Highest Bidder

16. Hunter

16

HUNTER

Jess bursts into my room just as I violently press the snooze on my alarm.

“Good morning!” Jess sings.

Scooting up onto my elbows, I level her with a hard look. “What?”

“Oh, I’m only wondering how last night went.” She plops down onto my bed, bouncing a few times. A smile spreads across my face, and she screeches. “I knew it. Ah”—she places the back of her hand over her forehead, acting as if she’ll faint. “Young love.”

I laugh as I nudge her with my feet. “Knock it off. Come on.” Pulling my sheets off, I let my feet hit the floor.

“Wait.” Putting her hand out to stop me, she looks frantically at me then at my phone. “That was only your first alarm.” Reaching up, she puts her wrist against my forehead. “Are you feeling okay? Hold on.” She grabs my chin, turning my face side to side. “You look like you got laid!” she says bluntly, making us both laugh.

A huge smile spreads across my face as I think about my talk with Myles. I’ve never talked so long on the phone before. I didn’t even think continuing a conversation for that long, without an awkward pause, was even possible. But the whole phone call felt easy. We shared things about ourselves, and I learned a lot about Myles’ life. The love he has for his mom is obvious. It’s the sweetest thing listening to him talk about her. It was adorable, and I couldn’t get enough. He made me feel like he wanted to know everything about me too.

“Whatever.” I bat her hand away. “I slept great on my new bed. That’s it.”

“Uh-huh. I’m not buying it.” She was obnoxious the whole time we talked. Peeking into my room, she’d check to see if I was still talking to him, do a little silent dance, and walk away with hearts in her eyes.

“Go. We need to get ready for work.”

Jumping up, she skips out of my room and hums a Taylor Swift song.

I fell asleep thinking about all the stories he told me. I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well. I’ve never had a man open up so much about himself before. All Steve wanted to do was talk about himself, but he never said anything real. Myles laid everything out for me. It should have scared me, but I only wanted more. As I got more comfortable, I asked as many questions as he did. By the end of our call, I wanted to melt into a puddle on my new bed.

Since I’d gotten some cash tips from the dealers, I went shopping and found a beautiful oak bed and nearly replaced my whole wardrobe with more Florida-appropriate outfits. Jess made me show off all my new outfits in a mock fashion show in the living room.

Toeing on my slippers, I walk into the kitchen where Jess stands in front of the stove, scrambling eggs for her breakfast.

“Are you driving today?”

She spins around to face me. “Yup.”

I walk around her, opening the pantry to grab a protein bar. My phone pings with a text message, and I dig it out of my pocket. I hold it up, seeing it’s from Myles, and I can’t stop the smile beaming across my face. I go to open it when Jess lunges for me, grabbing the phone right out of my hand. “Hey!”

“Who could this be?” She lets out a gasp, holding a hand to her chest. “Why, it’s Myles Johnson!” Jess drawls in the most horrible Southern Belle accent.

“Give me my phone!” I reach to snatch it away from her, but she spins around to avoid me. Unfortunately, she knows the passcode on my phone and opens it.

“Jess, I swear to god. I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Aww! He’s sweet,” she says after reading it. She finally stops moving around and hands me my phone. Grabbing it, I look at what he said.

Myles:

Last night was the most fun I’ve had in a while. Looking forward to seeing you today.

Smiling, my eyes return to my roommate, who is giving me a knowing look. My smile falls into a smirk. I take a big bite of my bar and bounce back to my room to get ready. Jess’ laughter follows me down the hall. Nickelback trails closely behind me and jumps up on my bed to take a nap. I ruffle his head and start getting ready for work.

I spray leave-in conditioner in my hair and put on some black jeans and a fitted green cotton shirt. Even though it’s hot as hell most days, I have a hard time not wearing pants to an auction. I let my hair do its normal crazy thing and do my minimal makeup. Looking into the mirror, I quickly grab my eyeshadow palette to add more and another coat of mascara. I finish the look with little brown booties and my brown leather purse. The weather is supposed to get into the record highs for the area, so I bring a ponytail to easily throw up my hair.

