Leesa set an order slip on the pass-through for the cook, Roman. “Two BLTs and one tuna on rye, please.” She turned to Ace, who was bartending, and he smiled, giving her a good idea of what Cole might look like in another twenty-five years. Leesa felt herself staring, and she shook off the momentary lapse of brain function and said, “Two gin and tonics, please.”
“Coming right up.” He pulled the bottles from behind the bar and began mixing the drinks. He walked with a slight limp as he moved in the tight space. “Everything going okay for you today?”
“Yes, thank you. The auction starts in an hour, and I can’t imagine how we’ll fit any more people in the restaurant. I don’t know how Maisy set things up so fast.”
His eyes followed his wife as she moved from one table to the next. “Maisy’s got this down to a science.”
Maisy, having heard her name, glanced over and blew him a kiss.
“Our daughters, Shannon and Tempe, will be along shortly to help her finish setting up.” He handed her the drinks he’d made. “In fact, you’ll meet our whole brood tonight, with the exception of Ty, our youngest. He’s off on a photography assignment.”
The whole brood? Her pulse quickened at the thought of Cole showing up. As if it weren’t enough that she’d be serving half the town tonight and would surely mess up a handful of orders. She gulped down her anxiety and said, “I look forward to it.”
Over the next hour the restaurant was so busy that Leesa didn’t have time to think about how nervous she was. Men and women filled the tables and just about every space in between. Tegan was there with a few of her girlfriends, sitting at a table by the front of the room, where the auction was going to be held. Leesa balanced a tray with both hands, walking sideways among the crowd toward the booths in the back where she’d just taken a drink order. She broke through the crowd and lowered the tray as a hand touched her arm. She turned, and her breath caught in her throat at the site of Cole’s smiling eyes. His mouth was moving, but she couldn’t hear him above the din of the customers.
She held up a finger, indicating for him to hold on a second while she served drinks to her customers in the booth.
“Thank you,” a handsome dark-haired guy said.
“You’re new here,” said a pretty blond woman.
“Yes. I just started a few days ago,” Leesa answered. “Can I get you anything else?”
A brunette woman sitting beside the blonde smiled up at her. “I think we’re good, thanks.” Her eyes shifted to Cole, and she squealed and rose from the table. “Finally! You’re here!” She stepped in front of Leesa and threw her arms around his neck.
Leesa barely had time to process the unfamiliar spike of jealousy that gripped her before she heard Cole say, “Hi, sis. I’ve missed you.”
Relief swept through her. Oh my God, what am I thinking? She tucked the tray beneath her arm and turned to tend to another booth as Cole touched her arm again and leaned in close. He smelled like warm cider and man all wrapped up into one delicious scent, sending her stomach into a tizzy again.
“Hi,” she said over the noise of the crowd.
He placed his hand on her hip and leaned in so close their cheeks touched. His voice was deep and intent. “It’s nice to see you again. You look beautiful.”
She felt her cheeks flush and wasn’t sure if it was from the heat of being close to him or his words.
The brunette’s dark eyes moved between the two of them, and when she smiled, the resemblance to her mother was uncanny. “Cole, aren’t you going to introduce us?”
His hand remained on Leesa’s hip, making her even more aware of his close proximity.
“Leesa, this is my sister Shannon. Shannon, this is Leesa.” Cole waved his free hand toward the table, keeping his other hand on her. “These are my younger brothers Sam and Nate and my sister Tempest.”
The blonde stood and extended a hand. “Tempe, please. It’s nice to meet you. Mom and Dad have told me a lot about you.”
Oh God. Really? Why would they talk about her to their daughter? “It’s nice to meet you. Your parents are really great to work for.”
To her surprise, Sam pulled her out of Cole’s grasp and into an embrace. “Nice to meet you. Welcome to the Mr. B family.”
Cole had a narrow-eyed glare locked on his brother. There was no mistaking the hands-off look he was giving Sam. It thrilled and worried her at once. She shouldn’t even be contemplating getting closer to Cole, and yet here she was, reveling in the way he was staking claim to her. Sam’s hand remained on Leesa a few seconds longer than necessary, and she could tell that was some sort of tease meant for Cole. She might have laughed when Tempe rolled her eyes and said, “Sammy,” if it weren’t for the embarrassment heating up her chest.
