Souled
Bid on Love: Bachelor #1
K.L. Shandwick
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Other Books by K.L. Shandwick
Acknowledgments
K.L. Shandwick’s Bio
Chapter One
Nads, or Nadine Marx to mention her full title, could always twist me around her little finger. I called her Nads, with affection, because she was a very ‘ballsy’ girl. It didn’t surprise me to learn she’d chosen to study journalism, because for as long as I’d known her, the girl had never missed a beat. Not that she was an especially nosy person; she just had her finger on the pulse about what was going on in town and with life in general.
Although not one of those up in your face paparazzi reporters I usually dealt with, Nads was more of a human interest kind of girl, and it was that sense of social conscience that had gotten me roped into the charity event she had organized. Going one step further after raising awareness in an article highlighting a cause called Healing Heroes.
After becoming interested on a personal level—and never one to leave a stone unturned if she could do something more—Nads felt compelled to set up a fun event to bolster contributions to the aid work of the small charity. Her idea to hold an auction to win a date with an eligible bachelor gathered a lot of attention locally and not too long after, her event had taken shape.
The previous Thursday, I’d had a call from my mom’s neighbor telling me Mom had had a fall. Needless to say, I flew straight back to our small town in Norfolk, Virginia; from way out West, to be by her side.
Fortunately, no bones were broken, but she was badly shaken. With her living on her own, I could tell it was going to take a little time for her to get her confidence back and this was the reason I’d decided to hang around for a while. My trips back home had been pretty rare, and Mom’s accident had given me the first real opportunity to carve out some downtime.,
Once I knew my mom was on the mend, I couldn’t wait to visit old haunts for the first time in almost six years. I had only been back home once since I’d turned professional, and that was the day I cancelled a gig to fly home to attend my best friend Kevin’s memorial service when he became a fallen hero.
It wasn’t a usual activity for me to get involved directly with charities, but this one was very close to my heart. Normally my charitable donations were subtracted from my earnings by my accountants and sent regularly to a few chosen favorites like Diabetes Research, Oxfam and some pertaining to retired musicians. However, when Nadine told me the reason for her gig, it was too close to my heart for me to have turned her down.
I’d known Nadine Marx and her brother, Neal, since I started kindergarten and despite the time and distance my job created, I knew they were the guys who would always accept me no matter what. After all the years I’d been gone, I never felt there was any distance in our friendships and they always remembered to invite me to stuff even though I couldn’t get home.
Apart from the event being completely relevant to the group, I figured it would be fun to catch up with a few of my old friends while I was in town: like Jacoby, Colton, and a couple of others, who were also taking part in the auction.
“No jeans designed to flash your packet or those tight, sexy body-hugging t-shirts that leave little to the imagination about what’s underneath, McKenna.” Nads snapped with a frown on her brow. “I’m talking class: tuxedos, shiny shoes, spit and polish, understand? What you do on your date is up to you, but when the bidding takes place, the last thing I want is an estrogen fest in the front row.”
A cheeky grin spread over my face. It was clear Nads knew me well, and I raised an eyebrow in question at her description of my usual attire. “Aww, Nads, I never knew you perused me that closely, honey. You like what you see?”
Nads swiped at my arm, catching me harder than I expected, then she laughed as she hugged herself. It made me think she wasn’t entirely immune to me. “Come on, McKenna, you know what you do to women… not me may I add. That would be like lusting after a brother, ew!”
“Alright, honey, you’re beginning to protest too much,” I replied playfully as I tried to bite back another wicked grin. Nads shook her head vigorously and shoved me hard. Damn she’s strong.
“Get over yourself, will you?” she said, chastising me, then turned and pulled out her phone. She swiped the screen, held it up to her mouth and spoke into it. “Bachelor number five, McKenna Low… not that he’ll raise much… but make sure to check McKenna’s attire a day before the event or risk his shabby rock star appearance.” She bit back a smile and dropped her phone back into her bag.
“Just as well I love you and know you well, or I’d be offended.”
“You should be offended not all of us think you’re smoking hot and want to get in your pants.”
“That’s because I’m like a big brother to you. It wouldn’t be the case if you hadn’t known me before,” I replied and winked.
Nads' eyes softened, and she shrugged her shoulders. “Guess I missed out. Anyhow, I hope you respect the winning bidder at the auction. I don’t want you to skip town after your date leaving a small-town scandal in your wake once you’ve gone.”
I knew it was all banter between us and I hoped the woman that won was fun loving because there wasn’t that much around in the way of excitement in our little hick town. All I could think of to do was some goofy activities and dinner. I was at a distinct disadvantage with not being local anymore.
* * *
True to her word, Nads turned up at my mom’s place the day before the auction, behaving all business-like with a clipboard. She’d brought with her a demure and elegant looking young woman who oozed authority. I hardly noticed Nads because my focus was on her beautiful companion and I couldn’t stop looking at her.
Strangely, I had a nagging feeling there was something familiar about her, but with a gorgeous face like hers and the way she carried herself, I knew I wouldn’t have forgotten her easily had I’d met her before.
