CHAPTER TWELVE
Reynolds
“I want to see her.” I held up my phone to show Nico. I’d saved the picture of me looking like I was fucking her as my screen saver.
“Why?” His blue eyes were always intense, and they were extra so now.
“Because I think I’m in love,” I said, sitting back in the chair in his office and crossing my arms behind my head.
He grinned. “Okay, good. I wasn’t going to tell you if you were pissed. Nadine was embarrassed about that damn picture.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know how or why but my poll numbers went up after the picture. She helped me out. Sort of. Whitney about lost her mind about it.”
Nico’s smiled faded. “I don’t know why you date that woman.”
“Don’t you? She looks like the perfect politician’s girlfriend.”
“Polar princess more like it. I much prefer my women like Nadine. All tits and ass and full of sass.” His eyes took on a slightly dreamy quality that disturbed me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You fucking her?”
He laughed. “No. I’d love to, but Carmen told me I couldn’t mess with her. That she’s too nice.”
“She’s nice?”
“Well, yeah. And she’s fucking hilarious. She cracks us up all the time.”
“She looks like that, she’s nice, and she’s funny?” I couldn’t hide my smile. Last night and the night I’d seen her when she’d basically given Enzo a hand job after spilling whiskey in his lap hadn’t been flukes. She was always like that, apparently. “I want her, man.”
He held up his hands. “I figured that out after your texts last night. Take it up with Carmen. The only way you’ll get her is through the auction.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Really? She’s serious about that?”
He nodded. “Why not do it? You might like it.”
I frowned and rubbed the back of my neck. “I’d… buy her for a while? Right? God, that’s shady as hell.”
“Yep. Talk to Carmen.” He picked up his phone. “Hey. You free to talk to Reynolds?” He started laughing. “Of course he’s already here. It’s Reynolds we’re talking about. You know he ‘gets things done.’”
“Fuck off, asshole,” I laughed as he used my campaign slogan from the last election against me. I threw a pen at him. He caught it and threw it back at me. It bounced off my shoulder as I left his office.
I was on a mission. I headed to see Carmen. I liked her office better than Nico’s anyway. His was nice, but dark. It didn’t have a window and was kind of depressing.
Carmen’s office was on the second floor of Sugar, and she had a window that overlooked the bay. She was waiting on me.
“Reynolds.” She watched me with those dark eyes of hers. I could tell she was trying to gauge how I was feeling. “How mad are you?”
She hadn’t seen me since the picture of me and Nadine had come out.
“I’m not mad. But I want that girl.”
She frowned. “You want her what? Fired? Because I’m not about to do that…”
“No, no, no.” I cut her off. “I want her, Carmen. Nico says the only way I can have her is to buy her in the auction. Isn’t there any other way?
Can’t she come down and visit me in Cayenne a few times?
Or maybe in the VIP rooms up here in Sugar?
” I knew I’d already asked before, but there was no harm in asking again.
I was the mayor after all. I usually got what I wanted.
Carmen smirked at me. “Hell, no. Nadine is an auction only woman. She’s one of my Cinnamon Girls.”
I rubbed my chin and tried to call her bluff. “Well, I guess that’s that, then.” I stood up and made it halfway out the door.
“Whether you buy her, she’s going in the auction in two weeks. Not this Friday but next.”
I only had a short time to decide. “And some other fucker will get her?”
“Definitely.” She leaned forward. “She doesn’t even have any student loans or expensive graduate school requests.”
“I don’t really know what that means…”
“When you buy a Cinnamon Girl, you’re agreeing to pay for anything they require in addition to the basics.”
I grinned at her. “What are the basics? Do local celebrities get discounts?”
“Hell, no. I should charge you extra.” She stopped for a second. “Wait. Did Whitney dump your ass?”
“Um… no. Not yet. But she’s trying to press me harder for a long-term commitment now.
Kind of like payment for her suffering because of the picture.
” None of my friends except Byron knew that my relationship with Whitney was fake, and I wanted to keep it that way. The fewer people who knew, the better.
