"Smile, smile," I muttered to no one in particular.
"Maddie Sato," said Nick cheerily. "You write magazine articles. Anything I'd know?"
"Probably not," she said, still wearing that grimace. "Not unless you read feminist publications."
"Feminist," he said, clearly amused. "Next you'll be telling us you hate men."
She gave him a blank look. "I only hate stupid men who don't actually understand what 'feminist' means."
He laughed. "You run into a lot of men like that?"
"All the time."
"Really?"
"Even as we speak, Nick."
"Oh no she didn't," said Peter. I groaned.
It took Nick a full ten seconds to realize he had just been insulted. Then, for the first time that night, he stopped smiling. Turning to the crowd, he said flatly, "Okay, let's start the bidding at fifty."
Silence met him. The interested faces no longer looked so interested. I swallowed a scream. No, this couldn't be happening. I'd promised her a date. This would destroy her. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard a voice in the back of the room.
"Fifty."
Relieved, I craned my head and looked. The guy who had bid was about fifty years old and looked exactly like this pedophile I'd once seen on a news special.
"Fifty," said Nick. "Do I hear seventy-five?"
Silence. I turned to Seth.
"Do something!" I hissed.
He flinched. "What?"
"Going once..."
I elbowed him, and his hand shot up. "Seventy-five."
There was a collective "ooh' in the room. Apparently no one, including Maddie, had expected a bidding war for the belligerent man-hater. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"One hundred," said the pedophile look-alike.
Then, either to end this quickly or because he felt sorry for Maddie, Seth said, "Three hundred."
More sounds of astonishment followed. The other bidder couldn't compete; he must have spent all his money on bail.
"Sold to the gentleman in the Welcome Back, Kotter T-shirt."
"Nice," said Cody, as Maddie exited the stage.
I reached out and squeezed Seth's hand. "Thank you."
He gave me his half-smile. "Anything for the kids."
Nick flipped to his next card. "And now we have...Georgina Kincaid."
My head shot up. Across the room, I saw Hugh's smirking face.
"Oh no he didn't," I said through gritted teeth.
Nick, puzzled, glanced toward where the other auctionees were. "Georgina Kincaid?"
"No avoiding it," Peter told me. "Might as well go up there. Otherwise people'll think you hate kids."
"That joke is getting old," I hissed.
Vowing to slap Hugh later, I reluctantly rose from my chair. Upon seeing me, Nick turned on the supernova smile. "Ah, there she is. Fashionably late."
On the subject of fashion, I wished I'd worn something as nice as Maddie's dress. I might have just gotten tricked into this thing, but now I wished I could do it right. I still looked good; my normal sense of aesthetics would allow for nothing less. I had on a black skirt and a purple cashmere sweater, my hair in a ponytail. In tiny increments - too slow and small for anyone to notice - I tightened the sweater around my figure and made the neckline bigger. I put a saunter into my hips and pulled out my ponytail tie, shaking out my hair. It had worked for Maddie and countless nerdy movie girls. It would work for me because I suddenly had a serious issue at stake here.
There was no way on God's green earth that I was going for less than Tawny.
"Georgina," said Nick, helping me onto the stage. "My notes say you prefer Georgie." Yeah, Hugh was definitely getting slapped. "And that you run a bookstore."
If I'd taken a victim recently and had succubus glamour on me, I wouldn't have to do a single thing except stand there. I wouldn't even have to smile. Now I'd have to work a little. Quickly, I assessed this crowd. The kinds of guys who came to events like this tended to be white-collar professionals with disposable income. Some would be here simply because philanthropy was trendy and good for the image, and this was a stylish way to do it. Others, while perhaps not desperate, were nonetheless intellects and introverts who found this a good opportunity to meet women. These men all wanted smart, competent women - women who were also pretty, of course. And wit...wit always went over well.
I gave Nick, then the audience, a heart-stopping smile. "That's right. I organize events, bring in money, make sure everything looks good, and whip people into shape."
"Sounds like a lot of work," he said.
"Or," I said, "an excellent first date."
There was no cymbal crash, but my punch line elicited the laughs I'd hoped for. "You have some high expectations," said Nick.
"Well, I think everyone should. Why settle? If a guy meets my expectations, I'll meet his. And in the end, it's all about sense of humor and a conversation that won't put me to sleep." I realized I sounded vaguely like a Miss America contestant, but maybe there wasn't much difference. I could see from the intrigue in the audience that I'd made a good impression.
"This one's a keeper," said Nick. "Let's start at fifty for Georgie."
I got my fifty and then some. Bids flew around the room. At one point, I glanced at Seth. Our eyes met, and I could tell by his expression that he was on the verge of bidding. I shook my head. He was the only one I wanted to go out with in this room, but I didn't want to taint Maddie's win. I wanted her to feel special. Besides, I also didn't want Seth to blow that much money.
I went for seventeen-hundred dollars.
"I can't believe that," Maddie whispered to me afterward. "I think you're the highest one so far. The guy looked cute too."
He had. Late thirties. Armani suit. Harmless. Nobody I planned on establishing anything meaningful with, but he'd do for a casual date. Maybe an energy fix if I decided to use this body.
"You brought in some money yourself," I teased.
Her eyes found Seth, sitting across the room, and studied him speculatively. "Seth probably did it because he felt sorry for me."
"Of course not," I said quickly. She still looked skeptical.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I'd rather drink coffee and talk shop with him than go out with some sleazy guy. That other bidder reminded me of this sex offender I saw on TV once..."
When the auction wound down, I exchanged contact info with my buyer for a future date. Hugh attached himself to Deanna and stayed as far away from me as possible. No worries. I'd have plenty of time to deal with him later. Tawny, fortunately, also stayed away from me and clung to Nick's arm. I watched them like a proud parent. Tonight was going to be a great night.
CHAPTER 8
"Succubus."
Dante's laconic voice was the last thing I'd expected to hear when my phone rang the next day. I'd forgotten that I'd left him my number. My surprise quickly gave way to eagerness. Maybe he'd found something for me. No energy loss had occurred after the auction, but then, I hadn't taken a victim either. It wasn't much to go on, but that small pattern Dante had pointed out was still a place to start, and I hoped he'd have more to offer now.
"Hey! What's up?" I sat down on the couch. I'd been getting ready to go out with Seth later, applying makeup the old-fashioned way in order to conserve shape-shifting energy. I'd need to cash in on my auction date sooner rather than later to get some power back.
There was a pause from the other end of the line before Dante spoke again. "I've been thinking...I've been thinking we're going about all of this the wrong way."
Very unexpected. "Really?"
"Yeah. I wasn't taking it seriously, so I understand why you were getting pissed off."
Hearing him admit how he'd been blowing my problems off wasn't exactly cheering, but I appreciated his honesty.
"Well...it's okay. I'm just glad we can maybe figure something out now. I'm getting anxious."
"Me too." More silence, then I heard him take a deep breath. "So, have you ever been to El Gaucho?"
The reference to one of Seattle's downtown steakhouses was such a non sequitur that I couldn't respond for several seconds. When I did speak, it wasn't very articulate.
"What?"
"It's a restaurant. Down on First - "
"Yeah, yeah. I know what it is. What's it have to do with the dreams?"