“But I missed it all. I feel like I missed it all.” He nodded.
I smiled at him. “You didn’t though. I don’t have a single memory that doesn’t have you in it. For my fifth birthday you gave me a football. Only my real father could know how excited I was to get it. That was also the first time we went to Disneyland. I probably should have been engrossed in the excitement of being there, but all I could think of was my ball and the lessons you promised you’d give me when I got back. You were there for everything, but now you just have the title.” I nodded, and shit, I found myself tearing up.
I guess it was just because I’d had so much on my mind for so long. Too long.
“You are one heck of a guy, you know that, kid?” He gave me a proud smile.
“You raised me well.”
He pulled me in for a hug, and I really could have been a kid again when I fell into his arms. The five-year-old who couldn’t wait for his football lessons, the eight-year-old who started obsessing over the sport, the ten-year-old who’d just won a place at football camp, the eighteen-year-old who’d been offered a scholarship and the chance to play college ball. It all came from him and I knew the path I wanted my life to follow.
I was the same guy, the same kid, except now there was something else I wanted in my life.
The one girl who’d managed to shift reality around me.
It was a powerful thing to be able to do.
This here was good. Me and Rory. It was one problem sorted, partially.
There was still a lot to figure out, but this was the hard part. The part that had got me wrapped up and twisted up this whole time.
Maybe this was what I needed to focus on.
Easier said than done, however.
Mia Cartwright was a difficult woman to forget.
Chapter 16
Mia
* * *
‘The planetary configuration suggests that your today is open to many possibilities.’- Madam Phoebe
Auction time…
It was today, and it was supposed to be the kickstart to a great month because we had all sorts of things planned across Cartwright Enterprises.
This was the first thing, and it was a good thing, except I was a mess.
Today had finally arrived, and I was a mess. One whole week since I last saw Eric, and I’d walked around on autopilot because my brain was elsewhere.
I was a mess of a person with practically no guidance.
Madam Phoebe was usually on the mark, but today felt very ominous. Probably because the message today felt a little like her ‘Take the risk’ one.
Except the ‘Take the risk’ message provoked some kind of action. What did today have?
Open possibilities…
That meant nothing to me. It was like being placed in the center of that fork in the road with a hundred choices and not knowing which road to take.
One road was for damn certain though, and it was the one where I’d be standing at the top watching Eric walk out of here with either Tiffany or Amanda.
I’d stand there and watch him walk away.
This was so stupid.
The man made me stupid and crazy and lack common sense. I knew I’d acted in a completely nonsensical way because of my stupid fears, and now I was suffering for it.
I never knew that I could be such a coward. Running away from a very good thing because I couldn’t control which way it would go, or if it would last, or if my heart would be truly broken and irreparable if he crushed me.
God, now was not the time to crumble. I had to present my best professional self. If only to pretend I was fine and on the ball.
I knew Mom was watching me too and silently assessing. We’d all arrived at Rochester Hall at practically the same time. Early.
We’d made sure everything was in order and all the staff we’d hired were where they were supposed to be.
The event started with a luncheon for the guests. None of the players were here yet. They would be arriving later, an hour before the auction started.
Tiffany and Amanda were here, and of course they looked like they’d been cut from the best piece of heavenly cloth. Both women were thin with what I called gym bodies and had their long platinum-blonde hair poker straight.
I was thin too, didn’t have that gym body with all the sculpted feminine finesse those two had because other than doing my morning run, I hated working out. In fact, I would say I loathed it, and my hair was…
Well, like the mess I felt inside, I’d opted for a messy bun that would have carried off the look it usually had if my actual hair didn’t look so bad.
In comparison to those two and all the other women here who’d be bidding on Eric, I actually felt like I shouldn’t be here.
“Hey, I’m so excited,” Vanessa bubbled as she waltzed up to me with her clipboard. “The players have started arriving. Oh my God, Mia, it’s like an all-you-can-feast-your-eyes-on show of seriously hot guys.” She fanned herself and giggled.
I smiled too. “I’m sure it is.”
“You okay?” She gave me a hopeful look. I’d managed to talk to her about Eric the other day.
She’d sweetly agreed to stay over with me for a few days. I knew it was a big deal for her because she loved her space and privacy.
Before Abby and Taylor got married, we’d lived together in that house. Now it was just me alone there. It took me a while, but I got used to it. Having Vanessa stay reminded me that I liked company.
“I’ll be fine.” I nodded.
“Mia, what would be so bad about just giving him a chance?” she asked the question I knew she’d wanted to ask all week but held back on while she’d been the listening ear and the shoulder of support.
“Nothing… and everything. Tonight’s going to be a disaster. I don’t want to be here,” I confessed.
“Hey, don’t think like that. Mom’s really proud of you. You did a good job with all of this.” She motioned around us with the wave of her hand.
It all did look wonderful. I loved that I did something I could feel proud of and something Mom could be proud of too.
“Thank you. I guess I finally found my thing.”