Jess and I ride together on Tuesdays because we work at the same auctions. We squeeze into her little Volkswagen red bug since it’s her day to drive. The sixty minute drive usually goes by quicker with the two of us chatting away, but today it feels longer than normal. I rest my elbow on the window and lazily watch the trees go by on the long country highway.

“Oh, for the love of god. Will you stop bouncing your knee?”

I startle at her loud voice and look at her, then down at my knee, which is still bouncing like the energizer bunny. “Oh.” I push my feet firmly into the floorboard, and nervously bite my thumb nail. “Sorry.” I look back out the window.

Jess sighs. “You have such good nail beds, and now you are going to ruin them.” She reaches over and grabs my hand to get it away from my mouth. “Talk to me. What’s going on in your head?”

A little smile plays across my lips. I’d be lost without Jess in my life. “I guess I’m just nervous that yesterday was a fluke, and he’s going to turn back into the jackass he was before.”

She nods and squeezes my hand. The auction sign peeks into view as she whips into the huge parking lot. Putting the car in park, she turns to look at me, grabbing both of my hands with hers now.

“I get where those feelings are coming from.” Tilting her head to the side, she presses her lips into a small smile. “But I have a hard time believing he would put that much time and effort in, just to ignore you today.” Releasing my hands, she reaches up to twirl a piece of my hair as if she’s thinking of more to add. “Well, it’s not unheard of because guys are stupid, but I don’t see it happening.” Patting my knee she says, “Now, are you ready?” I laugh and shove her before crawling out of her tiny car.

We walk past the guard, flashing our badges. My head goes all different directions, but I have to force myself to keep my steps as big as Jess’ so I’m not speed walking to get inside. Excitement takes over the closer we get to the front doors that are beyond the gated property .

Yesterday morning, I had thought Myles was a moody jerk.

By the afternoon, he was wearing on me. A lot.

Last night, I went to bed seeing Myles in a whole new light. When I think of him, I now see him as the guy that the girls were describing. I can’t help the way I’m feeling. I may be naive, but I have to find out if this is real.

The chaotic hustle and bustle sets in as dealers scramble to get their bidder numbers and a run list for whatever lane they want to buy on. Office workers are all behind their desks and counters ready to help as many people as possible. It’s always pure chaos before and after the sales.

Jess and I go in different directions once inside, her to an employee break room to clock in and me to my meeting. Walking through the large office, I spot Myles standing outside the doors to our meeting, holding something. My heart races. Biting my lower lip between my teeth, I walk toward him. He’s looking at his phone and doesn’t see me coming. His outfit is different today. He may have on the same hat and worn jeans as always, but his black polo shirt leaves more of his tattoos on display than ever before. It’s sexy, especially with his hat on backward. There has to be a story behind it and why he’s never replaced it. I make a mental note to ask him.

The closer I get, the more my anxiety spikes. He’s leaning against the wall, and I’m not sure what to do. Do I walk over to him and stand in front of him? Try to hug him? I’m going to make this more awkward than it should be. I take a deep breath and lean against the wall next to him, painting on a face of confidence.

“Morning.”

His head jerks toward me, and a smile slowly grows across his face. “You never texted back. I was worried you were blowing me off.”

My shoulders fall. “Crap. Well, I knew I was going to see you, and I had a lot on my mind.” I suck at texting or talking on the phone, but now I regret it. I missed out on an entire morning of talking to him. Okay, don’t be dramatic. I missed out on a few hours of texting him.

He grabs my chin and tilts it up, giving me no choice but to meet his gaze. “Hey, I’m messing with you. But it sucked not getting a morning text from the most beautiful girl. I’ll settle for a kiss instead,” he says, taking a step closer to me.

My eyes bug out of my head, and my jaw drops.

“Hey, I was only kidding.” He laughs awkwardly, raising his hands up, still holding a little brown bag and a drink. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

How embarrassing. I tuck my hair behind my ear and look down. I should have known. He caught me by surprise. I would be lying if my heart didn’t skip a beat, thinking about pressing my lips against his.

