Page 14 of Eggnog and Edging
Oh no. I can’t think. Can’t move. Can’t breathe.
Jefferson’s arm wraps around me just in time to keep me from falling. He says softly, “Are you okay?”
Managing a few breaths, I say, “I’m fine. Can we get the bids going again, please?”
The attendant ushers Cullen out of the room as the auctioneer resumes the bidding. I force myself to focus on the men who are raising their paddles for me.
Please, please, please let one of them win me before Cullen finds a way to mess this up.
Movement up the side of the room catches my attention. Cullen. And he's holding a bidder's paddle.
Laz made it clear that every bidder will be told definitively what they have to do if they win. Is Cullen prepared to give me an orgasm… to have sex with me? That’s what I’m voting for.
Or is he here to defend what he said?There’s no way my best friend’s daughter is going to sell her virginity.
The contract gives me the right to decline any winner. Should I decline him? I can’t worry about that unless he wins.
I smile at the engineer-looking man in the button-up shirt and slacks who's been steadily inching my numbers up. Is he slow and steady or is he slow because of his upper limit?
Cullen raises his paddle in turn. The engineer and another guy I can’t see as well continue to alternate. Then I realize the auctioneer is repeating numbers more. The bids are slowing down.
The guy I can’t see and the engineer are putting more and more thought into the price tag.
Cullen is quick to counter them. He’s going to win. I keep smiling at the engineer, hoping he'll up the numbers, and yet, I'd love to be won by Cullen. I'd love for him to give me my happily ever after. I'd love to experience what we had in the kitchen and then some. But I don’t know if that’s why he’s here.
I glance to the side, seeing Molly and Bellamie peek around the curtain. I wish they could come stand with me. Molly gives me a thumbs-up.
The auctioneer calls, "Going, going, gone!”
The engineer gives me a sad smile and shakes his head. Oh no, it wasn't him. I move my gaze to the side of the room where Cullen stands.
How can so much be packed into the look in his eyes, the smile, and the nod? I don't know how, but I have a feeling he's going to make good on the contract, and not just because it's obligatory.
Chapter 6
Cullen
Securing the win for Starla, I breathe a sigh of relief. With the research I did, I knew how high the bids could go, but even then, I was sweating it. I had no control over who was in the room, how much money they had, or if they saw the depth of Starla’s beauty.
I send a text to Ryker:got her
Then I shut my phone off because I can’t handle any interruptions. This is between Starla and me.
My word is good, and I won Starla for myself and Ryker, but it feels too complicated. What am I supposed to do, ask her to wait for him? Would she think it’s a ploy for her father? What if Rossshows up and we haven’t consummated the win? I’m not letting this night be ruined on a technicality.
I head to the payment room to put my signature in all the proper places. Then an attendant escorts Starla in, unaware of the complicated dynamic between the two of us.
The attendant simply asks, "Starla, are you ready?"
She nods, and the attendant walks away.
Not wanting to have the discussion about Ryker in front of anyone, not even the clerk taking payments, I reach out, brushing my fingertips on the side of Starla's hand.
"May I?"
She slides her hand across mine, and I close my bulky fingers around her delicate ones. The intimacy of our simple union staggers me. My heart needs a minute to resume its natural rhythm.
"Let's go somewhere more private. There’s something I need to explain."
