I didn’t do it to piss her off.
Well, maybe a little…
If she wanted to play hardball, then I would give her one hell of a game. I ordered a whiskey neat at the bar and sat back to enjoy the show.
Hoping like hell I wasn’t going to regret this, too.
I sat in the backroom trying to get my shit together by taking deep breaths, wanting to regulate my rapidly beating heart from our confrontation.
“You can do this, Lily. He will be gone soon, he’s not going to stick around. Just keep repeating that to yourself. He. Will. Be. Gone.”
I took one last deep breath and made my way back to the stage, grabbing the first clipboard from Tracey. She winked at me and my eyebrows lowered not understanding the meaning behind her expression, but I grabbed the microphone nonetheless.
“Is everyone ready to spend some money?” I yelled. “We’re going to start with the bachelorettes and then the bachelors, and let me tell you… phew!” I fanned myself. “These participants are fucking hot! Let’s chat for a minute about the rules. Everyone is over twenty-one, and you can outbid as long as it’s within the timeframe. No one can outbid once the participant has been purchased. Let’s make this a great night, dig deep into those pockets people. All proceeds go to a fundraiser for breast cancer, a cause dear to my heart. Save the ta-ta’s, save the women, and have a fucking blast. The highest bidder wins the bachelor or bachelorette for a date.” I winked.
“What happens after that depends solely on the bidder and their prize. Remember folks, no means no!”
They laughed.
“We will start with our very own Bootleggers bartender, Tracey.”
Each participant took about ten to fifteen minutes for their bids after their introduction, the donations were rolling in and patrons and participants were hyped up. It was the last bachelor of the night and it was near three am, all the women were riled up and this guy would definitely be bringing in a hefty donation. I grabbed the last clipboard and when I saw the name I looked up, right at him. I didn’t realize he was still there until that moment when he was up on my stage.
To add insult to injury he grinned. A shit-eating grin that made my panties wet and heightened my pissed off mood. That’s when he reached up to his ball cap, straightened it out so that the visor was toward the front. My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened instantaneously.
Son of a bitch.
I shook my head in disbelief that he was wearing that ball cap.
My. Ball. Cap.
He smiled big and wide, folding his arms across his broad chest, accenting his muscular build. I could easily see his form from where I stood.
What was he playing at?
The crowd screaming and chanting for more brought my attention back to them. I looked around the room mentally preparing myself if I could really do this. He tilted his head, gave me a slight nod and pursed his lips, challenging me in an arrogant and cocky demeanor, fueling my indecision. I didn’t need the clipboard, so I threw it on the floor.
“This handsome gentleman is Jacob Foster, and he’s a pain in the ass. You know the controlling, alpha type that usually gets what he wants. Except not this time,” I added for good measure before looking back over at the crowd. “I’ll start the bidding at fifty dollars? Do I hear fifty?”
“Fifty!” a girl in the front yelled with her hand in the air.
“Do I hear a hundred?”
“A hundred!” another girl called out.
It went on like this for God knows how long and all it did was made me hate him a little more at that moment.
“Do I hear eight hundred?” I found myself saying, trying to ignore the bottomless feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.
“Two thousand dollars,” an older woman said, slapping down the money by my feet.
It was the highest bid of the night. Most of these people were college kids, maybe a little older, but this woman had to be in her forties. She was one of those women that you could tell was a knockout when she was younger, though she still looked amazing. I peered over at Jacob as he leaned back against the wall, placing his hand over his mouth and rubbing back and forth, examining me in a way I had never seen before. The scrutiny of his stare had my already overthinking mind going into overdrive and it shook me to my core.
“What exactly am I paying for?” the older woman seductively said, making me look down at her. She was looking right at Jacob, who was still only staring right at me.
“He is fucking gorgeous. Those eyes. I am going to have some fun with him. Three thousand dollars and that’s my final offer.”
I swear the whole bar got quiet. It didn’t matter that we were in a crowded room. It felt like it was only the two of us. My heart was beating profoundly. I could feel it in my throat and at my temples. I swear he could feel it too. I took several deep breaths as I could feel his vigorous stare clear across the distance that separated us. We stood there, locking eyes, years and years of regret and mistakes piled up between us. It all came crashing down like a boulder had just exploded. I couldn’t breathe as a suffocating feeling came over me.
