He shakes his head slightly, sinking further back into the shadows. “I’m only watching to make sure the one I want isn’t up there.”
I nod and turn, walking away from him to the front of the room. There’s definitely more to his story, but I don’t have time to dwell on it right now. I’m here for one thing, and she’s about to walk out onto the stage.
I take a seat at the front table, the name Cortez on a place card there. Leave it to Samantha to make my presence known. I look around the room and see only a handful of men in here. It’s still too many for my liking, but I know that I’ve got the money to triple whatever their top dollar could be.
The announcer comes out and takes his place at a podium to the side of the stage.
I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, and I want to jump to my feet to stop this from happening. But the only thing I can do is play along until this is over. When I spoke with Sam, I agreed to bid and not to cause a scene. She said she had a bad experience at a Halloween Auction with someone bidding against himself, and she didn’t need that to happen again.
“Let’s begin, gentlemen. The girls are ready, and we’re opening with a very sweet treat.”
I want to punch the announcer in the face for calling my Georgia that. But I don’t have time as he continues and the curtains start to open.
“Tonight I present to you, Peaches.”
The curtains part, the spotlight comes on, and there she stands. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
I’ve been to Europe and seen the Sistine Chapel. I’ve watched the sun set over a volcano in Hawaii. I’ve looked at thousands of things in this world that are considered beautiful, but I can say for certain they all pale in comparison to the woman standing in front of me.
Thank God I’m not standing because my knees are weak just from seeing her like this. She looks like a bride dressed in white, waiting for her groom to come and carry her away. Lucky for Georgia, I’m just that man.
“We’ll start the bidding at twenty million dollars,” the announcer says, and I rip my eyes away from the beauty in front of me to glare at him.
Twenty million? It should be two hundred million. How can he insult her with such a low number? There’s a hush through the crowd, but then someone speaks.
“Twenty million!” I hear behind me, and my heartbeat picks up. No way am I going to let her slip through my fingers.
“Thirty million!” I shout, and the room goes quiet for a moment.
I see Georgia smile and square her shoulders, as if she’s decided that this is all a game and she’s going to start playing.
“Thirty-two million!” I hear to my left, but I don’t turn to see who it is.
Georgia has started to walk around the stage, as if she’s in a pageant, working those lush hips and waving to the crowd.
What the fuck? How dare she smile at these men? Those are my smiles! I don’t care if they’re fake or not. I won’t have her throwing them around like they’re nothing.
“Forty million!” I shout, not caring that I’m nearly screaming my bid.
“Forty-five million!” someone to my right shouts, and I nearly come out of my skin.
I see Georgia walk over to the announcer and tap him on the shoulder. After an exchange of words, she takes the microphone from him and walks back to the center of the stage.
“Hey, y’all. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Peaches, and I’m very happy to be here. I know how to make the best biscuits you’ve ever had, and I promise I got the name Sweet Cream for a reason.”
She walks up past the spotlights, looks right down at me, and fucking winks.
It’s enough to send me into a fit of rage. Nobody is going to know what her biscuits taste like, and they damn sure won’t ever know why I called her that.
“Seventy-five million!” I shout, standing up and knocking over the chair I was sitting in.
“Once, twice, sold!” the announcer says quickly, smacking a hammer down.
I see the smile fall from her face, realizing that the Auction is over and no one else is going to get a chance to bid on her. I see the moment she realizes she’s mine and that she isn’t getting away from me. She may not be happy with how this happened, but I’ll be damned if she’s going to anyone else.
Walking up to the stage, I look up to where she’s standing and adjust my suit jacket.
“Get off the stage, Sweet Cream. You’re mine.”
11
Don