Page 11 of Hope's Highest Bidders

For the first time ever, I hate that my cabin in the woods is a mile from the helipad. The pilot offered to help carry the luggage, but I refused. So now here I am, pulling bags behind me as I follow Nikki down the path. She’d changed into jeans, and I swear she looks just as good as she did in the nightie. The waythey fit her curvy ass makes the trek even more uncomfortable because my cock has come alive in my pants.

When we get to the clearing, she gasps, and I look up, trying to see it through her eyes. It’s a nice cabin with all the amenities. I know I can’t expect her to live here full-time—hell, I have no idea what her plans are, but I didn’t know where else to take us.

“It’s beautiful, Ethan.”

“Yes,” I tell her, but I’m not talking about the house. I’m talking about her. “Go on in. The door’s unlocked.”

She tests the door and opens it easily before going inside. When I’m in, I close it behind me. It’s never been this way before, but there’s an awkwardness between us, and I hate it. But I don’t know what to do about it.

8

NIKKI

Idon’t know what I expected, but it isn’t this. Before, we were never able to keep our hands off one another, and now it seems like he doesn’t know how to act with me. I know I make him uncomfortable. He keeps hiding his face from me as if I care about the scars. He doesn’t understand that I don’t even see them. All I see is the man that still owns my heart.

“You care if I borrow your tub?”

He practically chokes as he nods his head. “Yeah, uh, sure. Go ahead.”

I stand here patiently and wait for him to point me in the right direction. His gaze is tracking up and down my body, and when he shifts his stance, I see the bulge in his jeans. I try to hide my smile. “Where is it?”

The snaps him out of it, and he shakes his head as he wheels my luggage past me. “Sorry. I mean, I should at least give you the tour of the house. Living room and kitchen.” He points at the open area around us. He walks down a hall and shuts the first door he comes to. “My office is in there, but it’s a mess.” He walks farther down the hall. “Bathroom and bedroom.”

I look into the bedroom and see the massive bed sitting in the middle of the room. He looks at it and back at me. “There’s only one bed, but I can sleep...”

I cut him off. “It’s fine. We only need one bed. We’re married, Ethan, and there’s nothing holding us back now.”

He swallows, and real fear comes over his face, but that doesn’t stop me from asking him, “Do you want to shower with me?”

He backs out of the room. “Uh, no, I’m going to go work in the office or something.”

Before I can stop him, he’s walking down the hallway, but he doesn’t stop at his office. He goes straight outside and slams the door behind him.

I bite my lip, wondering if we’re ever going to be okay. I thought this was something he would want and that if I pushed him just a little, he’d realize it. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe all I’m doing is making it worse.

I open my bags and don’t bother to unpack. Hell, for all I know, he may be having me leave before the night’s out.

I pull my hair up in a bun on top of my head and jump in the shower. I wash all the makeup and baby oil off my skin. When I’m done, I listen for any noise in the house, but there is none. I dress quickly and make my way down the hall to his office. I knock on the big door, but when I don’t hear anything, my curiosity is piqued, and I gently open it.

When I walk in and see my face on the wall, I open the door even farther and walk into the room. My hand goes to my heart when I see the number of pictures of me on every wall in the room. Some of them are from before, of Ethan and me when we were together. I can’t help but smile looking at them because we both look so happy and in love. I move on, looking at the other pictures and the ones of just me without Ethan. I’m in awe ofthem and wondering how he got them. There are some from just a week ago.

“Hey.”

I spin around when I hear Ethan’s voice. I was so caught up in the pictures, I didn’t even hear him come in. I hold my hand up, gesturing to the wall. “Why... I mean how did you get these?”

He crosses his arms over his chest and shrugs. “I couldn’t completely let you go.”

I shake my head, not understanding. “So what? You take these pictures and hang them on the wall like some kind of shrine to me or something?”

His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t answer. That’s not going to cut it for me. I grab two pictures off the wall and hold them out to him. “Look at these, Ethan. Really look at them.”

He’s looking at the picture I grabbed of the two of us. “I have.”

I shake the frames at him. “No, look at me in this one with you... and then look at the one without you. Hell, you have a whole wall of them. Look at me since you pushed me away. Can you see the difference?”

He blinks, but he doesn’t seem surprised at what I’m saying. He pushes his hand through his hair and sighs. “I know.”

I rear back. “You know? So you can see what you pushing me away did to me? And what? You liked seeing me like this? Did this get you off, knowing I was miserable without you?”

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