I tugged at my neck. The collar on the tuxedo hadn’t gotten any looser as the night wore on, and I had been here longer than I intended. I hadn’t expect to stay for the entire concert, or wait in line for an autograph. And I sure as hell hadn’t planned on sticking around for a country girl to make a fundraising speech, but here I was, doing everything Luke Canton didn’t do.

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t been around my share of beautiful women, because I’d spent time with more than would fill a swimsuit catalog. Lexi Wilde was beautiful, but there was something else about her that got under my skin. That innocent act of hers. That sweeter than honey voice. The way she made everyone around her feel as if they mattered more to her than anything else in the world.

The cynical side of me told me that it was just that—an act. But I couldn’t ignore the curiosity she sparked. I didn’t usually go for the good girl.

I leaned against the wall, watching as she read off the auction items the mayor handed to her. She seemed happy on stage. It fit her. She was a natural performer. The purity in those baby blue eyes almost made me forget what kind of man I was. I wondered if she had that affect on all men.

Did they look at her and think they had a chance? Did they think she was so sweet she could forgive their darkest secrets? Did they hear her voice and feel it? Feel the strength she had to let a man forgive himself? For one night, for one show did they feel like they actually deserved to be with a woman as good as Lexi Wilde?

“All right ladies and gentlemen, I have the winner of the two pedigree horses,” Lexi announced. There was a bright smile on her face as she swept her hair off her shoulders.

I remembered the sassy sex kitten with the V-cut dress and wondered if she were still here in the crowd. I had thrown her number in the trash.

“Can I get a drum roll?” She paused. “And the highest bidder is Mr. Luke Canton.” The spotlight swung in my direction and the crowd clapped. I squinted under the lights and threw a wave to the donors. What was I going to do with horses? I guessed I finally had a use for the empty stables at the ranch.

Lexi seemed pleased I had won. I waited while she ran through the list of other items. The crowd was dwindling and I thought about sneaking out the back. What was holding me here? I needed to leave. I needed to forget that for a few songs this girl had hypnotized me like a siren. I walked toward the table to make my payment for the horses and work out the details on their delivery.

Then Lexi cleared her throat and asked the drummer to give her a beat. “Austin, you have been so generous tonight. And what you’ve done for these children—well, really there aren’t words to express what it means to their families. You’ve touched lives. This money is going to make a difference.” She paused. “But I think we can do even better.” She eyed the crowd, smiling widely. “I want this to be the best auction event this side of the Rio Grade. What do you say?”

The crowd clapped, but they looked at each other trying to figure out what she meant. It was late and most of them had emptied their pockets.

“So, I’m going to throw in a personal Lexi Wilde one-of-a-kind item.”

Suddenly, she had my attention in a new way. I’d already paid a thousand dollars for an autograph. And that was just so I could talk to her and give her my number, but now it sounded as if she raised the stakes.

She spun on her heels, her eyes locked on mine. She held the mic to her pink velvety lips. “For one night, you can have your very own private Alexa Wilde concert.” She waggled her eyebrows.

The men started hollering. Half of them had been asleep until this moment, but with a chance to spend time alone with the star their eyes and checkbooks were wide open.

I looked around the room at my competition, because that’s what they were. This was no different than Sunday afternoon. I stared at the opposition, daring them to try to take me out. Like hell I was going to let one of them outbid me for a date with this girl.

The mayor quickly grabbed the mic from Lexi. She didn’t look like the type of woman who handled unscripted events well. I wondered why in the hell she was mayor of this city.

“Well, this is a surprise. Thank you, Miss. Wilde. I’d say this would be a treat for anyone. A concert? This is beyond generous. Really, I have no words. I’m not even sure where to start the bidding.”

She didn’t have notes on the valuation of this particular item, and I wasn’t sure what kind of price tag to put on it either. A private concert. To be the only one Lexi sang to, even if it was only one song was the kind of experience that could change a man’s soul.

A man in the front row with a red mustache raised his hand. “Five thousand.”

The mayor laughed nervously. “I guess we’re starting the bidding at five thousand.”

I inhaled sharply. I knew how these things went. I couldn’t jump in right away, I’d only drive up the price and show my hand. Years of gambling taught me how to keep my poker face and my bidding hand calm.

“Six thousand!” a short guy near the bar shouted from a barstool. The men were jumping at the chance for a date with her. I saw a few pull out their phones to check their account balances.

That was one thing I never had to worry about. Linc balanced my funds almost daily. I knew exactly how much money I had to work with.

“Sixty-five hundred,” another man bellowed.

The numbers kept rising. Lexi stood smiling and walking back and forth across the stage. It was amazing how someone coated in virtue could generate a bidding war between men. The pissing contest was heating up. The bids were up to twenty thousand dollars. Fuck.

Lexi looked at me, batting her long eyelashes. She was baiting me. Trying to lure me in. She wanted my bid. Part of me wondered if she had orchestrated this entire sham of a donation for my benefit. I didn’t give a shit if it was manipulation or innocence. This was a contest. This was a game, and I was going to win her.

“Twenty-one thousand.” I raised my hand from the corner.

There was a man on the other side of the room wearing an expensive tuxedo. He called to the mayor, “Twenty-two.”

I gritted my teeth. “Twenty-three.”

I saw him take a sip of champagne before calling out his bid for twenty-four thousand dollars.

There was a hush over the crowd. Their heads swiveled toward me. I could cut my losses now. She had my number. This wasn’t the only way I could see her. But as I stared at the man in his crisp tux and looked at that girl on the stage I felt the swell of competition in my chest. I wasn’t going to lose to him. I wasn’t going to lose in front of everyone.