“Jesus.” Carmen rolled her eyes. “You’re crazy to date her. But whatever. So,” she held up a finger every time she listed something, “a condo for the duration of the agreement, a car, clothes, jewelry, gifts, special requests from the Cinnamon Girl and whatever the bidding runs you.”
“Goddamn.” My eyebrows went up.
“Mistresses are expensive. Just ask your dad.”
I cringed and closed my eyes. “Please, never say anything like that again.”
She shrugged. “You’re not the only man in town who wants a side piece, Reynolds. They’re not free, though.”
I sighed but smiled at her. I was just giving her a hard time. I knew it would be expensive, but I had the money. I just wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to several months of fucking the same woman. “Do I have to quit coming to Cayenne for the duration of the agreement?”
She rolled her eyes. “Lord. How many women do you need?” She looked a little disgusted, opened a drawer next to her, and pulled out a sheet of paper.
She pushed it across her large, antique desk to me.
“That’s up to you. That’s the buyer’s contract.
You can check off the box that you’ll be continuing to see other women. ”
I looked at the contract. There were four boxes in the section she was talking about. One said married, the next said significant other, the third said dating, and the last one said single. “And all the women are fine with whatever I check?”
Carmen laughed. “Well, that would be easy for you, wouldn’t it?”
I sighed. “What’s the catch?”
“The women choose what they’re willing to accept ahead of time. So, if she doesn’t want to fuck a married man, she’ll say that’s a hard no for her.”
Damn. “Any idea what Nadine would do?”
“Nope. But I’ll be asking her today.”
“Why? Because of the picture from the other night?”
“Yes and no. I’ve had a bunch of requests for her to go into the auction. Plus, she’s a liability on the floor. You’ve been witness to some of the reasons.”
“What’s the other reason?”
She laughed. I hadn’t seen Carmen laugh very often, but she was doing it now.
It made me smile. “She’s too popular. It’s pissing off the other strippers and causing a backup of tables before and during her sets.
Same thing happened when she was a hostess.
She could only handle a couple of tables at a time because she really talks to the men when she gets them drinks and food. ”
“Really?”
She nodded. “They love her. Have you not even had her as a hostess yet?”
“Not besides the time she dumped drinks on us. I don’t go to Sugar much, sweetheart. I go right to Cayenne.” She didn’t need to know I hadn’t been there since the night I’d almost barreled over Nadine.
“Figures. Well, you’re too late. She auditioned to strip a couple of nights ago and hit it out of the park.
She’ll be on a few more nights, and then she’ll be in auction prep.
You should go see her tonight. It might help you decide.
I guarantee, though, that she’s going to be the top bid in two weeks. ”
“I’ll do that. I wouldn’t miss her show. I was here the night she tried out.” The grin fell from my face when I thought about that night and Thaddeus Clammett’s claims he was going to have Nadine.
“What is it?”
I met Carmen’s eyes. “Nothing. It’s just… well, do you know Thaddeus Clammett?”
Carmen made a face. “Unfortunately. Why?”
“He wants Nadine, too.”
Carmen studied my face and looked worried. “I don’t want that to happen,” she said softly. “Nadine deserves so much better than him.”
“I agree. Should I fill this contract out?”
She studied me a minute. “If you decide to do the auction and you win her, are you going to treat her right?”
I was a little hurt she’d asked me that. “Of course.”
She nodded. “I just don’t want to see her get hurt.”
“Damn, Carmen. I didn’t think you had a heart.”
“I didn’t either, but this girl’s special. I promised her mom I wouldn’t let anyone be mean to her.” She locked eyes with me. “And I intend to keep that promise.”
I held my hands up. “If I do the auction and win, I wouldn’t dare be mean to her.”
“Well, I mainly trust you. So, I’ll let you cheat if you don’t tell anyone.”
“Really? Cheat how?”
“I’ll look at your contract while she fills hers out. Then I can tailor hers to yours to make sure you’re a match.”
“Thanks, Carmen.” I was touched.
