“Do you counter?” the MC asks the redhead and she sits down in her seat, picking up her glass and downing the rest of her wine.
“Sold to the lady on the floor wrestling her friend. Have fun with that one, Luca.”
“Just how I like them,” Luca says before he saunters off stage.
“It’s over,” I say to my friends still wrestling for the paddle on the floor. Classy, aren’t we?
Lauren sits up on her knees, not bothering to straighten her dress or fix her messy hair. She could probably go a couple more rounds.
“See, you’re perfect to fight off the competition,” I say and laugh.
Lauren narrows her eyes at me.
Vanessa stands, instantly situating her hair and dress. “Jeez, Lauren. It’s just a date.”
“A date I won’t be going on. You just wasted fifteen hundred dollars.” Lauren stomps off toward the bar.
I could use a drink too. I stand and begin to follow her, but my feet stop when Mauro comes into sight.
He’s got a beer in his hand talking to a golden-blonde haired woman in an elegant dress that reveals her nice figure. He always did love the blondes. I remember some of the girls he was linked to in high school—Tasha Needlebrook, Holly Jenkins, Katie Iverson. All blonde, all thin, and all cheerleaders. The woman smiles, touching his bicep. Back when we were younger I was used to seeing the girls fall all over him, but what cuts me right now is his wide smile toward her. He’s hanging on every word she’s saying. Jealously rips through my body like a taser.
Trying to shake off the unwelcome emotion, I continue on my way to the bar.
“Tequila shot. Now.” Lauren slaps the top of the roll in bar set-up outside the ballroom. Her rudeness pulls a few stares our way.
“Sorry Miss, we don't have tequila,” the kind women who served me earlier says without the friendly smile this time. “You want gin or vodka?”
“Vodka and I need two then.”
“I’ll just give you a double.” The bartender pulls out a regular highball glass and pours in more vodka than Lauren should consume.
Lauren downs most of it in one gulp.
Luca comes out from the ballroom and I notice Vanessa laying out piles of cash on the table to pay for Lauren’s date. The women accepting the payment glance at one another, looking a little unsure.
“You think she’s hooking?” Lauren asks me, seeing the same thing I am.
Who carries fifteen hundred in cash in their purse?
“No. She would never do that.”
Silently, I second guess myself…the hours she keeps, the cash she always has on hand, the way she’s always so shady about where she’s been.
Nope. I know my friend and she is not sleeping with men for money. But she’s definitely up to something.
“You’re probably right,” Lauren says.
Luca stops when he spots Vanessa, leaning his hip against the table, eyeing her like she’s his next meal.
“Great, now he thinks she bought him,” Lauren says.
Vanessa nods to us and Luca steps to the side to look past Vanessa and smiles even bigger when he spots Lauren.
Hmm, maybe he remembers us.
“I’m going to go pay.” I head over to the table, but Lauren stays where she’s at, ordering another drink.
“Hey, can I have the number for my date?” Cristian approaches another lady working at the table as I’m paying.
“She’s right here,” the woman says to him and points to me.
I finish tearing off my check and hand it to the other lady. “Actually, it’s her.” I point over to Vanessa who’s wandered off away from the table.
His face pales when he sees her and then he turns to me, doing a double take. “Maddie?” he squints like he did earlier on stage.
I nod. The fact that he recognizes me does nothing to boost my ego. I may have a metal free mouth, contacts, and lost forty pounds, but apparently, I’m still ‘Fatty Maddie’ at heart.
He wraps me in his strong arms, pulling me to him. When he backs up he has the first real smile I’ve seen on his face the entire night.
“Oh man, we have to catch up. I don’t think I’ve seen you since high school,” he says.
I chat with Cristian for a while and he volunteers to buy me a drink, but he should really be trying to win over Vanessa.
“So, I don’t get it, if you bought me…”
“We switched paddles and bid for each other.”
He nods like, he now gets it. “Are you trying to get me fired?” he whispers.
My eyes linger on Vanessa who’s now talking with her dad and the blonde she chatted up in line who ended up winning the date with him. The woman’s arm slides through her dad’s and much to Vanessa’s delight I’m sure, they already look cozy.
“Why would you say that?” I ask, looking back over to him.
“Her dad is my Commander,” he bites out. “I can’t go on a date with her. I’ll end up working traffic patrol.”
When I’d made the bid, I hadn’t known. “I’m sorry. I’m sure John won’t get mad at you taking her out for one date when it’s such a great cause.”
“Have you met the man?” he says with sarcasm and an arched brow.
Vanessa leaves her father and approaches us. Her self-confidence is like something I’ve never seen before. “Cristian,” she says his name coldly. “I’m sure you don’t want to go out with me as much as I don’t want to go out with you. I’ve already informed Maddie that she wasted her money, so let’s shake on the fact we’ll call it even.” She holds out her hand for him to shake.
Cristian’s lips tick up for a second and he crosses his arms in front of him. Just like Mauro, he’s grown into quite the man.
“Sorry, but I’m not really into letting my friend waste her money. I’m sure you have some hang up on a man in blue because of your daddy, but we are going to go out.”
Interesting. A complete one eighty from what he had just said to me. I guess there’s no faster way to have a man interested in you than to make it clear that you’re not interested in him.
Confrontation makes me itchy and I can tell from Vanessa’s eyes that a storm is brewing.
“I’ll leave you two to discuss,” I say and slink off.
Luca and Lauren are standing together now at the bar and he’s laughing while Lauren stares blankly at him. I could venture back into the ballroom or maybe be a wallflower until they’re ready to leave. I’m not unaccustomed to watching from the sidelines when we all go out together.
A callused hand lands softly on my forearm. “Excuse me,” a deep voice says.
I stop and circle around. My entire body shuts down for a second as Mauro Bianco stands front and center only a couple of feet away from me.
“I heard you were the winning bid for me. Well, not for me, but a date. Which I guess is technically still me.” He shakes his head, chuckling to himself.
I giggle.
He holds his hand out. “Let’s start over.” His smile is infectious. His eyes, alluring. His muscles, worth salivating over. I’m back to being that sophomore girl again. “I’m Mauro Bianco. Thanks for coming out to support such a good cause.”