Page 22 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Stalker

Hy and Ola did their best after school, but it wasn’t good enough. The shop needed to be open all day. Something needed to happen soon, or she was going to lose the business.

And that would be a disaster for everyone, especially my little sisters. I couldn’t let that happen.

“Mom, just take a deep breath and talk to me.”

“I’m just so sad,” she said softly.

“I know,” I sighed. I didn’t know how to help her. I didn’t have the money for a therapist, and that’s what she needed. Being a small business owner and having to buy insurance didn’t make things easier. It was crazy expensive, and she’d gotten the cheapest plan possible. It didn’t offer coverage for mental health.

I talked to her for a while, reminding her of why life is good and talking her into spending time with my sisters to lift her mood.

I knew she needed therapy, though. And possibly some medication? I wasn’t sure.

But I knew one thing. I had a way I could get her help while also taking care of my sisters. I closed my eyes and flopped back on my bed.

And it would also possibly get me some much needed protection from my stalker. If he thought I was in a serious relationship, maybe he’d leave me alone.

I needed to let Carmen know I wanted to do the auction.

***

“Have you talked to him again?” Nia asked as we locked up our bikes on the rack in front of Dinardo’s Deli. It was several blocks down and a few streets over from the university, but neither of us had a car.

“Not really?” I shrugged, trying to hide my disappointment. Jack Lancaster was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. And he was completely unattainable. “He comes out of his office every day and stares at me. But he doesn’t say much beyond regular greetings. It’s weird. I thought he was kind of into me.” I shook my head, feeling ridiculous. “How dumb is that? Howcould I think someone like him would be interested in someone like me?”

Nia stopped walking and pinched the hell out of me.

“Ow! What the hell?” I rubbed my side and stared at her.

“Don’t talk about my friend that way. Seriously. That sucks. The way you talk about yourself is so mean sometimes. Ever since fucking Myers. That dickweed. Who in their right minds would cheat onyou?”

“Thanks,” I said, trying to smile. She was right, though. My self-esteem had taken a massive hit over the past few years. Or hits. Losing my scholarship. Having to work in a gentleman’s club. Getting kicked off the dance team. Kicked out of my sorority. And then finding out Myers had been withseveralof my supposed friends behind my back? It had all been too much.

And after the soup incident and Jack Lancaster taking me home, I’d thought there was a spark there. But maybe it had just been one-sided. He looked at me a lot, but he hadn’t made a move or anything. I assumed he either wasn’t into me, or I was just so far away from his normal type that he wasn’t interested in actually taking me on a date.

I felt stupid for even thinking it was a possibility when I was alone at night in my bed and trying to go to sleep. Trying not to think of those hazel eyes, that muscular body, his handsome face—and how he’d been different from what I’d expected. He was funny and kind. Or he had been that day at least.

We reached Dinardo’s, and I realized I hadn’t been paying much attention to what Nia had been saying to me.

“Sorry,” I cut her off. “I didn’t hear what you were saying. I was lost in thought.”

“It’s okay, Daze,” she said, throwing an arm around my shoulder and giving me a quick hug. “You’ve got a lot on your plate. I get it. I was just saying that if I get hired at Sugar, I’m thinking of asking Carmen to let me move into Cinnamon House. I know you said there was room for more girls but that she keeps it at seven or eight usually.”

I studied her lovely face. “Why are you thinkingabout the auction?” As far as I knew, her family was wonderful and loving. They supported her. She wanted to start working at Sugar just to make extra money. Or so I’d thought. There was something else going on with her. Something she hadn’t told me.

She opened her mouth, about to reveal whatever it was that was making her consider working at Sugar, and, even more perplexing, why she was thinking of doing the auction.

Ivan stuck his head out the door of the deli. “Yo! Daisy! These flowers are getting in the way. Can you come get rid of them? Or move them?” He looked kind of pissed.

I frowned and stared at Nia. “Flowers?”

She turned me around and pushed me through the door to see what he was talking about.

I gasped when I saw the counter. There was a huge arrangement of flowers there. It was disorganized, messy, as if someone had done it themselves without a florist’s help. I would know. I’d grown up above a flower shop. I could see the card with my name on it from the front door. It wasn’t the typical small, white envelope used by florists everywhere.

“What the hell?” I mumbled, worried that Myers was trying to get to me at work now. But this wasn’t an arrangement he would send. He’d never put flowers together himself. Or send something other than roses.

I picked it up, ready to move it to the back where the employee lockers were.