“Hello, McKenna, are you going to put your tongue back in your head and invite us in?” Fortunately, Nads’ voice cut into my micro daydream, vaguely registering just enough to catch up with my brain. I smiled warmly and tried to act as if I hadn’t been distracted, although I figured it had been patently obvious. Opening the door wider, I gestured them inside.
“Absolutely,” I replied and stepped aside to give them a clear entry.
Nads walked past me followed by the stunning woman and my mind tried desperately to place where I may have seen her before. Apart from the instant familiarity I stared after her because I’d always had a thing for tall brunettes with cute smiles and slender-but-curvy figures. This gig just got a whole lot better.
Thankfully my mom was still in bed following her doctor’s orders to rest so their visit with me was uninterrupted with her insisting they stay for coffee. Nads perched on the arm of the sofa and glanced at her black plastic clipboard. The papers were stacked tightly showing me how much organization she had already put in.
“I wasn’t lying when I said I’d check what you’re wearing tomorrow night, but I brought you a tuxedo in the event you thought you’d skip making yourself look decent at the last minute.”
“Are you saying you think I dress indecent?” My eyes flicked to her pretty colleague who had been staring intently at me and I smiled when my eyes locked with hers. She looks amazing. “What about you? Do you think I look indecent?” I asked drawing her into the conversation.
Im
mediately, the girl squirmed in her seat and I almost laughed aloud. She may not have thought what I wore was indecent, but my bet was her thoughts weren’t entirely pure. My friendly smile widened, and I derived a twisted pleasure from watching her cheeks stain several shades of pink when I directed my question at her.
“We only want it to be the best experience for our ladies,” she replied with a degree of urgency, in a sweet singsong tone. My heart fluttered in my chest at the sexy tone of her voice and I scrutinized her more closely.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to give my date an experience they’ll never forget, sweetheart.”
“Jesus Christ, McKenna, stop hitting on her. What she means is we want all our men to look uniform, smartly groomed, same attire—”
“Oh Nadine, you should work as a recruiter for the Army ‘cause that’s what you’re describing,” I said, cutting in on her description as I chuckled softly again.
“Appealing, we want our men to look appealing,” her colleague countered finding her voice, which sounded a lot more confident than the first time she’d spoken, but she avoided eye contact as they darted anywhere in the room except at me.
“And you are? Sorry, but your rude buddy here didn’t introduce you,” I said, watching Nads huff in frustration.
“Charlotte. I’m the fundraiser working with Nadine on the Bid on Love event. My boss and Nadine are friends so she—my boss—offered my help.
“And you don’t find me appealing the way I am, right?” I asked, taking her back to her previous comment. Looking adorably flustered, her face grew a deeper shade of pink once again, but she quickly recovered and tilted her head to the side as if she was considering my question.
Silence stretched between us and for a short time I thought she’d forgotten the question when her gaze turned to mine, grew in intensity and then she shuffled tightly in the seat again. Once she had realized she too had drifted off in a daydream, she struggled to compose herself. Eventually she cleared her throat and pulled her elegant slender fingers through her long, dark brown hair and swallowed audibly.
“My opinion doesn’t matter, McKenna. I’m sure the lady that wins your lot will be most happy to have captured the rock star for a day,” she answered with a new gruffness in her tone.
“The date has to be on Friday as I have an urgent scheduling I can’t get out of.” I lied, because I didn’t want anything to tie up my weekend. I already had plans of my own. Charlotte noted this on her clipboard and while she was writing I got a better look at her.
I found myself struggling for an apt word to describe her then it came to me. She was exquisite. At one time I’d have said she was out of my league, but since becoming a rock star I had found many women I had considered the same suddenly weren’t at all.
“I’ll put you out of your misery, Nads. I already have a tux… several in fact. Yours isn’t the only posh gig where I get to show my gentlemanly side.” Nads’ eyes flashed wide and she glanced to Charlotte. A smile played on both women’s lips.
“McKenna Low and gentlemanly, now there’s an oxymoron if ever I heard one,” Nadine exclaimed and giggled, making her sound younger than she was.
“Seriously, the girl who gets me tomorrow will regret bidding because she’ll be spoiled to the point where no other guy will ever match up to me in the future.” Charlotte bit her lip and looked thoughtful. Something in the way she did it stopped me dead.
“Sorry, do I know you?” I asked, compelled to ask because I had been trying to place her face ever since I set eyes on her. Surely I’d have remembered someone as stunning as her?
“Charlotte Richmond. Your father used to work for mine.” My surprise almost made my wide eyes bug out of my head and roll across the floor. My jaw dropped when I instantly remembered the cool little girl who had hung around me for three years straight when I had worked with my father at a complex of luxury cabins owned by her dad.
Charlotte’s father was one of the richest property owners in the whole of Virginia and it was partly due to my job at the complex that my father had allowed me to follow my music with my band. The deal had been such that as long as I committed to work hard at learning a skill during the day, I could chase my ultimate dream. But thanks to both of our fathers, I had learned some crazy skills as a carpenter along the way.
