With Valor And Devotion

“We’re not done yet, Harlan,” Evie said.

“Yes, we are,” the chief insisted. “Steve was the last—”

“You’re single, Chief Gray. And I bid one thousand dollars.”

There was a moment of silence, as though everyone was intrigued by the blush that rushed up the chief’s throat and bloomed on his cheeks, virtually turning the roots of his gray hair pink. Then the audience cheered louder than they had all evening.

The chief banged his gavel. “Sold,” he muttered, and the whole crowd was on their feet practically bringing the auditorium down with their enthusiastic applause. Only two people didn’t look happy about the evening—Chief Gray and Kristin McCoy.

Despite the fact that he didn’t believe in Emma Jean’s psychic ability, Mike released a small sigh of relief. He hadn’t won the top-dollars honor after all. Logically, then, his bachelor status for next year’s event was still intact.

KRISTIN wanted to escape.

But Addy and Connie had her boxed in, trapped while Mike made his way through the mob toward where she was standing. Where Addy was standing, she corrected herself. She was the one who’d won the date with Mike, at no small expense.

Lord, he was a big man, she realized. At well over six feet, he towered over most of the women in the room, giving each of them a quick smile as he edged past them. They ate it up, all but swooning at his feet. Kristin knew better. A sweet-talking man with a sexy grin meant nothing but trouble in her experience.

When he reached the clutch of waiting women, Mike bent over and brushed a familiar kiss to Addy’s cheek.

“You must have won the lotto,” he said to her. “If you’d just called me up, I’d have taken you out for a lot less than five hundred bucks.”

She laughed a delighted sound. “Sugar, you and I had our fun, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. But I didn’t bid on you for myself. We all chipped in, pooled our money—” her gesture included all the nurses standing nearby “—for Kristin. She’s going to be your date.”

Kristin’s jaw dropped. If the gods had opened up the floor beneath her feet, she would have gladly slipped out of sight. Mike Gables was the last man on earth she wanted to date. He was too charming, too sexy—too damn tempting.

“No,” she murmured, her throat aching, barely able to find her voice.

His gaze swung in her direction, dark eyes filled with amusement and a challenge. “You didn’t know about this?”

“Not a chance.”

“Interesting.” His lips quirked into one of his patented smiles. “Surprises can be fun.”

His gaze was so intense, so totally focused on her, Kristin felt the rest of the room and everyone in it melt away. For all she knew, Addy, Connie and the others had abandoned her. She and this smiling, potently masculine man were the only two people left in the auditorium. An odd buzzing started in her head, blocking out any other sound. She couldn’t have looked away from Mike Gables if her life had depended upon it. If not her life, certainly her good sense was at serious risk.

“I’m not really into surprises,” she said.

“Then this will be a first for both of us. I’ve never had anyone bid five hundred dollars just to have a date with me.”

“I didn’t bid on you at all.”

“I know.” His slow perusal swept over her with obvious masculine interest. “That’s what’s going to make our date so interesting.”

It took all of her willpower to draw herself up to her full five-foot-five inches to challenge him right back. “Why don’t we pretend we had our date, we both had a great time, no one will be the wiser and the burn center will still be five hundred dollars richer.”

“That wouldn’t be honorable. I gave my word I’d go out with whoever bid the most for me—or her surrogate in this case. Your friends would be disappointed in us both if we didn’t go through with it after all the trouble they went to.”

“I’ll explain to them it just wasn’t possible—”

“Not good enough. How ’bout Friday night? There’s a great place in Pismo, good food, a small dance floor. We could—”

“No,” she gasped. “I’m busy that night.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. Very busy.” Friday nights she collapsed after a hard workweek, rarely able to stay awake late enough to watch a movie on TV. And that was typical for her social schedule every night of the week.

He gave her a skeptical look, though his intense scrutiny didn’t let up an iota even as he tipped his head to the side, shifting those wavy curls off his forehead slightly. “Do you like scuba diving?”

Without thought, she nodded. Too late to take it back, she stammered, “I, well—”

“Great. I’ll pick you up Sunday morning at—”

“I’m perfectly capable of driving myself,” she said hastily. “But I have no intention of—”

“You know the marina at Morro Bay?”

“Yes, but—”

“Perfect. Meet me there at ten. My boat’s moored in row 57A—the Lady Be Good. I’ll bring a lunch and I’ve got gear for you if you need it.” He bent down, brushed the same familiar kiss to her cheek as he had with Addy, and gave Kristin another wicked grin. “We’ll have a great time.”

In stunned silence, Kristin stood in the middle of the aisle as Mike walked away. She wasn’t sure which was more irritating—his arrogant assumption that she’d go out with him, despite her refusal, or the fact that the quick brush of his lips had been a flashpoint of reawakened desire. Heated messages radiated through every nerve ending from that simple contact, speaking of possibilities and forbidden cravings. Low in her body she felt an unwelcome response, an ache of wanting she’d long denied herself.

Damn, if Mike Gables was that potent with only a peck on the cheek, how much more damage could he do to a woman’s willpower if he set his mind to it?

Turning, she spied her friends loitering near the exit, looking as smug as truants who’d made a clean escape from the school principal. She stalked toward them.

“What on earth possessed the four of you to—”

“It was for a good cause,” Holly Mae said, grinning like a fool.

“You spent too much money, for one thing. For another, I have no interest in—”

“You needed a date,” Addy said.

Not someone like Mike Gables, she thought wildly. “I could use a new car, too. Why didn’t you buy me one of those?”

Connie hooked her arm through Kristin’s. “We’ll work on that for next year.”

“But, you work hard for your money. You shouldn’t be spending it on me.” She whirled back to Holly Mae. “You’re single. You can go out with Mike. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful—”

“Hon, just hush up and enjoy, have fun,” Addy ordered. “This is our way of thanking you.”

“Thanking me?”

“There isn’t another social worker in the county who cares about kids as much as you do. We figured it was high time you got a reward for all your hard work.”

County employees got a certificate of appreciation for extra effort. Or if they were lucky, a two-percent cost of living increase in their salary.

Kristin groaned.

They didn’t get a date with a studly firefighter who could trip-hammer a woman’s heart with a single sexy smile and an all-too-brief kiss on the cheek.

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