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  “One thousand twenty-five,” another man called out, one of the oil representatives, and Lacy breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Do I hear one thousand thirty?” the auctioneer asked.

  John hiked up his bid. “One thousand fifty.” He crossed his arms over his barrel chest and leered at her, making Lacy’s skin crawl with his look.

  “Anybody give me one thousand sixty?” the auctioneer inquired.

  A hand came up from the middle of the crowd and Lacy tried to focus on it through the glare of the spotlight.

  “I have one thousand sixty. Will anyone go one thousand seventy?”

  “Two thousand!” Chef John shouted, thrusting his hand in the air and almost knocking a drink from a woman’s hand who was standing nearby.

  The mystery hand went up again. “Two thousand five hundred.”

  “Three thousand,” John fired back quickly.

  “Three thousand five hundred.”

  “Four thousand.”

  When the mystery hand never rose, Lacy got uneasy. She hadn’t seen who it belonged to yet, but anything would be better than John.

  The mystery hand went up again and Lacy followed it with squinted eyes as it moved through the crowd. “Five thousand dollars,” Jake said as he stepped through the crowd and stood right beside Chef John.

  Lacy’s jaw nearly fell open.

  FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS?

  “Wow,” the auctioneer said what everyone else was thinking. “That’s a lot of money. How many desserts do you need Jake?”

  Jake didn’t answer and the crowd fell silent. The only noise was the static over the speakers and the rustling of the trees. Jake stared down the fat arrogant chef. “Best to bow out now, John. I’ll do this all night if I have to.” He looked directly at Lacy. “I’ve got a craving for pie and coconut is my favorite.”

  Lacy almost went to her knees. The way Jake looked at her and said those words made her instantly wet.

  Chef John made a show out of considering another bid, but it was plain to see he was intimidated by Jake. “It’s not that pretty of a pie anyway. You can have it.”

  “It’s the prettiest pie I’ve ever seen, fella,” Jake said in an even tone. “It’s probably too sweet for you anyway.”

  He was drinking Lacy in with his eyes and she began to quiver.

  What had just happened?

  Jake had just ‘bought her’ and for a huge price.

  A thousand questions flooded Lacy’s mind as she stood by and watched as the rest of the desserts were bought.

  After the auction was over and the buyers gathered around to collect their desserts and their dates, Jake approached her. “That was fun, huh?”

  Lacy didn’t know what to say, she was stunned that he’d bid so much. But wait. They’d been bidding on desserts. Surely he thought the chocolate ganache cake was hers and the pie had been made by one of the other bachelorettes.

  God, what if he’d bought that pie and not known it was hers?

  Lacy’s voice hitched in her throat. “Got a sweet tooth, I see. Two desserts.”

  It was a cool line, but her delivery had been anything but cool. It had been clumsy, her voice cracking in the middle of ‘tooth’ as she folded her arms protectively over her chest. The idea that Jake would be disappointed to find out he’d just spent five thousand dollars on her made her stomach roll over.

  “When do we find out who baked our desserts?” Jake asked.

  He tried to keep the charade of not knowing going, but he was sure she was onto him. He’d been practically coming out of his skin during the bidding and couldn’t help but stare deep into her eyes.

  Lacy rubbed her arms with her palms, it was a million degrees outside, but she felt a chill. “Well, I’m sure you realized one of them was Eden. And thank you, by the way.”

  “Well, I’ve already sold that one for a tidy profit, I might add. I like pie, bread pudding doesn’t do it for me.”

  Lacy was almost tongue tied. She couldn’t read this man to save her life. “Let me go tell the auctioneer to announce them now.”

  “You go do that,” Jake said with an intense gaze.

  Lacy turned to walk off and Jake felt his arm start to rise, the need to smack her on her tight little ass was so strong. He managed to suppress that urge, but the hard-on in his pants that Lacy’s ass inspired was beyond his control.

