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Disappointment tightens my shoulders and I had to roll them to ease it. “I understand.” And I did, the optics were such that it looked like I was the problem as far as Harrison was concerned and he’d always side with his partner. I got that. I didn’t like it, but I got it.
“Good. We’ll see you tonight for your shift and, Violet, a word of warning. Lincoln isn’t a man to be crossed. You’d do well to remember that.”
“Thank you, Mr. Brooks.”
Hanging up, I do a little dance and try not to let the relief send me giddy. It might seem silly but even the small victory of keeping my job is cause for celebration.
When Eric wakes, we decide to spend the day at the park with a picnic of homemade sandwiches and chips. As the late spring sun bakes the day in warmth, I hope that maybe things might go my way this time, pushing aside the fact I’ve agreed to auction off my body in exchange for this small reprieve is something I don’t examine.
6: Linc
I grit my jaw,grinding my teeth to the point my dentist will have a coronary as Harrison speaks. We’re at a meeting to go over the five candidates for the auction and the final image on the screen sends my blood pressure through the roof. His eyes are on me as he goes over Lottie’s application.
“As you all may be aware, Violet is one of our bar staff. She’s twenty-five, unmarried, and her background checks are clear. She’s agreed to the medical but there are no red flags.”
“Don’t you think she’s a little old to be a virgin?”
Ryker frowns as we all look at the image she sent in with her application. She’s holding a sun hat on her head as the wind tries to blow it away. She looks fresh-faced and so beautiful it makes my chest ache before I swallow the feeling down.
Harrison nods. “I’d considered that, but I mean, look at her. She’s gorgeous and she has a sweetness about her which our customers on the ground floor love. She makes more in tips than any other bartender.”
“I have to admit, I’d definitely tap that given the chance.”
Beck smirks and I have the overwhelming urge to punch my friend in the face. “Have some fucking respect, Beck,” I snarl. Instant regret at showing my hand making me even angrier than I already am. I don’t want Lottie doing this damn auction, but she’s nothing to me so why should I care?
“What’s your problem, Lincoln?”
I lock eyes with my friend. “I don’t have a problem. Do you?”
Beck holds my stare, never one to back down, and the tension in the room rises until Audrey breaks it.
“Okay, children enough with the pissing contest. I think Violet is perfect and as you say, she’s charming and sweet. I think she’ll be a huge draw.”
She’s charming and sweet. She’s also a liar, but if she wants to sell her body then who am I to stop her?
“Whatever, just sort it out. I have a meeting to get to.” I stand abruptly, pushing my chair back and leave the room. I have no interest in hearing the details and I’m regretting we even started this auction. As I make my way down the stairs, I spot the woman who’s consumed too many of both my waking and sleeping hours.
She’s shaking a cocktail, concentration on her face, allowing me the freedom to watch her close up without her seeing. As if pulled by a magnet, I walk toward the other end of the bar and order a beer from one of the other girls. I sit there like a goddamned stalker watching her for almost ten minutes before she spots me.
Her spine stiffens and her head turns as if she senses me. Her features still and her eyes lock on mine, and I hate that I can’t read her expression. There was a time when I knew every thought in her head but not anymore. This Violet Miller is a mystery to me, and perhaps I should let it stay that way, but I just can’t seem to walk away when I know I should.
As the bar fills up, I move closer to her section and hold up my glass when she looks at me. I see her bite back her reaction and paste a false smile on her face. It makes me want to laugh out loud for probably the first time in as long as I can remember.
“Mr. Coldwell, what can I get you?”
I cock my head, subtly inhaling the sweet scent of cherries that is, and has always been, Lottie to me. I drink her in from head to toe and fight to curb my natural response. Which is her, splayed out naked on this bar for me.
“What do you suggest?”
I study her pretty face, wondering how the hell this woman is still a virgin and have to bite my tongue to stop the question from slipping out.
“How about a Liquid Viagra? You look like a man who could do with one of those.”
With anyone else I’d be fuming at the insult, but this woman has some kind of invisible hold on me and instead, a bark of laughter erupts from me, startling us both.
I leaned forward when my mirth had subsided and watch the pulse in her neck hammer silently, but she doesn’t back down. She’s still mad as hell at me and getting her licks in as best she can. Lottie was always scrappy, even when she was a tiny little thing in pigtails.
“I can assure you, Lottie, I don’t need Viagra in any form and if you wanted to ask about my sex life, then you should have just come out with it.”
