by Elle Everton
What the fuck? I shake my head, forcing the vision out. This guy already invades too many of my waking moments — no way am I letting him invade my fantasy life.
I turn my attention back to Lila. She discreetly puts her hand to her mouth and yawns. The poor thing looks exhausted — this is the third time since I’ve sat down that she’s yawned.
“You seem tired, Lila,” I say.
“Very,” she agrees with a smile. “I’m so sorry. It’s been a long day. I promise I’m not always such a buzzkill.”
“Not a buzzkill at all,” Sam says, as he slips his arm around her waist and rubs her back. She smiles up at him. Oh, fuck no. If he thinks he’s taking her home tonight, he’s sorely mistaken.
I do the only thing I can think of to keep this train from going completely off the rails.
“Let me call you a cab,” I announce, already whipping out my phone. “You should get some rest tonight.”
Lila rewards me with a grateful smile. “That would be great. You guys don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” I say smoothly. Sam shoots me a glare but he has no choice but to agree.
“Of course not,” he says, still rubbing small circles between her shoulder blades. “I’ll walk you out.”
“I will too.” I jump up hastily. Lila is looking back and forth between us. There’s a small smile on her lips, as if she knows what we’re doing. As if she finds it amusing. I allow myself to smile grudgingly. I suppose it is sort of amusing.
Sam and I both walk her to the door. The cab hasn’t arrived yet, so we wait in the dim hallway. There’s a purple light that illuminates Lila’s skin, making her look as rare and beautiful as an orchid.
Lila looks back and forth between Sam and I again. Her smile from earlier is gone, replaced again by nervousness.
“So … what’s next?” she asks. She bites that gorgeous plump lip again.
“Well, next you could go out to dinner with me. Tomorrow night,” I say easily.
“Or with me,” Sam interjects.
Lila laughs nervously again. “I can’t choose. Can I flip a coin? That seems the most fair, doesn’t it?”
I chuckle. “Yes, that sounds fair.”
Lila opens her small little clutch and roots around. “Shoot — I only have bills. Do either of you have a quarter?”
Sam and I both reach into our pockets, but I’m the first to pull out a coin.
“Here you go,” I say, putting it in her waiting hand. I let my fingers graze against her palm for a second. Her eyes flick up to meet mine, and she runs her tongue lightly over her lips. I don’t think it’s intentional, but it’s sexy as hell.
“Thank you,” she says, taking the quarter from me. She looks back and forth between us. “Call it.
“Heads,” I say.
“Tails,” Sam says, at the exact same moment.
Lila flips the coin and covers it with her other hand. She looks back and forth between us. Time seems to stop as I wait for her to pull away her hand and reveal the winner.
Chapter 7
Sam
Despite the drinks I had at Orchid, and the two more drinks I had once I got home, I still can’t sleep.
Fucking Bennett McCardiff.
I lie in bed staring at the ceiling and cursing his name. I can’t believe that in less than twenty-four hours, he’s going to be having dinner with the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.
I have no idea why the guy has it out for me so bad, but over the years I’ve leaned into his hatred. I’ve never been willing to let him get the best of me, so I give as good as I get. But this is going too far.
I had wanted Lila the second she’d walked — or tumbled — out onto that stage. She had the biggest, greenest eyes I’d ever seen. Even as she scanned the audience, terrified and humiliated after her fall, her eyes had a strength and a determination that I fucking loved. That little curtsy. Damn. She was strong — you could tell just by looking her. She’s been through something, I think. She’s had to fight for her slice of happiness.
Not so different from me, I think. I fought too — years of darkness to get to where I am today. I work hard every day to keep that darkness at bay, and something tells me Lila does too.
Not like Bennett — everything comes easy to that guy. He closes deals that anyone else would write off as impossible. Deals that even I thought couldn’t be done.
