My hand not holding the bidding paddle stays firmly in my pocket. I’m scared if I pull it out, people might see it shaking with nerves. It’s not about the money or the attention; it’s the fact that I’m here to lay my heart out on the line, with no idea if Pippa will even speak to me.
It’s terrifying. Nothing has ever scared me more than seeing her again with the fear of wondering if she’ll allow me to love her the way I dream about.
I wish I could look into her mind or that she’d wear her emotions on her sleeve so I could know what she was thinking. Is she angry I’m here? Happy? Relieved? I can’t figure it out from the look in her eyes.
The only hope I have is the fact she doesn’t look away from me. Her chest rises in heavy breaths as her eyes travel my face.
“Hi,” I mouth, well aware that there are too many eyes on us for me to be comfortable. I block all of them out, only focusing on the woman who owns my heart.
“Okay,” the auctioneer says from behind Pippa. He clears his throat awkwardly. “I’ve got ten million…”
“We can’t go from three to ten,” Jason sputters. The anger in his voice takes me by surprise, my gaze ripping away from Pippa to find Jason angrily pushing out of his chair. His face is beet red as he looks between Clyde and me.
“Do you have a counterbid?” Clyde asks. It isn’t exactly protocol, but I don’t say anything. I know Jason won’t meet my bid.
“I’m out,” Dean announces, sticking to our plan. We’d give Jason hope for a moment before I showed up with a number he’d never be able to beat.
It seems to work because his eyes almost bulge out of his head as he yells at the auctioneer. “That price for five properties is ridiculous!”
“Ten million going once…”
Jason’s beady eyes focus on me. He kicks his chair, almost hitting one of his associates as he barrels over to me. “You’ll regret this, Hunter,” he hisses, jabbing his finger into my chest.
I don’t react. It isn’t in my nature to show any kind of reaction. He doesn’t deserve another second of my time.
“Going twice…”
“This isn’t the end of this,” Jason snaps. I don’t bother to hide my laugh. He’s already told everyone in Manhattan the sale had gone through. He’d promised his friends to rent out the spaces to their businesses. He’ll return to Manhattan embarrassed, having to admit that he didn’t have the funds to close the deal.
“Sold!” the auctioneer yells.
Jason doesn’t move. I let out a long, annoyed sigh. Men like him will just never understand when to cut their losses. They’ll forever embarrass themselves further instead of walking out with at least a little composure intact.
I take a step closer to him, letting my shoulder bump against his. I angle my head down due to the sheer height difference between us. “I’m going to say this once, so listen fucking closely.” My voice is lethal. I don’t bother to hide the disdain I feel toward this pathetic excuse of a man. “You will leave this town on the first flight back, and you will never return. You lost. It’s embarrassing. If I hear you even mutter the word Sutten, I’ll have no problem telling every single person I know how shallow your pockets actually are.”
The entire room breaks out into cheers.
Jason’s eyes go wide. Last night, I had my people deep dive into his finances. It all made sense why he was trying to buy these properties for cheap. He’s about to go bankrupt, and this was his last hope to try and get some cash flow. He attempts to walk away, but I grab him by the bicep, keeping him in place.
“I wasn’t finished,” I grit out.
He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t need to. I keep going, wanting to make my point vastly clear. “Say one bad thing about Pippa or anyone else in this town again and I’ll buy your companies right out from underneath you just because I can. Don’t talk about my girl, and don’t talk about this town. Understood?”
My fingers loosen around his arm. He doesn’t linger for another second. He rushes out of the doors, his two associates following closely after him.
There’s no way Jason will return to Sutten Mountain. But if he does try, I’m fully prepared to take him down for everything he’s done. I won’t be generous twice. I don’t want to deal with him now because my biggest goal is making Pippa happy. But if he reappears, I’ll end him.
My eyes find Pippa again, but she’s too busy hugging her dad, her face tucked into his chest, to find me watching her. If she’d just look at me again, maybe she’d give some sort of indication of how she felt about me being here. Will she be mad I purchased the properties? I only did it so she’d never have to fear someone taking it from her again.
