A Bid for Love (2 page)

“I need to get the auction schedule,” Cassi called through the door. “I want to know what items will be auctioned at what time, and when they’re letting us in to see them today.”

“Don’t you know those things already?”

Cassi shook her head, though Renae couldn’t see her. “Things are never completely finalized until the morning of the display. Before that, the times and items can change from day to day.”

“Why do you have to see them today?” Renae asked, her voice muffled by the bathroom door. “Does it make any difference? You’re not going to bid on them until Monday.”

Cassi sighed. It was hard explaining to someone not in the art business how important the few days before an auction could be. It was a time to size up the competition. It was also a time to make certain deals—I won’t bid for that item if you won’t bid for this one—and to search for additional pieces that looked good and would be resalable. Many times Cassi’s sharp eyes had turned a good profit for her San Diego art gallery. Its owner, Linden Johansen, a calm, elderly man, had just promoted Cassi to head buyer, and she took her job seriously.

She shed her pajamas as these thoughts ran through her head, quickly pulling on the faded jeans and old T-shirt she had worn when she had met Renae at the hotel the night before. She knew that she looked a mess, quite unlike the professional buyer she normally portrayed—and all because she had overslept.

Cassi and Renae had been best friends in high school. Now, eleven years later, they were separated by miles and their vastly different situations. Renae had married young and was expecting her fifth child. Cassi had concentrated on her career.

Not that Cassi hadn’t wanted to get married, but the opportunity hadn’t yet presented itself. Over the years she’d had many friends who were men, and had often set them up with her girlfriends. Years later, after they were safely married, several of these men had confessed to having liked Cassi. Such confessions always surprised her because she had usually liked the men but had felt they weren’t interested in her.

“You seem to have blinders on when it comes to men,” Cassi’s sister-in-law, Jarelyn, kept telling her. “You can’t even see when a man is attracted to you.”

Maybe it was true.

So Cassi remained single and slightly aloof, almost afraid to hope or to set herself up for failure.

“I’m so glad you called me,” Renae said, emerging from the bathroom. “This was a great idea, us being here together.”

Cassi smiled, pushing aside her lonely thoughts. When she had known she was going to be in Los Angeles for the auction, she had called Renae, hoping her old friend would like to get away for a few days. Renae and her husband lived in Covina, just over an hour away.

“I can stay until Monday night,” Renae had said. “It’ll be my last fling before the baby comes. Trent won’t mind staying with the kids for a few days.”

Last night they had talked over old times until three in the morning, which was why Cassi was now running late.

“Goodness, it’s already nine o’clock,” she said, walking to the door. “I’m just going down to get a schedule. I could call and ask them to bring it up, but I don’t want to wait. Order some breakfast, would you? I’ll be right back to eat and change. Then we’ll go down to see the auction items and mingle a bit. Hopefully it won’t start until ten. You’ll see. It’ll be interesting.”

Renae picked up a menu from the table. “We’re going out this evening, aren’t we?”

Cassi nodded. “Yes. They usually close the previewing at four or so. They’ll open it again tomorrow, but I won’t need to go.”

“We can go to church. Do you have any idea where the closest one is?”

“No. We’ll just look in the phone book, and in the morning we’ll call for the meeting times.”

Renae sighed. “Tomorrow’s going to be wonderful. You know, I think I’m looking forward to going to church more than out on the town tonight. I’m actually going to hear the whole meeting!” She giggled. “Poor Trent. I think he’s going to have his hands full with all the kids.”

Cassi smiled. “He’ll only appreciate you more.”

“That’s what I’m hoping.”

Cassi slipped out of the door and down the hall, patting her hair. She felt incongruous and hoped that no one from the auction would recognize her. The West Coast art world was fairly limited, and people who had been in the business for any length of time knew most of the prominent buyers—a rank Cassi had earned with her recent promotion. It was one thing to be seen as an appropriately dressed businesswoman, and quite another to be caught garbed like a teenager. “I’ll just run down quickly,” Cassi reasoned aloud. “I’ll be back in my room before anyone notices.”

