Underneath It All

Bryce opened his mouth, no doubt to object, but before he could speak a low voice behind them interrupted.

“Why, if it isn’t my favorite investment broker. How much am I going to have to pay for you tonight?”

The cold chill told Devon it was Abigail Westlaw, a local real estate agent with whom he, in a temporary loss of sanity, had made the mistake of sleeping with. Once. Granted, it wasn’t that he didn’t find Abbey attractive enough to go back for seconds. A fair share of heat had simmered between them. The problem was that no sooner had they finished their morning coffee than Abbey was all over town spreading every detail of the tryst to anyone who would listen.

And thanks to that, out of the woodwork came a dozen other men who’d shared heat with Abbey, all interested in comparing notes.

Call him old fashioned, but Devon had never been interested in communal sex. He preferred being the one-and-only, and if he’d taken his time and gotten to know the woman better, he would have discovered before making the mistake that Abbey Westlaw liked her men frequent and interchangeable.

He forced a smile and replied, “Why bid on used goods? Surely, you’d be more interested in someone new and shiny.”

Please?

She threw her head back in an overexaggerated laugh and slung a bony arm over his shoulder. “Devon, you were always the funny one.”

The funny one?

Wincing, he tried to remain calm, remembering there were worse things than spending a romantic evening with Abbey. Though off the top of his head, he couldn’t come up with any.

Abbey kissed him on the cheek and gave his arm a squeeze.

“If the price is right, I might go home with several prizes tonight,” she said, her expression stating she had no clue as to how bad that sounded. “I just wanted you to know you’re my first choice.”

And with that, she walked off, leaving him standing at the bar with one sinking pit in his stomach.

2

“I HOPE YOU’VE COME prepared to lose,” said Devon’s brother, Todd. “I’ve got several women in this room ready to fork out big dollars for a slice of the best looking Bradshaw.”

“I’m glad you’ve come with confidence,” Devon replied half-heartedly. He wasn’t terribly interested in engaging in another battle of egos with the baby of the family. Abbey’s parting words were still hanging in his ears, leaving him thoroughly annoyed with his brother for talking him into this mess.

“It’s not confidence, it’s strategy,” Todd said, pointing a finger to his forehead. “A good gambler knows the way to win is to tilt the odds in his favor. So while you were standing here holding hands with Bryce, I’ve been securing bidders.” He scanned the room and smiled. “And I’ve got my odds set on a sexy redhead named Tammy.”

Devon had to admit, before spotting the blonde he hadn’t considered working the room, even though most of the men here tonight had been casually mingling through the crowd. He was still a little put off by the idea of auctioning himself off like a steer marked for stud. Playing along by actively promoting himself tipped the weird meter a bit too far.

But for Todd, this kind of thing was right up his alley. The born salesman of the three Bradshaw boys, Todd could talk a vagrant out of his last dollar and leave him sorry he couldn’t give more. Add the heat of competition and the spark of a friendly wager and this night was Todd’s all around, the kind of thing he was made for.

Their father hadn’t been stupid to put Todd in charge of investor acquisitions at the firm. He loved talking people out of their money and though Devon often found his younger brother’s ego tiresome, he had to admit Todd was good at his job.

Which was why Devon showed up tonight already accepting surrender. From the moment Todd could walk and talk the family learned not to go up against him when it came to competition. Even as kids at their old church fundraisers, if someone raised twenty dollars, Todd would work double-time to raise twenty-one. The little snot would do anything to win, and it was decades ago that Devon, Bryce and Gracie all learned it was easier to not compete than suffer through the lengths he’d go to come out on top.

But though Devon had no interest in trying to beat Todd tonight, he most certainly wanted to end up on a date with the only woman in the room who perked his interest—among other things.

Still talking among her friends, she’d turned around, giving him a glorious view of one heart-shaped behind, and he clenched his hands into fists as if to ward off the desire to walk over and caress them over her ass. Just that one heated glance they’d shared had left him feeling as though he had the right, as if he’d claimed her through the crowd, and he had to forcefully pull his civility back in check.

Like a caveman considering walking over and dragging her off to his cave, the woman had somehow reached in and yanked on his most primal instinct to conquer and possess, and before he approached her, he needed to remind himself that his species had supposedly evolved.

Right now, however, it didn’t feel like it.

“How about you? You got any prospects lined up?” Todd asked.

“Abigail Westlaw,” Bryce said with a smirk.

“Yeah, you and twenty others.” Todd studied Devon as if he were sizing up the competition. “Really, no joke. You haven’t talked to any women here tonight?”

