Auctioned To The Mountain Man (Sold to the Naughtier List #3)

Chapter 1

ONE

Sienna

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do,” I tell Jem as I fold my arms on the table and drop my head onto them.

The bills around me flutter from the movement, and I groan as a few of them slip to the ground.

“We can make a plan,” Jem insists, gathering up the bills.

I peek up at her and groan again. “You don’t look very confident.”

She sighs. “Okay, it’s bad,” she admits.

I bury my face in my arms again and close my eyes.

Jem and I have been best friends practically since birth. Our moms were best friends, and we were born close together and raised more as sisters than friends.

She’s now the closest thing that I have to family. My parents passed when I was six. A car accident took them from me and changed my life forever. My grandparents took me in and raised me until they passed away. They left me this house, and I’ve been doing everything I can to hold on to it since.

Paying for their funerals hit me hard emotionally and financially. It wiped out my savings, and I used the money they left to replace the roof and pay their hospital bills.

Now, I’m screwed.

“I can’t lose this house, Jem,” I whisper.

She wraps her arms around me. “We’ll figure something out. I have some money saved. It’s not much, but it might buy us some time.”

“I can’t do that to you.”

“You’re not. I’m offering. I love this place and your family.”

I smile through my tears. “I know.” I grab the bills from the table and hang my head. “How am I going to come up with this much money?”

Jem chews on her bottom lip. “Don’t shoot me down right away…”

I frown. “I’m not becoming a hitman.”

She snorts. “I know. That’s not it.”

“What then?”

“Remember Letty?”

“Vaguely. She moved here a bit ago and married that billionaire up the mountain. Um… Hugh, right?”

Jem nods. “Yeah, but do you know how they got together?”

I shrug. “She was his assistant.”

“Yeah, but that’s not how they started dating.”

“How then?”

“She put herself in the Tease and Please Auction.”

“What?” I squeak.

“Hugh was in love with her, and when he found out what she did, he joined the auction and won her.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah,” she agrees.

“Well, I don’t have a super sexy, rich boss secretly in love with me,” I point out.

“I know, but there will be super-rich guys at the auction.”

“How do you know that?”

“I may have looked,” she admits. “Anyone who goes to bid is thoroughly vetted and must have a bank account to bid big. It’s like super elite level people. Billionaires, with a B!”

I purse my lips, thinking it over. “What if no one bids on me? I mean, look at me. Who’s going to want a chubby virgin?”

“Plenty of people! You’re hot! You’ll have a ton of people bidding on you,” she assures me.

“And then what?”

“Then, you spend the night with him.”

“One night? And I walk away with the money?”

“I’m sure the auction takes a cut, but yeah, basically.”

My mind races with the possibilities. Even if I only get a few thousand, it would keep me afloat for a bit. I’ll be able to pay off some of the bills and get back on my feet.

I can’t believe I’m even thinking about doing this. I mean, I never thought I would do something so drastic, but I’m out of options. No bank will give me a loan, I can’t find a full-time job, and my substitute teacher salary isn’t helping much.

Do I really want to do this, though? Is this how I want to lose my virginity? What would my grandparents think if they knew?

I look around the house and realize it doesn’t matter. I can’t lose this place. It’s all I have left of them. I’ll do whatever it takes to save it.

“Okay. I’ll do it,” I announce.

Jem blinks.

“I mean, it’s just one dinner and one night of pretending. I can do that,” I ramble.

“Totally!” Jem agrees. “It won’t be so bad. Maybe the guy will be a sex god!”

I laugh. “I doubt it, or he wouldn’t be at an auction.”

“You never know,” she says, trying to cheer me up. “Maybe you’ll meet your very own Prince Charming.”

“Maybe,” I mumble, but I doubt it.

Jem grabs my laptop and pulls up the website. We read through the rules and sign me up.

Once it’s done, I lean back in my chair, the pit in my stomach growing bigger by the second.

“For your grandparents,” Jem whispers.

Just one night, I think, as we clean up the bills. One night, and I’ll have breathing room to figure out a new plan.