Forbidden Bride - Penny Wylder Page 0,55
hire and Thompson Ice Cream’s new Marketing director.” Tristan makes his way to the front of the room and steps up on the stage. “Let’s start the bidding at a thousand dollars.”
“A thousand!” A voice calls from the back of the room. I turn to find a woman I don’t know grinning with determination.
There’s a call for fifteen hundred from another table, and the woman in the back raises it to two thousand. A third person enters the fray and the money starts going up faster. My dad gives me a look but I just smile. I know what I have to do.
The woman in the back has deep pockets and wants Tristan. “Seven thousand, five hundred dollars,” she says smugly. Her other two opponents don’t say anything and there’s a stunned silence around the room. That’s the highest bid there’s been. No one speaks.
Jill looks at me and says. “Anyone else? Seventy-five hundred going once. Going twice.”
“Ten thousand dollars,” I say loudly, and I hear the whispers run through the room. I turn to the back and lock eyes with the woman who had no idea she was competing with me, and I see her look defeated. Behind me, I can hear the smile in Jill’s voice. “Ten thousand going once. Twice. Sold! To Nicola Thompson.” There’s polite applause, and the woman looks pissed. I should probably watch my back.
“Time to start dancing, everyone. Enjoy the party!” Jill says before she scurries off the stage and the lively dance music starts up.
Tristan comes directly to me and bows gallantly. “The dance you promised me? I owe you one.” I know he’s saying it for my parents’ benefit. My mom looks a little confused, but I’m sure that my dad will tell her as soon as we’re dancing. I put my hand in his and allow him to pull me onto the dance floor.
“Nicely done,” he says as he pulls me into his embrace.
“I thought so. Though I think I may need to be careful of getting stabbed in the back with a high heel.”
He chuckles. “Don’t worry, she’ll have to go through me first.”
“I don’t want you getting stabbed with a high heel either.”
Together, we sway to the music. Around us other couples join in, and it feels a little more comfortable. All I want is to lay my head on Tristan’s chest. This chaste contact is driving me crazy. There’s way too much space between our bodies.
“I am so in love with you,” Tristan says.
I smile. “What made you say that?”
“I don’t need a reason to tell you that. In fact, I think I’m going to be telling you that whenever possible for a very long time.”
My heels make me taller, so I don’t have to even lift myself very far to capture his lips with mine. We lean together, and the kiss deepens, and then I hear a gasp. Oh fuck. I pull back from Tristan with a start, the reality of what we just did crashing down on us like concrete. It feels too natural, and we entirely forgot.
I look to my left to find the source of the gasp, and my stomach sinks. My parents are dancing barely five feet away, and now they’re both gaping at us. My mom looks stunned with disbelief, and my father looks hurt and confused.
He drops my mother’s hands and storms away towards the lobby. Other people are staring too. I need to go after him, but I need to explain to Mom too. Tristan places his hand on the small of my back. “Go after Bruce. I’ve got Valerie. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
“Okay.” I don’t hesitate, following my dad at a pace that’s just short of sprinting, trying to ignore the sudden stares of nearly all the party-goers. Including what might as well be a death ray from the woman at the back table.
My father is pacing in the lobby, running a hand through his hair. When he sees me he starts talking. “Are you insane? What are you doing? The man is twenty years older than you.”
“Dad, please listen.”
“Why should I? After you drop this on us like a bomb, I’m not sure I owe you that courtesy.”
I hold out my hands. “That was an accident.”
“You accidentally kissed my best friend in public? At the biggest event of the year?”
It does sound ridiculous. But that doesn’t make it less true. “Believe it or not, yes. Please just give me a couple minutes. After that,