Nate, whose blond hair was a shade darker than Tempe’s, tugged Sam backward with one hard yank and smiled at Leesa. “Ignore Sammy. He’s a clingy dude. Nice to meet you.” He shoved Sam back down to his seat and shook Leesa’s hand over Sam’s head. Sam was laughing like this was an everyday occurrence, and from the playful look in the siblings’ eyes, she assumed it was. As an only child, she longed for that type of kinship.
“Wow, there sure are a lot of Bradens.”
“There’s one more. You haven’t met our youngest brother, Ty, yet,” Nate said. “He’s on a photography assignment in Africa for National Geographic.”
“Your father told me about him. He must love his work. Are all three of you being auctioned off tonight?” she asked.
A man with sandy blond hair peered over Cole’s shoulder and said, “All four of us. Are you bidding?”
“Three, thank you very much,” Cole corrected him. “Leesa, this is my business partner, Jon.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
Jon took her hand between both of his and said, “The pleasure is all mine.”
“Ignore him, too,” Cole said, placing a hand on Jon’s shoulder and pulling him backward. “You’d think he and Sam hadn’t ever seen a beautiful woman before.”
“Way to embarrass her. Are you bidding tonight, Leesa?” Shannon asked as she sat beside Tempe again.
“Um, no. I’m working, and actually, I should get back to it. It was nice to meet you all.”
Cole stepped between her and his partner. “I wish you’d reconsider my offer.”
“I…I’d really like to, but I can’t.” She glanced over his shoulder at Jon and his siblings, who were watching them so intently it made her even more nervous. “I really should get back to work.” She turned and headed for Tegan’s booth, needing a familiar face to remind her of all the reasons why her insides shouldn’t be quivering.
Tegan was sitting with Dina and Chelsea and a blonde Leesa didn’t know.
“There she is.” Tegan reached for her hand. “It’s crazy in here, Annali—”
Leesa’s eyes widened.
“Leesa,” Tegan corrected herself. “How are you holding up?”
“Good, I think.” She noticed Sam, Nate, and Jon walking toward the front of the restaurant, where Ace, the auctioneer for tonight, was waving them over.
“Cole?” his father said into the microphone, motioning with his hands for Cole to join him.
Leesa watched Cole cross the floor, and her stomach tightened at the sight of all the other women watching him, too. He and his father leaned in head-to-head as they talked. Cole shook his head and turned to Sam with an angry expression on his face. Sam and Jon joined Cole and his father, and a heated discussion ensued. Sam and Jon each took one of Cole’s arms and pulled him into the line of bachelors, where now three other handsome men had joined them. Cole’s jaw clenched, his hands fisted at his sides, and if looks could kill, his brother and business partner would be flat-out by now.
“Looks like he got wrangled into the auction,” Tegan said. “You need to bid.”
“I am not doing any such thing.” With her heart in her throat she tried to tamp down the jealousy that gripped her, sending her pulse into a panic.
“You like Cole?” the blond girl asked.
“What? No. I just met him.”
“He’s so sweet. I’m Jewel, by the way. Nate’s mine.” She grinned and said, “I’ll bid every cent I have for him.”
“Nice to meet you. Nate seems really sweet.”
“He is, and so is Cole,” Jewel said. “You should definitely bid on him if you like him, because I’m sure tons of other women will be.”
Just what she needed, to be jealous of half the town over a man she had no business liking. Her eyes found Cole, turning the annoyance in his eyes to blazing desire. She wondered just how much extra cash she had on hand.
Chapter Four
“POP, I AM not being auctioned off,” Cole said firmly.
His father held out the printed brochure for the auction, and sure enough, his name was listed as one of the available bachelors. His blood boiled as he turned toward his snickering brother.
“Seriously, Sam?” He closed the distance between them and stood eye to eye with the troublemaker. “Why would you do that?”