The elevator was occupied, so Cassi used the stairs, where light glinted off the polished floor and affronted her tired eyes. She jogged down the first flight of stairs, slowing to a walk as she heard people approaching. Four flights later she arrived at the main floor and opened the door. There were also people in the main hallway, but no one glanced twice at her. Cassi sighed with relief when she didn’t see anyone she recognized. She tried to walk inconspicuously to a corridor near the back of the hotel, where she knew the items for the auction were kept and would be displayed later that morning. Her sandaled feet moved soundlessly over the rich gold carpet. The lights here were also bright, but most of it was sunlight radiating through the glass windows and doors.

At last she arrived near the auction corridor. Down the hall, she could see that the door was closed and well protected by two solemn-faced security guards. Cassi quickly located what she had come for. In front of her, where the main corridor intersected with the auction corridor, was a display of pamphlets detailing the auction offerings. Most of these Cassi had already studied carefully. What she had really come for was the simple white flyer on the side of the display which announced the hours for the previewing and the auction time for each item. Three items had been added to the schedule since she’d last seen it, but only one looked promising. As she had expected, the previewing would begin at ten, leaving her six hours to study the offerings and to converse with her fellow buyers.

She looked up from the paper and scanned the pamphlets again until she found the one she was looking for. It was near the bottom, and she bent to retrieve it.

A hideous-looking Buddha stared out at her from the pamphlet cover. “Boy, are you ugly,” Cassi whispered. “Why on earth would anyone want you?” She traced the lines of the Buddha as she remembered her conversation with Linden only the day before.

“I want you to bid for the Buddha,” he said. “It’s a very interesting piece from the late Kushan period. It is believed to have been made at Mathura, and is a well-preserved piece for the price. If you win the bid, call me and I’ll come down with Justin and Gary to transport it.” Justin and Gary were the guards who worked for the gallery, and they always picked up the most important items. Other purchases she usually sent through a security company.

“Don’t go over three hundred thousand for it, though,” Linden had added.

“And if I don’t get it for that?” asked Cassi.

Linden frowned and shook his gray head. “Then find out who does get it. This is very important, Cassi. I don’t want you to contact the person. Just find out who it is and call me. Okay?”

“Sure.” But Cassi was puzzled. Linden had never asked her to find out who scooped an item from them, though Cassi’s curiosity usually made her seek the identity of the person and what gallery he represented, if she didn’t already recognize him. Besides being a matter of professional pride, it helped her to know who to look out for in the next bidding war.

“Why would someone want you?” Cassi repeated to the silent Buddha. While she recognized that some people were more intent on design than beauty, she still found it hard to overlook the Buddha’s sharp, repulsive features. It certainly wasn’t something she would display in her own home. She brought the paper closer to study the image, searching for signs of the Kushan period. Could it really have come out of Mathura? Located in central India, a distinct Greco-Buddhist art had evolved in Mathura, so it was very possible. Of course, the poor photograph couldn’t reveal much, even to eyes as practiced as Cassi’s.

“You like him?” A male voice asked casually from behind her.

Cassi’s head jerked around, hoping it wasn’t someone she knew. To her relief, she saw a man who didn’t seem familiar. He was tall and handsome, with medium blond hair and well-molded facial features. His chin was slightly prominent, giving him an air of confidence. Unlike Cassi, he was dressed for the occasion. He wore an expensive-looking suit, and his short hair was combed meticulously into place. His startling blue eyes stared intently at her.

“Intellectually, yes. Physically, no,” she replied hurriedly, feeling horribly self-conscious. This man was obviously a buyer, and Cassi hoped he wouldn’t remember her later. “Excuse me.” She turned abruptly and retreated down the hall, forcing herself to maintain a sedate walk until she was out of his sight.

“Darn it,” she mumbled. “Why did I stay? I almost got away without being noticed by anyone.”

She grumbled all the way up the stairs and into the room, where Renae lounged at the table. Breakfast was already waiting, and the aroma of sausages made Cassi’s mouth water.

“I should have just sent out for a copy,” she said, flinging herself onto one of the chairs.

