Chapter 2
Cindy waited for Dane to pick her up. She looked in the mirror once last time out of nervousness. She was not just dressing for Dane, but for men who were going to bid on her. The whole idea of it made her slightly queasy and she took another sip of the blush wine in her glass.
The woman had left her hair down, which she rarely did because it was a bit too long and hot. It fell around her shoulders and down her back in dark brunette waves. There was a little rouge on her lips and mouth, but Cindy was never really one for face painting. She smoothed the material over her hips and tried to look back at herself like she wasn’t scared shitless.
The knock at the door surprised her, even though she was waiting for him. She walked towards the door and smiled at Dane. He looked good in his suit and by the look in his eyes he liked what she was wearing too. He took a step towards her and planted her with a hot kiss. Her back went against the open door and she had to put her hand on his chest to slow him down.
“Come on Dane, we are going to be late.”
Cindy had to pull her mouth away from his hungry one and his eyes were still closed as she urged him on.
“In that dress, I would much rather stay in and get comfortable.”
It was not hard to imagine what he meant by that, so Cindy tried to ignore his desires.
“This is good for your career, remember?”
“Yeah but your ass in that dress is good for my life.”
She had to laugh at his facial expression. She had already noticed the knot in his slacks. The thin material did very little to hide his arousal. Grabbing her clutch purse from the end table, Cindy walked past him as she walked out onto the landing. Cindy grinned to herself as Dane groaned as her breasts rubbed against his chest on her way out. He could see right down her dress and Dane was quickly forgetting why they were leaving anyways.
“Come on Cindy, fuck!”
She looked back with a grin and kept walking towards his car. It was already getting dark so the headlights were on. Opening the door, she ignored his words and buckled up after she slid in. No amount of looking in the mirror could give her the same confidence boost as his reaction just did.
“Hurry up Dane. We don’t want to be late.”
He shot her a look and pulled at the front of his pants as he walked around the car to the driver side. He got in and stopped when he saw a long expanse of bare thighs. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment. It was going to be a long night for the man and what made it worse was that he was not going to get the happy ending that he so desperately needed.
***
The semi-small event that she was expecting was of course larger than she had imagined. Too many people and she knew very few of them. She waved to the few that she knew and clung to Dane’s side as they weaved their way through the crowd. Cindy was overwhelmed with the many eyes on her and she wished she had not worn the red dress. In a sea of blacks and whites, she stuck out immediately. There were so many men there Cindy just looked down as they moved. She could feel her cheeks getting red.
Dane stopped at a table near the front that had his name on a place setting card.
“Here we are. I will be right back. I need to talk to someone real quick.”
Cindy tried to protest, but she knew that it would do her no good. Looking around, she noticed a small bar at the end by the stage and got up on her way in that direction. Ordering a glass of wine, she waited as a tall blonde man stopped next to her. He ordered a whiskey and looked down at her with crystal-blue eyes. He looked down at the slim wrist band on her arm.
“So you are here for the auction?”
Cindy nodded, feeling oddly breathless and she did not trust herself to speak. She thanked the bartender for the wine. Turning to walk away, Dane was there and pulling her back towards the large man.
“Kevin, I would like to introduce you to Cindy. Cindy this is one of the partners from the firm.”
She took the man’s hand and it enveloped hers. She felt a tiny spark on her palm as she pulled away.
“Nice to meet you Sir.”
The two men talked for a moment and she looked around at the crowd of people taking their seats as the auction was ready to begin. The lights dimmed and came back on, signaling those that were still milling around to settle in.
“Well it was nice to meet you Cindy.”
She looked up at him and back down, unable to keep his intense gaze.
“You as well.”
Dale held her a little closer as they walked back to the table. Sitting down, they had a great view of the stage. Looking back, her eyes followed Kevin and her eyes widened when he stopped in front of another man that was built for football, more than they were built for law. She glanced at Dane and realized he had caught her looking and by the look on his face, he was not particularly happy about it.
The first few women went on the stage and the bidding started at one hundred dollars. It quickly rose and all three fetched a price of the low thousands. Cindy balked at the amounts. Even for charity it seemed like a lot. She was more afraid that she would not get such a price. All of the women that got on the stage were petite and she was more curved than anything else. In a world of size twos, she had never fit into that particular mold.
A few more were auctioned and she became more nervous. She wished that she knew the order of names, but she was left to wait to hear the announcer call the next name. Every time she would hold her breath and then it would shoot out relieved when it was someone else’s name called. Dane had moved his chair closer and glanced back to another table several times. Cindy was too busy being nervous that she did not even hear her name when it was finally called. He nudged her and she stood up on shaky legs.
Walking up the three stairs to the stage was more complicated than it should have been. She stood next to the girl on the stage and waved nervously at the sea of people in the room. Cindy focused on Dane, but he was focused on a woman at the table next to the one she had just left. She eyed him for a moment before paying attention to the bidding. It was already up to two thousand and she tried to see who was bidding on her.
As the numbers rose, she focused on the last three bidders. Cindy was surprised to see Dane bidding, though he gave up at around five thousand. The last two bidders were the large men, one she knew as Dane’s boss. She could see the tension on her boyfriend’s face, but could not see far into the crowd with the bright lights.
The bidding was going quickly higher, back and forth between the two law partners. Finally, there was an offer of fifty thousand, if she agreed to go out with both of them. That was more money than Cindy would see all year. She shook her head to agree. What else could she have done but that? Cindy could not think of anything else and she was amazed to find the two large men came forward as everyone clapped. She nodded to them both and the one she had already met mouthed the word tomorrow. As he looked away, she could swear that she seen a glow in his eyes that made her pause.