“Twenty-five thousand,” I announced over the crowd’s head.

There was an audible gasp as the spotlight swung back to me. I tried not to squint this time. I wanted them to see the confidence in my eyes. The look of a winner.

The mayor clutched the microphone. “Twenty-five thousand? Do I have any higher bids?” There was a grumbling from the men around me. Most had spent their money on trips and overpriced jewelry for their wives. I puffed my chest forward. “Going once. Going twice…”

I couldn’t tell if she was hoping the high-dollar suit would swoop in and save Lexi from my clutches. She drew out the count.

“Last chance for a private Lexi Wilde concert.” She scanned the audience. “The winner is Mr. Luke Canton of the Austin Warriors.” She put her hands together and the donors followed her lead. “I’d say this is a night of surprises.”

I was used to attention on the field, but this was ridiculous. I put my hands up to quiet the applause. I nodded at them. I heard a few cat calls as Lexi walked across the stage.

“Let’s tell our star quarterback how much we appreciate him,” Lexi shouted into the mic, egging on the crowd.

She was making it worse. “All right. All right.” I tried to step away from the beam of light. I’d rather do a dance in the end zone than have this kind of attention.

Eventually the band started to play and Lexi waved to everyone one last time before she exited the back of the stage in a swirl of smoke. The lights came on and the patrons moved to the front doors and waited for the valets to retrieve their cars.

I hung back, waiting for the singer behind the stage.

She ducked her head around the corner. “Hey, there.”

I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Quite a show you put on.”

She ran her teeth over her bottom lip. “Quite a generous donation you made.”

“Is that what you call it?” I stepped closer.

“For someone who just won a private concert by Lexi Wilde you don’t sound very excited,” she teased.

“Oh, believe me. I’m excited.” The crew bustled around us, breaking down the set and packing up the band’s instruments.

“Lex!” Her manager appeared. “What the hell—” He stopped when he saw me.

“Can you believe how much money we raised, Jake?” she asked. “And so generous of Luke, don’t you think?”

He looked me over. I knew what he thought. He didn’t want me near her. She was his country princess. His star to mold and manage. I got it. But like everything else, I didn’t give a shit what this guy thought. He stood between me and what I wanted.

“Extremely generous.” His lips pressed together. “I think we’re going to have to coordinate with Mr. Canton’s people and schedule the concert for later in the year. I’ll have our people call your people and we’ll set it up.”

“That’s okay.” I slapped him on the back, knocking him from where he was standing. “I think Lexi and I can work out the details.”

“That’s not how it works,” he snorted. “She’s booked solid through the holidays.”

I towered over him. “I just paid twenty-five thousand dollars for a concert. It’s exactly how it’s going to work.”

Jake straightened his tie and turned away. It was obvious there was something he was dying to spit out, but I didn’t know if it was my size or the look on my face that stopped him.

“Okay, that’s never happened before.” Lexi stood with her hands on her hips.

“What’s that?”

“Jake ran out of here speechless.” She held her hand over her mouth and laughed.

“Why is that guy your manager?” I couldn’t help but ask, even though it was none of my damn business.

“It’s complicated,” she answered.

I felt as if I had crossed a line. I didn’t like complicated or long stories. I didn’t usually stick around for either.

“Doesn’t matter. He’s gone. How about that drink?”

“That’s how you want to spend your twenty-five thousand?” she asked.

“Oh, no no.” I shook my head.

“What?”

“I asked you out for drinks before the auction. I have two dates with you.” I studied the V of her throat. I swore her pulse was beating faster.

“Two?”

“Mmmhmm.” I wasn’t letting her out of this.

“You don’t think it’s too late tonight? For the drinks, I mean.”

I laughed. “Where I’m from it’s never too late.”

“And where are you from, Luke?”

I bent toward her, lowering my lips to her ear. “Texas.”

“Is that supposed to impress me?”

Everyone had cleared out behind the stage. She was the last one from her crew. All I could think about was pressing her against the wall and letting my hands have free reign over her. I had never wanted to feel a woman’s lips under mine like this before. I could almost taste them. How soft they would be. The little purring sounds she would make.

I moved closer. “It should.”

“I’m from Tennessee. I guess it doesn’t have the same meaning.”

My hand flattened against the wall over her shoulder. “No it sure doesn’t. Everything’s bigger in Texas.”

I moved in to drag her lips under mine when we both jumped.

“What the hell?” We looked up.

The symphony members had returned to collect their instruments and the cellist had dropped his case.

I cleared my throat and made some space for us to breathe. Lexi’s eyes hadn’t left my mouth.

I slipped my arm around her waist, anticipating her falling off-balance. I inhaled her perfume and her shampoo. God, she even smelled like heaven. I let her go once she was steady again.

Everything about this scenario screamed for me to take her. To find a dark corner and kiss the hell out of this girl. Damn the band or the straggling guests. I could have wrapped her in my arms so fast and felt her heart beat out of her chest. But there was something about Lexi that made me want more than a quickie in the closet. I wanted to savor this woman. Devour her. Drink in every part of her. And I wanted to take my time doing it.

“I guess we’re lucky that didn’t land on our heads.” She giggled. “Maybe this isn’t the best place to be.”

“Maybe not.” I let my fingers fall from her waist.

“And I need to get back to the hotel and change.”

“See you at my place?” I asked.

She bit her lower lip. I took that as a yes and strolled out of the hospital, loosening my tie and throwing my jacket over my shoulder. This night was finally about to get good.