“What’s wrong?”

Cassi told her about the man. “I was so embarrassed. What if he sees me later, and I have to try to deal with him? He’ll never think of me professionally after this.”

To Cassi’s chagrin, Renae started laughing. “Oh, Cassi, when did you get to be such a snob? Who cares what you’re wearing? And who cares what that stranger thinks? Is this the same Cassi who went to the Junior Prom dressed as a cave woman? You aren’t acting like the girl I used to know.”

Cassi scowled, but slowly her face relaxed into a smile. “You dared me to do it.” She giggled. “Do you remember poor Tom’s face when he saw me?” Tom was the only boy who had ever come out and told Cassi he liked her, which was why she had gone out with him. But, alas, her spontaneity at the prom had been too much for him, and he had turned to less impulsive companionship.

“Oh, you’re right. I guess I’m putting too much importance on this.”
It’s just that my work is all I have
, she wanted to add, but didn’t. Renae, with her adoring husband and nearly five children, could never understand the feeling of not being connected that Cassi endured daily.

Renae laughed. “Sure. He won’t even remember you. And if he does, maybe it will be as a woman instead of a buyer.” Before Cassi could protest, Renae continued. “Now hadn’t you better eat so we can get downstairs? I’ll comb through your hair for you.” Renae’s own dark blond locks were thin and straight, and she had never hidden her envy of Cassi’s hair.

Cassi smiled. “I haven’t had a better offer in weeks. It’s good to be with you, Renae. I’m so glad you came.”

CHAPTER THREE

Jared awoke early Saturday morning, the longings of the night before put firmly behind him. He showered, dressed, and ate before reviewing pamphlets that detailed the items Laranda had requested. At the previewing, he would also search for additional items that would bring profits to the gallery.

By nine o’clock, Jared felt prepared. The previewing would most likely open at ten, and if he went now he would have an hour to talk with the few other buyers who would appear early. He also wanted to look at the auction schedule.

He whistled as he left his room, eager to begin another interesting day. If nothing else in his life was satisfying, his work was; he loved it. The elevator took Jared down to the main floor. The gold carpet and elegant wallpaper gave the hallway an air of opulence. Confidence flooded through him.

Near the auction hallway, he could see a slim, shapely girl bending over the usual array of pamphlets. Her long, dark brown hair had a few golden highlights which glinted in the sunlight streaming in from a large window at the end of the corridor. Tiny ringlets splayed over her head and down her back, reminding Jared of Wendy, one of the girls he had dated. It was a look he had always admired, until he saw first-hand the hours she wasted achieving it—and until he felt the hair itself, stiff and dry like curly straw.

The girl bending in front of Jared didn’t hear his approach on the thick carpet. She was wearing old jeans that strangely accentuated her feminine features. This was certainly no stuffy buyer, but perhaps a young girl who happened upon an interesting display and decided to investigate. Jared supposed she had spent hours on her hair in the hopes of being noticed by some male who didn’t know what it had cost her to attain the look. He was not impressed.

“Why would someone want you?” The girl straightened, and over her shoulder Jared could see that she held the pamphlet featuring the Buddha. He was close enough to her now to smell her hair. Not cloying and sweet like perfume, but nice and clean. To his surprise, even this close it looked soft, quite unlike Wendy’s sculptured locks. He squelched his sudden desire to reach out and touch it.

Maybe it’s natural,
he mused silently.
Naw, they’ve just invented better products since Wendy.
Aloud he said, “You like him?”

The girl’s head swung around. He had intended to explain to her why someone would want such an item, but her expression stopped him. Her dark eyes darted, avoiding meeting his, looking trapped.

“Intellectually, yes. Physically, no,” she replied, lifting a hand to push her curly locks over her shoulder.

Her answer implied that she knew more than he expected. He searched her smooth, slightly olive-skinned features and found them also far removed from his preconceived picture of her. She was older, about twenty-five, he guessed; not a girl, but a woman. She wore no makeup and her face, framed with all those tiny ringlets, was not beautiful in the regular, flawless sense of the word but very appealing. Jared stared.