Katherine could feel the heat in her abdomen from the way the man in front of her stared at her. And as much as she was feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing, a part of her wanted to see what would happen if she allowed herself to indulge in this silly game.
Turning her head towards the stage, she nodded at someone. Damien was just about to turn to check what she was looking at when he heard her say, "There"s something in your…"
Katherine grabbed hold of Damien"s arm and raised it high up in the air.
"Looks like we have a volunteer from the young gentleman over there. Please, come on up here and let"s start the bidding," The auctioneer said in the microphone as he waved at Damien to join him on stage.
"What did you do?" Damien quickly lowered his hand and raised a brow at Katherine who was looking at him with a naughty smile, making her look even more seductive.
Damien wasn"t sure what was happening. He could feel all eyes were on him at that moment but he didn"t know why. He definitely heard the auctioneer and saw him waving but what for?
Shrugging, Katherine brought both of her hands up to fix his bowtie, amused at the current situation. She told him, "You said you wanted to get to know me… and you said that you wanted to buy my time, right? How about this - you go up there… auction yourself like a bachelor and pray that I win?"
A slow smile spread across his face upon hearing her words, "You could always forfeit and let others win, and if that happens, then I wouldn"t be able to get to you, am I right?"
"True… but just like you, I also happen to like challenge." Katherine hooked her arm in his and slowly led him towards the backstage. "I need to see for myself if you are worthy of my time before I give you the chance."
"You want to see if women are going to fight over me in this bidding?" Damien chuckled. "Clever."
"If I"m satisfied enough, then I"ll make sure I win."
"How sure are you that you"re going to win?"
They halted at the side and Damien raised a brow when she said, "Oh, I always win."
"c.o.c.ky." He raised his hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I like it."
Retrieving something from her purse, Katherine put on a black plain fabric masquerade mask and tied it securely at the back of her head.
"You always have that with you in your purse? Why?" he wondered, a smile lingering on his face as he watched her pretty face getting covered by a black mask, making her look even more mysterious.
Katherine shrugged, "I don"t know. For times like this?" She held his shoulders and spun him around to face the stage before she gave him a slight push, "Now go to your auction. Just stand there and stay pretty."
Damien chuckled at her words, thinking that she really was an interesting woman. "I hope you brought millions… because the stakes are high once you see me up there."
Tilting her head, she beamed at him, "Oh, I don"t have money with me at all."
Damien raised a brow, questioning her in silence.
"You"re the one who wants to talk to me, to buy my time, remember? Shouldn"t it be your money we should use? It"s only right…"
Brus.h.i.+ng his fingers along his jaw, Damien chuckled. He almost forgot that he was indeed the one who was asking for her time. "Fine. I sure hope you can keep up with the bidding. It can go pretty fast."
"Don"t get too c.o.c.ky," Katherine scoffed. "What"s my limit?" she asked, referring to the amount of his money she could spend on him.
Damien raised a hand and lifted her chin up. He stared into her eyes and ran his thumb along her bottom lip, making her instantly blush. "For you, my dear… the sky."
A slow smile formed on his face before he turned around and confidently walked towards the middle of the stage. As soon as he stood next to the auctioneer, the women below the stage cheered loudly.
Katherine was still frozen on the spot where he left her as she was still in a daze from the lingering warmth of his hand on her face. She shook her head and slapped her cheeks to clear her thoughts before she walked back to join the crowd.
"I apologize for not recognizing you earlier, President Park. I was not prepared to see you up here tonight as we rarely get to see you appear in front… and now you even volunteered," said the host in which Damien only softly chuckled, his eyes slowly scanning the crowd to see where Katherine was. "I swear to G.o.d if you disappear again so suddenly-"
His thoughts trailed off when his eye caught Katherine"s figure right in front of him below the stage.
"Earlier when we received the request, we were only told that someone wants to volunteer to be auctioned tonight. It"s been a while since the last time I have hosted for a bachelor auction. And tonight, ladies… and gents?" The crowd laughed. "The gentleman next to me is Mr. Damien Park, the Chairman of Crown Resort Group."
Cheers and gasps were heard everywhere, especially from the women surrounding Katherine, making her cover her ears, afraid that her ears would bleed from their loud shrieks.
When she looked up at Damien, she saw him gazing directly at her with a lingering smile dancing on his lips. He was such an attractive man!
"So… Just to be clear, this is for a five-minute alone time with President Park. Isn"t that right?" The host clarified with Damien.
Katherine revealed a small smile and Damien chuckled upon hearing the host. Five minutes?! That"s all she was willing to give? "Okay… I can work with that. There are so many things I can do in five minutes."
Nodding, Damien agreed, "Yes."
Soon after, the auction started.
One woman started at $200, in which Katherine immediately raised to $218. Damien raised a brow at the weird price. And it happened to the rest of Katherine"s bidding amount:
"Two thousand eighteen…"
"Twenty-one thousand eight hundred…"
"Two hundred eighteen thousand…"
Everyone went nuts! Though most of them knew Damien"s ident.i.ty, they were not intimidated. The bidding went high even though they knew that it was only a mere five minutes with the Resort King - it could possibly be five minutes in heaven!
Extremely rich, handsome, always smiling... What"s not to like?! The socialites were willing to grab that chance, fantasizing that it was their only chance… they have to make him fall in love with them in five minutes!
Although Katherine found it ridiculous for people to spend that much, even if it was for charity, what she found more ridiculous were the crazy women around her who were eagerly bidding just to be alone with him for a short time.
"Wait! I am one of these crazy women!"
The current amount was already at $500,000. It was already too steep and the possible winner was a cougar in her fifties.
"Going once… going twice…" Damien heard the auctioneer and he suddenly felt ridiculously nervous.
Katherine saw the panic in his eyes as he continued to stare at her as if he was saying: "You said you were going to win?!"
She softly chuckled. "You said the sky"s the limit, huh?" She raised her paddle and said in a firm voice, "$2,180,000!"
Everyone looked at her like she was insane. And in this case, she agreed with them. She was already insane when she started to flirt back with Damien and now she just shamelessly spent his money as if it was nothing.
"...SOLD to the mysterious lady in a black dress," said the auctioneer.
Damien sighed in relief and suppressed himself to smile as he and Katherine exchanged gazes that were ablaze as though they were both thinking about the same thing - stripping each other bare naked.