Texas Hustle Read Online Free

firefighter, right? Welcome Chad Jamison.”
    The rookie firefighter walked onto the stage wearing his turnout pants with the suspenders hanging down around his hips. The tight muscles in his chest were nicely highlighted by the spotlight operator as he’d apparently lost his shirt.
    There was a ripple of female sighs through the crowd. The opening bid was fifty dollars and Porchia was a little concerned. The last bachelor had sold for over three hundred dollars.
    Then Chad grinned and flexed his biceps and the bidding became fierce.
    Tina stood and waved her bid paddle at the emcee. “Three twenty-five,” she shouted.
    A woman Porchia didn’t know called, “Three seventy-five.”
    Tina glared at the other bidder. Porchia bit her lip to keep from laughing. Chad continued to strut the stage, pausing to flex and pose.
    “Five hundred,” Tina shouted.
    “Are you kidding?” Porchia said. “Where are you going to come up with five hundred dollars?”
    Tina waved her off. “VISA.”
    Delene shrugged. “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”
    The other bidder blew a kiss to Chad and sat.
    “I have five hundred dollars. Do I have another bid?” the emcee asked. When there were no more bids, she said, “I have five hundred going once, going twice, sold to paddle number one-forty-five. Go meet your date, Bachelor Chad.”
    Chad jumped from the stage and headed for their table.
    “I’m dying,” Tina said. “I can’t believe I just did that. But O-M-G, is he cute or what?”
    Chad came over and kissed Tina on the cheek. “Thank you.” He took her arm and led her back to the cashier’s stand. Porchia had noticed that as soon as the bachelor sold, the group running the auction got their payment. She figured each man had been instructed to take his winner to the cashier immediately.
    “We are so honored to have the next bachelor tonight. Help me welcome our new sheriff to the stage. Marc Singer.”
    Marc walked out dressed in his sheriff uniform. His hair was tousled as though he’d been running his fingers through it. The excitement in the audience was electric. Porchia knew this was one of the organizers’ big draws. She expected Delene to bid on him since Tina had bought Chad, but she was wrong. Delene stayed true to her word and let the bidding go on around her.
    Five hundred came and went quickly. As did seven-fifty. As the bidding neared a thousand, the bidders began dropping out, but there were still a few diehards who apparently wanted to be patted down by their sheriff.
    From a dark corner at the back of the room, a voice rang out. “Five thousand dollars.”
    There was a momentary stunned silence at the bid before the emcee collected herself.
    “I have a five-thousand-dollar bid from paddle number two-ninety-five. Do I have any other bids? Going once. Going twice. Sold to the lady in the back for five thousand dollars.”
    Marc hopped from the stage and made his way to the back of the room. When he and his bidder made their way to the cashier, there was a growing murmur through the audience. His buyer was Dr. Lydia Henson, fiancée of Jason Montgomery.
    “What’s going on?” Porchia asked. “That’s Jason Montgomery’s fiancée. Why in the world did she buy Marc Singer?”
    Delene shrugged. “No clue. I don’t run in those circles. Here comes Tina. Maybe she’ll know something.”
    “Did y’all see what I just saw?” Tina asked, dropping back into her chair.
    “You mean Dr. Lydia Henson with Marc Singer?”
    “Yeah. Crazy, huh?”
    “We were just wondering what was going on?”
    “Don’t know. They were pretty closed mouth as she was paying.”
    The emcee tapped on the microphone. “Now here’s an interesting date for sure. A ten-day camping trip with a cowboy. Who wouldn’t want that? Help me welcome Darren Montgomery to our stage.”
    Darren strode from the right-side wing wearing jeans, a plaid snap shirt, highly polished cowboy boots and a black hat. He lifted the hat as