Bid For Love. Savannah Chase

for the office trailer to get changed.

      This day was about to get a lot longer than he wanted it to be.

      He’d hoped the crew hadn’t heard anything yet about his new title. Who would have ever guessed he’d be named one of the ten for New York’s Sexiest, Most Eligible Bachelor. Another reason for the guys to stick it to him—just so they could get a reaction out of him.

      How the heck did the guys at work find out about the list? He’d only just found out about it himself.

      Jeff volunteered his time and money for the auction since the woman who’d contacted him assured him it would be an evening he would never forget. He was glad to do it since it was for a good cause, and he always made an effort to do what he could to make some kind of difference. The last thing he expected was to make their yearly list.

      Having grown up in a family who didn’t always have everything they needed, he knew how it was to depend on the kindness of strangers. He had always made sure to give what he could to those less fortunate. Growing up, his father always told him that you never knew when the tables might turn and you might be the one asking for help.

      “Man, the people who compiled this list need their eyes checked!” Why would anyone think you’re handsome enough, let alone sexy? Single—yes. Desperate for a date—probably very. No way handsome or anything close to sexy,” Ryan joked around as Jeff approached the group standing next to the trailer. The rest stood laughing at Ryan’s comments.

      “Better me than you, buddy,” Jeff shot back.

      Ryan smiled at his friend’s reply.

      Jeff had known Ryan since they were two years old. They grew up next door to each other. Jeff didn’t have any siblings and his friend was like a brother to him. They had done everything together from going to the same school to learning to drive. To say they were close was an understatement.

      “Okay, enough fun. I know it’s easy to have a good time at my expense, but I have a ton of work that needs to be done,” Jeff said as he began heading up the trailer steps.

      He was annoyed and just plain pissed off. Problems kept coming from every direction.

      “Hey man, wait up,” Ryan called as he walked toward Jeff. “You know I was just yanking your chain earlier. You aren’t pissed, are you?”

      Jeff took off his hard hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “No way, I just have a lot of crap to deal with today. The building department left me a message that there are some issues with regards to compliance with building codes.”

      “You gotta be kidding me. What’s the problem this time?” Ryan asked.

      “They said the building permits are incomplete and unless they get them, everything will be put on hold,” Jeff replied as he put his hard hat back on.

      “Do me a favor and tell me when the utility company people get here. I need you guys to deal with them. It’s not enough they screwed up the work order, I find out they lost the paperwork. I swear sometimes I get the feeling this project is never supposed to get off the ground.”

      Ryan began walking toward the other guys. “Don’t worry, man. It can’t get worse than it is now.”

      “I just want to get through today with nothing else going wrong,” Jeff replied as he closed the trailer door.

       * * * *

      It was late in the evening when the crew was ready to wrap up for the day. Everyone including Jeff was exhausted. He couldn’t wait to be able to sit down and relax. He was getting fed up with dealing with the municipal building department.He truly couldn’t help but wonder if something was throwing all these roadblocks in their path to prevent the project from ever getting off the ground.

      “Guys, I think we can call it a day. I made sure to talk to the city and they promised to send someone over to check out the water main situation first thing tomorrow morning. There’s not much we can do tonight,” Jeff informed the crew.

      They had been working on this lot for the past three months. They’d had to tear down the old structure and clear the area before the work on the new project could begin. There seemed to be a lot of setbacks. Anyone in their right mind would have dropped the project, but not him. Jeff saw this as a challenge, and it was one he was ready to take on full-force from start to finish.

      Plus there was a perk to working at the location. A perk in the form of a brown haired, fair-skinned beauty who worked in the office that overlooked the site.

      On so many occasions he gave himself a pep talk to just go for it and ask her out, but each time she appeared anywhere near him he froze up and chickened out. It was like being back in high school and trying to ask out the most popular cheerleader.