by Kayla Myles
“1 million going once…,” he said, darting his eyes quickly to the rest of the guests’ reactions. “1 million going twice!”
Finally, his gavel struck wood.
It was all over.
“SOLD! To the anonymous bidder for 1 million dollars!” he shouted.
I relished the look on Westleton’s face as he screamed in agony before standing up from my seat. I straightened my jacket and called an usher over.
“I’ll be waiting in my car. Take the girl there…quietly,” I instructed him, and he nodded before scampering off downstairs.
I took one last look at the monitor, the girl’s eyes welling up in tears despite the brave face she was putting on, not knowing what was in store for her now.
To be honest, I didn’t know what I was going to do with her either.
Lark was totally going to flip once she sees the huge dent in my bank account tomorrow. She’d want to know what on Earth possessed me to spend 1 million dollars in one go. She’d want to know what I bought with it, and I had no idea what I was supposed to tell her.
Speaking of which, I didn’t even know how the girl was going to react once she sees me, or better yet, once she realizes I was the one who bought her. Was she going to slit my throat? Was she going to be happy it wasn’t a complete stranger who bought her?
I went inside the car and threw my suit jacket at the seat, sighing deeply. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I felt a headache start to form in my forehead and closed my eyes.
“Are you alright, sir?” my driver Lenny asked, and I waved his concern off instead of telling him I was fine. “There’s people coming over, sir.”
I sighed again and turned my head to the side, watching as the usher from earlier helped the girl walk over to the car, her eyes a little red and apprehensive. I tilted my head as the usher reached for the handle and opened the backseat door. Suddenly, she was bent over and looking at me face to face, and I nodded at her.
“Surprised to see me, my crazy maid?” I said by way of greeting.
She blinked multiple times at me in disbelief before doing the one thing I was completely unprepared for: She fainted.
I reacted fast and held out my arms for her, catching her just in time. I stared at the usher and he just looked at me helplessly. I grunted and pulled her into my arms while I scooted in further, and the usher closed the car. Lenny looked up at me for instructions, so I nodded, and he drove off.
“Where are we taking her, sir?” Lenny asked, making me curse under my breath.
That was a good question. I didn’t even know this girl’s name, much less her address. The usher didn’t give me any of her stuff, either. Damn it, just what have I gotten myself into?
I stared at her sleeping face, and was struck by her beauty. I shook it off quickly though. This was not the time for that. But I couldn’t exactly leave her somewhere, especially in this condition and looking like that…
I stared at her face again and sighed. This was the second time I was going to make a decision I knew I would regret. I closed my eyes and opened my mouth to give him the order.
“Let’s go home.”
Chapter 9
Jamie
Dit. Dit. Dit.
I turned over and groaned, wrinkling my forehead at that obnoxious noise. Whose fucking alarm was ringing?!
I turned to my side again, kicking my legs while I buried my face in my pillow.
“How do you feel?” I heard a velvety-deep voiced say.
I moved and noticed the sheets felt oddly soft and silky…
I swept my arms and legs around and stretched like I was forming a snow angel.
I heard the male voice laughing at me, and I cracked one eye open and lifted my head.
I saw him immediately, sitting at the far end of the room, legs crossed, shirt untucked, top buttons undone. He had his chin propped up on his hand while he leaned against a coffee table, looking at me with a smirk on his face, and eyes filled with amusement. He finally shut off that blasted alarm clock that was right next to him.
I noticed my surroundings, and it wasn’t my purple wallpapers plastered around, these walls were brown and matched the carpet. The room had an earthy feel to it, not to mention more than three times larger than my shoebox of an apartment.
“Are you ready to get up now, or should I set the alarm off again?” he asked, and I glared at him.
“What time is it?” I asked, not bothering to hide my contempt.
“Just after six. You were out like a light,” he said all too casually.
“It’s six in the morning?!” I yelled, throwing the covers off of me. I looked around for my phone and purse, and realized I didn’t have any of my stuff with me. I remembered being trapped inside a bird cage and then the auction. Someone paid for me—
My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open in shock as I processed everything. I heard the devil hum thoughtfully in his seat.
“Judging by the look on your face, I see you’ve managed to regain the rest of your memory,” he said, and I turned to look at him.
“You?” I said, staring at him in disgust.
“Me what?” he asked. I didn’t know if he was faking it, or he really didn’t know what I meant.
“You were the guy who bought me from the auction?” I clarified. He picked up a glass of wine, cradling it between his fingers.
“How do you know that’s what happened?” he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He drank his wine slowly before putting the glass back on the table. He stood up and walked towards me, and suddenly that mortifying moment seeped its way into my brain and I groaned, remembering him from the hotel room.
“Oh no,” I grumbled, burying my face in my hands. I felt the bed dip from the side as he sat down. “Oh no, no, no, no, no.”
“What’s wrong now? Are you thinking about all the mistakes you’ve made?” he asked deeply. I peeked at him from between my fingers in disbelief.
“Are you some kind of mind reader?” I asked, and he chuckled and shook his head.
“No, just wondering how we got ourselves into this situation,” he said softly. I put my hands down and felt the blood rush to my cheeks.