I did it because I’m madly in love with her, and I’d do anything she ever asked of me.
A hand claps my shoulder. Dean steps in front of me, a cocky smile on his lips. “Ten million? I thought we decided on five.”
“I wanted to end it. There was no way he’d ever be able to compete with that number.”
Dean whistles, shaking his head with humor. “You’re something else. I was worried for a moment there that I’d be the one shelling out the money for the properties.”
“You know I wouldn’t have let you. Pippa won’t be paying anyone for her space. It’s hers.”
“And everyone else?”
“It’s theirs.”
He stares at me, silently assessing what I said. He must know at this point I’m a man of my word. After a few seconds, he reaches his hand out. I shake it, grabbing his forearm.
“I look forward to seeing you around, Hunter.”
“Thanks for helping.” He nods, walking away to join a group of locals chatting in a circle.
With his body gone, I’m able to see Pippa walking to me, her arm looped through her father’s.
They stop in front of me, and I worry for a second that they might be able to hear my racing heartbeat. I’m so anxious. She’s so close I could reach out and touch her. Would she let me? I don’t try. It can’t be a good sign she brought her dad with her. If she wasn’t still upset, she’d come here alone and give me the time to tell her how I’ve fallen in love with this small town because I’ve fallen in love with her.
“Camden,” Pippa begins. My heart skips a beat at hearing my name come from her lips.
“Hi,” I croak. Hi? There’s a million and one things I want to say to her, and the only thing that comes from my mouth is fucking hi.
I wince, looking over to her dad to see if he’s privy to how anxious I am right now.
“I’d like for you to meet my dad, Jasper Jennings.”
He reaches his hand out. I take it, not sure where this is going.
“Dad, this is my boyfriend, Camden Hunter.”
“Nice to meet—” My words fall off when my mind registers what exactly she just said.
Boyfriend?
I must look hilarious, my eyes wide and mouth agape as I tear my eyes from her dad and look to Pippa.
Her dad clapping his hand over mine is the only thing that brings me back to the fact that he and I are still shaking hands. His eyebrows are raised as he looks between Pippa and me. If he has any questions, he doesn’t ask them. I almost wish he would; that way, I could also get clarity on what’s happening.
Something that feels a lot like hope develops in my chest. It’s a dangerous feeling, knowing at any moment, she could crush me with one sentence.
“Nice to meet you, son,” Jasper says, pulling his hand from mine.
I shake my head, trying to get my shit together. Pippa’s introducing me to her dad, and here I am fumbling with my thoughts. “Pleasure, sir,” I rasp, shoving my hands back in my pockets because I don’t know what else to do with them.
“Thanks for what you did back there. I hope your intentions are pure for what you’re going to do with those properties.”
“They are.” I clear my throat. “I’m not trying to do anything shady.”
He assesses me for a few moments before he turns to Pippa. He pulls her in for another hug, whispering something against her hair that I can’t quite hear. Once they’re done, he turns to me once again. “We’ll talk more.”
And then he walks away, leaving me standing at the back of the room alone with Pippa.
She’s the most stunning thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I’d do anything in my power to make it work with her. I need her more than I need money, art, anything. She’s become my everything, and as my heart hammers against my chest, I make a silent plea she feels the same way.
“Boyfriend?” I ask, my voice coming out far more unsure than I envisioned.
She stands in front of me in a white skirt with ruffles, a tan shirt, and a pair of cowboy boots. She’s breathtaking, her sun-kissed strands of hair falling down her shoulders. I know even if she tells me things could never work between us, I’d never get over her. I try not to think about it, focusing on her introducing me to her father as her boyfriend instead.
“Can we talk outside?” she asks, a blush creeping on her cheeks as she looks down at her boots.
“Yes,” I answer, reaching out my hand to take hers. There’s probably paperwork I have to sign and things to do now that I’ve won the auction, but they can wait.
First, there are some things I need to tell her.
