The Bachelorette

By Gail Harkins

For Jared, Jenn's the girl who got away. When she leave an off-Broadway acting career for a teaching position at a San Antonio college, he's delighted, but feels trapped in the friend zone. Jenn feels the same way, not that she would admit it. When she agrees to auction herself in a charity bachelorette auction, though, the stakes are raised. As a newspaper reporter, Jared has been slowly uncovering a human trafficking operation that just may be linked to the very auction where Jenn is participating. Will he blow open the trafficking ring in time to save her? And, if he does, how can they ever cross the friend zone to become something more?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rainforest Press
• Release date: Jun 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393667520

Book preview

Published by Rainforest Press

Copyright ©202020 Gail Dutton

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

The Bachelorette

Thank you

Additional Titles

The Bachelorette

Gail Harkins

It’s a bad idea, Jenn. You shouldn’t do it. Jared shook his head.

A tourist boat floated past the sidewalk tables that lined each side San Antonio’s River Walk. Music from a mariachi band in one of the nearby restaurants drifted toward them, along with the aroma of sizzling fajitas. People here looked happy. Couples strolled hand-in-hand, and friends met, laughing.  Jared, however, seemed quite serious.

Don’t be silly! Jenn waved her hand through the dry air, as if that movement was all that was needed to banish his concern. It’s for charity. They do this in New York all the time and no one bats an eye. She lifted her waist-length black hair from her shoulders and turned her face toward the slow-moving river. How do people survive the heat down here?

He ignored the comment, admiring her smooth, tanned skin underneath a white linen blouse that left one shoulder tantalizingly bare. It’s a bad idea there, too.

You’re paranoid. It’s just a bachelorette auction. I’ll be fine. It’s not romantic. The date will be supervised, and it’s for a good cause.

He reached for her hand across the table, but was a split second too late. She cradled her rapidly-warming margarita glass in both hands, then held it against her forehead. He grasped his beer instead.

Besides, I’ve already signed up.

Jared opened his mouth, but she pre-empted his protest, putting two twenties on the table.

You’re just as stubborn as you were in college, she chided, smiling all the while. The margarita glass returned to the table and the waitress placed the check between them. Jared reached out again, aiming once more for her hand.

She tapped the bill on the table. No. I’ve got it. You can get lunch next time. I’ve got to get out of this heat!

Heading to her car, Jenn walked along the shady banks lined with restaurants before taking a shortcut an air-conditioned hotel lobby. Being near Jared again was wonderful, but the high temperatures sapped her energy. Funny how she’d forgotten how intense the temperatures could be this far south, even in late spring. The blast of cool air inside the building was a welcome respite from the withering heat. She reached the far door, about to step back into the blast furnace otherwise known as a Texas spring, and stopped short. Turning, she retraced her steps and studied the hotel directory. Recrossing the lobby, she turned left down a boutique-lined hallway and found the salon. Inside its doors, she ran her fingers through her hair, working outward from her still-damp scalp.

Cut it off! she told the stylist. It’s too hot for this!

—-

How long’s she been here? Mark sent the racquetball careening off the side and ceiling of the court.

Almost a month, Jared replied. He delivered a kill shot that hit the front wall just inches above the floor. My point. He readied the serve. "Look, maybe I’m overcautious, but bad things happen when guys bid on women. It doesn’t feel right, and I don’t want