Free Saving Forever - Part 3 by Lexy Timms, B+r Publishing, Book Cover By Design

dinner. I just don’t want to be the one with the highest bid. It should be one of the doctors here.”
    “You sure that’s the reason you’re worried?” Sam could obviously see behind the lame excuse. “It’s just a dinner. There are no strings attached to do anything else or even speak to the high bidder again. Valentine’s Day is completely overrated in my opinion.”
    “Overpaid in my case this year.” She never liked Valentine’s Day either but this brought it to a whole new level for her dislike. Her phone vibrated from inside her pocket. She pulled it out to check it.
    Elijah had sent her a text: WTF! Lol I just checked your V-Auction. I bid $10,000 this morning before surgery figuring no one would get near it. I lost!! Who’s the secret admirer?
    She replied: I have no idea. The program doesn’t show names. Thanks for bidding for me though. That was super nice. Think I can play hooky and skip it? JK. The fact that he had bid on her made her heart melt. He had done it before a surgery which could only mean it meant something to him. Point for trying.
    It sucks I lost. He text again. Guess I can’t fly down and surprise you again. Probably wouldn’t be polite if I showed up at the dinner and beat the other bidder up. You sure you don’t know who it is?
    She smiled at his comment on beating the winner up. However, she didn’t like it that he asked again who the other bidder could be. He was the player, not her. He could still be a player and… She forced herself to stop the train of thought. He had tried to win a dinner with her and she was turning it into something they could argue about.
    She tried to make her reply fun. No clue. Maybe I have a secret stalker. I think you need to come down, buy a van and park it outside the hall. Do some recon work and I’ll send you photos of the guy. We can get the CIA + IRS + ABC + XYZ people to catch him.
    She reread the text after sending it and cringed. It sounded sarcastic and mocking. “Sam? Is there anything you need me to help you with?”
    “We’re good. I’ll send you everything and my crew will have everything set up at the hall next weekend. If there are any problems, I’ll give you a shout.”
    “Thanks.” Charity stood and collected her stuff and put it into her briefcase. “I’ll get going and make a few phone calls.”
    She left Samantha and went outside to head back to her office at the hospital. She jogged to her car, wanting to call Elijah as soon as she could. Sitting in the car, she saw he’d sent another text.
    The alphabet police? I’ll get on it right away. You know it’s serious if we have to stoop to those measures. Lol The bright spot is I don’t have to buy you flowers n chocolates n an expensive dinner.  Tell the dude I owe him one. Ha.
    She laughed out loud, relieved that he hadn’t taken her message the wrong way. Will do. But you better promise to make me dinner next time I’m in NY.
    His reply came instantly back. You promise to make me dessert?
    Definitely. She added a winking face.
    I gotta go now but I’ll call you tonight.
    Charity leaned back against her seat before starting the car. There was no getting out of this Valentine’s dinner. She wished she could but knew it was impossible. In the back of her mind, she hoped it was Elijah playing a trick on her. Maybe he had someone bid for him from Texas. He could be the kind of guy to plan something like that. Thinking about his texts, it seemed pretty obvious it could be him. She smiled. She’d buy the hottest red dress in town and make it worth his secretive effort.

Chapter 10
     
     
    On the evening of Valentine’s Day, Charity stood in the hall admiring all the details to the room. She loved the fact that she had popped by earlier and everything had been set up. She hadn’t needed to do anything. Samantha’s crew had done an amazing job. The red and purple decorations looked fantastic against the white tablecloths. Rose petals, balloons, and ribbons were