“I’m sorry about before,” I murmured, unable to look at him in the eye.
“What are you sorry for?” he asked, making me huff. He wasn’t going to make this easy for me, was he?
“I’m sorry for hurting you back at the hotel!” I said quickly.
“Well, ‘hurt’ is kind of an understatement,” he said, making me furrow my brows at him. “You practically crushed my future family. It’ll be your fault if the line ends with me.”
I bit my lip in embarrassment, my face heating up some more.
“I really am sorry for breaking your balls,” I said, making him snicker.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll find some way to make it up to me,” he said. Huh?
“Make it up to you? How—,” my eyes widened as I thought about what he meant, and I immediately crossed my arms over my chest, inching away from him. “You can’t have me. I won’t let you. I’ll scream!” I threatened him.
He stared at me in shock for a second before tilting his head back and laughing raucously. I watched him laugh his ass off with my mouth agape, not finding any of this hilarious. He wiped a tear in his eye, and shook his head.
“Don’t worry, lady. You’re not my type. I don’t do feisty little girls,” he drawled, flicking my forehead with his fingers. I rubbed my forehead and grumbled.
“That actually hurt, you know,” I said, glaring at him with a pout. “If that wasn’t what you wanted, then what did you mean?” I asked.
“Look, from this moment on, you’re going to be working for me,” he said simply.
And my dumbfounded expression caused him to raise his eyebrow at me.
“Well, you didn’t think I’d let you go that easily after last night, did you?” he asked, looking at me like I was craz
y for assuming that. “My balls are priceless! And add to that I spent 1 million dollars to get you out of there, so you’re going to have to work for me in order to pay me back.”
My jaw dropped, and I was frozen solid. He smiled and placed his finger on my chin, gently pushing up to close my mouth before standing up from the bed and making his way over to the door. He pulled it open, and was about to leave the room, when he turned back to me with a mischievous smirk on his face.
“Oh, and by the way? The name’s Hunter Drake. But you can call me, ‘Sir’,” he said, throwing me a wink. He turned back around and waved his hand. “I’ll see you downstairs, my crazy maid!”
Oh my God. This is the worst day of my life.
Chapter 10
Hunter
I couldn’t stop laughing as I recalled the look on her face. I had so much fun milking this for her kicking me in the groin. Her cheeks reddening with embarrassment was worth it. They just looked fucking delectable—
Wait a minute. What did I just think about? That crazy maid? Delectable? HA! I probably shouldn’t have drunk that glass of wine so early in the morning. Clearly, the alcohol was getting to me.
“Will you be having breakfast this morning, Sir?” my elderly housekeeper, Mrs. Blossom, asked as I reached the landing.
Mrs. Blossom was a wonderful woman who worked in the Drake Family for years. She had met her husband while he worked in the stables, and the both of them became a second set of parents to my brothers and me, up until Mr. Blossom died about six years ago. My grandfather wanted to keep Mrs. Blossom working back at the Drake mansion, but she insisted to come to my residence for reasons I still didn’t know why.
I smiled and placed my hand on her shoulder. I was an ass about eighty per cent of the time, but Mrs. Blossom was one of the few women I treated right.
“Breakfast sounds great, Mrs. Blossom, but why are you calling me, ‘Sir? I told you not to do that,” I said, rubbing her shoulder affectionately. She scrunched up her nose and hit me in the arm playfully in response.
“And I told you a thousand times that you shouldn’t call me Mrs. Blossom!” she countered. “What am I to you again?”
I sighed, shaking my head.
“Nan-a,” I answered softly. She nodded her head approvingly whilst patting my shoulder like a dog.
“That’s a good boy,” she added. Yep. Definitely like a dog.
We heard the sound of a door slamming upstairs, and Nana frowned disapprovingly. I bit back a laugh, and led her to the kitchen so I could help her bring out the dishes.
“Was the young woman you brought here the one who caused the ruckus upstairs?” Nana asked, scooping some eggs out of the pan.
“Yep. I woke her up earlier. I’m surprised she took this long to come out, actually,” I told her.
“She was pretty out of it when you took her home. Just what did you do to that poor girl?” she said, ready to admonish me. I raised my hands up in surrender.
“I didn’t do anything! She fainted on me, and I didn’t know her address, so I just decided to take her home,” I explained.
“She fainted? Oh, the poor dear! What did you do to her to make her faint?” she asked this time, and I raised my eyebrow at her incredulously.
“Seriously? You still think I had something to do with that?” I asked her. I handed her some eggs, and she cracked them over the pan, making it sizzle.
“Well, how else would I see it? Isn’t that what you do with all the girls you bring home?” she countered, keeping her eyes on the eggs she was cooking.
I took out a knife and started slicing up some bacon into smaller pieces.
I made it a rule not to bring women home with me. I didn’t need the hassle of kicking her out after we did the deed, and I wasn’t the type to cuddle after sex. Get in, get laid, get out of there. That was my way. The less complicated, the better.
“You brought home one,” she corrected.
The crazy maid finally emerges, taking in Nana and I cooking breakfast.
She blushed prettily, and tried to pull her nightgown lower to cover up her legs, but the material was too thin and short that it wasn’t doing much covering of anything.
