Page 81 of Auctioned To Be Mine

“You made it,” he said.

“I did.”

He grinned and stepped back to let me in. The house had a different energy tonight. It was alive. I could hear voices coming from the back terrace.

He handed me one of the beers before I’d even set my bag down. It was ice cold.

“Thank you,” I said and took a long sip. Some of the tension loosened from my shoulders.

“Come on.” He put his hand in the small of my back and steered me through the living room and out through the glass doors. “Dinner will be ready soon.”

Dash was leaning back in one of the chairs with his ankles crossed, looking like a man who had nowhere to be and no intention of going there. Krista and Cleo had their feet in the pool and were laughing about something. Drew was at the grill. The assortment of smells made my stomach growl.

“She’s here!” Cleo announced when she saw me. She stood up and hugged me like we’d known each other for years. I was still getting used to how freely this family gave affection but I was adapting quickly and coming to love it.

“Hi,” I said into her shoulder.

“Grab a seat. Drew is burning things but it’s going to be fine.”

“I am not burning things,” Drew called without turning around. “It’s a perfect sear. There’s a difference.”

“The difference is whether or not we can eat it,” Callum said, dropping into the chair beside where I settled.

Dash raised his beer in my direction. “Victoria.”

“Good to see you both,” I said.

“We went to the store,” Krista said. “It is so amazing. I want to live there.”

I took a long pull of my beer, relaxing into the vibe. I could worry about the annoying lunch date later. I would tell Callum about it when we were alone. I doubted he was going to be thrilled with the idea, but I wanted to be open about it.

“Sebastian is going to walk in the show,” Callum said.

“He is?” I asked with surprise.

There had been talk about him doing it, but Sebastian insisted he was retired from the modeling business.

“Bernadette told him to do it,” Dash said. “His last hurrah before he’s on full-time diaper duty.”

I laughed. “That will be a huge draw.”

“Will Briggs and Mandy be making it out for the opening?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” Cleo said. “Mandy is chomping at the bit to get out here. She’s a bit of a control freak and not being present is killing her.”

“I bet.”

“We’re trying to convince Adrian to let little Buck walk in the show to model some of the kids’ stuff,” Krista said. “Elizabeth says getting Buck to walk a straight line would be next to impossible.”

“What about putting him in a wagon?” I suggested. “I think I saw one of those in the brochures.”

Cleo nodded. “When Mandy does weddings, she’s all about corralling the little ones in wagons and carriages. She loves kids but they are unpredictable and she doesn’t like the unexpected.”

“How did you two meet?” I asked Krista and Dash. Cleo had given me the short version, but I always loved to hear how different couples had found love.

“His family hired me to babysit him,” Krista said with a wide grin. “Hardest job I’ve ever taken on.”

Dash opened his mouth and I just knew he was about to say something raunchy but he quickly shut it when Krista gave him a look.