“I was about to introduce myself to a lovely blonde,” Devon said, moving his gaze back across the room.

“The blonde from Just Between Us?” Todd asked.

“You know her?” Devon asked, his interest in his brother piquing.

Todd glanced over to the blonde and the two women she was with. “Know of her. She’s one of the producers of the TV show. Eve Best,” he said, pointing to the shorter brunette, “she’s the host. The shorter blonde with them is an assistant.” He shrugged and sipped his beer. “I don’t know them. I just happened to be there when the assistant was talking to the organizer. They’re here for the show. Want to do a segment on bachelor auctions, I guess.”

“So they aren’t here to bid on bachelors,” Devon said, his hopes sinking by the minute.

“Got no idea.”

“Well, there’s one way to find out,” Devon said. He moved toward the woman, but Todd stopped him.

“Whoa, where are you going? Evanne wants us up on stage. We’re next.”

“Already? They’ve barely started this thing.”

“Sorry, bro. If you haven’t talked yourself up to the women yet, you’re out of time. You should have jumped on the chance when you had it.”

Brilliant. Up for auction and the only woman openly interested was the last woman he cared to go on a date with. He thought of Abigail and the prospect of her winning, and for once he had to agree with his brother—that moving more quickly might have helped his situation.

Now, he’d have to move to the stage and leave the outcome to Fate.

Picking up his drink for one final sip, he hoped the stars would be on his side.

“HERE’S TONIGHT’S FEATURE, ladies. Two wealthy, eligible brothers engaged in a friendly wager to benefit Children’s Charities.”

Nicole listened while the announcer introduced the crowd to her sexy stranger and the reason the two men were up there together.

Devon Bradshaw, co-chair of Bradshaw Investment Group, and his brother Todd, battling against each other to see who would go for the most money. She took the sheets from Peggy and found their names on the list along with their contact information. No matter how things turned out tonight, she had a perfect excuse to call him up and request a meeting, and circling his name, she smiled at the thought that sometimes her job came in very handy, indeed.

“Here we go, are you ready?” Penny asked, her voice nearly breathless with excitement.

“You know, I can always track him down after the auction. That’s what we’re here for, right?”

Penny looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “And interview him about his date with another woman?”

When phrased that way, Nicole didn’t like how it sounded, and the sour feeling sucked the last of her doubt away.

Rolling up the pages, she tucked the pen and note pad in her purse. “Only if I lose the auction,” she said. “And I won’t.”

There. She said it. Decision made and final. She was going to win herself a date with a torturously gorgeous man and start having fun for a change. Eve said the station would probably cover her bid, and besides, Nicole couldn’t remember the last time she let loose and had a good time. Tonight would be it. The night of rebirth. The night Nicole Reavis took a step forward instead of wallowing in her past.

For over a year, she’d been wrapped up in her problems and the turmoil that had followed. Ever since her mother had come down with cancer, things hadn’t been the same. Her parents had been forced to tell her the truth about who she was—or wasn’t, more accurately. The news that she’d been adopted had been a shock, had sent her three thousand miles east, away from friends and family and everything she’d known in search of the answers to questions that had come to haunt her.

Between making new friends, settling into a new job, moving to a slice of the country where she still felt like a foreigner, and then this lottery win, she hadn’t taken a moment to relax, let her hair down and enjoy.

A distraction might be just what she needed.

And the look from the man on stage promised all kinds of welcome distraction.

“Well, Devon surely looks like he wants you to win,” Penny said. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since he walked up there.”

Nicole licked her lips. No, he hadn’t. And the more he studied her with those blue eyes whispering unspoken words of promise, the more intent she was to go home the winner.

“Devon, please tell us what you have planned,” the announcer said.

He casually turned to the woman on stage and took the microphone, and when he spoke, his voice sent tingles up Nicole’s spine. He had a low, whiskey drawl that made every word sound like a private secret shared between lovers, the kind of voice that could spread velvet over your skin just by whispering sweet sensations.

She imagined that voice in the dark, his lips close to her ear, so close his warm breath tickled the hair at the base of her neck.

“We’ll hop in my vintage 1959 Cadillac convertible and head north to the new Santiago Resort and Spa in the beautiful Atlanta foothills,” he said. “My date will have a choice of how she’d like to spend the day. If she’s the outdoorsy type, they offer golf and tennis, or if it’s relaxation she’s after, there’s the full day spa or cruising on the lake.”

