Page 33 of The Bachelor Auction

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Tyler’sblack sedan drops me off at the hotel at five a.m. I would have let him catch some sleep, but he insisted on accompanying me home.

He doesn’t ask to join me in my suite and I don’t invite him in. For one, I’m supposed to be back at work in less than three hours and while I know I won’t sleep, I look forward to some time alone in the bathtub.

And then there’s also the fact that I feel guilty.

Lucky is the last person I should be thinking about, not least because I’ve never met him. He could be literally anyone. He might not even be real at all, just a concocted persona of someone bored with his life and looking for a bit of meaningless fun online.

The same thoughts have been circling through my mind for months—or ever since I realized I might be looking forward to our little exchanges a bit too much. And yet I can’t stop feeling bad that I allowed my boss to get inside my panties…multiple times.

I take a quick shower and then log into my travelbuddy.com account.

Lucky’s message is already waiting for me, and I realize he must be online because he literally just sent it.

Subject:Re: I’ve had it with this guy

How didthe pleasing part go? Did he work you like you expected he would?

— LuckyLuke

The insinuation is there,just like it always is. I don’t even need to read between the lines to know what Lucky’s talking about. Usually, I’d laugh at it and go with the flow. But this time I can’t ignore the grain of annoyance nagging at me.

All we’ve been doing so far is engaging in meaningless flirting, and yet I want him to be jealous, maybe even a little possessive.

I want him to care that I’ve just spent my Friday night with another guy.

“Why does it matter? He’s just some dude you don’t even know,” I mumble and log out of my account, strangely irritated with him.

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