Free Bid Me Now by Rebecca Gilise

wishing she could have the evening all over again. Nick was so unexpectedly nice . And he would be especially nice to draw. She sighed as she pictured him in her sketchbook. Something to show her grandchildren, perhaps. Oops. Maybe that was overthinking just a little. But her sketchbook was full of drawings of friends and acquaintances, so Nick’s picture would fit right in. Fully clothed, of course. Only in art class had she ever drawn nudes. Nick as a nude? Omigod. Six feet, three inches of anatomical perfection.  
    Mercy.  
    Nick fired the ignition. “Buckle up.”  
    A simple enough direction, but Miri couldn’t stop herself from imagining Nick in the driver’s seat, nude. Oh, hell, she was about to giggle.  
    “What’s caught your imagination?” Nick asked, with the kind of smile that said he’d figured it out.
    “Um, nothing at all,” she squeaked, cursing her overactive brain. “It’s just the wine, that’s all.” As if he would believe that. Miri wrapped her pashmina more tightly around her shoulders and stared hard at the scenery outside her window, hoping she wasn’t about to have some sort of hysterical fit all the way home. With her emotions all over the place and Nick two feet from her, anything could happen.
    Nick chuckled as he pulled the car out onto the street. “Oh, right, of course, the wine.”  
    Miri stole a suspicious look at him. Was the man psychic or something?
    Okay, she’d just have to think about something safe. Like counting mailboxes and watching the street lights whiz by. Praying that the laws of physics and whatever else governed the universe wouldn’t apply, and her home would stretch farther and farther out of reach.  
    But of course the drive home would end, and Bree and Abe would be up watching a late-night movie, and Bree would want to know everything about the date. Slipping into the house and up to her bedroom without them hearing her would be next to impossible, considering Bree had bat sonar when it came to things that bumped after dark. There was also the question of whether Nick would kiss her goodnight, although that didn’t seem likely. After all, officially, this wasn’t a date.
    She was still pondering the goodnight thing when Nick turned the car onto her street and slowed. Perhaps she should offer him coffee? Would he think that was an invitation for sex? So embarrassing. Even worse than her “cherry” remark. No, best to stick to a simple “goodnight, Nick” and escape to her bed. Besides, she needed to be alone with her art-class fantasy. Not have it sitting there beside her.  
    “Miri.”
    Miri started at the sound of her name and looked around. It took a few seconds for her to register that they had stopped. And not in front of her house, but a few doors down, on the shoulder next to the street’s small park. To pull over a hundred yards from her house seemed strange, but perhaps Nick disliked doorstep goodnights. She leaned down, feeling around for her purse on the floor, her neck prickling with awareness that he was watching her every move.  
    Finding her purse, she sat up and braved a look at him. “This has been a lovely evening Nick…” she started to say, but her words fell to nothing as Nick brought his arm up to rest it along the back of her seat, his fingers brushing lightly over the nape of her neck.  
    He smiled, and Miri’s skin shivered at its promise. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”  
    Miri swallowed hard and stared along the road to her house. Her face burned, and her head felt like it was about to float off her neck. Only a few short minutes ago she hadn’t wanted the ride to end. Now she wanted nothing more. This man really was too much for her.
    “Well, thank you again. It’s been very nice. Goodnight.” On edge and forced past tight lips, her words sounded pathetic, but she wasn’t up to a fancy farewell.
    She reached for the door handle just as Nick leaned across the center console, turned her face toward his,