“Ooh, that sounds divine,” the announcer said. “And that’s a brand-new resort, ladies. I haven’t been but I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”

“We’ll finish the day off with dinner at the restaurant which sits right on the water’s edge,” he said. Then he turned and set his gaze directly on Nicole. “And with the right woman,” he added raising a brow, “who knows where the night could end.”

A million-dollar smile polished off his presentation leaving Nicole weak in the knees and ready to mortgage off the condo if she had to. With no effort, her imagination picked up where his description left off, turning the afternoon date into an adventure of sun, fun and sex.

She’d visited the Santiago Resort for a recent episode where they’d given away a romantic weekend for two. She’d toured the facilities and had no trouble imagining herself in one of those suites, buried under the fluffy down comforter with Devon Bradshaw in the flesh.

The thought swelled her insides and heated her blood, the way it apparently had with the rest of the women in the room. A round of hoots and whistles erupted, and though a number of women voiced their desire for that package, Devon never pulled his gaze from Nicole.

As if to signal her intentions, she smiled and faintly nodded, and the sexy expression on Devon’s face brightened to a grin.

“He’s mine,” Nicole said, twisting the pages in her hand, and when the announcer presented the opening bid, she raised her hand without hesitation.

And so did two dozen other women, but the numbers didn’t faze her. She was about to be a millionaire, and even though she didn’t have her money yet, staring into those beautiful blues with a weekend of sex on her mind, the sky was her only limit.

The price flew up from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand, and when it hit fifteen hundred, it was only Nicole and two other women.

“I don’t know if the station will go this high,” Eve said.

“I’ll pay for it myself.”

Fifteen-fifty and Nicole raised her hand taking the bid to sixteen hundred.

“Oh, my God,” Penny beamed. “He just passed the high water mark for the evening.”

A tall, too-thin woman, who looked a lot like the animated version of Cruella Deville, seemed as intent to win Devon as Nicole was. It was the same woman she’d seen him talking to earlier, and though that fact gave her pause, Devon’s heated stare swept away any doubts. Everything about his expression said he wanted Nicole to win, the smile of promise in his eyes, the sexy quirk of his mouth, right down to the way he rubbed his thumb against his fingers as he held his hand at his side.

It was his only hint of nerves, and Nicole couldn’t help but zero in on it. The higher the bid, the faster he rubbed, the faster he rubbed, the more intensely his eyes fixed on her. It was as if he was begging her to keep going, and she smiled, thinking he didn’t have to worry.

Nothing would make her stop.

Seventeen, then eighteen hundred, and the third woman finally backed out. Now it was just Nicole and Cruella, who really needed a solid meal more than she needed the date.

Like two opponents in a game of table tennis, the bids bounced back and forth between the two.

Eighteen-fifty, nineteen hundred, nineteen-fifty. Every time Nicole took the bid the other woman took it back and the higher they went, the more annoyed she became.

Who was this nightmare ?

Nicole nearly yelled out to tell the woman to give up, now understanding the fierce annoyance that could throw a civilized woman into a cat-fighting frenzy. She felt like storming over and giving her a push.

Not that it would take much.

“That other woman really wants him,” Penny whispered.

“I’m taking her out,” Nicole replied, not at all feeling like it was the joke she’d intended. The more persistent Cruella was the more aggravated Nicole became. The woman was relentless, like a dog with its teeth clenched tightly on a sock. No matter how many times Nicole raised her hand, she just smiled and raised hers. It was becoming a ridiculous test of wills and checkbooks, and if Devon hadn’t continued to encourage her with the pleading look in his eyes, she might have backed out by now.

The price was now topping twenty-five hundred, nearing its way to three thousand, and though she could care less about the money, something about the situation stopped her in her tracks.

The contest between two brothers. The brunette talking casually with Devon before the auction. Her unfailing insistence on keeping up with the bidding and Devon’s heated encouragement for Nicole to keep going, to keep raising the price.

Was she being played?

“Nicole,” Eve warned. “This is getting pricey. You can’t count on the lottery, hon. We might not get our money thanks to Liza’s lawsuit against us.”

Raising her hand, Nicole took over the bid once more, but this time less intently. She didn’t care about the money, but the sudden flash that something here might be foul.

It was all too perfect, her attraction to this stranger, more hot and fiery than anything she’d felt before, all brought on by this undersea Eden set up to breed passion in everyone who entered. There was romance in the air, from the oysters on the half shell to the champagne to the plates of chocolate hearts on the tables.

And to find this instant connection with someone who gave her every signal he felt the very same way? How likely was that to happen? How much of this was simply the act of being swept up into the evening?

