Teach Me The Ropes (Bachelor Auction Book 1)

by Vanessa Vale

  “I kneed him the balls,” I admitted, not looking at either of my friends.

  Irene kept right on laughing.

  “You what?” Sarah Jane practically shouted, but I wasn’t going to answer because Sawyer was beside me, setting his hat on his head.

  I had to tilt my chin back to look up at him. He held his hand out, and I took it.

  He gave a little tug and pulled me to my feet then leaned down. Before I could even question what he was doing, he tossed me over his shoulder and carried me out of the room.

  4

  SAWYER

  The way I took her out of the room probably wasn’t the best idea. It might have been the fireman’s carry, and I was the fire chief, but there was no fire. If I wanted the town to stay out of my love life, that wasn’t the way to do it. But when it was Kelsey who had shouted out the winning bid, my inner caveman had taken over. I’d resigned myself to taking Delilah for coffee. In the morning. At the cafe on Main Street that had lots of witnesses, so she’d keep her hands off me. But then Kelsey, out of the blue, had shouted out a higher bid. Rev. Abernathy had called Sold faster than Delilah could respond, thank God. Literally and figuratively.

  I’d gotten exactly what I wanted. A date with Kelsey. Was I insane? I was going to sure as shit find out. As soon as I’d found her in the crowd, I hadn’t looked away. How had I missed her? That wild red hair. That creamy skin. Those full lips. How gorgeous she was.

  She might have been the one to buy me, but she was mine now. Why I wanted her I had no fucking idea. Maybe I was a masochist. Maybe I wanted a challenge. I wanted to know if her pussy had the same fiery curls as on her head.

  Besides all that, we had shit to figure out, like why she’d kneed me in the balls. Why she’d done that then bought me at an auction.

  With my arm banded about her thighs, I walked straight out of the building and didn’t put her down until we were beside my truck. While the parking lot was full, it was deserted since the auction was still going on. If Huck and Thatcher were the only two guys left, it wouldn’t be for much longer.

  Summer nights were long in The Bend, the sun just having set behind the mountains. The town was nestled in a broad valley, the downtown built around a crook in the river. It was quaint and picturesque, but the only thing I could see was the woman I’d just placed back on her feet.

  Her hair was long and wild about her face, the red tendrils seemingly having a mind of their own. Very Medusa-like. A pink flush brightened her cheeks, and most likely, anger brightened her green eyes.

  She wore jeans with a pale blue top—no paint smudges—and leather sandals. Simple, but the lack of flash only showcased the soft swell of her lush tits, the curve of her hips. She was just naturally pretty. Hell, she wasn’t trying. I wasn’t sure if she really even knew just how fucking stunning she was.

  She glanced around, as if figuring out where we were, then looked back at me. Her chin went up, so she could look me in the eye, but I had a feeling it was also because she was pissed off, although the slight play of her lips gave her away. She liked being manhandled, at least by me..

  And yet, I had no idea why her sass made me hot for her.

  “I could have walked, you know,” she said, setting her hands on her hips and cocking her head.

  I grinned because somehow this little firecracker’s ire intrigued me. “And you could have kneed me in the balls again.”

  Her gaze drifted away, and she smoothed her hands down the front of her jeans. She licked her lips, which had me stifle a groan and think of baseball stats, so I didn’t have a zipper mark in my dick. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

  “Are you?” I asked, tipping my hat back to study her even more closely.

  “Are you married?” she countered. That chin tipped up again. There was a little divot there that I wanted to tuck my thumb into while I kissed her.

  “No.”

  “Then I’m sorry. But I could have walked.”

  “I was helping you from the room. I’m a fireman. I do the fireman’s carry.”

  She looked me up and down as if surprised. “I don’t need your help.”

  “But I needed yours?”

  “Did you want to be bought by Delilah?”

  I pinched my lips together, ran a hand over the back of my neck.

  “You should be thanking me,” she said.

  I tilted my head down to look her in the eye. Smiled. “Me? Thanking you? I’m the one who had to put frozen peas on his balls.”