I felt a slap again, and I gaped at Nana, who glared at me.
“What’s the matter with you? Why didn’t you give her a change of clothes?” Nana rebuked. I stammered for a reply as she went and fussed over her—I just realized I still didn’t know the crazy maid’s name.
“Come on, dear. Let’s go get you something of mine to wear until you and Sir Hunter can go out and buy some clothes. What do you think?” she asked her.
“Before that, how about you tell me your name? I’m tired of calling you ‘the crazy maid’ in my head,” I told her, and she narrowed her eyes at me. She opened her mouth, and I was expecting her to spit out a blazing retort, but she closed her mouth again and pouted.
“It’s Jamie,” she mumbled, not looking at me. “Jamie Elric.”
Jamie, huh? Hmm. Pretty normal name for a fireball woman.
“Well then, Miss Jamie. Would you like to have some breakfast with us?” Nana asked, making Jamie smile.
“Yes, I’d like that,” Jamie said, nodding.
“Wonderful! Sir Hunter, get started on the pancakes while I whip up some more eggs,” Nana ordered. Funny, she calls me sir, but follows it up by ordering me around.
Judging by Jamie trying to keep her mouth shut, she thought it was hilarious, too.
Oh, sure. Laugh it up, Jamie. See how you’ll feel once I order you around later. It’ll be so much fun.
Chapter 11
Jamie
Who knew this guy could cook so well. Breakfast was amazing!
I looked down at the sleeves of the oversized sweater I’m wearing covering up my entire hands. Mrs. Blossom had given me a dress to wear, and when Hunter called me to come down, he winced and pulled me back to his room, getting a sweater from his closet then throwing it at me.
“You’re gonna freeze to death wearing that getup. Put that on,” he said, followed by, “That’s an order.”
“What are you daydreaming about? I don’t know if you’ve realized it yet, but you’re already on the clock, you know,” Hunter said grouchily. He’s such a jerk.
“But first we need to get you some clothes, come on!” He pointed out.
Considering how he saved me, I can’t just call the cops and throw him under the bus. I mean he was there, and I don’t know how he could explain away his attendance to the authorities for being at such a heinous event. And the fact he spent a fortune to get me out of there, and didn’t even know me, despite him being rude and obnoxious, there must be some goodness buried underneath all that.
We arrived at a store, and I went inside, my eyes widened at all the expensive looking clothes, bags, and shoes surrounding me. This place was sparkling big time.
“See anything you like?” I shrieked as I felt Hunter’s breath in my ear, making him smirk at my reaction. I huffed and glared at him.
“Was that really necessary?” I asked, and he shrugged. I looked around and wondered how much a pair of jeans cost here. I am not going to be able to afford anything in this shop.
“Take whatever she likes and charge it to this card,” I hear Hunter say, handing his card to the woman by the counter. He turned his head and raised an eyebrow at me curiously.
“What?” he asked, and I blinked rapidly.
“It’s nothing, I, uh…,” I scrambled for an excuse, and saw a pink halter top paired with a denim jumper hanging from one of the nearby racks and grabbed it. “Can you help me choose?” I asked.
He stared at me for a couple of seconds before shrugging and following me to the fitting rooms. I chose one of the cubicles, and turned my head to see him sit in one of the cushions right outside my spot. I fixed him with a warning glare.
“Don’t you dare sneak a peek, alright?” I said. He scoffed at me and shook his head.
<
br /> “Who would want to?” he snapped back derisively. I stuck my tongue out at him and closed the door.
I quickly changed and came out, and Hunter made a little spinning motion with his fingers. I rolled my eyes before turning, and he tapped his lip with his finger and nodded in approval.
“It suits you. You should get it,” he said softly, and I felt my cheeks heat up at the veiled compliment. What the hell is wrong with me?!
He stood up all of a sudden, and I blinked. “One outfit isn’t going to cut it though. Shouldn’t I look for some more?”
He made a move to leave, and I grabbed the side of his shirt to stop him. I took a deep breath and looked down at my feet before I spoke.
“I really appreciate what you did for me back at the auction, and breakfast, and the clothes, and just helping me.” I murmured, fiddling with my fingers as I felt even more embarrassed.
“I also want you to know that I’m willing to do anything to pay you back. I don’t have any money to give you, but I can work hard.” I told him, looking him in the eye this time.
The look on his face was unreadable as he stared at me, not saying a word.
“You’re willing to do anything?” he stated, and I nodded, furrowing my brows in confusion.
“Yes, I do,” I said, wondering what was wrong. His eyes darkened, and the next thing I knew, he pulled me by the wrist, sending me straight to his arms as he sat back down, my legs dangling on the other side of his lap. He placed his hand under my chin and leaned close, his breath tickling my face as he stared deep into my eyes. I couldn’t look away.
I hadn’t noticed how blue his eyes were before.
“That’s a really dangerous thing to say, Jamie,” he whispered, his eyes switching between looking at my lips, then my eyes, and back again. I felt breathless, and a bit weak under his stare, so much so that if he hadn’t been supporting my back with his other hand, I was absolutely certain I was going to collapse on top of him.