I immediately regretted asking the question because she frowned and then hesitated to answer.
“No, it’s not really my thing,” she said, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.
“If you’ve never done it, how would you know?” I asked, flashing her a cajoling smile.
She furrowed her eyebrows and stared at me, thinking carefully about her answer.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “I guess maybe I would try it…but it would really have to be worth my while.”
Value. It was one of her requirements. It made me like her even more. I knew that she was special before I had even walked across the room.
“And what exactly would make it worth your while?” I asked, curious, “Is it just about the money, or is there more to it?”
“What?” she asked, looking at me bewildered.
“You said that it had to be valuable,” I repeated. “Well, some people really value a good time.”
Her breath caught in her throat and I could see a blush rise to her cheeks. “I-I don’t know…”
But before she can say more, the auctioneer drowns out her voice. “Mya is auctioning off a night on the town with her,” said the auctioneer. “Any takers? Let’s start the bids at $3,000.”
Candy did a double take, her lovely eyes nearly popping out of her head with shock.
“$3,000 for just a date?” she asked incredulously.
“Yeah,” I said, smiling and nodding at her. “And watch. She’s get more than that easily. At least $10,000, I’d be willing to bet.”
I could see the wheels starting to turn in Candy’s head.
“Wow, I could really use that money for my bakery,” she said softly.
If I hadn’t have been paying attention, I wouldn’t have heard her. But, I was paying close attention to her every word and movement. She was mesmerizing and smart. “A bakery, huh?”
I turned in her direction, getting ready to give her really great reasons why she should take part in the auction. Great reasons she should come home with me tonight.
All of a sudden, I heard someone calling my name.
“Elliot, buddy,” came the voice from a few feet away. “How the hell have you been?”
It was Chad, an old acquaintance from college.
“Oh, hey, there Chad,” I said, giving him my hand and pumping it up and down fiercely. “It’s really good to see you. How long has it been?”
“Too long,” he said, taking a swig from the glass of wine that he had been clinching. I glanced over at Candy and saw that she was looking around the room like she was looking for someone.
“Yeah, yeah, it has, we should get together sometime,” I said, hoping that Chad got the hint that I wasn’t trying to have a long, drawn-out conversation with him.
“What’s been going on with you?” he asked, folding his arms and leaning in closer to me.
I can’t even remember what I said after that because what happened next will always haunt me.
I looked over to where Candy had been standing and she was gone.
My heart sank to the bottom of my shoes.
Gone. Just like that.
Chapter Three Candy
I laid in bed a few nights after the auction, staring up at the ceiling. I had told Amelia that I was going to bed early because I had planned on getting up to do some prep work at the bakery before it opened. But, there I lay, unable to get to sleep.
I couldn’t make my brain shut down so that I could sleep. My mind just kept going over thoughts of the auction. It was definitely an amazing thing to witness and experience. I had never seen anything like it. And to know that amount of money that could be made with it was just mind-blowing.
On a whim before I slipped out, I had stopped by the information table at the front and put my name on a mailing list for their newsletter that would give me more information about their next event.
But, even more than the auction, I couldn’t stop thinking about that Elliot guy. There was something about him, the confident way that he spoke and a general aura of just pure sexiness that drew me to him. He was forward, sure, maybe even to the point of being a little pushy, but…I kind of liked it.
He was incredibly gorgeous, more than any guy that I had ever seen. I couldn’t believe that a guy that hot had actually actively sought me out to have a conversation with me. I hadn’t had the best track record with men and my confidence had suffered a lot. That was largely due to the abusive relationship that I had been in during senior year of high school and just after.
His name was Jim. He had been really charming in the beginning. He was a football star and wicked smart to boot. The golden boy, beloved by all. So, when he started being abusive towards me verbally, nobody believed that it was happening. They told me I was exaggerating.
When he started hitting me, people called me crazy. When he finally left a mark, I even got accused of doing it to myself.
He called me every name in the book and made me feel like I was worthless. Once I finally got the nerve to get out of the relationship, it was like shedding the weight of the world off my back. I was relieved that the abuse was finally over, but I was also excited to find me for a change.
I had gotten so far away from who I truly was, it was nice getting reacquainted with myself again. I took myself out of dates and contented myself to doing things alone. I didn’t even try to date anyone else. I told myself that it was because I was too busy with the bakery, but
