Page 28 of Auctioned To Be Mine

“She can’t make it to the dinner with Callum. She met some guy named and they’re sailing to Ibiza on his yacht.”

Betty’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, that was fast. But that’s fine, right? She already made the donation.”

“She wants me to go in her place.”

Betty blinked. “What?”

“She insists I go to dinner with Callum. Says she doesn’t want to donate for nothing.”

Betty leaned back in her chair and ran her hands through her hair. “If she pulls it now…”

“I know.” I felt sick just thinking about it. “That’s why I told her yes.”

“You don’t sound happy about it.”

“I’m not.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

Betty was quiet for a moment, studying me. “You know what I think?”

“What?”

“I think you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared. I’m annoyed.”

“You’re scared,” she repeated. “Because you’re attracted to him and you don’t want to be.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it again. She wasn’t wrong. I’d been trying not to think about the fact that he’d actually come to my rescue when Jeff Connors was being a creep. Before I knew it was Callum, the man had been my hero.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m attracted to him,” I said finally. “He’s exactly the kind of person I left behind. Rich, careless, thinks the rules don’t apply to him.”

“Maybe. Or maybe he’s more than that and you’re too stubborn to see it.” Betty stood up and grabbed her purse from the back of her chair. “Either way, you’re going to that dinner.”

“I know.”

“We’re going to find you a killer dress,” she said.

My stomach dropped. “Betty, I don’t want to spend money on a dress to have dinner with a man I can’t stand.”

“Nope. No arguments.” She came around the desk and pulled me to my feet. “If you’re going to do this, you’re going to do it right. We’re going shopping.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You’re going.” She grabbed her keys and started herding me toward the door. “Besides, think of it as practice.”

“Practice for what?”

“For when you meet a guy you actually like. Consider this a dry run. You get to practice conversation, practice being charming, practice not letting someone get under your skin. And you get to look good doing it.”

I let her lead me out to her car, still protesting weakly. “I really don’t think this is necessary.”

“It’s absolutely necessary.” She unlocked the doors and we both got in. “You’ll feel better about the whole thing once you know you’ll be looking good.”

I wanted to argue, but her logic was sound. I didn’t want to feel out of place sitting at a table with Callum Blackwell. The dress I would have worn to a dinner like this had been ruined in Callum’s fire drill. So I actually did need a new dress.

We spent the next three hours going from boutique to boutique. Betty had opinions about everything. Too short. Too conservative. Wrong color. Not enough wow factor.

I tried on what felt like fifty different dresses. Some of them were beautiful but didn’t feel like me. Others felt like me but weren’t quite right for a nice night out. I was starting to get discouraged when the saleswoman at the last boutique brought out a dress that made me stop mid-sentence.