Unexpected Eva (Triple Trouble #3)(5)

Eva

Knox’s eye color matches his name.

Black.

And they’re looking right at me.

He’s so handsome, suave, and sophisticated.

Dark.

He oozes power and dominance like no other man on the planet. It’s unnerving. Sexy. Commanding.

He extraordinary and always manages to make me feel on edge. He has the ability to make me feel like I belong to him. I can’t explain it.

For a moment, it feels like it's only us. His dark eyes never leave mine as he confirms his bid again, making my heart pound in my chest. “Ten thousand pounds.”

From the left of me I hear a faint whisper. “He must have a new woman in his life. I wonder who the lucky lady is.”

Oh, well, isn’t that just perfect? Teaching him. Watching him eye-fuck someone else under my instruction is not what I had planned when I donated the lessons.

“Right,” the auctioneer bellows across the microphone, startling me yet again. Knox’s gaze doesn’t let up. It’s me who finally breaks our trance. I look back at the auctioneer. “Ten thousand pounds, it is. Going once, twi—”

“Twelve thousand,” a jovial voice I also recognize calls out from the other side of the elegant room.

Snapping my head back around, I see Knox’s son, Lincoln, with his hand raised in the air, the other casually tucked into the pocket of his dress pants as he leans lazily against the back wall.

Eh, excuse me?

Whispered words dance across the vast space once more.

Knox instantly retaliates with his counter bid of thirteen, and then the two of them ping-pong incomprehensible amounts of money back and forth.

My brain can’t accept what’s happening.

Captivated along with everyone else in the room, we all bounce our heads between the two most handsome dark-haired men I have ever seen in my life, watching on as father and son play a virtual game of power tennis.

The auctioneer struggles to keep up with them as the bid reaches twenty-five thousand.

Twenty-five thousand!

But Knox doesn’t stop there. “Thirty thousand plus another fifty to help toward the construction of the new ward for the hospital. Done.” His deep velvet voice sends warm ripples down my spine.

His words are final. Lincoln shakes his head, blazing a knockout smile across his lips in my direction. He knows he lost, but he doesn’t care. It’s almost as if Lincoln was trying to prove a point to his father. About what, I don’t know, but I intend to find out.

“Good gracious,” the auctioneer stutters. “Eighty thousand pounds. Sold.” Slam goes his gavel. “To Knox Black. What a way to end the evening.”

A tremendous roar of claps, whistles, and whoops begins and all I can do is simply sit there stunned with my mouth gaping open like a fish out of water.

Eighty thousand pounds.

What just happened?

Nervously, I capture my bottom lip between my teeth, flitting my eyes around the room. Lincoln’s eyes find mine. He smiles, then throws me a cheeky wink. Pushing his back away from the wall, Lincoln struts toward his father.

Where Knox is dark and quiet, Lincoln is bright and playful. He is only three years younger than me and I remember him from high school and the beach parties we local kids used to have in the bowl of the cove on warm summer evenings.

Knox and his ex-wife were teenagers when they had Lincoln. Lincoln’s mother is no longer in the picture and I’ve never thought to ask what happened to her. I wonder if my father knows.

I watch both Knox and Lincoln exit the ballroom together.

Unsure of what to do, I quickly tuck my feet back into my uncomfortable heels, accept the looks of gobsmacked congratulations around the table for raising so much money on my auction item, then excuse myself.

Making my way to the exit door, I feel hundreds of sets of eyes on my every move.

Looking braver than I feel, I flip my long caramel locks over my shoulders. With my head held high, I exit the grand room and exhale a deep breath as I almost throw myself into the corridor.

Holy cow, that was intense.

Distracted now by the familiar raised voices along the corridor, carefully teetering on my heels, I follow them.

“What the hell do you think you were doing, Linc?”

Knox.

“Do you like her, Dad? I like her. Really like her. Be honest with me.”

Knox does like me. I know this already. Knox disclosed his feelings for me last year, when I was still married, instantly following up his confession with an over-the-top apology, informing me he had overstepped the mark. He didn’t make any advances on me. He was respectful and has kept his distance since then.

But Lincoln likes me too?

What the hell?

Did Knox bid to have dance lessons from me so he could get close to me? Eighty thousand pounds seems extreme.

“No. We’ve discussed this, Linc; she’s off-limits to me. Now drop it, son.”

“No way. You bid eighty thousand pounds to have private lessons with her.” Lincoln laughs. “You need to explain.”

I continue toward them.

“And you just bid twenty-five thousand.”

“I wanted to see what you would do, if you would push. You did. I’ve seen you checking her out.”

“It’s for the hospital.”

“Is it? I personally would like to get to know her better. Do you like her? You should admit it if you do. Now that Ewan’s no longer in the picture, she’s fair game. And what about Tabit—”