Chapter Twenty-Six
No fucking way.
Was the guy from Santa Barbara doing a full-on strip tease?
He was gyrating. He was grinding. He was getting the ladies all worked up.
Travis hit his palm against his forehead from backstage at the ballroom of the hotel in San Francisco hosting the California Bachelor Fireman’s Auction. Damn, he was glad he wasn’t gunning for victory anyway, because this was not going to be an easy one tonight with that tough act to follow.
Travis peered around the heavy red velvet curtain to see the bleached blond emcee hooting and hollering as the firefighter on stage tossed his T-shirt into the audience then teased them by undoing the top snap on his pants. The crowd, mostly women, cheered and clapped.
The man was going to clean up big time. He stroked his thumbs along the suspenders, as if he were going to take those off too. Then he turned around, and smacked his own ass, then did the back-it-up move.
The emcee wiped her hand across her brow and brought the mic to her lips. “Whew. Is it hot in here or what? Let’s give it up for Mike McNulty from Santa Barbara. I might even need to see what I brought in my wallet, because I’d like to take that home,” she said, and pointed to Mike, who preened once more for the audience as he pretended he was about to unzip his pants.
Travis glanced at his dog, who waited dutifully by his feet. His sister was by his side; she’d keep an eye on the pooch once Travis was introduced. Nothing mattered to him but Cara, and he’d caught a brief glimpse of her earlier in the back row, next to her sister. She’d kept her head down, but he’d spotted her right away, those red streaks in her hair visible from across the crowd. She didn’t need colorful highlights for him to find her. He could find her anywhere because she was all he saw. She was all he’d ever wanted to see, and he was amazed at how stupid he’d been to miss what was right under his nose all along.
After several minutes of heated bidding, a tattooed brunette in the front row bid eight hundred dollars and won rights to take Mike McNulty home for the evening.
“And now, we have our second to last man of the night. Hailing from the Hidden Oaks fire department—” The blonde stopped and held up a hand. “Wait. Hidden Oaks. As in home of the bestselling calendar with the hottest men in all the country? Oh fan me now, ladies. Fan me now.”
The blonde pretended she was about to faint, and the crowd laughed. “I hear the pickings are getting slimmer up there though. The men of Hidden Oaks have been falling like flies. Evidently, something is in the water in that town because the star of the calendar just got married yesterday.”
The crowd booed.
“I know. Can you believe it? And I hear the fire chief is off the market too. Some lucky lady nabbed him last year, and he’ll be saying ‘I do’ any day.”
Another round of sad boos. Megan pretended to hiss at the audience. Travis patted her back. “They’re all jealous of you,” he whispered.
“But have no fear,” the emcee said, returning to a perky voice as she urged the crowd to cheer. “Because there are still plenty of single, bachelor firemen in Hidden Oaks, and we have a top-notch competitor here tonight. Allow me to bring out one of California’s finest volunteer firemen, Travis Jansen from Hidden Oaks.”
Travis strutted onstage and shot the crowd his best sexy, seductive smile. The women cheered, but the smile was for one woman. The one in the back row who wouldn’t look at him. He didn’t let that deter him though. He was on a mission to prove himself to her.
“Travis turns thirty this summer, he’s been with the department for nine years, and he’s a professional poker player on the side,” the emcee said, reading off the card as she recited Travis’s “measurements” like he was a contestant in a beauty pageant. He parked his hands on his hips. He wore his turnouts, as most of the contestants did, because looking the part was vital, and that included the goods under the shirt.
“How about it? Can we see what’s underneath that T-shirt?” she said.
“Absolutely,” he said, quickly complying with the request as he stripped off his blue T-shirt and tossed it to the audience.
Cheers greeted him, and he wished that Cara were one of the women making some noise. But as his eyes roamed the room, he saw she wasn’t. She kept her arms crossed over her chest and her lips fixed in a straight line.
“Travis enjoys football, laughing, the company of a good woman, and his dog. Oh,” the emcee said, as if she’d discovered something delicious. “Who doesn’t love a dog!” She turned to Travis. “And I hear you might even have brought this dog with you tonight.”
“I did. Would you like to meet my puppy?”
“A puppy!” The emcee cheered, then egged on the crowd. “I do, I do, I do. I might even have to bid on you, too.”
Travis turned to lock eyes with Megan off stage, then his little dog. “C’mere, Henry.”
That was all the canine needed to hear. He knew his commands, and he followed them to the letter. The dog ran across the stage, doing the one thing Cara had trained him to do.
Perfectly.
Like a champion.
He wasn’t distracted by the emcee oohing and ahhing. He didn’t get scared by the crowds. He didn’t let the noise frighten him away. He trotted, and when he reached him, Travis gave the command for the special trick they’d planned.
Travis patted his chest. “Jump.”
On cue, Henry leapt high in the air. Travis held out his arms and caught the dog, bringing him close to his chest. He turned to the audience, who cheered for the fireman and his dog. Just as he had hoped. Even Cara had a smile on her beautiful face.
“Let the bidding begin for man and dog. What do we have?”
A brunette in a slinky dress raised her hand and offered five hundred dollars.
But then, Smith stood up. He raised his hand. “One thousand.”
The emcee startled, surprised to hear a masculine voice bidding on Travis. She quickly composed herself. “Okay, we’ve got one thousand from the gentleman over there. Anyone else?”
Jackson stood up. “Two thousand,” he shouted above the crowd.
