“So, who was it?”
Monique pushed the boxes forward. “See for yourself.”
Oh, no. June didn’t like this… whatever game this was that Monique played. It could only go one of two ways… and June was not happy with one of those outcomes.
She opened the first box. “I take it these are the gifts that came with the bids?”
Monique leaned back in her seat, hands resting on her stomach. “Indeed. I’ve already inspected them. I want to know what you think.”
The flaps opened on the box.Let’s see what I’ve been gifted.It was customary for prospective patrons to also send a gift along with their bid. Whether June accepted their bid or not was beside the point – she got to keep whatever was in these boxes, to do with them as she pleased.Use them, sell them…Mitchell had given her a handcrafted crop and paddle set that listed at five thousand dollars.
She did not find such a thing in the first box.
Diamonds glittered in the office light. Gasping, June pulled out a large web of sparkling gems, each one more luminescentthan the last.I’m blind!So blind that she didn’t realize it was a piece of lingerie until she held it up by two spaghetti straps.
“Holy shit,” she said, in utter awe. “Are they real?”
“I’ll have our gemologist take a look, if for no other reason than to get a quote. But yes, they seem real. Nice quality, too.”
“Fuuuuck.”
“I know. I would tell you to try it on, but…”
“I’m sure you’ll see me wearing this at some point! Who was this from?”
Monique tapped the other box. “Take a look at this first.”
June did not want to put the diamond-studded negligee back in its box, but she did so, careful not to let it get caught on anything.Wow. They were already off to a great start.
She tore into the second box. What was it? More jewels? Gold? BDSM equipment that costs thousands of dollars and would take her business to the next level? June couldn’t wait…
“What the shit?” She pulled out a small canvas. Oil paints in an assortment of colors looked back up at her. “Is this… a painting of me?”
Sure enough, it was. June didn’t recognize the pose, so it must have been done from memory. Her, draped across a chaise lounge, her body on full display and her hair coiled on top of her head. She had the confidence of a Greek goddess who chewed up and spat out lovers as if they were nothing.I am Aphrodite. Goddess of love and sex. A golden girl who took no shit from no one and used her body as she pleased. Flowers grew all around her, and a halo of rubies sparkled above her head. Only one person could have painted this. The style was unmistakable.
“This is from Sette, isn’t it?”
Monique nodded. “Dr. Christie surprised me. She put in the full bid.”
“Wow.” June couldn’t pry her eyes off her painted image.I’m not saying I look fantastic, but…“The negligee?”
Finally, a warm smile. “Your Ms. Bolivar.”
“Shit.” June was not expecting this. The two she wanted most? Two women, no less? She didn’t expect them both to bid. If either one of them had, she would accept them in an instant. Being Sette’s full-time model and lover wasn’t a bad gig. Being taken on a whirlwind faux romance with Miquela?Bring it on!She could see the other one on the side, anyway. Such was the nature of her business.
To have both of them bid on her body and time? It almost felt absurd.
“I will ask you this once,” Monique began, closing the lid on both boxes. “Do you have a huge preference for one woman over the other?”
June said the first word to come to her mind. “No.”
The madam’s smile broadened. That was the magic word, apparently. June could already hear the business gears turning in that brilliant mind. “Good. I have a plan that could make us both very rich.”
“Go on.”
Monique tapped one finger against her desk. “A bidding war.”
June smiled back at her. “I was hoping you would say that.”
