“Hey there,” he says, leaning forward to kiss my cheek. Nico screams sex machine, and he doesn’t even have to try. His demeanor does it all for him. He takes no prisoners and apologizes to no one. He inherited the team when he turned thirty and became the youngest owner of any team in the league. It was a shitty team, to say the least, but he dug his heels in and went out there. He had a general manager, but everyone knew that Nico did his own bidding. If he wanted you, he made sure you knew he wanted you. There was no middleman with Nico. “So glad you can make it.”
“Oh, you know me,” I say with a shrug. “Always ready to play dress-up.”
He laughs now. “I can spot that lie a mile away,” he says. “But seriously, I wanted to thank you personally for all the publicity you gave this event on your show.” He looks down and puts his hands in his suit pockets. “It was good to listen and not get my ass handed to me.”
It’s my turn now to laugh. “I’m not that bad.” He just looks at me. “Listen, I say what everyone thinks. The only difference is mine is broadcasted live.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure it’s a good thing,” he says. “Anyway, go and enjoy and save your money. The live bachelor auction starts in a bit.”
I try not to groan as I walk away from him to the tables. I go through the prizes—a signed puck, a signed jersey, a game in the press box, and four tickets to the All-Star game—and I bid on the All-Star game package, thinking that I could give it away on the air. I’m about to turn around when I bump into a hard chest. Male hands automatically grab my upper arms. “Careful, gorgeous.” I hear his voice and groan, then move my shoulders out of his touch. “What did you bid on?” he asks, walking to the table and going through the sheets. “Oh, look at this.” He picks up a sheet and flashes it my way. “A weekend away in a hidden cabin.” He winks at me. “What do you say? You, me?”
“How secluded is it?” I ask him, and he looks down at the paper. “Like, is there a chance they will find your dead body?” I laugh, and he just shakes his head. He’s about to say something else when I see a blonde walk our way. Her hips swing, and her tits bounce. “Incoming.” I motion with my head in the direction she’s coming from. It’s his turn now to groan. “Don’t lie, you love all this attention,” I say, and I’m about to walk away when the blonde steps in front of me.
“Miller.” She sings his name, walking to him and getting chest to chest with him. “I am so excited about the auction.” I roll my eyes and turn to walk away, but not before hearing her beg him to take her home tonight.
I put my empty glass on a tray and grab another one when I hear Nico's voice fill the arena. “Testing one, two.” I look up and see that a spotlight is on him now. “Testing one, two.”
The chattering stops, and the room goes quiet. “If I can get everyone’s attention.” I look around now and spot Ralph and Candace sitting down at a table in front. I make my way through the crowd and find an empty chair beside Candace. I sit down and look over to see that Manning is sitting next to me, and his wife just glares at me. I smile at her and wave, but she turns her head, and I see Manning roll his lips. “Please help me welcome our captain Manning Stevenson.” The applause starts, and he gets up, and so does his wife, kissing him on the lips as though he won an award or something. He walks up the stairs while he wipes off his lips, and I giggle, which earns me another glare from his wife.
“How drunk are you?” Candace says, leaning into me.
“Not drunk enough,” I say, taking another glass of champagne. “Cheers.” I hold up my glass, and she grabs her own, and we click glasses quietly. I listen half-heartedly to Manning’s speech about why we are here, and my curiosity has me looking around the room to see who else is here that I haven’t seen.
I spot the owner of the station sitting at a table with a couple of the players and their wives. I look around and spot Miller standing with five other men on the side. Our eyes meet again, and this time, he winks. I roll my eyes and look away. What in the hell is wrong with you? This is the second time he’s caught you looking at him. And why are you looking at him? It must be the suit or the champagne. “I think this champagne is not good,” I whisper to Candace, who looks at me and smiles. “Can champagne go bad? Like, can it poison you?”
“No.” She takes a swallow from her glass. “Tastes fine to me.” She puts it down, and a waiter comes over and grabs the two empty glasses and puts two more on the table.
“Am I going to have to carry you into the house?” Ralph asks Candace.
I lean over Candace to whisper to Ralph. “Don’t pretend you don’t like drunk sex.”
“I like drunk sex,” Candace says, not in a whisper, making Ralph just shake his head. I sit up now, looking at the stage as they bring the bachelors on stage. They introduce a couple of the rookies, and then they save Miller for last.
“And it is my greatest pleasure,” Manning says with a smile. “Introducing my assistant captain, or what I like to call him, Mr. GQ,” he says. The applause starts, and a couple of whistles are blown as he walks onto the stage and shakes Manning’s hand and then looks out into the crowd.
“He’s so gross,” I say under my breath, and Candace laughs at me. The bidding starts with the rookie first. The highest bidder is five thousand dollars. The second one goes for the same price, and the third one goes for just a touch more. They all stay under five thousand dollars.
“Now,” Nico says, “it’s time for the last bachelor of the night.” The girls all cheer, and I look over at Candace, who laughs. “We are going to start the bidding off at—”
“Fifty cents.” I hold up my hand, and everyone laughs, even Miller.
“One thousand dollars,” one of the women on the side says, and Candace looks at me.
“Not worth it,” I say, drinking another sip. “So not worth it.” I look into the glass.
“Twelve hundred!” another woman shouts, and I look over at the woman who sits there with a huge smile on her face.
“Fifteen hundred,” another one says.
“Seventeen!” one woman shouts from the back.
“Ohh, this might be a hot ticket item,” Nico says, laughing. Miller just looks down and shakes his head.
“Two thousand,” the first one comes back with.
“Do I have twenty-one hundred?” Nico asks.
Now the girl who sang his name before shouts out, “Five thousand dollars!” The crowd gasps, and Miller just looks at her.
“Ten thousand dollars,” Nico says, pointing at the one who just shout out the highest bid, “Going once, going twice.”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars!” I shout. The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them, shocking everyone, especially me.
Chapter 4
Miller
The hot light shining directly on me is making me sweat. I hear the bids coming in, and my hand tries to loosen the tightness of my shirt. Why the fuck did I think this was a good idea? I mean, the only time I felt okay about this was when Layla bid fifty cents for me. God, that made me laugh, and for one second, I forgot that I was in the spotlight. “Going once.” I hear Nico, and I swallow down the lump in my throat. I’m trying to tell myself that it’s not the end of the world. It’s a date one night for a couple of hours. What’s the worst that can happen? “Going twice.” Fuck, here we go. The worst woman I’ve ever met.