He leans over, bringing us a mere foot apart. “The meeting will start soon. I got you something. I took a guess at what your favorite food would be.”

He gives me a mocha frappuccino and a bag with a donut inside covered with chocolate frosting. I stare into the bag, unable to form words to thank him for such a sweet gesture.

“I would have given you a chocolate bar”—he gestures to the bag—“but I figured this would be better for breakfast.”

Is that an embarrassed smile? How did he know? I LOVE chocolate.

“How did you”—I stop and look down at the food. He leans over, ghosting his fingers over the side of my face and tucking a stray hair behind my ear. It makes my heart race again. My eyes meet his, and it feels like his body is folding over mine, creating our own little bubble. He’s so close, but also not close enough.

“You are always eating or drinking some kind of chocolate whenever I see you. So I took a guess.” An award-winning smile stretches across his face. “Was I right?”

I give him a nod and whisper, “Yes.” I never get embarrassed, but he has a way of bringing new feelings out of me. I’m confused, but I like him. Well, I like this side of him he’s been showing me, which is polar opposite from the guy he was at first. I feel like I can open up to him without judgment. That thought alone scares me, but Myles has a way of getting past all my defenses. “Thank you.”

“No problem. You ready to go in?”

I nod and walk around him through the doors and find an open spot in the meeting next to JT. He looks at me with a knowing smile, and I force my gaze to the front of the room.

My senses heighten as energy flows through me, and I know Myles is standing right next to me without even looking. The entire left side of my body is on alert, eagerly awaiting his touch. A magnetic energy pulsing through me, begging me to step closer. I take a deep breath to focus, but instead, his woodsy scent invades my senses. I jump when Griffin’s booming voice echoes through the room, grabbing my attention.

Everything Griffin says is repetitive from week to week, so it’s not enough for me to ignore Myles when he shifts closer to me. I feel his arm graze against mine. I shift back and forth on my feet when his breath caresses my ear, placing his hand on my lower back, causing that area to be the focal point of ignited fire. It reminds me of a hot tub. It’s hot, but you can relax into it, enjoying every bit of the tingling.

“You look beautiful today,” he whispers.

My eyes flicker over to look at him. I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. I’m left standing there speechless. I clutch my hands in front of me so I have something else to focus on. What is up with me? I’ve never gotten butterflies from a guy before.

JT leans over into our space. “Thanks, darlin',” he whispers in Myles’ direction. “I just got my hair done.”

I clamp a hand over my mouth to stop the laughter from bursting out of me. I look over at Myles, and he’s just shaking his head while standing back to his full height. But I can see the small smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Alright,” Griffin says, snapping me back to reality. “Let’s have a good sale.”

As soon as the lane is over, Jess looks at me with the biggest smile. “Okay, you two could not keep your eyes off each other. What is going on? I think James picked up on it. I mean, he would be blind not to,” she says, only making my heart sink.

We sold a bunch of cars. Nothing was different, except Myles would turn and make eye contact with me every chance he got. I swear, he looked at me more than the dealers. But he didn’t miss a bid. We always work together flawlessly. But I don’t want this to cause any problems with dealers, and I don’t want James to have any negative feelings because we didn’t work out. I would like to remain cordial, so I don’t want to rub whatever this is with Myles in his face.

“James and I haven’t talked since our date. After the movie, we both knew there wouldn’t be another date. He didn’t want to admit it, but it wasn’t working. I don’t think he will have an opinion on Myles, especially since we’re only talking .” At least, I’m hoping he won’t care. I know he had stronger feelings than I did, but that date was a disaster. I’m sure he changed his mind, especially since I haven’t received a text from him in days. He also didn’t talk to me this morning, only giving me a friendly wave.

“Girl, talking isn’t the only thing you are doing,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows.

I purse my lips and give her my sassiest look. “Yes, Jess. That’s it.” I pause and my face turns into a small smile. “At least for now.” She grabs my arms and squeals, making me laugh while walking off the auction block. I notice Myles going over to give Aaron a break on JT’s lane. I love watching him up there. He is so smooth. Out of the corner of my eye, I see James walking over to me.