He doesn’t stop there though. Everything he does has to be one step above me. More expensive suits. The Malibu mansion that sits on, I don’t know, must be twenty acres, the one that’s been featured in Architectural Digest twice now. He even keeps his stupid face shaved to within an inch of its life — every time I see him, he has a perfectly clean shave, while I have a five o’clock shadow the second I step out of the house in the morning.
It isn’t that I don’t have nice things too. I have the expensive suits, the luxury penthouse just north of Sunset Boulevard. It’s just that Bennett always seems to be one step ahead of me.
I flip my pillow over in irritation and try to find a cool spot. My face feels hot. My whole body feels hot.
I force myself to stop thinking about Bennett and think instead about Lila. Lila with her cinnamon hair and the light dusting of freckles across her shoulders. Lila with her huge tits, her narrow waist, those hips that you just want to hold on to …
My cock is getting hard already and I reach down below the sheets. I grip my shaft, wrapping my fingers tightly around it. I imagine it’s Lila’s soft small fingers gripping me, and when I stroke I imagine her on her knees in front of me. She’s naked, her red hair spilling over her shoulders, her rosy nipples pert and hard. The image is so vivid that I can almost smell her ripe wet pussy — it would be sweet and musky, like fresh melon and raw honey.
I imagine her leaning forward, taking my cock between her lips. I stroke my shaft and imagine her tongue coating me, her lips snug around me.
“Fuck,” I breathe into my empty bedroom. My balls are already starting to tighten, my breath coming short and shallow. I grip my cock harder, stroke it faster, imagine pumping my hips and thrusting in and out of Lila’s hot little mouth.
Just as the orgasm overtakes me, the image changes. Instead of Lila, it’s Bennett sucking me off. Bennett’s lips wrapped around my cock. Bennett’s tongue coating me, flicking my head. Bennett’s eyes looking up at me from between my legs.
The orgasm is so close that I can’t stop it, and soon I’m shooting hot ropes of come over my hand. They keep coming too, wave after wave, and I groan into the darkness as my hand pumps my swollen cock.
“Fuck,” I mutter, when the peak has finally passed. My body is spent and I lie there trying to catch my breath and push Bennett’s face out of my mind. Talk about a fucking boner killer.
Except it wasn’t, a little voice in my head whispers. It’s been ages since I’d come that hard — not since I was a teenager, maybe.
I shake my head. Must just be the adrenalin from earlier tonight.
But if I thought there was any chance of getting to sleep tonight, Bennett’s fantasy-hijack has killed that dream.
I lay awake in bed until the sun comes up.
When I finally do fall asleep, I stay asleep until nearly three in the afternoon. I wake up cranky — I hate spending the day in bed, unless I have a beautiful woman in there with me. And in that case, we wouldn’t be doing much sleeping.
Thinking that only reminds me of my ill-fated orgasm from last night. I stalk into the shower to wash the memories from my body. I shave as close and neat as I can, pushing away the thoughts of Bennett’s clean-shaven jaw, and instead imagine how Lila will feel when her thighs are gripping the sides of my face as I go to town on her pussy.
I dress in a suit — I never feel more powerful or masculine than when I’m wearing a suit that costs more than a year of most people’s rent.
I’m not consciously planning on doing it, but as soon as I’m dressed I know what I have to do.
No way am I going
to let Bennett get away with having the first date with Lila. If he wants her, he’s going to have to go through me.
Chapter 8
Lila
“Lila, are you going out tonight?” Dad’s voice carries from the living room, where I can hear the strains of the Jeopardy theme song coming from the television.
Guilt washes over me as I stare myself down in the bathroom mirror. Of course, I haven’t told him anything about Orchid. No father in the world wants to hear that his daughter just auctioned herself to not one man but two.
“Yes, Daddy,” I call out. “I’ve made you a plate for dinner that you can just heat up whenever you’re ready to eat.”
Making dinner was the least I could do to assuage my guilt.