In a serious wave of doubt, her mind began spinning backward, rewinding to the first glance, her first impression, trying to recall what started all this and how she got caught up into it. Was this man sending her genuine signals or was he just trying to win the bet against his brother?

“Going once,” she heard.

Penny jabbed her in the ribs. “What are you doing? Don’t stop now.”

With a quick jerk, she raised her hand and took the bid again, now unsure exactly how high it was. Then she tried to shake the clouds from her thoughts.

This was silly, these doubts. If the man was trying to set up the bidding, he would have arranged it ahead of time, maybe with women he already knew. Not once had he approached her. In fact, he hadn’t approached any of the women here tonight. While all the other men were making contacts and getting to know the prospective buyers, he’d stood at the bar casually watching the room.

No, she thought. This was real. There was real heat here. Real attraction and she really wanted this date.

“What are you doing?” Penny asked. “You almost lost it.”

“She’s regaining her senses,” Eve said. “Nicky, don’t get carried away. Like you said before, you have the man’s phone number. You can always call him after the auction.”

“No,” said Nicole. “I want this.”

Up flew her hand to take over the bid again, the brunette still going on as if she could do this all night. And Devon still held his eyes on Nicole—that intense stare focused directly on her, the smile telling her she won’t be sorry, and that brush of his thumb caressing back and forth, prompting her to keep bidding.

To keep driving the price up so he can win the bet.

Damn, that voice of doubt. It was the same voice that had been paralyzing her for too many months now.

This was all about her parents and the situation that had stripped away her trust in everything pure and honest. And who could blame her? When the two people she should have believed in most handed her the greatest betrayal, how was she expected to have faith in a stranger in a bar? Maybe a year ago, she would have played into this without thinking twice. She would have taken everything at surface value, never considering that Devon and Cruella were conspiring to win this wager from his brother.

But when her parents were forced to admit they’d lied to her about her birth, her basic trust in human beings was destroyed.

It wasn’t even finding out that she was adopted that hurt the most. Millions of children are adopted and grow up with a solid sense of self. It was that her parents had never intended to tell her. That she’d always been led to believe that she was their natural child, that their heritage was her heritage, their culture her culture.

That she was a Reavis, and Reavis’s were doers and go-getters and survivors. It was in her blood, who she was.

And only when her mother became ill and the truth leaked out were her parents forced to confess the family secret.

Everything she had, everything she was had been a lie. And Nicole hadn’t been the same person since learning the truth.

“What are you doing?” Penny pleaded. “You’re going to lose!”

“Going once,” the announcer said.

“She’s wising up. This is too much money,” Eve said.

And in the midst of it all, Nicole’s mind went blank with confusion, halting her from taking action or knowing which way to turn. The same way it had every time she tried to make a move with her life or to find the answers she’d been seeking.

Perpetual limbo. Handed down by Don and Betty Reavis to their grown daughter.

“Going twice,” the announcer said.

“Come on,” Penny urged. “You’re going to be a millionaire. Who cares about the price? Get the guy, already!”

“I don’t…”

Nicole didn’t know what to do. Fixing her eyes on Devon’s she saw a mist of disappointment. A gentleman, he tried to hide it for the audience, but she could see the falseness in his smile. It wasn’t the same smile of expectation he had a moment ago, and she wondered if it had turned because she wouldn’t end up as his date or because the price hadn’t gone as high as he’d hoped.

Closing her eyes, she fumed. This was silly. Ten seconds ago, she was having a great time, anticipating a romantic date with the first man to warm up her insides in as long as she could remember. The chemistry was real. So why was she standing here doubting it all?

What happened to the old Nicole who went for what she wanted, reached out and grabbed the brass ring without worrying whether or not it was just worthless plated steel?

What happened to the doer, the go-getter, the woman who made things happen?

“Sold for three-thousand-five-hundred dollars!” the announcer said.

Sold to another woman, Nicole conceded, pulling her gaze away from Devon and turning from the stage.

“I can’t believe you let him go!” Penny cried.

She looked to Eve and Penny. Only Eve knew the truth about why she’d come to Atlanta, but even so, she still couldn’t explain why she could be confident one moment then a pile of hesitation the next.

Heck, even she didn’t get it. So instead, she lied.

Sticking up her chin, she pasted on a smile. “Eve was right. The price got too high.”

“But—” Penny started.

Nicole held up the crinkled pages in her hand. “I’ve got his phone number right here, remember? Let the woman have her date. I’ll catch him on the rebound.”

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