“Hey, Hunter.”

“Hey, James. You got a lot of good cars today,” I say, readjusting my purse on my shoulder.

“Yeah, I did. I wanted to say that I’m sorry about what I said about cattle auctions. I was wrong. I’m happy you’re finding your place here.”

James is a nice guy. I know it won’t be long until he sweeps a girl off her feet. It just won’t be me.

“Thank you. That means a lot. I’d like to remain friends if that’s alright with you?”

His shoulders relax, and he exhales. “Yes. I’d like that.”

“Great. I’ll see you later, then?”

He nods, and I lightly touch his forearm and walk around him to where Jess stepped away to give us some privacy. Before walking by, I wave to JT, and he gives me a nod with his usual easygoing smile. I look up at Myles, but his back is to me, facing the dealer by the open garage door.

Jess and I walk inside the office, and I wave to a few dealers as we go. She cuts through a side door to clock out so we can go to the next auction, and I find my way to the front door to wait for her like I usually do. My phone pings with a text message. Fishing it out of my purse, I see Myles’ name light up on the screen, and I swear my heart does a flip.

Myles:

Hey, don’t leave yet. I want to ask you something.

Hunter:

Okay. I’m by the front door .

I look up and see Jess walking over, saying bye to a few office workers on her way. She is wearing a brightly colored floral skirt and a purple shirt. There is no missing her. The girl was born to stand out.

“Ready?” she asks.

“Myles asked me to wait for him. He said he needed to ask me something. Can I meet you at your car in a minute?”

Her face lights up. “Of course! Can’t wait to see what he says.” She winks and walks out the door, talking to the security officer who’s standing there.

I roll my eyes and pull out my phone to text my dad while I wait.

Hunter:

Hey, Dad. Yesterday, I had my first day at a cattle auction. It was great. It made me miss you. Love you.

My phone pings almost immediately. He’s always quick to respond.

Dad:

That’s my girl! Good job, sweetie. I’m proud of you. Love you too. Your mom wants to know when you can come home for a visit.

It’s amazing how my dad and I have a good relationship. But then my mom uses him to talk to me because our relationship is nonexistent. It’s sad, but it’s all I’ve ever known. I wish she could be proud of me. I just don’t want her approval enough to do what she wants. I’m not willing to marry someone or be someone who goes to the country club all the time. I know she loves her lifestyle, but it’s not one I’ve ever wanted. I tuck my phone back inside my pocket. I’m not ready to give him an answer right now.

“Hey.”

I look up excitedly at the sound of his familiar voice. Myles walks a few more steps before he is standing in front of me. He has a twinkle in his eye, making it hard to look away.

“Can I walk you out?” Myles gestures toward the door.

I cock my head at him. “That’s what you wanted to ask me?”

“No.” He smiles and opens the front door, his other hand gently splaying across my back, sending goosebumps across my body. He doesn’t remove his hand while we walk outside.

“I wanted to ask if you would go to lunch with me before the next sale?” He looks down at me and his blue eyes meet mine.

“Oh. Well, I rode with Jess.”

“So ride with me,” he says quickly. Gently cradling my elbow he stops walking, bringing us to a stop so he can look at me while talking. “Please?”

His eyes are begging me to say yes.

“Okay. But Jess will probably go all crazy roommate on your ass when I tell her.” I laugh, but I’m not kidding either. He chuckles, and I can’t help looking at him. His smile is vibrant.

He squeezes my elbow. “I’m not worried.”

He steps a little closer and tilts my chin up to look at his face. The way he’s looking at me, makes me feel it deep down in my toes. It makes me want to melt into him. Would he think it’s weird or too soon if I take another step forward and wrap my arms around his waist? Sometimes you yearn for a hug. I’ve only ever wanted hugs from my dad. But I’d love to be wrapped up in Myles’ arms.

