Seven Day Fiance: A Love and Games Novel (Entangled Bliss) Read Online Free Page A

grew. Several of the guys from the firehouse raked in more than two hundred dollars each, and with three empty hurricane glasses to her name, Angelle could even admit she was having a good time. Lovely warmth buzzed in her veins, a fascinating sensation since she rarely drank more than a glass or two at one time. Sherry was cracking her up with her antics and over-the-top commentary, the bachelors were laidback (and let’s face it, yummy eye candy), and the winning women were hilariously enthusiastic. Angie was having such a good time, in fact, that she almost lost track of the lineup.
    But when the second-to-last bachelor placed his Santa Hat on old Mrs. Thibodeaux’s head and bowed to kiss her weathered cheek, every hair on Angie’s body stood on end.
    Cane was next.
    Of its own accord, her slightly blurred gaze snapped to the stage, not surprised to find his already locked on her. A tingle ran down her arms, one that had nothing to do with the alcohol. Reaching for her freshly refilled glass, she held his gaze as she took another long, tart sip, and listened to the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.
    “And last, but certainly not least, our very own King of Abs!”
    At Sherry’s gleeful giggle, Cane shook his head and closed his eyes. With their contact broken, Angelle stole a breath.
    The entire room surged with energy. Energy and hormones . Women bounced in their seats. Purses opened. Tongues lolled. Sherry scanned the eager crowd and grinned as she said, “Let’s say we start the bidding for our final bachelor at—”
    “Two hundred and fifty dollars!”
    A few tables over, the woman in red from earlier thrust a wad of cash in the air, and Sherry’s eyes bulged. Every other bachelor had begun with a respectable bid of fifty dollars—but it appeared the brunette had come to play. Play and win. Resentment roiled in Angelle’s gut.
    “All right, then,” Sherry said, elbowing her brother in the ribs. “I told this man he’d be a money maker. So, our opening bid is two hundred and fifty dollars. Anyone want to take it to two seventy-five?”
    Conversations broke out among the tables. Cash was counted, cell phones pulled out, and then a voice exclaimed, “Three hundred!”
    Angelle turned to the willowy blonde who’d just appeared behind her. She was dressed in a festive green gown that left very little to the imagination. Diamonds draped her neck and hung from her ears, but her eyes flashed brighter than the bling. The woman looked haughty. She looked determined. She looked…not quite right. Her eyes were wide—almost wild—and they were fixated on Cane in a way that went beyond focus and into straight-up territorial.
    After only a moment’s hesitation, the brunette sprang into action, upping her bid to three twenty-five, and thus began a bidding war. Excitement and mayhem ensued. Angelle tossed back the rest of her drink. Her skin prickled, her legs twitched, and when she glanced down, the nails of her left hand had embedded into the soft leather of her purse. It must be the hurricanes because otherwise her reaction made no sense. Any time the two of them ended up alone together, she’d always pushed Cane away. She knew he was no good for her. But the thought of watching him walk off into the sunset with another woman made her stomach turn.
    Especially if he walked off with the vixen in red.
    Or the crazy-eyed chica in green.
    When the latest bid upped it to four hundred, Colby made a low noise and stabbed her drink with her straw. Angelle quirked an eyebrow. And here she’d thought her reaction was baffling. Then she caught the weird look Colby exchanged with her brother and asked, “Okay, what am I missing?”
    Colby lifted her chin toward the blonde. “That’s Becca. An ex with Daddy’s money to burn and a scary obsession with my brother. She stalks the restaurant, shows up at his shows. Apparently, they went out a couple times last year, but Cane said that was enough to know the girl was