  “I saved you from a crazy woman.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

  It was her turn to purse her lips because she caught on—we weren’t talking about Delilah any longer. The glare she gave me would’ve singed a lesser man, which only made my smile spread into a grin

  That fierceness made me laugh. What the fuck was it with this woman? Sassy as fuck. She gave as good as she got. We’d talked in circles where I was about to thank her for something although I wasn’t quite sure what any longer.

  “You don’t like to be hit on by married men,” I said, hopefully cutting to the crux of this whole mess.

  “Would you?” She crossed her arms over her chest, which I guessed was to make her look put out. Instead, it pushed her tits up and made me want to see if her bra was lacy or something plain. I guessed lace. Lavender lace.

  Fuck.

  “What?” I asked, forgetting what we were talking about.

  She sighed. “Would you want to be hit on by a married woman?”

  Ah. She’d thought I was married, and Claire was mine.

  I crossed my arms over my chest, mimicking her. “Why don’t we get this out in the open right now. I’m not married. Never have been. I don’t have a girlfriend. Hell, I haven’t even dated anyone in forever. That’s why Alice volunteered me for the auction. As for Claire, she’s my niece. Okay?”

  She nodded and scrunched up her face in a cute kind of wince. Peeked up at me. I had no idea eyelashes could be so red. “I don’t like cheaters.”

  I studied her, saw that fire in her gaze again. This time, it wasn’t directed at me. No, it was some internal anger. Someone had hurt her before, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out a guy had done her wrong. A married one. I didn’t blame her for being cautious.

  “Yeah, I got that.” When she didn’t say anything, I continued. “If you’re my woman, you’re it,” I told her, pointing at her then at my chest. “Meaning I don’t stray. You don’t like cheaters, I don’t like liars.”

  Tina had lied about her interest in me. She’d lied about her involvement in our relationship. I’d bought her a ring, was ready to commit to her, but she hadn’t wanted me. She’d wanted my money, not the simple life of a firefighter’s wife. The Manning ranch was huge and went back generations. She’d wanted to play Lady of the Manor or some shit. I loved the family land and money, but it didn’t define me.

  Kelsey wasn’t Tina, but I was going to make it clear right from the start because it seemed she liked things clearly spelled out.

  Her eyes widened at my statement, those arched brows winging up. “Okay,” she replied then gave me a nod.

  “You’re the one who bought me, so I’m your man,” I added, and I couldn’t help but grin. I liked the sound of that. I also liked the look on her face when I said those words, knowing she’d react.

  A warm breeze kicked up and played with her curls. I wanted to tuck them behind her ear. For a second, I resisted. Fuck it.

  I reached out and pushed the locks back and watched as one slid free. She frowned, that green gaze narrowing. Since she hadn’t flinched or stepped away, I assumed the look was because of my words not my action.

  “You’re my… what?” The eyebrows went up again, and her pale cheeks flushed pink. I had to wonder what else on her body was such a pretty shade of pink.

  Fuck yeah. There was that hint of fire that, for some crazy reason, made my dick hard. Why couldn’t I be hot for Sally Jensen or Lily Sanchez? The
y were sweet, kind women who I’d grown up with. Single. They were the kind of women who needed a guy to rescue a cat. I did that shit, even got paid for it. Alice would be off my back if I was into either of them. But no. I had to be attracted to the only woman in town who’d kneed me in the balls and asked me to thank her for it and had a smile on her face while doing so.

  I shifted my stance, my jeans suddenly very uncomfortable. Yeah, I was losing it. Especially when I said, “You bought me. I’m yours.” I thumbed over my shoulder toward the building.

  “Yeah, um… about that.” She bit her lip and studiously studied the snaps on the front of my shirt.

  I waited. Not because I was patient but because I was thinking about that plump lip and all the things I wanted to do with it. And that was only one tiny part of her. There was so much of her to explore.

  “Like I said, I bid to save you from Delilah,” she admitted.

