Star of His Heart - Brenda Jackson [50]
“Let’s come to order so the bidding can begin,” Trask was finally able to say. “Who will open the bid for Colonel Sinclair at five thousand dollars?”
He got six easily and didn’t have any problems getting seven, eight and nine. “Do I have ten?”
“Ten thousand dollars.”
Everyone recognized the voice of Angela Meadows. She had finally entered the fray.
“Angela Meadows has offered ten thousand dollars,” Trask said, trying to keep the smile from his voice. “Do I hear eleven?”
He got eleven and twelve without any sweat. Angela offered thirteen and Sandra countered with fourteen. Some woman in the back offered fifteen, then Angela countered with sixteen. The woman in the back then countered with seventeen. Deciding not to be undone, Angela raised her bid to twenty with a satisfied, smug grin on her lips.
Netherland glanced up at Ashton. His gaze was on her and what she saw in his eyes took her breath away. No matter what woman was bidding on him, he wanted her, and his gaze was saying it. Amazing. It was as if she were reading his very thought. A surge of wanting and desire sizzled through her bloodstream as he continued to hold her gaze, almost daring her to look away, deny the silent statement he was making. Memories of sharing a bed with him with her body pulled tight against him, his strong body pressed against hers, infiltrated her mind, consumed her thoughts. Only Trask’s strong voice penetrated her daze when he said:
“Angela Meadows has offered twenty thousand. Do I have twenty-one?”
The room got quiet, and Angela remained standing with a smug look on her face. Netherland turned around to look at the woman before returning her gaze to Ashton. Her gaze locked on his strong jaw and slightly curved lips, and he was looking at her as if he could read her mind as she had read his earlier.
Trask’s voice rang out loud. “Going once, going twice—”
Netherland quickly stood. “Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
The audience erupted in cheers and applause. Evidently the majority of the women present didn’t want Ashton to fall into Angela’s hands.
It was quite obvious to everyone that Angela was upset with Netherland’s bid and was not about to be undone. “Thirty!” she snapped, glaring across the room at Netherland.
Netherland stared at the woman in wide-eyed startlement. Was Angela that intent on having Ashton? From the smirk on the woman’s face Netherland quickly concluded that she was. Netherland couldn’t help but wonder just how much money the woman was willing to put out for Ashton. “Thirty-five,” Netherland countered.
The room got quiet, and Netherland refused to even think about where she would get thirty-five thousand dollars. Oh, well, she might as well kiss good-bye the money she had put aside to renovate the entrance to Sisters.
“Thirty-five thousand dollars!” Trask’s voice crowed. “Netherland Brooms has bid thirty-five thousand dollars for Colonel Sinclair. Will you make it thirty-six, Miss Meadows?”
Nervous tension filled the room as Angela stood glowering at Netherland. She looked up toward the stage at Ashton. “I want to bid fifty thousand dollars.”
Everyone, including Trask, was stunned. The room erupted in mass pandemonium once again. On stage it appeared that Ashton was taking it rather well and for a moment Netherland wondered if perhaps he wanted Angela instead of her since he seemed so calm about it. But then she noticed there appeared to be an odd expression on his face. He looked at her, and it seemed he was again reading her thoughts and was bothered by the uncertainty he read in them. He moved his lips in an intimate smile that was meant to assure her. It did. Any doubt she had resolved as he continued to look at her, smiling at her and silently beckoning her to believe in him.
Trask rapped the gavel on the podium for a full three minutes before regaining order in the room. “Miss Meadows has bid fifty thousand dollars, and all of it is destined for the Children Home Society. Is there a higher bid than fifty?”
Netherland swallowed deeply and was about to open her mouth to place a higher bid when