I add one more coat of mascara and pull back to admire the effect. I’m ready — or at least as ready as I’ll ever be. Bennett is so much more sophisticated than I am, so I have no idea what to expect tonight. I’m wearing a white strapless dress with a purple floral pattern along the bottom, and the same silver stilettos I wore to Orchid.
I shiver a little as I turn off the bathroom light. I have to pass through the living room on my way to the kitchen, and Dad lets out an appreciative whistle.
“Wow, sweetheart, you sure do look pretty,” he says, his eyes flashing playfully. “You’re wearing your mom’s earrings.”
I touch my ears. “Yeah. Is that okay?” Mom had exactly one pair of diamond earrings. She hadn’t specifically left them to me — she didn’t have a will or anything, because she wasn’t exactly expecting to die when she went out for groceries that Thursday morning — but I’ve worn them on a few special occasions since she died.
“Of course it’s okay,” Dad says smiling. For a second, his eyes look glassy, and then he shakes it off. “Do you have a date with a boy tonight?”
A boy? I bite back a smile. Bennett is hardly a boy. But I don’t want to push Dad too far.
“Yes, Daddy. I have a date with a boy.” My lips twist into a smile.
“Well, make sure he treats you nicely. Say the word and I’ll break his legs.” Dad grins and I pretend to roll my eyes.
“I will.” I lean down and give him a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t wait up, okay?”
Dad’s brow furrows. “I know you’re a grown-up now, sweetie but …”
“What?”
“Text me if you’re going to be out all night, okay?”
I smile. “I will. Promise. You sure you’re okay here by yourself?”
“Of course.”
“Okay — well, you text me if you need anything, okay?”
“I will. Now go and enjoy your date.”
I give Dad a once over before I go. He’s been in remission for about eight months now, but it wasn’t the victory either of us had hoped it would be. He was still exhausted all the time, and rarely left the house. He’d gained a little weight back since his chemo ended, but his face was still gaunt, his eyes sunken in.
You think beating cancer is going to feel triumphant, but the fight doesn’t really end. At least it hasn’t for us.
With a sigh, I head out of the house and climb into my aging Malibu. I’d arranged to meet Bennett at the restaurant because I didn’t want him showing up at my house in his fancy car. That would be too much to explain to Dad. My father was pretty understanding about the fact that his baby girl dated and even occasionally had sex, but I didn’t exactly want to rub his face in it.
Bennett hadn’t been happy about it but he’d finally agreed when he saw I wasn’t going to back down. He’d given me the address and watched as I typed it into my phone. Not that I needed to — he was taking me to Yasu, one of the trendiest Japanese restaurants in LA right now.
I pull up in front of the restaurant, wondering where the hell I’m going to park, when I see that the restaurant has a valet. Because of course it does.
I pull up in front and hop out of the car, handing my keys to the polite Japanese kid out front. He takes it with a smile and disappears with my car as I make my way to the restaurant’s doors.
The first thing I see is Bennett. He’s leaning up against the exterior of the building, looking incredibly sexy in a slim cut charcoal blazer, dark jeans, and a white collared shirt. My heart races a little as I walk towards him.
“Hi,” I say softly when I’m close enough.
“Hi yourself,” he says. He seems much more relaxed than when I met him at Orchid — probably because there’s no Sam in sight. Bennett surprises me by leaning in to kiss my cheek. It’s a lingering kiss, his lips pressed against my soft skin for a few seconds longer than what seems friendly.
“Nice car,” he says finally, pulling away.
My cheeks flush, but I see Bennett’s teasing smile.
“Waitress salary,” I remind him.
“Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore, once you get your auction money,” he says as we walk towards the door of the restaurant.
I swallow. God, that’s right. I’ve barely thought about the money since this whole thing started. Probably because it still doesn’t seem real. Between Bennett and Sam, they had bid ten million dollars — which meant I got five of those millions. That kind of money was so far beyond my realm of understanding that I couldn’t even really fathom it. Sure it would pay all Dad’s outstanding medical bills — many, many times over — but still, I could barely even think of it as real.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I say. “I’ll finally be able to get my bumper fixed.”