“You did. Just imagine the possibilities. I’m super excited. We could do all sorts of things.” She nodded. “Mia, please don’t worry, and I know Miss Tiffany and Amanda are here, but ignore them. You decide what sort of day you’ll have. You’re always telling me stuff like that. You get to decide what sort of diva you’ll be today.” She giggled.
I pulled in a breath, but it hitched in my chest when I saw Eric walk into the room. There were so many people here, but my eyes found him the minute he walked in, and shit… the first woman to approach him was Tiffany.
Vanessa turned and followed my gaze. She frowned when she saw them talking. My heart squeezed when Eric laughed at something Tiffany said and the two walked over to the chocolate fountain.
Vanessa turned back to face me and sighed.
“Well, Mia, what sort of diva will you be today?”
I shook my head. Right now, I wanted to be the kind of diva who crawled under a rock until the day was over. I’d stay under that rock for at least one day and just sleep the shit off my head.
* * *
Mom and Dad were both playing host.
They were the sort of fun-loving couple that could carry any kind of conversation with anyone anyway, so them together speaking to a very large group of people was right up their alley. Or probably more like a playground to them.
Vanessa and I were seated at the back of the hall with our cousin Gage, who didn’t hesitate to make some kind of comment as each player was auctioned off.
He and Vanessa had always gotten on really well. So, he was mainly here to support her.
I didn’t talk to him as much as I did my other cousins because I thought he was a prick and a half, just like Uncle Patrick.
I wasn’t sure what Vanessa liked about him, but it couldn’t have been his personality.
&
nbsp; “This is shit,” he hissed under his breath.
I cut him a sharp glance, and he looked back at me.
“What is shit?” I snapped.
“Look at the women at the front, all swooning over that guy like he’s some kind of god,” he pointed out in reference to Chad St. Patrick, the team’s running back.
Chad was hot, end of story. Up there on stage, he looked like Thor with his long hair; of course the women would swoon.
“You’re just jealous. Now shut up,” I snapped.
He glowered at me, and Vanessa started laughing. This was how we were. We all spoke to each other like we were still kids. Gage was the same age as me and CEO of Cartwright Property Development and definitely not the kind of man you’d tell to shut up, but I just had, and all he did was smirk at me with a sneer. He knew he wouldn’t win the verbal battle if it came to it. Definitely not today when I was ready to breathe fire.
Eric was up next.
Mom had just announced his name. He was number ten, just like his player number.
He walked out onto the stage with that smile that could sweep a girl off her feet, and it was like the room with everyone in it faded out of existence.
He’d changed into a black boss suit that showed off his wide, powerful shoulders, and what I saw ahead of me wasn’t just how gorgeous he was, but there was that personality of his inside that shined too.
“Well, let’s start the bid,” Mom boomed with a bright smile.
“One thousand dollars,” said someone at the front. I saw the bid paddle go up, then another followed in an instant as someone else bid five thousand.
I watched these women bidding on my guy, and it went on like that until it got to five hundred thousand.
Tiffany and Amanda hadn’t started yet, but at the notification that the bid on Eric had gotten so high, they both stepped in like they wanted people to know they were the big players and were serious about putting down the million they’d bragged about on Twitter.
All the while the bids were placed, Eric just stared ahead. Just looking ahead at nothing in particular, just ahead.
“One million dollars,” Tiffany cried with great pride, and from the gasp that rippled across the room, it looked like she had this in the bag.
Vanessa elbowed me and gave me a withered stare.
“Girl, are you seriously going to let this happen?” she huffed, intensifying her stare on me.
“He did it to himself,” Gage intoned, sounding a little like Grandpa.
To my shock, Vanessa grabbed her bid paddle and cried, “One point five million!”
All the people looked around to us.
“What are you doing?” I snapped.
“Trying to wake you up. Or possibly making you crazier than you already are. Or possibly saving him.”
I wanted to say that Eric didn’t need to be saved, then Amanda bid two million.
It was safe to say that this auction was a huge success and we didn’t just have enough money for the repairs Newport Beach required; we could possibly rebuild the whole town if we wanted to.
“Two million one thousand,” Tiffany answered back with a scowl.
No matter how much she acted like she and Amanda were friends, she wouldn’t allow her to outdo her.
“Two million five thousand.” Amanda fought back.
I looked to Eric, and our gaze locked, and the answer waved itself in front of me.
Was I seriously going to have my man auctioned off to these women who I knew for damn sure couldn’t wait to get their hands on him?
Why wouldn’t they? He was a bad boy bachelor with the perfect amount of everything a woman could want.
So, what was my problem?
The question gripped my heart and squeezed it open, snapping the hold of fear I’d allowed to seize me.
Something inside me awakened to what was happening, and like Vanessa pointed out, what I was allowing to happen.
It waved itself in front of me and jolted me into action.
It jolted me to seize control and take what I wanted most.
Him.
