The Bachelor Auction(90)
They were almost sitting outside, their table was so far away; and they looked pissed, so angry that Jane wanted to crawl under the table and hide. After all, they’d bragged about being able to buy tickets to the ball and still hadn’t talked to her since their falling out.
Served them right.
She smiled politely then looked back to Brock.
“We’ll start the bidding at five hundred thousand.”
Jane froze.
There was no way she had that much money in her bidding account, right?
“Honey, you’re going to have to lift your paddle.” Nadine kicked her in the leg.
“But that’s so much money!”
“Funding cancer research and securing the love of your life, priceless. Plus I deposited three million into that account this morning. I highly doubt you’re going to have any issues. Just toss up that paddle and have fun.”
“But—”
“To be fair, it’s all Wellington money. Remember, they’re paying it back. But I’m charging interest for my services.” She winked.
Jane didn’t want to ask what that meant. Not by a long shot.
She gulped just as Nadine reached for Jane’s hand and thrust it into the air.
Instead of looking upset, Charles beamed in their direction. What? That couldn’t be right, could it? “Do I hear five hundred and fifty thousand?”
“You do,” came a voice from the back of the room.
Chapter Forty-Six
It worked.
Or it was working.
Every single time Jane lifted her paddle, his heart jumped in his chest.
God, he wanted nothing more than to run into her arms, kiss her senseless, bend her backwards over that table in front of friends, family, Nadine.
It didn’t matter.
He was tired of pretending.
Damn sick of saying yes all the time.
The bidding had just hit one million. He tried not to panic when several women continued to bid up Jane.
He was full-on sweating when it hit two million.
Thankfully two of the girls dropped out, leaving Jane and one of the supermodels he’d just seen on TV.
“Do I have two-point-five million?”
Jane didn’t lift her paddle, neither did anyone else.
“Going to paddle zero, zero, one…once, do I have two point five? Twice?”
Thankfully Jane thrust her paddle into the air. “Two point five million.”
“Sold!” Charles beamed.
Brock let out a breath and mouthed thank you to Jane, who beamed like she’d just won the lottery when it was he who was the winner—the lucky one.
“STOP!” a voice shrieked from the corner. “Stop the auction!”
Oh, hell.
Both of Jane’s sisters came barreling toward the stage, the blond one in such a skintight dress she could barely walk, while the dark-haired one had a slinky black number that was nearly identical to Nadine’s in cut and style.
“She’s an imposter!” The blonde shrieked.
“And who, my dear, are you?” Grandfather asked loudly.
She straightened. “We’re her sisters and I can tell you right now, unless she robbed a bank, she has no money. You’ve all seen the news! This is a setup, a complete setup! Brock obviously gave her money to bid on him! And that’s illegal.”
“No, it isn’t,” Charles said simply. “And even if it were, every person had to prove where their money came from at the beginning of the auction when they received their paddles and registered. This is Jane’s money. It’s not up to us to ask where she got it.”
Jane looked ready to crawl underneath the table and hide. Everyone was staring at her like she’d grown two heads. Some women had kind expressions while others were venomous, just like her sisters.
But again.
It was all part of the plan.
And he needed her to trust him.
She’d helped him make peace with his demons.
Now it was time to make peace with hers—in the flesh. Though he hadn’t thought it would be this public. He should have suspected as much when he’d donated the tickets for her sisters to attend.
His only goal had been to make sure that they were out of their minds with jealousy when Jane won the bidding—and when they looked ready to attack, he was going to be at her side, holding her hand.
Essence’s nostrils flared. “She’s a liar! And a fake.”
Esmeralda started to fake cry. “She’s such a horrible person. She makes us cook and clean for her and we don’t even have money for food most of the time because—”
“That’s enough,” Jane snapped and marched over to them. “Get out.” She pointed to the door.
Brock was just getting ready to open his mouth or possibly slap a woman or two for the first time in his life when Essence backed up. “See? She doesn’t have a decent bone in her body!”