CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jack
The night of the auction, I was nervous as hell.
I pulled on the collar of my shirt. I had only just started wearing suits recently hoping to impress Daisy.
I still wasn’t used to how constricting they were.
And now here I sat, at the best table in the room, with the Salazar clan, minus Carlos, who was apparently still completely smitten with his wife of thirty years, and Carmen, who was the Emcee for the event.
Carmen, in a tight and elegant wine-colored evening gown, looking as hot if not hotter than the women being auctioned off that evening, led the show with ease.
She introduced all the women first, having them parade down the catwalk-style auction runway to whet the bidders’ appetites.
They were all dressed in barely there lingerie or skimpy cocktail dresses, none of which left much to the imagination.
The men were a bit raucous at times when a particularly beautiful or well-endowed woman was introduced.
But they were mainly restrained. They’d been raised to have perfect manners, after all.
She ended, of course, with Daisy.
My Daisy.
Just before she came out, the chandelier lights dimmed dramatically.
“Gentlemen, get ready. Our featured cinnamon girl this month is one of your all-time favorite hostesses. But she’s ready to put those hostessing days behind her with the help of one of you tonight.
” Carmen gave a saucy wink before gesturing towards the opening of the stage where Daisy was standing.
A spotlight illuminated her, and I couldn’t breathe for a moment.
Apparently, neither could anyone else, because there wasn’t a sound in the room. Not the clink of ice in a whiskey glass or a whispered word anywhere. Everyone was staring at the stage in various stages of enchantment… or maybe shock.
There Daisy stood, dressed in an emerald green ball gown.
It was tight across the bodice, showcasing her breasts and waist perfectly.
Then it flowed out around the rest of her and was long enough she had to hold the sides of the dress to keep it from flowing down onto the floor around her.
Her hair had been left long and a bit wild, her natural waves allowed to show.
Her makeup was perfect—not so thick you could tell she was heavily made up, but not so minimal as to make her look washed out under the lights.
She looked like a princess from long ago, escaped from the pages of a fantasy book.
She was the most stunning woman I’d ever seen, and my mouth had gone totally dry.
My gaze was riveted to her as she made the long walk down the stage, tables of men on either side of the catwalk.
When she turned to go back, her dress flared out around her, and for just a second you could see a glimpse of her shapely legs underneath her skirts.
I suddenly understood why some women seemed so desirable even though they wore more clothing.
There was something about the hint of sexiness, the curiosity of what lay under the folds of material, that could easily drive a man crazy.
Judging from the reactions of the men in the room tonight, they agreed with me.
As she walked back towards the entrance to the stage and the curtain that would keep her hidden until the end of the night, she glanced back over her shoulder and smiled.
And my God. I swear my heart was completely hers in that moment.
As I watched her, I noticed the Salazar brothers also watching her. I narrowed my eyes at Enzo, who clearly longed to be able to bid on her. I’d been assured by Nico and Carmen both that he was very much in love with someone else, but I wasn’t so sure of that at this moment.
Nico read the look on my face and nudged me. He gave me a quick head nod and a wink. I knew he was signaling me.
Our plan was still in place.
I sighed with relief.
All I had to do was sit back, relax as best I could, and enjoy the show. I could drink a few glasses of high-end whiskey, talk as little as possible with the Salazars, and watch semi-drunk men bid on beautiful women.
It was all very entertaining. As long as they knew Daisy was mine.
And by now they at least knew she wouldn’t be theirs. The men had been informed before the evening had started that the final part of the auction, the bidding on the featured cinnamon girl, was a closed event. They just didn’t know there was only one bidder—me.
Girl after girl went to happy men, disappearing together deep somewhere in the hallways of Cinnamon. I knew they were going to sign paperwork, and, as Carmen had instructed me, fuck. She said it was easier, less nerve-wracking for the women to get the first encounter over with quickly.
She was probably right, but it all seemed very…
sordid. It was the opposite of how I wanted things to start out with Daisy.
I mean, we’d already had some pretty down and dirty oral sex in a VIP room.
And a very public first fuck during her performance at Sugar.
I thought surely our next sexual encounter should be in a bedroom on actual sheets. The one I’d had prepared for her.
I thought back to all I’d done to the condo Daisy would be living in for the next three months.
I’d worked with her best friends, Nia and Jelly, to find out her favorite colors, her likes and dislikes, and all her favorite foods.
I’d had the condo filled with blush-colored peonies, her favorite color and flower.
I’d ordered champagne truffles and pralines from Teuscher chocolates of Switzerland.
The beds in the two bedrooms had been made up with linens from Peacock Alley.
A few dresses from Lily Pulitzer hung in the closet of the main bedroom.
I’d left an Amex black card with her name on it on her bedside table.
All the things I’d thought she’d need to be comfortable.
And the cameras of course. No matter how safe I knew Salazar Heights was, now that I knew she had a stalker out there I couldn’t be too careful.
I’d had them placed outside the condo—one pointed at the elevator and one aimed at the outside of her door.
I’d had a few placed inside the condo as well, but I hadn’t wanted to invade her privacy too much.
Well, that’s a lie. I’d totally wanted to invade her privacy.
But I knew that was crossing a line.
So, I didn’t put any cameras in the bathrooms or the bedrooms. The only interior cameras were in the main living areas, which would be plenty to assure me she was safe.
And to stare at her.
“And that’s the last woman of our main auction tonight gentlemen.
If you didn’t win the woman of your choice this evening, just remember—there’s always next month!
Until then, please move your party elsewhere to enjoy the lovely ladies at Sugar or whatever your needs may be at Cayenne.
” She gave a big wink, and the lights on the stage shut off.
The men were ushered out of the auction room fairly quickly by the bouncers until the only people left were Carmen Salazar and me.
As Carmen had instructed, I was standing in the middle of the room at the end of the catwalk, dressed in my best suit.
“I can’t believe I agreed to this plan of yours,” Carmen said with a shake of her long, silky black hair. “But I think you and Daisy make a good match.” She stared hard at me. “You do realize this is just for three months, right?”
“Sure,” I said, easily. It wasn’t just for three months. But I wasn’t going to advertise that fact.
Carmen narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m being serious, Jack.
It’s usually the women I have to have this talk with, but at least a couple of times a year I have to have it with the gentleman who wins the auction.
She’s going to walk at the end of three months.
She has plans,” she said gently. “She’s going back to her hometown to help run her mother’s flower shop and help raise her sisters. ”
I nodded, absently. Those plans weren’t good enough for Daisy.
Anyone who knew her could see that. No, if she still wanted to work after becoming my wife, or girlfriend if she wasn’t into marriage, I’d hire her in marketing at Lancaster Games.
She was, after all, a CaveSphere fan. It wasn’t a big stretch to think she’d be good at marketing the game to other fans.
Carmen sighed. “Okay. So, I did go to Crosston and find out a few things that you need to know. Things that could potentially free up Daisy to do whatever she wants when she graduates.” She proceeded to tell me what she’d found out, and it thrilled me. It must have shown on my face.
“Jack,” she frowned. “You’re not to pressure her into sticking around after your contract is over. You know that, right?”
I just grinned at her.
“I feel like you’re not really hearing me…” Carmen started to say, but then the spotlight clicked back on.
I stood up straight, ignoring anything else Carmen might have to say. Daisy was coming out soon.