“Did you hear me, little girl? Three thousand dollars, now give me my man to play with,” she blurted in a tone I didn’t appreciate. My eyes met her glare. If looks could kill, she’d be dead.
I bit my lip. Not wanting to look back at Jacob. I was terrified that I would see him being interested in another woman…
That wasn’t me.
I could hear everything the woman was saying to Lily, silently praying it would work. I hoped like hell my plan wasn’t going to blow up in my fucking face. The thought of having to leave with someone that wasn’t Lily was fucking revolting. I could physically feel her torment, the years of hurt that I caused her. It took everything inside me not to go to her and try to ease her pain anyway I could, but it wouldn’t help. It would probably make things worse. She would have to make the first move. She had to give me something, even if it was just an inch that I could turn into a mile.
Lily’s eyes widened as she peered down at her with daggers, shocked by her blunt outburst. There was also something in her face I couldn’t place, something I had never seen before. For a second, I questioned whether I should stop this fucking bid and just take what’s mine.
Her.
“My name’s Kid, not little girl,” Lily argued in a voice I instantly recognized and loved, making me smile.
“Thirty-one hundred dollars. The bidding is over. He’s mine,” Lily added almost knocking me the fuck over.
The woman backed away. Lily didn’t look at me for the rest of the night. I would let her hide… for now. I waited for her outside when the bar closed. My car was parked in the same spot it was towed from. I stood, leaning against the passenger side door with my arms crossed over my chest and one leg placed over the other. I heard the door open and she walked out, looking gorgeous as fucking ever.
“Interesting little thing just happened, I went to pay my donation only to find out you already footed the bill."
I cocked my head to the side and grinned.
“I appreciate the gesture like you can’t imagine, but now I think you took conceited to a whole different level, Jacob. You do realize you just spent thirty-one hundred dollars for a date with yourself right?" she said with the most adorable smirk.
“No. I paid four thousand dollars for you to have me, baby. Money well spent if you ask me. Not only does the charity get more funds, but you also get me. Alone.”
She smiled and it lit up her entire face. “How much money do you have? I mean you’ve been here for a few weeks now. Do you even work?”
“Shit, that’s all I do. Before I came here, I worked sixty-seventy hours a week. I have a lot of investments, my grandparents’ trust, and I know how to spend my money wisely. I’ve been working on and off while I’ve been here, but I took a sabbatical for a while.”
“Why?”
“Because of you.”
“I’m not that gullible. You didn’t even know I was here until the night you arrived, so try again, asshole.”
I chuckled not ready to tell her the truth yet. “After I found you. I decided to take more time off.” I pushed off my car. “I know what you’re doing, baby, you’re not going to get out of this.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Is that right?” I whispered, stepping close to her. “By all means, what do you have planned?”
“Why? Are you pissed that I ruined your good time?”
“Like I give a fuck about that. Mrs. Robinson was a means to a goal. My good time is with you. It’s always been you,” I reminded, sweeping her hair away from her face. “I would have paid to not leave with her if she won.”
Her face frowned. “Liar.”
“Don’t you understand me at all? I don’t lie to you, Kid. I can’t lie to you. Which is why I have spent the last three years away from you. It’s why I left you in the first place. I’d rather stay away from you than lie to you again. It nearly killed me the first time.”
She turned her face into my hand. “Jacob…”
“What, baby?”
“Please…”
“Please what?”
“Please don’t hurt me again,” she murmured loud enough for me to hear. Her words were like a sledgehammer to my heart. I knew I had crushed her, but to actually hear her say the words was like taking a bullet directly to my heart. I immediately pulled her into my arms and she let me, melting into my body the way I hoped for every night.
“I love you.” I kissed the top of her head, hugging her tighter into my chest. “Give me a chance to prove it to you. That’s all I want. I just need one more chance.”
She hesitated a few seconds and I heard her take a deep breath, nodding into my neck and whispering,
“Okay.”