I clear my throat. “Um. Okay.” I look around before meeting his gaze again. “I’ll text her to let her know.” Getting my phone out, I send her a quick text. I’m about to put it away when it starts ringing. Seeing Jess’ name on the screen only makes me chuckle. Of course, she’s calling me. “Hey, Jess.”

“OH, MY GOD! You’re going with him?” She screeches, making me cringe and pull the phone a little further from my ear. My eyes trail up to meet his again, only to find him smirking. I know he heard her. It would surprise me if people within a mile radius didn’t.

“Yes. I’ll see you at the next sale, okay?”

“You have to tell me every—” Myles wraps his fingers over mine and brings the phone to his ear.

“Hey, Jess,” he drawls.

I hear some squeaking coming from the phone at his ear.

“Okay, no alcohol before 5 p.m.” He nods. “Yes, I’ll have her in Orlando for the next auction.” He winks at me. “Got it.”

The squeaking continues, and I can’t help but bite my lower lip. I liked how he wasn’t afraid to get the third degree from my best friend. Myles immediately zeros in on my mouth, and his eyes look like they are a shade darker than usual.

“Bye, Jess.”

He ends the call without taking his eyes off my mouth and slowly brings his fingers up. I have to keep myself from making a sound when he touches my lip and pulls it free from my teeth.

“How about we go get some Italian?” His voice is gravelly.

“Okay.” My voice cracks when I answer. His eyes are still completely focused on mine, and I can’t seem to stop myself from slowly leaning closer to him.

“See you two at the next sale,” Aaron calls out, making us take a step back and look at him.

“Yeah. See ya.” Myles slides his hands into his pockets.

I let out a breath and blink a few times. We got so close to kissing. Where is my head? I never had the urge to kiss James. Even with Steve, it took a while, but he finally went for it without asking. Honestly, it was like kissing a fish. It felt like I was drowning, and I didn’t want to do it again.

“Come on, I’m parked this way.” He rubs the back of his neck, taking a few steps backward. He slows his pace to match mine. His arm makes slight contact with mine, and the goosebumps appear .

He opens my door for me and reaches his hand out because his lifted truck makes it difficult to hop in.

“You ready?” he asks.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because this is where everything changes for us.” He leans in, putting one hand on the roof and the other on the door. His body towers over the space, pressing against me in the seat. I look at him, not shying away from the close proximity.

I cross my arms over my chest. “You seem sure of yourself.”

“Oh, I am.” He pauses and tucks some of my hair behind my ear, making my eyes flutter. “Plus, I’ve been waiting all morning to get you alone.”

He slowly leans over and kisses my cheek with his soft lips, and my face grows hot.

“Let’s go, Hershey,” he whispers, stepping away to shut my door.

I release a long exhale. I’ve never liked pet names, but I like that he gave me one. Something has awakened inside me, and I’m not sure what to do with this new feeling.

I watch him as he struts around the front of the truck and gets in. Starting the truck, he takes a peek at me and smirks.

“What?”

“Oh, I’m wondering how long it’s going to take you to realize you like me. Because Hershey”—he leans across the seat, his breath tickling me when he says,—“It’s written all over your face.”

My jaw hits the floorboard. I’m shocked at how forward he is. He’s not holding back. I straighten myself in the seat and look out the windshield.

“Is not,” I murmur.

“Okay.” He doesn’t move. He’s still leaning over in my space. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, but I want to point one thing out. ”

I wait for him to continue, but he doesn’t. I look over at him and raise my eyebrows, making him chuckle.

“You could have gone with Jess, but you agreed to come with me. There’s no need for you to put up your barriers now.” He sits up and faces forward, putting the truck in reverse to back out of the parking space. “So should we get some food before it’s too late?”

“Waiting on you,” I tease.

He chuckles and shakes his head. “I didn’t quite realize the mouth you have on you.” He arches a brow and laughs when he sees me drilling glare holes right into his head.

“Oh. You knew. Don’t even try to act like you didn’t. Now I’m hungry. Can we go already?” I motion toward the road to get him to drive.

“Yes, ma’am.”