  “That’s the only reason?” I asked, giving her a wink.

  Her green eyes narrowed again, and she set a finger over my lips. “After you came out on stage, Irene and Sarah Jane told me you weren’t married, and I remembered what you said the other day about Delilah. How you disliked her. After what I’d done—” She dropped her hand and pointed toward my crotch which only got me even harder. “—I couldn’t let you get stuck on a horrible date.”

  “It would’ve been horrible,” I admitted. “I’d rather get snagged on barbed wire and spend an evening getting a tetanus shot in the ER than go out with Delilah.”

  That made her grin although I was dead serious. “That bad?”

  “That fucking bad.” I remembered her laying in my bed waiting for me. I tried not to shudder.

  Her smile slipped. “The thing is, I… I wasn’t thinking. I was so surprised when they said you were single. I mean, I figured you just had to be married.”

  I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, and she plowed on.

  “Then I saw Delilah’s face when she’d bid the highest. All I wanted to do was save you from her, but I... I don’t have five hundred dollars.”

  I stared at her. Fuck, this woman. She was loyal and devoted and didn’t even understand that. She’d saved me.

  I was the one who usually did the saving, so everything about this… this with her was weird. And yet I reached around and cupped the back of her neck. Held her in place as I lowered my head and kissed her. Not rough, just a gentle swipe, but fuck, I’d been wanting to do that since I first laid eyes on her.

  She was still at first but then relaxed, and that… that had my dick leaking pre-cum, even though it had felt the wrath of her knee the other day. The feel of her giving over to me was even more triumphant after how much she’d fought. Not me, but this pull between us. She’d felt it right from the start, too, otherwise she wouldn’t have been so pissed when I’d asked her out. Fuck.

  “This wasn’t part of the deal,” she murmured against my lips.

  “Do you want me to stop?” I asked.

  “No. God no.” Then she kissed me right back. Her lips were soft and full. Her scent was flowery. Her taste, when she gasped and I took the opportunity for my tongue to explore, was sugary and sweet.

  She moaned.

  I groaned.

  We were in the community center parking lot. Not the place to take things further, so I pulled back and set my forehead to hers but kept my hand in place at her nape.

  “What was that for?” she whispered. Her green eyes were bright but blurry. Her lips swollen and slick. And now the bright color on her cheeks was from arousal.

  “I love that you weren’t thinking when you saved me from Delilah. You weren’t thinking with your head.”

  She stared at me, and that little V formed in her brow again. “It wasn’t with my heart. I don’t even know you. What else do I think with?”

  When she licked her lip, I stepped close, close enough so her soft body was pressed against my hard one. With our height difference, my dick was pressed against her belly. My leg settled between hers, and my thigh nestled into the apex of her thighs.

  A gasp escaped her lips, and she shifted her hips, which only rubbed her core on me.

  “Your pussy.”

  Her mouth fell open, and then she pulled back. I turned my body slightly, prepared for another knee since my talk was crude. Hopefully not too crude that would set her off again. She moved a few feet back and stared at me, covered her lips with her fingers. I stared at her right back. Waited.

  Yeah, this was happening. I wanted her. She wanted me, even though she may not have realized it until now. She didn’t have to say the words I want you. Her actions, winning me at the auction to protect me, spoke for her loud and clear, even if she didn’t realize it.

  She was fierce and shit, I had no idea that was such a turn on. I wasn’t done with her, not by a long shot.

  I crooked my finger. “Thank you for saving me from Delilah. As for the money, I’ll square up with Alice and the organizers. Come on. Let’s get out of here before the auction’s over. I’ll show you around town.”

  She cocked her head to the side, bit her lip again. “The other day, I thought that was a euphemism.”

  I tilted my head back and laughed. This woman… fuck, I was in trouble.

  “Sugar, you won’t have to wonder if I’m taking you to my bed.” I let my gaze rake over every inch of her. “You’ll know. And you’ll want it too.”