My mind flitted back to the freedom the job gave me back then, but after my father had an untimely death on the way home one night, his loss brought an abrupt end to that chapter in my life and I never returned to work there again. I couldn’t face it because I knew it would never have been the same, and I didn’t want to continue without him.
“Oh. My. God. You’re little Charlie Richmond?” I asked incredulously, with my heart beating wildly in my chest. I was shocked that this was the same little girl from Richmond Cabins, but once she had said it I saw the changes from that little girl to the beautiful woman she had become.
She cringed as soon as I said the nickname I’d given her back then. “Charlotte… yes.”
“Damn, look at you, all grown up,” I said as my greedy eyes raked her over from top to bottom again. The more I looked, the more I liked. Charlotte’s eyelids became heavy when she stared down at her hands and she blushed a cute shade of pink.
“My dad thought the world of your dad… used to talk about him all the time. I’m sorry for your loss. As a kid it gutted me when you never came back.”
“Aww you missed me, that’s so cute,” I said warmly, and Charlotte looked horrified she’d let the last part slip. I cleared my throat and thought seriously about how it must have felt for her when we didn’t show up.
“I’m sorry, hon. It was a rough time for my mom and me.”
“Alright you two, if we’re done with the trip down memory lane I have an event to plan and host. Let’s see you in the penguin suit, McKenna,” Nads interjected, just as the conversation was getting interesting.
“Ah, well you’d be wrong there. You see, the difference between a tuxedo and a proper penguin suit is the tails. That’s called a morning suit. A tux doesn’t have a tail.”
“Okay, smart ass, educate us. Show me what you’ve got.”
I shrugged. “Okay, but I’m warning you, hands off when you see me in it. I’m for sale remember?” I replied with a cocky grin and a wink as I headed up to my childhood bedroom to change into my suit.
* * *
“What a transformation,” Nads offered in what sounded like genuine amazement when she saw my frame dressed in the tuxedo for the first time. At first, Charlotte said nothing instead staring wide eyed. I never saw her blink once. It was like she was enthralled, then after a short pause she behaved as if she’d suddenly snapped out of her drifting thoughts and she cleared her throat.
“Yesss,” her drawn out reply was much more enthusiastic than I figured she’d meant it to sound.
“Well then, your job here is done, ladies. I’m going to get changed, have a shower, and grab some lunch. Anyone want to join me?” I could have sworn a secret smile passed over Charlotte’s lips and I added, “I meant for lunch… not join me in the shower.”
Nads shook her head with an impatient smirk on her face. I knew she was trying not to groan in frustration. She glanced over at Charlotte, who gave me a forlorn look like she was disappointed not to be able to do what she wanted. With which part of my offer I wasn’t sure.
“Regrettably we can’t. We have far too much to attend to. A lunch break is out of the question,” she replied. As my eyes flicked to Charlotte, she barely managed to hide the pout that had begun to form on her lips. Nads concluded the visit, and both women headed out to her dad’s old beat up Ford truck. “See you tomorrow, McKenna, 6pm sharp.”
“Thought you said it didn’t begin until 7:30 pm?”
“It doesn’t but we need to have all our guys present in plenty of time, in the event there’s a no show or something. Besides, you remember Lewis Davis? He’s taking some pictures of everyone together and individually before the a
uction. I’ll use those in my report for the newspapers. See you tomorrow.”
Nads slid behind the wheel and Charlotte hesitated beside the passenger side door. Her gaze was intense, and I found myself staring right back.
“When you’re ready,” Nads barked sarcastically at Charlotte who appeared to have been jolted to her senses and climbed inside. Nads reversed to her left then rolled down her window as she passed me again. “Behave tomorrow, McKenna. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“As I’ve heard you’re up for most things these days, Nads, I’m not sure if that leaves much,” I threw back and I heard Charlotte chuckle from inside the car.
“Don’t be a smart ass, McKenna,” Nads replied, having the last word, as she accelerated off.
Chapter Two
A car picked me up at 5:45 pm for the ten-minute ride to the Mermaid Winery—Norfolk’s first winery, on the outskirts of our small town—and by the time I got there the parking lot was almost full. I felt fortunate to have a driver in the circumstances and he dropped me off around the back.
Nads was waiting for me by the kitchen door. I’d seen enough occasions where the celebrity took over the event by the attention the media gave them. I didn’t want anything to detract from the real reason we were here. I was thankful Nads had the presence of mind to anticipate the potential I’d garner some unwarranted attention.
After we stepped inside, she led me past some wine tasting rooms and out into the main hall where the bidding was due to take place.
Searching the faces of the well-turned-out men in the room, I quickly recognized Jacoby standing over in the right corner and my heart faltered with the sudden shock of electricity when I caught sight of him. An instant pang of sorrow crept in for a second because I hadn’t seen him in a while, and he looked almost identical to my late best friend and his older brother, Kevin.
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