five thousand.”
As she adjusted her glasses on the end of her nose, Mrs. Matheson’s eyes bugged as she reached for her glass of water. “Five thousand it is. Going once. Twice. Sold to the highest bidder!”
Chapter Seven
“What the hell was that about?” Wyatt’s voice came from the darkness as Tara loaded her equipment into the back seat of her car.
Tara jumped in surprise and her head bounced off the metal frame. She didn’t look up from zipping her laptop case before she replied. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Wyatt grabbed hold of Tara’s arm and slammed her back against the side of the car. “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”
“Let go.” Tara attempted to pry her arm from his grasp, but his fingers only dug deeper. “Wyatt, that hurts.” She squirmed beneath the pressure.
“You embarrassed me.” He pulled her closer to him. “You know better than that. Or at least you did.” His grip tightened, cutting off the flow of blood to the rest of her arm. Stabbing pain shot through her healing muscle.
“Stop it.” Tears stung her eyes as she fought against his grip.
“I’d let her go.” Calm and in control, Josh stepped into the beam of light from the car’s dome light. A pair of teenagers racing by on their way to the fairgrounds stopped and watched as the two men stood looking eye to eye.
“Nothing to see here,” Wyatt dismissed the high-schoolers, and the girls walked away slowly.
The sound of Tara’s heart pounding in her chest almost obscured the two men’s heavy breathing as they squared off. Physically, Josh didn’t appear to be much of a match for the muscular football player, but judging from the intensity in his eyes, Wyatt wouldn’t walk away from a fight unscathed.
“I said, take your hand off her arm.” Josh repeated the warning, and his voice left little question that the
next time his fist would be making the request.
“Are you going to make me?” Wyatt tugged Tara in front of him as if she were a shield.
“Do you really want to find out?” Josh advanced toward Wyatt, his hand clenched tightly at his side. As the muscle in his jaw tensed, Wyatt took a step back and released Tara. “I didn’t think so,” Josh said.
“We were just talking.” Wyatt glanced around them to see if anyone had witnessed him backing down from Josh’s challenge.
“Then maybe you need to learn to listen a little better.” Josh turned to look at Tara as she leaned against the car rubbing her arm. “She told you to let her go.”
“Did she?” Wyatt narrowed his eyes as he stared at Tara without blinking. “I didn’t hear her say no.” He pointed at her as he began to walk away. “This conversation isn’t over.”
“I’m pretty sure it is,” Josh answered for her. He turned his back on Wyatt and studied Tara. “A real charmer. You used to date him?”
Tara tried to still her trembling hands as she angrily wiped at her eyes. “Yeah.” She took a hesitant breath and stared at the asphalt beneath her feet. “My parents adored him.”
“I’m not sure if I would have gotten along very well with your parents.”
Despite the fear and adrenaline still speeding through her body, Tara couldn’t help but give a small laugh. “No, you probably wouldn’t have liked them.”
Moving slowly, Josh reached out and tried to stroke her cheek with the back of his index finger — not totally surprised when she instantly pulled away. “Is your arm okay?”
Tara massaged the already aching muscle and flexed her fingers in her left hand. “It’s sore.”
Without asking permission, Josh leaned into Tara’s trunk and pulled out the equipment case. “I’ll take this back tonight. You go home and put some ice on that.”
“You don’t need to do that. I’m fine.” Tara reached in her purse for her keys.
“Go home. Have some tea … or something stronger.”
Tara opened the door and paused. “Thanks. You didn’t have to help.”
Josh shrugged off her thanks. “I was going back to the station anyway.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She swallowed thickly to cover the emotion leaking into her voice. “That’s the second time.”
He reached for the door as she took a seat behind the wheel. “Let’s just skip number three, okay?” The concern in his eyes was the last thing Tara saw before he slowly closed the door.
• • •
“Good job on the story last night.” In preparation for their second outdoor broadcast of the week, Josh had discarded the suit he normally wore. The navy blue shirt enhanced his eyes and added depth to the black of his hair as he stood leaning casually near Tara’s cubicle. Unscrewing the lid from a bottle of water, he took a long drink.
Tara waved her hand in front of her face. “It was just fluff.”
A momentary look of confusion crossed his face. “Sometimes we need fluff.” Tara read the label on the bottle of water — not available around here. He must drive to Atlanta for his groceries. “I noticed you left the fact that I received the winning bid in the story.”
“It set a record. That was news.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “But you didn’t show that you were the one who did the bidding.”
She put her pen down and spun her chair to face him. “No need to put myself in the story — or start some kind of gossip.”
His dimple appeared as his lips twisted up in amusement. He stepped closer to her and whispered conspiratorially. “And why would there be gossip?”
