Tempt Me - By Shiloh Walker Page 0,13

the opera...you can choose or let her decide. Now, can we open the bidding at five hundred?”

Rocki, feeling more than a little lightheaded, and altogether furious, stood there stunned as half a dozen hands went up in the air.

I’m going to kill her.

But by the time the bids went up over twelve hundred dollars, she was feeling a little less murderous. Still very light-headed. Swallowing, she made her way to stand next to Lacey. She rested a hand on the podium—she needed the support, badly. She smiled out at all the faces she couldn’t see, thanks to the lights.

Next to her, Lacey was grinning and having the time of her life. “How about fifteen hundred? Do have fifteen hundred?”

There were fewer voices now.

One voice called out, “Sixteen hundred.”

For reasons Rocki couldn’t explain, that particular voice sent a shudder of dread down her spine. Revulsion. Fear. Not that one, she thought…

Another voice called out for seventeen hundred.

She breathed deeply, or as deeply as the lacings on her corset would allow.

Staring at Rocki standing on the stage, Cole told himself he wasn’t going to do it. He’d just broken up with his fiancée. She was still grieving over her husband. It was a bad thing all around. Right?

But that didn’t keep him from taking a few steps into the restaurant, getting just a little bit closer. His blood pumped hard and fast as he got closer.

The bids were at two thousand now, but fewer people were involved. As he reached the bottom of the stage, he said loudly, “Three thousand.”

Rocki looked down, startled.

Her eyes met his, wide and dark...so dark, he felt lost in them.

Screw the bad things. He wanted this woman, damn it. Maybe just having a simple date would prove that she wasn’t everything he had convinced himself she was. Besides, this whole thing was for charity...a good cause.

“I’ve got three thousand here,” Lacey called out, delight evident in her voice. “Do I have thirty-five hundred?”

Another voice said, “Thirty-five hundred.”

Because he was standing so close, Cole saw the minute way Rocki’s shoulder’s tightened, the flash of something in her eyes. Was it fear? What was it...? It didn’t matter.

“Five thousand,” he said, still staring at her.

She lifted a brow. “Five thousand?” she mouthed.

Silence fell through the room, and this time, nobody offered another bid.

Lacey grinned down at him. “She’s all yours, Mr. Stanton. For a night, at least.”

Chapter Four

Five days later, Rocki was breathing easier. No more cards came. No more photos. She’d almost forgiven Lacey for what she’d done, too. It helped that Lacey wisely stayed away from the store, giving her time to cool down.

She was feeling pretty damn good about life in general, with the exception of the fact that she had a date with an engaged man hanging over her head. She could handle that, though. After all, it was just a date. She even had a plan in mind. They’d go ice skating, if it was her choice. Ice skating, if somebody wasn’t used to it, was exhausting enough that he’d be a boneless mess by the time they were done, she figured. Pizza first, maybe. Nice, fun, easy. Not remotely romantic.

She could handle this. She’d handled touchy situations before, after all.

She could handle Cole Stanton.

All she had to do was get through one date. Of course, it would help if he would call and set up the date. But that was a problem for later. Right now, Rocki had customers.

“There is just no way.” The petite, curvy little blonde stood in front of one of the display tables, holding up a red silk corset and shaking her head. “It's gorgeous, Miley, but there's no way one of these things would fit me.”

Rocki studied the blonde and made a rough guess at her waist size. The woman had roughly the same body type as Rocki, although she was somewhat shorter. Of course, there had been times when Rocki thought baby giraffes were shorter than her. On her way over to the table, she selected one of the corsets that she thought would work.

“Hi. Is anything I can help you with?”

Miley, the blonde's friend, looked at Rocki. “Do you have anything that would fit my friend?”

“You bet.” She smiled at the blonde. “We need to measure your waist, but I imagine you’re 36 inches or so. I definitely have things in stock that size. Perhaps this...?”

Rocki held out the corset she had picked up. It was similar to the red one the blonde had been admiring,