  “If I could have your attention, ladies and gentlemen,” the auctioneer spoke over the microphone. “We’ll now announce the results of our auction and reveal which one of these lovely ladies baked each of these delicious delights. After that, we’ll clear the floor and get to some dancing. If I could have all the ladies please come back up and get in line.”

  The ladies gathered in order once more and Lacy stood smack dab in the middle, ringing her hands and fretting over what Jake would do when he found out for sure it was her he’d won. When David claimed Marnie, Lacy could read the expectant tension in her body, but when he leaned and kissed her on the cheek, she smiled. She couldn’t help it, she glanced over to find Jake to see how he reacted to that revelation, but he was gone. Eden’s circumstance was a different story altogether. DeQuincy Trahan came to collect his dessert but walked off without his prize. Eden held her head high and followed him off the stage, but when he turned left, she turned right. Lacy knew there would be an explosion in that situation soon, and it wouldn’t be pleasant.

  The crowd applauded as the desserts began to be revealed. Jake watched from his spot at a bar table he’d found. The erection in his pants had become too much to hide in plain sight and he leaned on the table with his elbows and all but devoured Lacy with his eyes. Little minx. She’d made him work for this one. If he hadn’t been paying attention, he would’ve messed up the whole thing. She might have rejected him once, but things had changed and he was chomping at the bit to take her up on her offer.

  When the time came to announce the winner of the coconut pie, Lacy was practically sweating.

  This was the moment of truth.

  Jake readjusted the throb in his jeans and headed toward the front of the crowd.

  “With the biggest bid of the evening,” the auctioneer said into the microphone, “we have Mister Jake Knight!” Jake waved to the crowd as they applauded his charitable donation. “I sure hope you enjoy your five thousand dollar pie, Mister Knight and hopefully the lady who baked it, Willow Cove’s very own, Miss Lacy Allen.”

  “You didn’t have to buy that pie, Jake. I made you another one for free.” Lacy looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. He took her hand and they bowed to the audience, then before Jake could say a word, she pulled her hand from his and started off stage. “I’ll be right back.”

  Jake watched with a stunned look on his face as she practically ran off. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I have to go check on something. I’ll be right back.”

  What she really needed to do was gather her wits about her. She went to her office and put both of the coconut pies in the small refrigeration, then to the ladies room to check her makeup. Lacy was confused as heck. Jake had beamed when he’d officially found out it had been Lacy’s dessert he’d bought. And she hadn’t expected that—not at all.

  Jake waited and waited. It seemed to take forever for Lacy to return, but when she did, it was time for the first dance of the evening. The bachelorettes and the men who’d won them at auction took the floor while the crowd watched.

  He held out his hand and she stepped into his arms. Jake let out a long hard breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Did I bid enough?” They began to dance. The music was slow and he wouldn’t have traded what he was feeling for anything in the world.

  “Far, far too much,” Lacy returned, feeling the firmness of his broad chest press against hers.

  “What was up with the Pillsbury Dough Boy?”

  Jake’s irreverent sense of humor caused a bubble of laughter to spring from her lips. “I don’t have a clue. He was so n
asty to me while I was baking the ganache cake, but when I went back to make the coconut pies, he was different…attentive. I didn’t question it, I needed the help. Once I found out that Cody hadn’t informed Marnie she was being auctioned off, much less supplied her with a dessert, I had to do something.”

  “So, you made me a pie.”

  His favorite. “Yes, I remembered what you said.”

  “You know, you were taking a risk. I saw you making the cake. What if I’d bought it instead of the pie?”

  “Well, you bid on the cake.”

  “I did,” Jake agreed. “But, I hate to tell you this, but you women are so easy to read. I knew right off, that you weren’t the woman who went with the cake.”

  “Oh, you did?” Lacy put just enough censure in her voice to make Jake laugh.

  “Hey, I’m a smart guy. And a good-looking one too.”

  She couldn’t argue with that logic. Lacy’s nipples were on fire and the sensation of their bodies coming together made her legs quake.

