Chapter 3

• Lalaine's point of view.
• "The first thing is that she came to us on her own. Obviously, she's stunningly beautiful, which can make your life a million times easier if you need a partner to go to parties. If that's important to you, that means your friends and family will be more likely to believe that you have a traditional relationship because she's not too young. She goes to school, is polite, has all her teeth, and is healthy. Of course, you don't have a drug problem, so you won't have to go through detox to do what you really want to do with and to her."
• Those comments make me feel bad about myself.
• "And the fact that she is still completely innocent is probably the best thing about her. This is a grade A virgin, ladies and gentlemen. Totally clean, untouched, and as pure as new snow. Nice to train, right? Thus, let us begin the bidding at one million dollars. May the luckiest jerk win," he said with a big fake smile. He looked at me, winked, and then took a step to the side.
• The platform I was standing on in the middle of the room started to move. It wasn't moving at light speed, but it still caught me off guard, and I fell a few times before I got back on my feet. At first, I went around and around while people bid.
• Voices could not be heard; all that could be heard was the buzzing sound of the lights over the doors. Since I could see them pick up the phone next to them and talk into it before their light came on, I thought that was how they placed bids.
• I didn't know how high the bids were. I only hoped that there would be enough money left over to pay for Fate's surgery. The sheik and the little guy quit after a while, leaving Jaccob Hutt and Mystery Man to fight. I didn't know what Mystery Man looked like, but he had to be better than Jaccob the Hutt drowning in a pool of blood.
• The bidding between them slowed down, and I was getting more and more dizzy from spinning around on the platform. I really just wanted it to end so I could find out what would happen and move on with my life.
• In secret, I was still rooting for the strange person.
• The last light to flash was from Jaccob Hutt. I knew the bid was for Mystery Man, but he wasn't answering. When Scottie came back into the room and stood next to me, I started to freak out. Afterward, he smiled at Jaccob and raised an eyebrow at Mystery Man as if to ask him a question.
• The way I looked at him made it clear that I was pleading with him. I had no idea if it would make a difference to him, but I had to try.
• It hurt so much to watch the seconds tick by. I felt lightheaded and dizzy, and everything seemed to move slowly. I was holding my breath and praying that Mystery Man would save the day and that I wouldn't feel bad about wanting him to win. I knew I was going to pass out at any second if I didn't get some oxygen to my brain.
• "It looks like we have a win-" When the light above Mystery Man's room came on and the buzzer went off, Scottie stopped all of a sudden.
• I took a deep breath in, and the feeling made my brain tingle. It felt good to be alive. I turned my head to look at Jaccob Hutt. I let out a sigh of relief when he shook his head and waved his hand in the air as if to ignore me. He then struggled to get up from his chair to turn off the light on the table.
• "You have a new owner, Miss Brown," Scottie whispered near my ear.
• "Why don't you walk on over and meet your master?"
• "I'm not calling him master," I screamed so loudly that only Scottie could hear me as he pushed me off the platform.
• "You'll call him whatever he wants if you want the cool two million he just paid for you," he replied, grabbing my elbow and leading me to Mystery Man's room.
• "Two million dollars?" I asked, shocked. The way he was holding my elbow was not okay, and it was making me very angry. I tried to pull it away from him.
• But he grabbed me again, this time with more force, and pulled me forward.
• "What? That's not enough? You little greedy thing, aren't you?"
• He opened the glass door to Mystery Man's room and let me in without giving me a chance to say anything.
• I could smell cigarette smoke, but strangely, I wasn't turned off by the smell.
• "Miss Lalaine Brown," Scottie called the still-haunted figure to my attention.
• "Well done on your win, Mr. Crawford!" I think she will be well worth the money.
• In the dark, a deep, sultry voice said, "Send the contract to my address."
• The cherry on the end of his cigarette lit up, giving him a dim glow before he was gone again. "Please don't touch my stuff, for the sake of Christ. I'm not going to pay for broken items."
• Scottie quickly let go of my arm, and I rubbed the spot on the back of my arm, knowing that it would be bruised in the morning.
• "As you wish." Scottie bowed in a rude way. "Take your time with the room, but be careful she's a feisty one."
• Since I wasn't sure what to do, I just stood there awkwardly for what seemed like a long time. He finally let out a sigh and put out his cigarette just as I was starting to believe that he might really want the two of us to stay there for the two years.
• Because my eyes were used to the dark, the light suddenly made me blind for a moment. After they were back in place, I looked at him.
• I swear my heart skipped a beat... or two... or three. My stomach flipped.
• He was beautiful. I couldn't help but stare at him. As I took him in, he just sat there and smiled. He was wearing a black-on-black suit that was made just for him. His collarbones and a small amount of hair on his chest could be seen because the top buttons of his shirt were undone. He wasn't wearing a tie.
• My eyes moved from the tight muscles in his neck to his strong jaw, which was framed by the start of a beard. His nose was straight and perfect, and his eyes... my god, his eyes. His lips were soft and the perfect shade of deep pink.
• I'd never seen a hazel eye with so many shades of color mixed in, or a man with eyelashes that long. His dark brown hair was spiked in the front and cut short on the sides. I think he was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen.
• He put out his hand and ran his long fingers through his hair. I wasn't sure if they were annoyed by my staring or just doing what they normally do, but it was hot either way.
• When I saw someone that looked like him, I started to wonder why they would go to the trouble of buying a partner when they could have anyone they wanted. However, he spoke up and reminded me that this was not a fairy tale encounter and that I had to do things whether I wanted to or not.
• "Well, let's see if you're worth it," he sighed as he took his pants off and showed off his huge cock.