Page 44 of Purchase Power
“Very lovely.” He didn’t sound enthused, but did he ever? “I see that they do good work, as usual. Are you ready to go?” He motioned to her bare arms. “Do you have a coat, or should I procure you one?”
She held up the jacket slung over her arm. “They gave me one. I’m ready.”
“Here.” Noah took the jacket, shook it out, and held it up. “It’s quite chilly outside. It may be warm in the car, but you have to walk a little ways to get to it. I’d be upset if you were to catch a cold.”
Before she could assume him the perfect gentleman, Lucy reminded herself that he wanted her for fucking before anything else.The feeling is becoming mutual.Oh, and the money. She couldn’t forget that beautiful money hitting her bank accounts.
As soon as her jacket slipped over her arms and hung loosely on her body, Noah bade farewell to Candace and ushered Lucy into the fresh air.
A limousine awaited them in the driveway. Although it wasn’t too dark yet, Noah took Lucy by the arm and guided her down the front steps. The driver opened the back door. Without a word exchanged between them, Noah helped Lucy into the vehicle and followed not too close behind. The door was quick to shut.
“Traffic is a bit thick, Mr. Gabriel,” the driver said through an intercom system. “Our current time to destination is about twenty-five minutes. Will keep you updated.”
“Thank you.” Noah was already staring at his phone screen again. Lucy likewise took out her phone from its clutch and used the opportunity to text her sister.
“I’m finally checking out the city! Here’s hoping I can eat something good tonight. What are you doing?”
It didn’t take long for Lacey to respond.“Remember that delivery guy who comes by my work a couple times a week? Well! He asked me out on Wednesday. We’re going out for tacos and margaritas. I’m getting ready right now. One of us has to have a love life, right?”
Lucy sucked in her bottom lip and stared out the window. The trees grew darker as the minutes progressed. She didn’t know what to say to her sister.
She didn’t know what to say to Noah, either. For all she knew, he was dealing with work. The man was always working.
“You look lovely tonight,” he suddenly said.
Lucy turned her head so quickly that her crystal earrings grazed her neck. “Thank you.”
He lowered his phone, attention now completely on her. “I’m sorry I haven’t been very forthcoming with information about tonight. I’ve been quite busy, and there was also the possibility that my friend would cancel up until an hour ago. He’s… flighty like that.”
“I understand.”
“His name is David. David Hayes.” Noah slid his phone into his front pocket. “He was with me the night you and I met. His date is a woman such as yourself.”
“A woman he bought at auction?”
Noah raised his eyebrows. “Yes. Apparently, they are in a precarious position. He requested this dinner because he wanted to meet you… and because he wanted you to meet his, uh, girlfriend.”
Does he call me his girlfriend to his friends?Now wasn’t the time to ask. “Does he think we somehow know each other? I don’t know what you two know about my line of work,” she said this as if she hadanyauthority, “but we don’t all know each other.”
“I didn’t mean to imply… I’m sure he doesn’t…”
Lucy softened her visage. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come off so harshly.”
“You’re fine.” Noah cleared his throat. In the encroaching darkness of the limousine, his profile offered a fascinating point of admiration for Lucy’s wandering eyes.I wouldn’t mind running my finger along the ridge of his nose right now…She wouldn’t mind a lot of things. She did, however, mind interrupting their conversation when they already had so few. “It’s not like that,” Noah continued. “My friend David is a bit of… he means well, but he’s not always the brightest bulb in the pack, if that makes sense.”
“Sure.”
“We were a bit inebriated when we made our bids that night. That’s how they make so much money, you know. Lots of free liquor in the hopes we’ll loosen our purse strings. Anyway, David didn’t understand what he was getting into with this young lady. Apparently, he didn’t only pay top-dollar for a pretty face. He paid more than I can imagine for a virgin.”
Lucy checked the surprise behind her eyes. “I see. A virgin. So, what’s the problem?”
“She’s very shy, and he doesn’t know what to do.”
“I should think she attracted a lot of money for a reason.”
“My friend David, for all his follies, is quite the gentleman, I assure you. Finding out that she was not only a virgin, but one very nervous about what it would be like with him, has David too nervous to take the plunge. I think he’s feeding off her energy. I don’t know. Tonight will be my first night meeting her.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
