Start a War (Saint View Psychos #1)(4)

The same would be expected of me once Caleb was my husband.

The master of ceremonies for the night cleared his throat from behind a podium on the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen. Would everybody please take their seats? We’re about to start the main fundraising event of the evening—the charity auction.”

Sandra squealed from across the table, her plastic surgeon husband at her side. “This is always such fun.”

At the announcement, Caleb ended his conversation with the man on his other side, so I took the opportunity to lean into him.

“Are you going to bid on anything?” I asked in a whisper.

He sat back on his chair with a smug smile. “I might have my eye on a little something.”

My heart lit up in a flutter. Maybe Sandra was onto something. If Caleb bid on that ring tonight, I could be an engaged woman by the end of the weekend.

The MC clapped his hands. “Okay, I think that’s about enough time for everyone to get their credit cards out…”

There was a titter of laughter around the room, though I didn’t think it was really supposed to be a joke. That was the whole reason we were here after all.

“Let’s begin with the Titleist golf clubs.”

“These are mine,” Caleb muttered beneath his breath, his fingers curling around an auction paddle with his assigned number. He held it up in the air. “Twenty thousand dollars.”

I widened my eyes. Twenty thousand dollars…for golf clubs? He already had three sets.

The master of ceremonies peered into the audience and pointed in our direction. “Okay then! Mr. Caleb Black, opening things up with a very strong bid before I could even suggest one. Thank you, Caleb. Do I hear twenty-five thousand?”

The man next to Caleb raised his paddle. “Twenty-five thousand.”

Caleb laughed and elbowed his colleague before raising his paddle in the air once more. “Let’s just skip to the good stuff, shall we? Fifty thousand dollars.”

I tried to stifle the choking feeling that swelled my throat, but it just came out an uncomfortable cough.

Caleb glanced over at me, his forehead furrowed. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, taking a sip of water from my glass. “Of course. I’m sorry. My throat was a little dry.” I forced a smile across my face. “Congratulations on your golf clubs.”

He grinned, slinging an arm around the back of my chair as he leaned in close to me, his mouth hovering over my ear. “Truthfully? The clubs probably aren’t worth a hundred bucks. I’ll give them to Goodwill. But I couldn’t let Norman one-up me. I’d never hear the end of it.”

I snapped my mouth shut when I realized it was hanging open. The thought of spending that much money on something and then discarding it just as easily was crazy. I shifted uncomfortably in my dress. “It’s all for a good cause, I suppose. Right?”

Caleb shrugged.

An assistant came around and handed him some paperwork for his golf clubs and swiped his card through a reader. Some part of me waited for the big red cross and the declined ‘buzz.’ Of course, it didn’t come. The woman handed Caleb his receipt, and he thanked her with his charming grin.

The ring Sandra had thought Caleb might be considering for me was the next item up, and I held my breath while the master of ceremonies went into detail on the piece of jewelry. It really was beautiful. Close-up images of the ring sitting in a bed of black silk shone up on the screen behind the announcer’s podium, and there was more than one gasp from the women around the room.

The bids came in thick and fast from a roomful of men who seemed intent on buying their ladies something special.

Caleb didn’t raise his paddle once.

In fact, he seemed entirely uninterested now he had the item he’d come for.

Sandra shot me a pouty, sympathetic look when the auctioneer slapped his palm against the wooden lecturer’s podium and the gorgeous ring became the property of Mr. and Mrs. Kemp, an older couple at the back, for forty-seven thousand dollars.

Less than Caleb had paid for the golf clubs he didn’t even want.

Oh well, so much for that.

The ringing of a phone cut through the next round of bidding, and frowny faces all turned in our direction. I gaze around, adding my frown to the ones around me.

“Is that your phone?” Caleb whispered.

My face heated when I realized it was, and that I’d forgotten to put it on silent as we’d arrived. Red-cheeked, I took my cell from my purse, frantically trying to silence it.

But the name flashing on the screen froze me to the spot.

Axel.

Caleb glanced at me like I’d lost my mind. “Bethany-Melissa!” he hissed. “Can you shut that thing up?”

I still couldn’t move.

Caleb leaned over and peered at the phone. “Who’s Axel?”

Hearing his name out loud was enough to finally shock me out of my stupor. “No one. Never mind. Sorry.”

I silenced the ringer, pulling it away from Caleb and pushing back in my chair so fast he had to grab the back of it to keep it from falling over.

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

Without waiting to hear if Caleb said anything in reply, I spun on my heel and hurried for the safety of the ladies’ room, my phone still vibrating in my hand.

I never made it to the bathroom. The moment I was out of the ballroom and into the hall, I hit the green answer button. “Axel?”