Those eyes were hypnotic. He could ask her to jump off the roof of a barn, and she’d do it without a second thought. But right now, he wanted to know about gossip in town. As his eyes twinkled with amusement, she could hardly form words. Finally, she looked down at her desk and picked up her Godzilla figurine. Thudding him along the edge of the desk, she tried to think of an answer that didn’t give him a reason for his pesky little smirk. “This is Miller’s Grove. The grapevine will be buzzing soon enough.” Tara nervously tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. She didn’t need to let him know the gossip was already working its way through town. No need to stroke his already impressive ego. “The important part of the story was how much we raised for the library, not who was doing the bidding.”
“If you say so.” He finished the water in one long swallow. “But I actually wasn’t talking about the auction story.” He craned his neck to get a better view of her computer. The screen was paused on a scene from a recent interview Tara had done with a rape victim. The woman’s face was hidden in shadow, but a hint of light fell across her neck showing purple bruises just above her collar. Josh turned away, noticing the notepad on Tara’s desk. She’d covered the page with notes critiquing the segment. “I meant that one.” He tilted his head toward the screen.
“Oh. I was trying to preserve the victim’s dignity as much as I could. I think you could almost tell who she was for a few minutes.”
“No. You did an excellent job.”
Tara blushed and ran her fingers through her hair. As her arm reached the back of her head, her crimson sleeve fell away and left her upper arm almost completely exposed. The network of pink scars running along her olive skin didn’t surprise him, but the ugly purple and green bruises did. He wasn’t prepared for the intensity of his reaction. “That’s from Wyatt?”
Tara quickly pulled her sleeve down and recovered her composure. “It’s nothing.” She slid her chair back farther away from Josh.
“That’s definitely not nothing.” He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He’d never gotten involved in a fistfight in his life, but right now he wanted nothing more than to cause Wyatt pain equal to the amount he’d caused Tara.
“Trust me. The Millers run this town. It’s not good to be on their bad side. I’m fine. It’s better to just drop it.” Tara glanced up at the clock on the wall. “We’re going to be late.” Grabbing her notepad from her desk, she slid past Josh and scurried down the hallway toward the conference room.
• • •
The full news team was assembled in the conference room as Josh stepped through the door. Feeling his father’s glare burning down on him, he still wasn’t certain if it was safe for him to talk. He was fighting a war within himself. At the moment, the desire to go hunt down Wyatt Miller and teach him a lesson about how to treat women was winning. Just last year, Josh had been the spokesman for the National Center Against Domestic Violence’s anti-abuse campaign. He believed in the message his face helped to spread.
“Thank you for joining us. Hope we’re not interfering with your plans for the day.” Chuck crossed his arms and waited as Josh took his traditional seat.
Sitting directly opposite Tara, he stared as she tugged at the sleeve of her blouse, trying not to be obvious in her movements. “The pleasure’s all mine.” He nodded to his father to indicate he was ready to start.
The vein in Chuck’s temple signaled his annoyance at his son, but he began the meeting. “Good broadcast last night. The piece on the auction was especially well received. It’s already been viewed almost 5,000 times on the station’s website too.” He silently clapped in Lainey and Tara’s direction.
“Thank you.” Lainey bowed while Tara just shook her head and laughed. “I think it had something to do with the outstanding camera work, if I do say so myself.”
“And the subject matter had nothing to do with it?” Chuck ribbed her good-naturedly.
“Of course it did.” Lainey smirked. “It’s all about the eye candy.” She flashed a wicked grin in Josh’s direction. “Yum.”
Chuck cleared his throat. “Moving on.” He flipped through a stack of pages he’d printed. “Tara, your story on the rape victim was v
ery well done. The camera work was exceptional.” He looked up from his notes and glanced at the younger members of the news team. “That’s the difference between someone who’s just worked in a newsroom and someone with a master’s degree in journalism. Very professional. Keeping an assault victim in shadow is always the preferred method when doing an interview with a sensitive subject.” Tara nodded her agreement. “Unfortunately,” he glanced over the top of the pages, “we have another story for you, much in the same vein.”
“What?” Tara regarded Chuck with a look of total shock.
“The police haven’t released many details, but there was another attack last night.”
“Two rapes in two weeks?” Todd interrupted the conversation. “That’s as many as Miller’s Grove has in an entire year.”
“The town’s average is twelve per year, but this is still unusual. The town’s grown a lot over the past year. We may be looking at a serial rapist.”
“Is that what the police are saying?”
Chuck’s lips formed a tight line. “They’re not saying much.”
“I want in on the story.” Josh watched as the muscles in Tara’s shoulders tightened. Even from across the table, he could see that her breathing had quickened. “There’s too much for one person to cover.”
Nodding slowly, Chuck looked back at Josh. “You two work it out.”
• • •
“I don’t need your help.” Tara slammed her notepad on her desk as she tried to control her temper. Having to report on a second rape was bad enough — doing it with Josh at her side would be virtually impossible.
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