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The bids were flying fast and furiously before slowing down somewhere around twenty thousand. When Noah grumbled about my bid, I smirked.
“Sounds like jealousy, Capshaw,” I warned.
He flipped me off before smirking. “That’s because it is. I guess we can’t all have exes show up out of nowhere for a trip down memory lane.”
I stayed backstage with the others until all the bachelors had been bid on. It seemed like the twelve of us had netted the hospital over a hundred and fifty grand which was great. They did a lot of good work with the children, and more than once, I had been tasked with arranging for my clients to fulfill wishes with the Make-A-Wish foundation kids, many of whom spent great portions of their lives inside the hospital.
When the others left, I begrudgingly made my way off stage. Harper was still standing in the corner and the first thing I noticed was her tomboy attire. She’d always been beautiful in dresses, but she rarely ever wore them.
In fact, the last time I had seen her in person, she had been wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and my Letterman jacket. I needed to forget about that day and night. She was no longer the girl I loved, and I was no longer the fool I had been those first few months she’d been in Portland.
I sighed, then moved toward her. When I got inches away, she finally pressed off the wall.
“What the hell was that?” I asked her, not even giving a damn who heard us.
“You were up for auction, so I bid on you.” She said it slowly, and I narrowed my eyes.
“You know what I’m talking about. Why are you in Chicago? Why are you stalking me?”
“Stalking is a bit harsh, don’t you think?” I just arched a brow, and she sighed. “I need to talk to you and this appeared to be the only way.”
“We have nothing to talk about,” I countered, and she placed her hands on her hips like she used to when she got frustrated.
“You’re wrong. I need to warn you about something.”
“Warn me? Don’t you think you’re about ten years too late for that?”
“I’m sorry I hurt you, but this isn’t about that. I—”
“I don’t give a damn what it’s about. Since I doubt you live here, what hotel are you staying in? I’ll drive you to it. After that, I will refund you your bid and we’ll go our separate ways.”
I grabbed her arm, then yanked it back quickly but not before a jolt of electricity shot from the tips of my fingers up to my shoulders.
“I don’t have a hotel yet. I came to find you first, and...”
She was the one to grow quiet this time when she looked down at her phone, and I scowled at her stricken expression. “What is it?”
She handed me her phone and I saw the text message from Delta announcing that her flight had been cancelled. I didn’t miss how it was scheduled to leave tomorrow. Whatever she had flown all this way for wasn’t going to take long.
“We need to get you a hotel. Come with me,” I said, then started to walk. I looked behind me once and saw her following, so I led us to the receptionist’s desk. “I need a room for tonight.”
She looked at the two of us and flashed a sympathetic look. I was in a tuxedo, and Harper looked like she just climbed down from the clubhouse I used to have in my yard. I loved that damn thing. My father and I took an entire week to put it together, and it’d had all the bells and whistles one could want.
It also had enough room for two and as we grew older, Harper and I would sneak away and make out in it. I pushed those memories away.
“I’m sorry. There’s not an empty room in the city. With all the festivities and the impending weather, there’s not a —”
“The blizzard,” she murmured, and I growled.
How had I forgotten?
“You’re telling me there’s nothing?” I almost couldn’t believe my ears.
“There isn’t. We’ve turned away several people tonight already.”
“Fuck,” I cursed, then stalked over to the plush sofa in the lobby. I pulled out my phone and started looking up every booking site I could find, and nothing showed availability. Harper was in Chicago when a blizzard was forecasted, and she had no place to stay. I would’ve put her up in my parents’ house had I not sold the estate and donated the proceeds to charity two months ago. I looked over at her as she sat quietly beside me. I saw the question in her eyes, and I shook my head. “No fucking way.”
“Please, Gabriel. You heard the receptionist. There’s not a single hotel room in the city, and I can’t stay at the airport with every flight cancelled for the next thirty-six hours or more.”