“And we have two thousand,” the emcee said, pointing to Travis’s other buddy from the department.
A redhead in jeans and a tight top shot her hand in the air. “I’d like to bid twenty-one hundred. But do I even have the right equipment?” She pointed to her breasts, and the women around her laughed.
The emcee flashed a wide smile to the woman. “Now, now. We don’t issue any rules for our contestants on likes and dislikes. Any bachelor fireman is free to get on stage. It’s all the buyer’s risk. Are you bidding, sweetheart?”
The redhead nodded. “I’ll take my chances. I like the looks of him without his shirt on. I’d like to check out his hose.”
Travis reined in a smirk. He’d heard that line before. They all had.
“And we have twenty-one hundred. Anyone else?” the emcee asked.
Becker rose. “Three thousand. Let’s take this man off the market.”
The emcee blinked and nearly stuttered as she spoke. “Three thousand. Wow. That is our highest bid so far.”
“I can go higher,” Becker offered, and Travis laughed. Because Becker was playing with the house’s money—Travis’s money, to be precise. He had dipped into his savings, liquidating plenty of it. Which meant he’d be operating without much of a safety net. He was taking a risk without any assurances. But that’s what made certain risks worthwhile—the reward. He had no guarantee, but Cara was worth taking a chance for. She was the best reward there could ever be.
“Um,” the emcee said, clearly thrown by the odd turn of events. “Does anyone else want to bid on Travis Jansen?”
There were whispers in the crowd, but Travis doubted anyone was trying to beat Becker’s number. It was simply too high. That was the point.
“Look. He’s just not available. If I have to bid more, I will,” Becker said, his deep voice booming across the room.
Travis locked eyes with Cara in the back of the ballroom and she seemed as surprised as the emcee. With Henry in his arms, Travis reached for the mic. “May I?” he whispered to the blonde.
“Have at it,” she said.
He took the mic, and even though he’d practiced what to say and rehearsed the words in front of his mirror, he was still flying solo right now. Because he was about to do the one thing he swore he’d never do. Put his heart on the line. A flurry of nerves skittered through his body, and he had no choice but to ignore them.
“The man’s right. I’m off the market. Or at least, I’d very much like to be. Because there’s a woman who has my heart, only she doesn’t know it yet. So tonight, I am telling her. I want her to know that I don’t want anyone else bidding on me. I won’t take a chance of going home with anyone but her, so I asked my buddies to take me out of the running. Because I am out of the running as far as I’m concerned.” He kept his gaze focused on Cara, even across the throngs of people stuffed into the raucous ballroom. “I’ve been out of the running for a long, long time. The problem is, it took me losing her to realize that I needed her. And that I was in love with her,” he said, and there were no more nerves. They were all gone. Because no matter what she said, no matter how she responded, he simply had to tell her. He had to give her his heart, because no one else could possibly ever have it. “She went out on a limb for me, so I’m going out on a limb for her right here. And I’m hoping that she still feels the same, and that she’ll have me.”
He walked down the three steps from the stage and cut through the crowd, his heart beating faster and faster still when Cara met his eyes. A tear streaked down her cheek as he neared her. The other women in the crowd placed their hands on their hearts, cheering him on as he crossed the distance to the woman he’d fallen in love with. When he reached her, he stood before her and brushed his free hand over her cheek. She trembled and couldn’t contain a smile.
“I couldn’t get you out of my system either, because you’ve always been here,” he said, tapping his chest, right next to where he held the small dog. “I just didn’t know it, because I’ve never been in love before. I had no clue what I was feeling because it was so foreign and so unusual and something I vowed I didn’t want. But the truth is, I was feeling it all along for you. I always have. And I’m truly sorry for the completely stupid things I said last night. I want to go all in with you. Only you, always you, if you’ll have me.”
She didn’t answer immediately. She raised her chin high and crossed her arms. His heart plummeted as she seemed to close herself off. But her eyes were lit up and sparkling, so he held on to a kernel of hope that he hadn’t lost her.
“Are you sure?” Her voice was soft and just for him.
He furrowed his brow. “Am I sure?”
She nodded. “Yes. I want to know if you’re certain. I want to know if you’re going to freak out again over doing something like this. Like having a relationship.”
“Cara, I can’t imagine living without you. I don’t ever want to lose you again.”
“So you’re in it for good now?”
He nodded vigorously. She was putting him through his paces, and he was more than willing to be tested. “I’m crazy for you and always have been. But more than that, I am madly in love with you and can’t stand the thought of not having you by my side.”
“You just want my eggplant Parmesan, don’t you?” she said, her lips curving up in a wild grin.
He laughed as that kernel of hope expanded. “I do, but not as much as I want you.”
“You can have both,” she said, her eyes shining brightly as she uncrossed her arms and stepped closer.
“Good. Now, can I kiss you in front of everyone so that it’s all official that I’m not a bachelor fireman anymore?”
“You are so not a bachelor fireman,” she said, grabbing the waistband of his pants and tugging him close. Possessively. “You are all mine.”
“That’s all I want to be.”
Then he kissed her.
“I was right, ladies and gentlemen. There’s something in the water in Hidden Oaks,” the emcee said. “I’m moving there, and I’ll be picking through whoever remains at that department, because it seems that there’s one less bachelor fireman in that town.”
When Travis broke the kiss, he took Cara’s hand and walked out the door with his woman and his dog.