9. Maggie
9
MAGGIE
I ’m next.
I’ve almost talked myself out of this a hundred times, but whenever I think about Ben, I know I’m doing the right thing. I don’t know why I’m hung up on him, but I’m positive doing this will finally clear all remnants of him from my head. It has to.
I don’t know what kind of hold he has on me. I met him, and thirty minutes later, I was ready to have sex with him. Three weeks later, I can’t get him off my mind. I shake my head. Geez, imagine if I actually had slept with him. I’d probably be obsessed.
This whole thing has been overwhelming. From the moment I got here to the site of the auction, I’ve been plucked and prodded. I have more makeup on than I’ve ever worn in my life, and I’m basically parading around this place in my underwear.
The owner of the auction, Coco St James, has bossed me and everyone else around, but I have to admit, it runs like a well-oiled machine.
“Now here’s a special treat. We have lucky number seven.”
I grit my teeth when they call my number, but I force my shaky legs to take me out onto the stage. The audience is dark, and I can’t see a thing, which makes this a little easier. I try to convince myself that no one is out there as I walk to the end of the stage and turn back around. My hands are straight at my sides as I try to hold down my see-through lingerie. My ass is bare, and I know I’m showing it with each step I take. Coco St. James rambles on about me, but it’s like a whoosh of air in my ear because I don’t make out anything she says. I’m full of nerves and trying not to bolt the whole time I stand here.
“Let’s start the bidding at one million.”
There’s a buzz in the room, and Coco smiles. “Well, okay, everyone. Someone is obviously smitten. I have a bid for five million. Can I get five and a half?”
I gasp, but before I can react, there are more buzzes in the room. Each one makes the bid go higher, and when Coco St. James calls the final bid at eight million dollars, I feel faint.
Someone just bought my virginity for eight million dollars.
The reality of what I’m doing hits me like a punch in the gut. I stumble off the stage, and a security guard leads me to a side room. I wait impatiently for my buyer to come, and when Bentley Barrett walks through the door, I feel a mix of relief and anger at the same time.
“No,” I say as soon as I spot him.
His eyes travel down the length of me, and my traitorous body reacts. My nipples pucker, and there’s a pull in my lower belly. Damn, he’s handsome. Even more so than I remember.
“What are you doing here?”
He walks to the counter that’s been set up. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not leaving with you.”
He lifts his hand and strokes it through his beard while he looks at me. “Yes, you are. Because I’m not leaving you here.”
The man at the counter clears his throat. “Ma’am, you signed the contract. If you have changed your mind, you will need to talk to Coco about it.” I’m about to nod my head when he continues, “But you’d be wasting your time. Unless you have eight million dollars, the contract is binding. Of course, you’re free to do whatever, but you will be the one paying the bill.”
Eight million dollars. I don’t have eight million dollars. Heck, I don’t even have eight thousand dollars. “Fine,” I say.
Ben transfers the money, and when the cashier asks if we want the marriage option, I tell him no, absolutely not.
Ben doesn’t look at me. He doesn’t seem happy, and I can’t say I blame him.
We finally get out the door, and Ben is leading me to his truck. As I climb in, I ask him, “Did Elana send you?”
He slams the door and walks around to the driver’s side and gets in. “No, Elana didn’t send me.”
I dig through my bag and pull my phone out. I dial Elana’s number, and she answers on the first ring. “You okay?”
Instead of answering her, I ask my own question. “Why did you send your brother to get me?”
She gasps. “Eddie’s there?”
“No, Ben is here.”
She’s quiet for a second and then blurts out, “Ben is there? My brother Ben… is at the auction?”
My voice drops a little. Elana is good, but she really does sound like she doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. “Yes. Ben is here, and he bid on me.”
“He what?”
I look over at Ben, and he’s holding on to the steering wheel with white knuckles. “You didn’t know?”
Elana gasps into the phone. “No, I didn’t know. How did he even know you were there? I didn’t tell him.”
“I’ll call you back,” I tell her and then hang up.
