Page 16 of Wife Number One

The people in front of us shuffled forward, and we took their spot. The woman behind the desk smiled up at us. Her gaze glanced over Liam and landed on me.

She leaned forward, her tits straining against the vaguely see-through material of her blouse. “Good morning, gentlemen. How can I help you?”

“We’d like to register to bid,” I told her.

“Oh, of course.” She dragged her gaze away from me and over to Liam. “What was your name, please, sir?”

Liam glanced at me with a slight cringe. “I’m not bidding. He is.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry! I misunderstood…” She paused for a second and then gave me a tight smile. “I’m so sorry to ask, but do you have your finances in order? The owners are really only interested in serious bidders.”

A new determination settled over me. She hadn’t asked Liam if he was a serious bidder.

I needed this restaurant.

I needed people to take me fucking seriously. I was so sick of being nothing.

“My finances are sorted,” I told her through gritted teeth.

She dug her teeth into her bottom lip and wrote down the rest of my details as I rattled them off, but I couldn’t shake the feeling she thought I was wasting everyone’s time.

“Let it go,” Liam said quietly, moving away.

Every muscle in my body felt overwound, so tight they hurt. “Easy for you to say. People don’t underestimate you.”

Liam sighed heavily, but he didn’t comment, probably because he knew I was right.

But that wasn’t his fault. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I just really want this place.”

“I know. Tell me all your plans for it.”

“You already heard them.”

He elbowed me. “Yeah, but you’re like an excited kid on Christmas morning when you talk about it, and that’s the vibe we need to go into this auction with.”

He was right. So I spent the next fifteen minutes rattling off every idea I’d ever had for my own space, and minute by minute, the vision came alive before me. I could see the bustling kitchen. Smell the fresh ingredients. Hear the smiles and laughter of the guests in the dining room.

The sense of pride that settled over me was one I wanted to live in.

It was one that washed away some of the bad shit I’d done.

One that made me feel like I could actually call myself a man.

And when the auctioneer clapped some rolled-up papers into his palm, I knew without a doubt I was going to make this place mine.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for your interest in this spectacular property. What will it become? A clothing boutique? A bookstore? A lovely little café for our residents to while away a lazy Sunday morning? Seventy-four Main Street, Providence, indeed has many different possibilities, and I know you all agree as we have several very excited bidders here this afternoon, as well as two on the phone, being represented by our agents.”

The woman who had registered us earlier and a man about the same age both raised numbered paddles from the sides of the room. Both of them held phones to their ears with their free hands and spoke in quiet tones to the bidders they were representing on the other end.

The auctioneer clapped his papers again. “Okay! Without further ado, let’s get this show on the road. Let’s start the bidding. Does anyone want to start us off?”

Liam’s words about going in and going in strong were fresh in my mind.

As was the memory of the real estate agent assuming I didn’t have the money for a place like this. I raised my paddle. “Nine hundred thousand.”

Liam’s surprised gaze bored into the side of my face, but I refused to look at him, even when he whispered, “Damn, bro. I said go hard, I didn’t say wipe out the entire fund on your first bid.”

“I didn’t,” I whispered back. “We still have a hundred thousand to play with, but what’s the point in beating around the bush?”

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