  “Chef was pretty determined, though. He almost messed up our plans,” Jake said with a chuckle. “For a minute there, I thought I was gonna have to deck him to get him to stop.”

  “Our plans?” Lacy couldn’t help it, she had to know exactly what he meant.

  “Hell, I wanted my coconut pie.” He tipped up her chin with one finger. “Lacy, you know there was no way I was about to let you down.”

  “Let me down? I don’t understand. I didn’t even get a chance to tell you I was going to be in the auction.”

  “Of course you did. I got your note,” he said with a grin.

  “My note? What note?”

  Jake had the note in his back pocket. He’d memorised it line for line, but he hesitated to take it out, something was suddenly fishy about this. “The note telling me to bid on you. You slipped it under my door.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Someone slipped a note under my door?

  Lacy pulled away from him, but stood in place, being careful not to make a scene. “Jake. I never sent you a note.” It was then that it hit her. Denise and Kay must have sent the note and it suddenly dawned on her that Kay hadn’t been sick at all. “We’ve been set up,” she muttered under her breath.

  Jake strained to hear her over the music. “What did you just say?”

  Lacy felt her cheeks start to flush and her skin grew warm all over. She turned and walked briskly off the dance floor and started to run once she got through the crowd.

  Jake caught her by the arm at the bottom of the stairs leading off the patio. “Where are you going?”

  Lacy knew in her heart that her friends had only been trying to help, but she felt like the butt of a cruel joke. “They set us up.”

  Jake fished the note out of his back pocket and handed it to her. “You didn’t write this?”

  Lacy took the worn piece of paper, unfolded it and read it out loud. “I’m shy, but its time I started asking for what I need.” She stopped, and swallowed hard. Humiliated, she continued. “If you’ll bid on me at the auction, I promise to make it worth your while. I’d like to have some fireworks tonight, and not just in the sky—in your bed.”

  Jake’s heart fell as he watched her read the note. It was clear by the horrified look on her face that she hadn’t written it at all.

  “I didn’t write this note. You’ve been set up,” Lacy huffed. “They set this up.”

  “Who did?”

  “My friends.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they feel sorry for me.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her voice was husky and hurt.

  “Why would they feel sorry for you?” Jake wanted to understand, he was desperate to understand.

  Lacy didn’t think, she just blurted it out. “Because I have a crush on you.”

  Jake stood frozen in place, he was stunned. “I thought you didn’t like me.”

  “Why would I not like you?” She looked up to him with the biggest, softest eyes.

  “Because you made me take you home the other night, after…after you—”

  “After I what?”

  “After you rejected me.”

  “I didn’t reject you, Jake.” She turned her back to him, unable to face him as she confessed. “I like you, I like you a lot. I was scared I’d disappoint you.”

  His voice dropped and he stepped up close enough to her back that she could feel his heat. “How could you ever disappoint me?”

  Lacy clenched her fists and poured out her heart. There was no use holding back now. It was over. “Because I’m frigid in bed. I’m not good.” Lacy blurted out the truth, her voice breaking. “I can’t have an orgasm.”

  “What?” Jake couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. “Why would you think something like that? Who told you that nonsense?”

  Lacy thrust her hands in front of her mouth, mortified by what she’d just said out loud. Almost thirty years old and she’d never had an orgasm. If Jake hadn’t thought she was a freak before, surely he did now. “My ex told me, and he ought to know.”

  “Your ex was an idiot.” He took her by the hand and pushed the door open.

  “Where are we going?” Lacy asked.

  “You’ll see.” He dragged her around the corner and made her wait while he opened the shed that housed the golf carts. “Give me your hand.” Jake held his out, assisting her to sit before backing the cart out of the shed. “We’re getting out of here. I want you all to myself.”

  Lacy held on as he roared down the walkway and hit the course, cutting sharply to the right. Cutting in behind the eighteenth green, Lacy watched as Jake’s crew finished setting the fireworks up in the fairway bunker just off the patio and down the hill. Her hands were trembling and her breathing was shallow. Lacy was beyond excited.

