Until May (Until Her/Him #11)(44)

“I never thought I’d say I’d rather hear my mother hint about marriage and having more grandkids, but here we are.”

I chuckle at that, and the rage I’m feeling simmers down to a rolling boil, hearing her make a joke rather than get upset.

“May?” A large, round man with a wide smile, wearing a suit and cowboy hat, blocks our path, and I recognize him immediately as Herbert Marshal. Herbert is not only one of the richest men in Tennessee, but he also owns one of the biggest privately owned banks around. The bank suggested every time a new homebuyer walks into one of Bender and Sons’ offices, because the interest rates are so low and the approval rate is so high.

“Herbert,” May greets him with a beaming smile. “It’s so nice to see you.”

“What are you doing here, kid?” he asks, giving her a long, warm hug. “Is your dad around?” He lets her go and scans the room.

“No.” She laughs, taking a step back from him and hooking her arm through mine. “He’s home with Mom. I’m here with Aiden.”

“Aiden.” His eyes lock with mine. “You’re Brice’s boy, right?”

“I am.” I shake his hand as he looks between May and me.

“Where are you two sitting?” he asks when the lights dim even further.

“We’re looking for seats now,” May tells him, then adds, “I wasn’t exactly on the guest list, so we need to find a table.”

“You crashed this party, kid?” He roars with laughter.

“I didn’t crash it. Aiden invited me.” She rolls her eyes at him.

“Well, come on. You two can sit at my table. I paid for a few of the other seats at mine, since I didn’t want to be surrounded by men talking about how much money they have all night.” He starts to walk away, leaving us no choice but to follow. When we reach his table, I pull out a chair for May and wait for her to take a seat before I sit next to her.

“So tell me, are you two merging Bender and Mayson Constructions?” he asks with a grin while taking off his hat and placing it on the empty seat next to him.

“No.” May glares good-naturedly in his direction. “And we just started dating, so there will be no talk of merging anything, weddings, or babies tonight,” she tells him as I take her hand and bring it to my thigh careful of her stitches.

“I take it your mama has already made her desires known,” he says as the waitstaff begins placing salads in front of us.

“You know it never takes her long to bring up her two favorite topics.”

“What’s your dad say about you two dating?”

“He hasn’t met Aiden yet.” She picks up her fork with her free hand.

“He hasn’t met him?” He frowns at her.

“Not yet. Mom only met him this evening, because she came over with my sisters to help me get ready for tonight.”

“That meeting should be interesting.” He pushes his salad to the center of the table, apparently uninterested in eating it.

“What do you mean?” she asks, and he looks at me.

“You haven’t explained to her that Bender and Sons is Mayson Construction’s biggest rival?”

“It’s never come up in conversation.” I reach under the table and cover her hand with mine when she tries to pull it away. “And I don’t work for Bender and Sons.”

“Buddy, you’ve been running your father’s company since his stroke. How on God’s green earth do you not work for Bender and Sons?”

“I’m helping out temporarily,” I tell him, then look toward the stage when he does.

“Hi, everyone,” my sister says with a mic in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. “On behalf of my family and I, I want to thank you all for joining us this evening. It means a lot to us that you’ve all shown up to support a cause dear to my dad’s heart, even though he couldn’t be here with us.” Bridgett looks through the crowd. “This evening, we have lots of amazing stuff for you all to bid on, and please remember every single dollar will be donated to the children’s hospital, so don’t be stingy.”

Everyone laughs.

“I thought we should start out the night with something fun.” Her eyes lock with mine. “So, first up this evening is a date with my brother, who is apparently one of Tennessee’s most eligible bachelors.” Bridgett giggles when her husband hoots, and the entire room erupts in laughter.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I growl, and May’s fingers dig into my thigh when I start to stand.

“We’ll start off the bidding at one dollar.” A bright light suddenly blinds me. “Though I know he’s worth more than that. He is a Bender after all.”

Everyone laughs again.

“Five hundred dollars,” a woman sitting at the table my mother is at calls out.

“One thousand,” another one yells.

“Fifteen hundred,” the first woman shouts.

“Three thousand,” a different woman offers.

“Ten thousand,” May declares, raising her hand.

“Well shit,” Herbert mutters.

“Babe,” I growl and try to catch her eye to tell her to drop her hand, but she doesn’t even acknowledge me.