I didn’t have a bid paddle, so I grabbed Vanessa’s and held it up.
“Two and a half million,” I cried, throwing the ball right out of the park. It was crazy money. Crazy stupid money I never played around with just because I had it.
Unlike Gage, who would probably buy a car for that price and flash it around like the prick he was. He was looking at me now like I’d just lost my mind. I didn’t care though because I was focused on the man ahead of me who looked completely shocked.
“Two point six million,” Tiffany challenged. I could see her up ahead glowering at me.
She must have made the mistake of thinking we were still back in high school. I had news for her.
“Two point seven million,” I spat back.
“Two point eight.”
I was really wondering if she was going to seriously scale up to three million. I stood up now and looked straight at her.
“Two point nine,” I countered.
It was like a pissing contest between women and becoming clearer with each passing second that something more was going one besides mere bidding.
Tiffany stood too, and with that devilish smirk on her face, she said, “Three. I’m bidding three million, Mia Cartwright. Beat that.”
She said that as if I was beneath her. I moved closer to where she sat and glanced at my Dad, who already knew what I was about to do because he’d taught me the perfect ways to shut someone like her right down. Dad actually nodded, and I looked back to Tiffany, ready to deal the final bid to shut her right the hell up.
“Five million,” I declared loud and clear so all could hear, and it did shut her down. Tiffany actually gasped. “Five million, Tiffany Van Den Hough. Now fuck off.”
Clearly, she wanted him.
Not on my watch though.
Also, I was done here.
I looked to Eric, who was just staring at me. I looked to him, walked right on to the stage, took his hand, and led him away like he was mine.
It wasn’t until we got to the foyer that he pulled on my hand, pulling me to a stop.
I hadn’t realized that I was just walking.
He tugged on my hand and smiled. “Five million?” he asked with raised brows.
“Yeah, five million.” My heart was beating so fast I could barely catch my damn breath.
Christ. Just now actually felt like living. Like I was actually alive.
I seized the moment.
“Five. Million. Mia?” His bright blue eyes opened wider.
“She was going to take you, and you’re…”
His gaze clung to me, searching my eyes. “I’m what.”
“Mine,” I breathed, and his smile turned up several notches.
He cupped my face. “Is this your way of finally admitting you like me?”
“Maybe,” I teased with a playful pout. “This is your fault, and you dragged me into this whole thing. When we could have just done a bake sale or something.”
He chuckled. “That would have been cheaper. Know what else would have cost you less than a fraction of the price? Just telling me flat out how you felt.”
“That I maybe like you?” I teased.
“Woman, please. You don’t maybe anything. Don’t sell me that shit. So, where are you taking me?”
“Carpe diem. I’m taking you to bed with me. That is what I’m doing. I’m taking you to bed with me, and that is where we’ll stay for the rest of the day.” I declared boldly.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes.” I gave him a confident nod and giggled when he kissed me.
“Not if I take you to bed first,” he said against my lips, then, in one move, scooped me up and hoisted me over his shoulders caveman style.
Chapter 17
Mia
* * *
We crashed into my bedroom.
My legs wrapped around his waist as we kissed each other with the surge of
wild passion that took us.
He’d never seen my room before, and it was nice to have him here.
It was like he’d always belonged here with me.
The passion sent us straight to the bed, where we tore the clothes off each other. Layer by layer, it all came off. But in true Eric style, he took my panties off nice and slow for effect but then threw them across the room.
We laughed as we watched them settle over my dressing table with his shirt.
Then the seriousness came back to his face as he lowered his face to kiss me.
“Slow,” he whispered into my ear.
“Slow?” I didn’t know what he meant.
“I want to enjoy you. I want to take my time to enjoy every inch of your body,” he said with that sexy smirk, and the deep, rich timbre of his voice tantalized me. “Slowly.”
“I like slow. Do I get to enjoy you too?”
“On the next round. This round is me making you feel good… everywhere.”
Hot damn. Hot.
As soon as he placed his lips back to mine, I felt it. The beginning of the wild erotic pleasure that would consume us.
The kiss was soft and exploratory, like he was tasting me. It was how he tasted me, as if he wanted to dig deeper for every ounce of that taste.
If I could be touched like this forever, I knew I would totally have everything I’d ever wanted.
Soft, fiery kisses were placed along my neck. Fiery kisses that turned greedy as the edge of his teeth nipped at my skin and settled over my breasts.
Knowing I loved him sucking my breasts, he smiled up at me as he took my left breast into his mouth and circled his tongue around the nipple a few times before he started sucking.
Sucking in that slow manner in which he’d kissed me to taste me, then harder until I stared moaning mindlessly with the pleasure that surged through me.
He alternated from one breast to the other, licking and sucking. Sucking then licking.
Heat washed over me, rising from deep in the innermost part of my soul, rising to the surface, then setting my body on fire. Fire that tingled every nerve and fiber.
Auction Time: Bad Boy Bachelors of Orange County BK3 Page 12