  KELSEY

  An hour later, we were sitting on the open tailgate of Sawyer’s pickup truck in the parking lot of Frosty Frills, the town’s ice cream stand. He’d gotten me a chocolate and vanilla swirl soft-serve cone and a vanilla one for himself. I swung my feet back and forth and enjoyed the simple pleasure of a summer night and a cool treat.

  I’d been pinching my pennies so hard these days—ramen noodles and cheap microwavable entrees were my staples—that the ice cream was so good. Since there was a hot guy included, it was even better. This one though, I wasn’t sure why. Why did he drive me crazy and make me want to kiss him some more all at the same time?

  He’d actually driven me around town, pointing out the sights, which weren’t many. The high school. Library. Town hall. While he was confident enough to have flung me over his shoulder in an auditorium full of women, it seemed he didn’t quite know what to do with me. I loved that he’d pointed out the post office on our drive, but… yeah. A little odd. Especially since every one of those places had a sign out front, and I hadn’t needed a tour guide for any of them.

  I was sure he knew that. I was sure he knew that I knew that. It was a good thing there wasn’t a quiz when we’d parked for ice cream because my thoughts had been toggling between That kiss! and He’s not married!

  Maybe his brain cells had been fried and a drive-around was all he’d been able to do. Maybe he was as nice as Irene had said, and a tour of town was a date for him. The chemistry though, the undeniable sizzle in the cab of his truck, had been hard to miss. It was that… tension that made a really average tour of The Bend foreplay.

  Although that meant we were going to have sex next… oh my God. My pussy was thinking for me, as he’d said. That kiss had been a warm-up, a taste of what it would be like between us if we did more. Hell, not a warm-up. I’d been warmed up ever since I saw him at the playground. The way he’d carried me out of the community center had made my nipples instantly hard, and my panties were ruined. Ruined.

  Not that I was going to tell him that. I didn’t need to be rescued, and clearly, he was the kind of guy who did that being a fireman and all. Rescuing people was in his job description.

  I was still hot from it, and the ice cream wasn’t doing anything to cool me off. Watching Sawyer lick a cone had me wondering how dexterous his tongue was at other tasks. Even more foreplay.

  It had been a while for me. I wasn’t going to think back to being with Tom, the asshole, but I could compare. I got more out of the kiss with Sawyer than I had the entire time I’d been with Tom.

  “I lik
e your truck,” I said, patting the open tailgate.

  “Thanks. It was my mom’s. The other day you said you moved here from Colorado,” he said, making small talk. His jeans stretched taut over his thighs, and since he was so tall, his work boots almost touched the pavement. It wasn’t that he was so big, it was that I felt so small, so feminine sitting next to him.

  “Yup,” I replied.

  With him sitting this close, it was hard not to study him. The dark hair, the slight crook to his nose. The full lips that I remembered the feel of against mine. He must’ve shaved before the auction because there wasn’t a hint of scruff. His square jaw was very distracting. Even the way his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed was attractive.

  “I… well, I followed a guy up here. That didn’t work out.”

  “You sure it didn’t work out for the best?” he asked.

  I couldn’t help but frown as I remembered standing on Tom’s doorstep to surprise him only to have it opened by an eight year old who’d called for Daddy. I’d realized then and there I had behaved just like my mother. Unlike her, I didn’t break up families. I never wanted to be the other woman.

  “I’m very sure,” I replied, frowning.

  “It got you here with me. I’d say it worked out just fine.”

  My gaze whipped up to his, and I had no idea how to respond. He just gave his cone a lick, which had me staring.

  “Have you always wanted to work with kids?” Huh? The guy was giving me conversational whiplash.

  I took a second then cleared my throat. “Always. I got my degree in early childhood education and like working with the little ones the best.” I couldn’t help but smile.

  “You’re good with them.”

  I felt warm beneath his praise, and I shyly tucked my hair back behind my ear. “I love it. The excitement and curiosity. They’re always eager to just… be happy.”

  “You aren’t?” Cocking his head, he studied me. I was amazed how that hat of his stayed on, as if it was a part of him.