I nearly let him fall on his face. “What the fuck?”
“I hear it’s not so bad. They heat the place up so you’re nice and sweaty and hard for them.” Petersburg slaps my shoulder. “They only touch you a little bit. To position you.”
Sweat rolls down my back. “Cinderella’s going to save me,” I tell him but I’m feeling a little less confident than when I walked into the room. Maybe my plan wasn’t so great?
Chapter Four
Paislee
I stare at the credit card in my hand. It looks fancy and has some weight to it. It’s a lot like the one my grandma shoved into my purse a few weeks ago and insisted I use. But I haven’t used it yet.
I haven't had a reason to. I’m living in a house that is almost the same as some fancy spa that serves amazing food. Everything I could ever want is at my fingertips. A life that will surely take some getting used to.
The only thing I’ve paid for is my phone bill because that is my only bill at this point. In the blink of an eye, Carol had my things from my small apartment moved into storage. My lease had been up anyway. I’d planned to re-sign it, but here I am.
My grandmother reassured me that if I wanted to go back home after a few months she would make that happen for me. The only real worry I have is that I will have to find a new job. I’m sure my position has been filled already. I weighed the pros and cons of uprooting my life and thought why the hell not. There was nothing holding me to any place since my mom passed.
“Planning to bid on one of the men?” I look over to see my grandma smiling at me. “It’s about time you used that card.”
“It’s not mine.” She actually rolls her eyes. That brings a smile to my face. Her realness is a big reason why I’ve warmed up to her so quickly. She doesn’t pull any punches, and I respect that about her.
“How many times do I have to tell you that you’re an Abbott. You have a trust like everyone else.” She keeps telling me, but I don’t care about any of that.
“I mean this isn't mine or yours. It belongs to—” I read the name off the card. “Gant Fréres.”
“Oh.” She takes the card from my hand to look at it. “Why do you have Gant’s card?”
“He asked me to bid on him and gave me his card. I’m not even sure what I’m doing.”
“You’ll need this.” She shoves a paddle into my hand with numbers on it. I swear it appeared out of thin air.
“Were you planning to bid on someone, Grandma?” Maybe that’s why she had that mischievous look on her face earlier. Her bidding on someone sounds fun. I never thought about her dating before. Her face turns soft at me calling her Grandma. I’m getting better at it.
“You never know.” She gives me a wink.
“I can’t bid on him.” Shyness hits me thinking about having to bid. I know it’s silly. It isn’t rocket science. All I have to do is hold the paddle up when it’s my turn to bid. My only problem with it is that everyone will be looking at me, and I hate drawing attention to myself. News of me even existing has shined a bright enough light on me.
“You saw him, right?” My cheeks heat. Yeah, I saw him. The man wasn't only freaking handsome, he towered over me, making it impossible not to see him. There was something about him that pulled me toward him from the moment I saw him. “With how red your face is turning I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Grandma!” She only laughs at my shyness.
“You're so different from a lot of the ladies around here.” My stomach drops instantly. I’d been thinking the same thing when we first got here. “It’s refreshing. I would have loved to have met your mother. You turned out so sweet. I could have learned a few tricks from her on parenting.” I don’t know if I want to cry at how sweet that is of her to say or laugh because she’s making a jab at her son.
Before I can try to do either, the announcer comes over the speaker, letting everyone know it’s time to start the audition.
“Let’s get back to our seats. You’ve got a man to buy,” she says, snagging a glass of champagne off the tray from the server that walks by before handing it to me. “Drink. It will calm your nerves. If you realized that you have the attention of every man as soon as you enter a room, you wouldn’t be nervous about bidding. People have been stealing glances at you all night.”