  Jake yanked the wheel of the cart to the right and then hard back left and Lacy slid over the seat toward him. He put an arm around her. “I can’t get over what you told me.” He shook his head in disbelief. “How is it possible? It’s an absolute crime against nature that such a smoking hot girl like you hasn’t ever had an orgasm.” He held her tight to him with one arm while he drove the path to the sixteenth hole.

  “I tried…” She stopped, unable to go on. “Where are we going?” Lacy wanted to know.

  Jake met her gaze under the light of the crescent moon. “To take care of some long overdue business.”

  “Are we going to watch the fireworks?”

  “Honey, we’re going to make some fireworks of our own.” Jake slammed the brakes on the cart and it slid to a stop on the paved path right beside the sixteenth green. He lifted Lacy onto his lap with ease and she settled down on top of him. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he touched her face. “I want you so much.”

  “Are you sure?” After everything she’d told him, Lacy needed to know for certain. “You don’t just feel sorry for me, do you?”

  “Hell, baby, I feel sorry for myself. Do you know how my body reacts to you? I’ve had a hard-on for weeks.”

  “I know we’ve…fooled around.” She blushed furiously.

  Jake thought it was the sweetest thing he’d ever seen. “I wasn’t foolin’, Lacy.”

  She ducked her head. “It’s just that I’m not very experienced.”

  “Look at me, love.” He bent his head, searching for her big blue eyes. “Anything you give me will be spectacular.”

  He felt a small tremor sweep through her body.

  “Lacy…” he whispered. “Look at me, darling.”

  She raised her eyes to his and he saw it, he could read her so easily now, it seemed. Jake felt like he knew her, he knew her heart and her soul. There was fear in her eyes that she wouldn’t be pretty enough—good enough. She was afraid she couldn’t please him, couldn’t respond to him the way she longed to, the way he needed.

  “Oh, Jake, I want you so much.”

  “Come here, love.” He drew her closer. “I’ll give you exactly what you need
.” Ever so slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers. She was so soft. He rubbed his mouth back and forth. It was different this time. The kiss was more meaningful. Jake’s tongue parted her lips and danced along her bottom teeth. Lacy’s left hand laced through his thick black hair and before she knew it, their tongues came together in a swirl of delight.

  Jake didn’t rush it, knowing what he did now, he wanted to make this night extra special for Lacy. He held her and kissed her, touching her body, rubbing her shoulders, her arms, petting and loving on her till she was moaning, pushing against him and asking for more. Only then did he bring his hand up to caress her breast. His own hand shook. He’d been doubtful whether he’d ever get the chance to touch her again, and here she was.

  Lacy wanted more. She wanted closer, she had to just grab on to his jacket and crush the material between her fingers. Something was different. Oh, Jake was just as exciting as ever, and his kiss made her whole body throb with longing. But it felt more important. They weren’t pretending or ‘fooling around’ as she’d said before—this was real.

  She was about to make love to Jake Knight.

  “Jake, please…” she begged. If they hadn’t been outside, she would have torn her clothes off. Lacy wanted to feel his hands and mouth on her naked body. She’d never been this turned on before and it felt so good. She felt new.

  Jake slid out of the cart with Lacy still in his lap. “Let’s get you comfortable, baby.” He placed her back down on the seat. “Tonight’s the night, love. I’m gonna show you what an orgasm feels like.”

  Lacy rested on her elbows. The hem of her skirt had ridden up in the front. Uncaring for his clothes, he knelt in the grass and picked up one smooth, bare leg, kissing her tenderly from her ankle to above her knee. “You tempt me beyond what I’m able to bear,” he whispered.

  She whimpered, but no words would come. In the distance she heard the first explosion just before a burst of red, white and blue lit up the sky. The display was breathtaking, but paled to the sight of Jake between her legs, his tongue raspy as he licked a path beginning at her knee and ending at Lacy’s inner thigh. She drew in a sharp breath.