The Bachelor Auction -- The End

“Condition?” I squeaked.

Calvin nodded. “Dinner at the restaurant of my choice.”

There was too much going on. Candy’s shrill voice in the background as she shrieked for her lawyer while the Feds are telling her the shyster was in custody. Then there’s all these hunky guys in law enforcement that had me visualizing handcuffs and strip searches. And Calvin.

Calvin who didn’t look all that much like the nerd I remembered.

I made the mistake of looking across the room. My mother looked as if she’d died and gone to heaven and for all I know, already planning the wedding. I hoped I could stop her before she latched on to Ramona Hayward, our local wedding planner and town gossip who could put the Internet to shame.

Still, my all time favorite sight was seeing Candy hauled away in handcuffs. No designer wear for where she was going and gee, what a shame, she looks horrible in orange and jumpsuits will only make her look hippy. Yep, a very good day.

“Hey.”

I looked up, responding to Calvin’s smile with one of my own. Spock turned Zorro turned into an all around nice guy with gorgeous eyes and a very nice smile.

“If you’d allowed the bidding to go on longer you could have made more than my $500 bid,” I said

“Because so many of the bachelors were off the block?”

I shook my head. Did he always have eyes a woman could just dive into? “Because you’d deserve every penny of it,” I said sincerely.

I wasn’t looking my best, but he stared at me as if I had just stepped out of Glamour magazine. And his hand on my arm had a firm yet gentle grip.

But he wasn’t the one I was aiming for. I wanted Dave the tool guy. – the Highlander, Rick the pirate or Simon AKA Mr. Darcy.

Didn’t I?

“Dinner at a restaurant of your choice,” I murmured, realizing he was guiding me out of the room.

He nodded, as we walked down the hall. The more I looked at him the more I saw Calvin and not Spock or Zorro. Amazing, because I really love Antonio Banderas as Zorro.

“Do you like French food?” He steered me out of the hotel and toward a fire engine red Porsche that screamed speed.

“I love it.” Although the only French food I knew we would find in town were the fries over at the Dairy Queen.

Calvin smiled again as he tucked me into the passenger seat as carefully as if I were made of porcelain.

“Calvin, it’s not even close to dinnertime and I’d like the idea of a shower and change of clothes before we go out,” I said as he revved up an engine that purred like a tiger. I’ve always loved sexy cars and this one was giving me ideas.

He drove out of the parking lot and in no time was on the road out of town.

“A shower sounds good too, but we have some traveling to do.” He pulled his cell phone out of a hidden pocket and spoke quickly into it.

Did he just give the idea of our taking a shower together? Whoa mama!

I thought I’d had my share of surprises today, but no way did I expect to see a sleek private jet sitting on the runway or that Calvin was parking the car nearby.

In no time we were settled inside the jet and I was enjoying a mimosa while Calvin excused himself to go to the rear of the jet.

“I suppose you still carry your passport with you?” Calvin called out.

“Oh sure, for those times I can run off to London or Rome for the weekend,” I joked and then almost choked on my drink when Calvin walked out wearing a polo shirt and jeans that made him look better than all the other bachelors rolled up into one.

He sat in the seat next to mine and secured his seat belt. “Good, because I know this nice little bistro in Paris. If you’d like we can do some shopping first and find something to wear for dinner .”

I was positive I’d suffered a severe blow to the head. I’d gone from wanting to throttle my mother for dragging me to a bachelor auction to being offered a smorgasbord of men that had me drooling all over the place to getting the bachelor who was quickly turning out to be the deal of the century.

Heat covered my skin as Calvin grinned at me and I started to imagine him without the jeans and polo shirt.

“Calvin,” I started even if I wasn’t sure what exactly I was going to say.

“Did I ever tell you you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met and since that first time I saw you I imagined taking you to Paris,” he said.

My smile grew so wide I’m amazed my face didn’t double in width.

Not that I’ll thank my mother for dragging me to the bachelor auction. It would just convince her she did the right thing.

Plus, who knows, she might have the chance to plan a wedding.

Linda