Page 51 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 2

“Usually, I don’t like to destroy the environment by chartering a private plane, but getting to Emily is priority number one.”

She nodded. “Okay, I can be ready in fifteen minutes tops.” She grabbed her panties and pants then dashed to the spare bedroom where I’d stored her things yesterday.

Only a woman like Maia could be ready that fast. I watched her fine ass jiggle until she disappeared from view.

I left the kitchen, entered the bathroom, and turned the shower back on so I could rinse off after our fun on the floor. I faced the mirror and stared at my reflection for a long moment, steam from the shower rising in the air around me.

“This woman is going to change me in ways I can only begin to imagine.”

Episode 47

Get Naked

SUMMER

I spent the entire day working with my plants, going over everything that had been said between me and Jack earlier today. The journey through my thoughts was intense, going from spitting mad to realizing I’d been a complete and utter asshole.

Jack was allowed to have his own feelings about his future wife’s job. Especially in light of the fact that, in his world, the product I sold was completely illegal. Living in California, where cannabis had been legal for almost a decade, gave me a different perspective. And most of the people I communicated with were also in the business or treated cannabis the same way they did alcohol. You had to be twenty-one to buy it, use it, and sell it.

End of story.

However, there was still a huge stigma on using the product regularly, even in the states where it was perfectly legal. And I should have been considerate of that fact.

I just get so tired of people’s shitty opinions on something that doesn’t affect them. If you don’t want to use cannabis, no one is forcing you. But let the rest of the world enjoy its healing properties and make our own choices for our own bodies.

“You’ve been quiet today,” my dad noted when we piled into his beloved 1996 Ford Bronco. He’d had the vehicle since Autumn and I were born. It had a red top, a big fat white stripehorizontally down the center of the car with a red bottom. It was cool as hell, and I hoped it would run forever.

“Had a fight with Jack,” I sighed.

“Already? Shouldn’t you be in the honeymoon phase?”

I shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

“Romance and love always are. But the way that boy looked at you at dinner last night, like the sun rose and set from your eyes.” He shook his head. “Boy is gone for you, Sunny.”

“He’s a man, Dad. A twenty-eight-year-old super rich, super-hot, superjudgyguy apparently. And I’m not so sure he’s all that into me, if he can hate what I’ve devoted my life to,” I huffed.

My father burst out laughing as he took the turn that would lead us down main street toward The Pink Lady.

“Speaking from experience, when it comes to you, your sister, and certainly the woman I worship from her braided hair down to her rainbow painted toes, everything about all of us is open to judgment. The world is filled with people who see us and what we grow as a horrible disservice. Some even believe what we grow is a gateway drug to hardcore illegal substance addiction.”

I rolled my eyes.

“You and I both know that isn’t true, but it will take more time for the rest of the world to catch up. And it’s our job to educate and inform as best we know how.”

“It’s draining, Dad. And it wasn’t something I expected to have to deal with in my romantic relationship.”

“Well, if you look at it from your original plan, you put yourself up for auction to the highest bidder in the hopes they would help you learn a few things in business, not to mention find a man who has his own money so he wasn’t leeching off of you. It wasn’t exactly intended to be a love story, was it? Perhaps your expectations of what you committed to have changed recently?”

I pursed my lips and thought about what he said. My expectations had changed. Because…well, Jack. He’s not only rich and successful, but he’s funny and kind, and so serious. I want to poke and prod at him until he lets go a little, laughs more. And he has. Just this morning, he had me laid out on my kitchen table about to screw me into next week when my annoying sister interrupted us. I’d been so excited to take that next step with him. The chemistry between us was off the charts.

“I like him, Dad.Reallylike him. And when he got mad and shocked about the farm, I don’t know, I lost it a little. Gave him an ultimatum, which is not like me at all.”

“Yikes, sounds like you have some making up to do.”

“That’s just it. If Jack truly can’t handle what I do for business, then this will never work out.”

“True. But did you even give the man the chance to mull it all over? For someone like him, coming from an entirely different market, not to mention another country, what we do might seem problematic. It hasn’t been accepted internationally. Yet. One day, I’m certain it will be as widely accepted as alcohol and cigarettes, both of which are worse than cannabis.”

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