“Ben has both, I’m sure, probably more,” slurred Derek. “The Lees are one of the wealthiest families in China. What did Forbes peg you at? Twelve, thirteen billion?”
The eyes of the women lit up.
“That’s impressive,” said a redhead with a champagne glass in hand.
Jason wrapped an arm around his petite date. “Ben, this is Lisa. Pretty sweet find, hunh?”
The redhead introduced herself. “And I’m Ryan.”
Jake returned then with the blond, who looked a little worse, as if she had been crying. She looked embarrassed to be wearing her pink cocktail dress while Lisa was casually dressed in a sundress and Ryan was in tight cropped leggings and a halter.
“Hi, I remember you,” said Lisa to the blond. “You’re Claire. You got the highest bid at the auction last night. Congratulations.”
“There’s no Claire here. Her name’s Slut #1,” Jake corrected.
The women did a double take, then Ryan turned to Derek. “Do I get a nickname, too?”
“Sure, you can be Slut #2,” Derek replied.
Ryan giggled.
“That one’s taken already,” Jake informed
“Slut #3 it is.”
“And that would make me Slut #4?” Lisa asked.
“She can count.” Jake grinned at Jason.
“Of course she can. Asians are supposed to be good at math,” Derek joked.
“Just select Asians: Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Indian,” Jason said.
“Are you saying I’m not as smart because I’m Thai?” Lisa demanded.
Jason pulled her to him and kissed her neck. “Pretty much, babe.”
“I did hate math. It was so boring, but I got a passing grade because all the boys around me would do the work for me. I call that being smart.”
“Here, you’re graded on something much more fun than math.”
They touched foreheads, and Lisa giggled.
Ben turned to Claire. “There are sandwiches on the table.”
She glanced timidly at Jake, as if not daring to hope for the chance to eat. Ben decided he would have to beat the motherfucker up if he didn’t feed her.
Jake had walked over to the table. To Claire, he said, “Go over to your spot. Be good and you’ll get to eat.”
“I wanna change and touch up my makeup,” Ryan declared.
Jake sat down with his sandwich and propped his feet on the adjacent chair. “Derek can show you around.”
Jason, Derek, and their dates went upstairs with their bags. Ben walked over to Claire, who had situated herself in the sitting area before the fireplace.
“Something to drink?” he asked her.
She nodded.