“This is based on your relationship with Nico and the rest of us over the years, Reynolds. Don’t make me regret it.”
“I wouldn’t dare. Well,” I said looking at my watch, “I guess I’ll be back in a few hours to see Nadine’s set.”
***
After talking to Carmen about the auction, I felt ninety percent inclined to do it.
I didn’t know exactly what it was about Nadine that was drawing me to her, but the pull I felt was strong.
My mind wandered as I headed down the hallway towards the back elevator.
I was about to text Byron to meet me at the car when he was finished talking to Nico, when I practically ran into Leo.
“Oh, hey, man. Sorry.” Things were a little strained between the two of us since it became clear we both wanted Nadine. I’d never been very close to him, anyway. To me he had always just been one of Nico’s little brothers. We’d always been friendly, though, and I’d never disliked him.
“No problem. Oh, I wanted to let you know there are no hard feelings about the auction. Nico told me you’re probably going to bid on Nadine.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise. “Really?”
He smirked at me. “Really. Do I wish I could have her? Hell, yes. But, I mean, you’ve seen me in Cayenne, right? It’s not like there aren’t dozens of women for me to choose from. Plus, you know Joaquin and I like to share, right?”
Um…no. I didn’t know that. Did I think it was a little weird to share a woman with your brother? Yep. But whatever he did sexually was none of my concern, and I thought it was even weirder that he was telling me about it. “Nope.”
“Yeah, we’re into that,” he said casually. “And he likes them a little older than Nadine. Were you just talking to Carmen about your preferences for your auction sheet?”
This conversation was… odd. “Yes.” I edged my way down the hall, but he clearly wasn’t ready for me to leave yet.
“So, do you like to share?”
What the fuck? “Why are you asking me that, Leo? It’s none of your goddamn business.”
He laughed. “Yeah. I guess I was just hoping you might be willing to do that with Nadine…”
He left the sentiment hanging while he stared at me pointedly.
“No.” I said it louder than I meant to, but he was pissing me off.
“Ah. Okay. My loss.” He rubbed his jaw. “Did you make a note of that on your auction sheet?”
I frowned. “I don’t remember that being one of the questions.”
“I’m sure it was. It’s important that you put all of that on the sheet. Anything that’s important to you, you know? Or that you don’t like?”
I stared at him. Was he trying to figure out what I didn’t like? What the hell was he doing? An unwelcome thought occurred to me. Was Leo into me? “Um…”
“Didn’t I hear you tell Nico you don’t like role playing?”
I’d had enough. “What the fuck, man? This conversation is…”
“Sorry, sorry. I just know that you’re on the fence about the auction and Carmen is trying to get it off the ground. She wants influential people like you to make it more mainstream around here.”
Now I felt guilty. He was just trying to be a good brother. “Yeah. I don’t like role playing or costumes or shit like that. I think it’s awkward. I’d rather just fuck.”
Leo nodded. “I thought I remembered that. I’m headed to talk to Carmen. Want me to
mention it for you?”
Not really, but I also didn’t want to go back to her office. I was starting to run late for a meeting. “I guess so. Is that necessary? I mean, I can just say I don’t want to share, right? And that I don’t like role playing?”
“You know Carmen. She likes everything in writing so there’s never anything left hanging legally.” He gave me a big, friendly smile.
“Sure, whatever.” My phone buzzed in my pocket. While I pulled it out to check it, Leo hurried down the hall. I saw it was Byron asking where I was. While I was texting him back to let him know I was on my way, I got another text. This one was from Melda. I leaned against the wall to respond.
When I was finished, I glanced down the hall and saw Leo and Carmen talking outside her office.
“Reynolds,” she hollered down the hall, “You want me to make a note of that on your sheet?”
Leo gave me a thumbs up. “I told her, man.”
“Great, thanks. Yes, please put that information on my auction sheet, Carmen.”
“Will do,” she said. “See you later.”
I waved to both of them and headed off down the hall. I couldn’t wait to finish the workday so that I could come back that evening to watch Nadine perform on the stage at Sugar.