Page 4 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 1

MEMPHIS

“I’m here to meet the woman I plan to marry.” I admitted the truth to Naomi. My mouth felt like cement as I did so, because while I did have plans to marry another woman, I also felt an incredible connection to the Black goddess I’d been speaking with.

There was no sense in evading the reality of why I was in Las Vegas, sitting in the hotel bar at The Alexandra. She’d just been dumped by a man who very clearly didn’t deserve such a fine-ass queen. I, too, had no right to lead her on. Nor would I ever want to treat another person that way.

Tomorrow I’d be standing on a shiny stage being bid on by strange, exceptionally wealthy women, in the hopes of securing a three-year contract worth millions.

At least I hoped I would.

My family was counting on me. There really was no alternative.

My mother and father were the epitome of a middle-class American family. Mom was an elementary school teacher, and my father was a veteran who’d served two terms, then became a career trucker. Unfortunately, after nineteen years of safely hauling goods all over the South, he had a bad accident. One that put him on disability for the rest of his life. Disability did notpay as well as being on the job, nor did it come with awesome retirement perks. Something my dad had been just shy of prior to the accident. And my parents had several mouths to feed—not including their own. Not to mention, our granny who was getting up there in age, with a multitude of health problems, even if she was sharp as a tack.

It was up to me, the eldest child and the only other male in the family, to pick up the slack. My sister Sydney, who was two years younger than me, had also been helping the family ever since she got signed by one of New York’s top modeling agencies a couple years ago. She should have been living in a beautiful pad in the heart of the city, but instead, she split a place in Hell’s Kitchen with two other models so she could send home as much money as possible.

I held my breath as Naomi became quiet and still. It was as though I’d shocked her numb.

“I see.” She lifted her drink and sucked back the remainder in one go. “Proves my point. The best ones are always taken.”

“I’m sorry if you felt I was leading you on. It wasn’t my intention, but I can’t lie. You are an alluring and incredibly beautiful woman. I couldn’t help but flirt a little. It’s in my nature.” I grinned, feeling my cheeks heat with a mighty dose of embarrassment.

Naomi waved her hand in the air nonchalantly. “It’s fine. Like you said, lying is for losers. I’m happy to sit here and have a drink with a handsome man that has no ulterior motive—like getting into my panties.”

I chuckled, relieved that she wasn’t angry with me. “Now I didn’t say that… If panty removal is on the table, we may need to have a different conversation,” I joked.

That had her laughing out loud and back to smiling.

She lifted her hand to get the bartender’s attention. While she did so, I checked her out further.

Naomi was something special. Unlike any woman I’d approached in the past. She was confident, straightforward, and absurdly attractive. Legs that went on for days. A toned body that I could tell she worked hard on. Her biceps were nicely defined but not so much that she looked like a bodybuilder, just that she must appreciate weight lifting and regular gym attendance. The dress she wore highlighted every lush curve of her hips and breasts, but also hinted at an athletic body beneath.

Exactly my type.

There was a lot I’d give up to woo such a fine woman into my bed and possibly my heart, but not at my family’s expense. I had too much riding on my securing a bid in the auction tomorrow.

“So, where is this wonder woman you’re planning to marry?” Naomi asked, bringing the conversation back to reality.

“I’ll be meeting her tomorrow.” That wasn’t a lie, even if I was omitting the full truth. We weren’t allowed to discuss the finer details of the auction with outsiders. It was part of the NDA I’d signed. And besides, if I was chosen, I absolutely would be meeting my future wife tomorrow, directly following the auction.

“Well, let me be the first to congratulate you.” She grabbed the fresh martini the bartender had delivered. A second IPA sat in front of my nearly empty glass.

“To you and your bride. May you have many happy years together.”

I lifted my pint and clinked it with hers.

* * * *

We spent the next few hours together seated at that bar. We ordered dinner and shot the shit as if we’d known one another for much longer than mere hours. It was the most fun I’d had with a woman in years, outside of my sisters. Speaking of my reason for existing…

“Five sisters!” She cackled and smacked the bar top a couple times. “Dang, your parents were getting busy!”

“Right!” I agreed through my laughter. “Every two years, boom. Momma popped out another pretty little thing I was determined to protect with every fiber of my being.”

“Awwww.” She pushed at my arm playfully, then leaned into my side deeply, half her body resting against me. “You’re a good big brother.” She patted my arm as she looked up at me with the sweetest expression on her face. She reminded me of a doe from the Georgia backwoods. God himself must have sculpted her features because no woman had such incredible bone structure. Her skin was all sleek and shiny, and in the deepest fawn color. But it was her eyes that had a vise lock on me. They were mesmerizing, like an obsidian gemstone with a golden sheen. When she was happy, shimmery flecks around her pupils reflected back like motor oil over water. I had a hard time not getting lost in them.

“Admit it, you scared the pants off of any would-be suiters hitting on your sisters, didn’t you?” She rubbed my back, perhaps a bit more intimately than she should have, but we’d both had several drinks and had gone beyond just strangers. We were…friends.

I shrugged and sipped at my fifth—no, sixth—IPA. “Naw, they make it easy. They’re all smart as hell. I’m talking 4.0 and up grade point averages across the board, and two of them are still in high school. They put my status to freakin’ shame.”

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