I turn in my seat and face him. “What is going on, Ben? Why did you come?”
He enunciates each word. “Because I wasn’t going to let you sell yourself to some stranger, that’s why.”
“What do you care? You hate me.”
His rigid jaw softens along with his voice. “I don’t hate you.”
“Right. I’m just a hot piece of ass to you.” He doesn’t say anything, but I’m not going to stop until I get to the bottom of this. “How did you know… oh shit, you were there to bid on someone. You saw me and felt you needed to save me or something. You were there for someone else.”
He looks at me with a tight expression on his face. “No.”
Exasperated, I throw my hand up. “No what?”
He turns back to the road in front of us. “No, I wasn’t there for someone else.”
My body quivers. If he wasn’t there for someone else, does that mean he really was there for me? No. There’s no way. “Why then?”
His voice is hard. “Because I wasn’t going to stand by while you sold yourself to some stranger. Fuck, Maggie. You have no idea how much I hated seeing you up there.”
Has he thought of me at all these last few weeks? Is he doing this because I work for him? Why does he care when all he wanted was a piece of ass?
I cringe at the thought that comes next. “Does everyone at work know?”
He grits his teeth. “No.”
“So if no one knows, and Elana didn’t tell you, how did you know I was there?”
He blows out a breath as he stops at a stop sign. “You’re not going to like it, Maggie.”
He starts to drive again, and I turn in my seat with one hand on the dashboard. “I’m not going to like it? What does that even mean?”
He shrugs. “It means you’re not going to like it.”
“Ben! Stop this. I’m tired of these games. How did you know about this?”
He keeps his eyes on the road. “Elana came to dinner the other night and told me you were going on vacation, but she wouldn’t tell me where. I was worried about you, and I had to know.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I looked at your email.”
I think back to the invitation I’d received and the application I sent back. “My email? Wait, that was my personal email.”
He looks at me almost guiltily. “I know.”
“You looked at my personal email? How did you even do that? Why would you do that?”
He doesn’t answer me, though. We’re at the main intersection in town, and Ben turns toward the distilleries. I point the opposite direction. “I live that way.”
“I know where you live.”
I shake my head. “Of course you do. Where are you going? Take me home.”
He keeps driving, seemingly unfazed. “I’m taking you home with me.”
I laugh. How can I not? This whole thing is crazy. “I’m not going home with you.”
“Yes, you are.”
I wave my hand in his face. “Uh, hello. No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. I have eight million reasons saying you are.”
I gulp. I never thought…. I didn’t think that he actually wanted to follow through on this. “Ben, surely you don’t think?—”
“I’m not going to force you to sleep with me. You don’t have anywhere to be until Monday. Stay with me.”
Fuck, I want to. I want to stay with him more than anything, but does that make me weak? He only wants me for one thing. But he did pay eight million dollars to get it. I look over at him and can’t help but wonder what’s going on in his head. He could have literally had me for free. “None of this makes sense.”
He shrugs and keeps driving up the mountain. “It will.”
I put my hand on his forearm and feel his muscles flex under my palm. He’s affected by my touch. “Why? Give me one good reason… Why should I?”
There’s torment in his eyes. “Because I messed up. That day I met you, I fucked up. I want to make it right.”
I cross my arms over my chest. I can feel myself softening to him, but I’m trying to keep my wits about me. “Fine, you want to be forgiven? You’re forgiven. You could have saved eight million dollars and just picked up the phone to apologize to me. You don’t spend that kind of money to make something right, Ben.”
“Will you go with me or not?”
I bite my lower lip. “I’m not fucking you.”
His eyes drop to my lips before looking back at the road. “That’s your decision. I would like for you to stay, Maggie.”
I should demand he take me home, but I don’t. Instead, I turn and sit straight in my seat and look out the side window. “Fine,” I mutter. “I’ll go home with you.”
I don’t have to look at him to see his reaction. I can see the smile on his face through the reflection of the glass. I hope I’m making the right decision.