Bennett roars in laughter. “I think you’ll be able to do a little more than fix your bumper, gorgeous.”
He slips his hand through mine as I try to shake off the wave of nervousness that overtakes me. We walk into the restaurant together and I have to stop my mouth from dropping open.
The place is lavish, and I can’t turn my head without seeing a celebrity. I squeeze Bennett’s hand and he grins.
“Table for two,” he says to the hostess. “McCardiff.”
The hostess rakes her eyes hungrily over Bennett, but he doesn’t even give her a second glance. He’s focused entirely on me, and I squirm under the intensity of his gaze. I’m glad when the hostess finally locates the reservation in her ledger and begins leading us through the restaurant.
I try not to gawk too much, but I still can’t believe I’m here. One of the trendiest restaurants in LA, and I get to eat here for free, on the arms of a sexy, dominant man. Someone pinch me.
I must not be doing too good of a job keeping the excitement off my face, because when we sit down, Bennett grins at me.
“Get used to it, gorgeous.”
“Get used to what?”
“This,” he says, gesturing around the restaurant. “This is your life for a month. At least the portion of the month you spend with me.”
And there it is. The reminder that this month is about Sam too. Bennett’s face hardens slightly, even though he was the one to bring it up, but we’re saved by the arrival of our waitress.
“Mr. McCardiff,” she says. There’s a breathlessness to her voice that makes me want to side-eye her, but once again Bennett seems to pay her no mind.
“A bottle of your finest sake,” he says, never taking his eyes off mine. “Is that okay with you?”
I bite my lip and nod. “I guess so. I’ve never had sake before.”
Bennett grins. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”
The waitress stands another moment at our table, but when she sees Bennett isn’t acknowledging her further, she scurries off to get our drinks. The man across from me continues gazing at me, his eyes burning a hole right into me.
“Thank you for taking me to dinner tonight,” I say, when I can’t stand the silence anymore.
Bennett leans back and smiles, shaking his head. “It’s absolutely my pleasure, Lila. I know some of the guys at the club get off on pushing women as far as they can right off the bat, but that’s not me. I want you to feel comfortable with me first.”
First. I swallow.
Even though Bennett’s saying all the right things, his words remind me of what I’ve really signed on to. This isn’t about a month of sweet little dates and checking out new restaurants. Bennett — and Sam — bought me. They bought my body. For this month, I belong to them.
I’m saved from thinking about it further by the return of our waitress, who wordlessly puts two small stony blue cups in front of us. From a white carafe, she pours a stream of clear liquid into each cup. After setting the carafe down on the middle of the table, she disappears again.
“Here’s to … trying new things,” Bennett says with a grin, lifting his cup.
I lick my lips nervously, but lift my cup as well. I knock it lightly against his and then tentatively take a sip.
Though I’m expecting something as strong as vodka, the liquid inside is more like a very dry, slightly bitter white wine. It makes my lips pucker, but not in a bad way.
“What do you think?” Bennett asks, watching me sip.
“I think … I think I’m going to like trying new things, if they’re all like this.”
“Music to my ears,” Bennett grins. His eyes are roaming my body again, and even though I’d been starting to feel chilly under the restaurant’s air conditioning, I suddenly feel my skin heating up.
Our waitress returns, and Bennett orders for us. Even though I hate when people do that at the diner, it doesn’t bother me here — mostly because the menu is almost entirely in Japanese and I have no idea what anything is. Bennett had been right about the sake, so I’ll trust him when it comes to the food too.
“So, are you originally from the Los Angeles area?” Bennett asks, once the waitress has scuttled off again.
I relax a little. Even though I don’t know what’s going to happen after dinner, at least I can make pleasant conversation with Bennett while we eat.
“Yes, born and raised.” I take another sip of the sake. Damn, that stuff’s pretty good. “What about you?”