Praise (Salacious Players Club, #1)(64)

“No.”

He waits a beat before adding, “You sound awfully protective…”

I raise my eyes and glare at him. I don’t normally hide things from Garrett. We’ve been friends for years, but I’ve never really had a secret to keep before. I’m not even sure I’m keeping this one very well. And I’m not even sure why I still am.

“She’s only twenty-one.”

“They’re all practically twenty-one.”

I busy myself by pretending I’m actually reading these contracts in my hands, sifting through the papers methodically.

“Emerson Grant…are you getting attached?”

“Knock it off,” I mutter.

He holds his hands up in surrender. “Fine. You don’t have to tell me. Just let me put her up on the stage…auction off an hour of her time tonight. If she agrees, of course. You and I both know she’ll rake in a good crowd, not to mention a lot of money.”

It’s not about the money. But something about what he just said makes me pause.

Charlotte would get a lot of attention tonight. Perhaps then she’d finally see what I see. But I obviously can’t let anyone win an hour with her. And I instantly think of our wealthiest member…

“Is Ronan Kade going to be here tonight?”

“You can count on it,” Garrett replies.

Fuck. This is going to cost me a fortune.

“Sign her up,” I reply quickly.

“Don’t you think I should ask her first?”

“I’ll talk to her,” I bark as I storm out of the office.





Charlotte is helping Maggie stuff envelopes for the event. The girls are chitchatting about something, and I notice the way Charlotte’s smile fades and she sits up a little taller as I approach.

“A word, please?” I say, gesturing for her to follow me to a private room where we can talk. The minute I shut us in, I realize my mistake. Her eyes light up, gazing slack-jawed at the black silk bed with handcuffs, silk ties, and ropes hanging from the wall.

“I thought you were too busy today…” she says, turning back to me and running her hands up my chest.

Fuck, I am too busy, but the way she’s responding to this room right now has me thinking I could just blow off work, the event, my entire fucking job at this point. I’d love to see her pretty pale skin on that black silk, tied to this bed, letting me do ungodly fucking things to her.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I brought you in here because I really do need to talk to you.”

“Oh,” she replies, pulling away, but I don’t let her take her hands off me. We may need to talk, but I still need to touch her. Grabbing her by the elbows, I pull her against me.

“You’re going to be in the auction tonight,” I say, like ripping off a bandage.

She tenses, glaring up at me with wide eyes. “I can’t—”

Walking her back until her legs hit the bed, I gently push her until she’s lying down, and I drape my body over hers. I can’t fuck her now, no matter how much I want to, but there will be time later to have a little fun in here.

“Emerson, I really can’t be in your auction. I’m sorry—”

I silence her with a kiss and grind my hips against hers. She hums in response. God, I love these soft lips of hers. I could never get tired of her kisses.

“You can and you will.”

Her hands drift up my sides, pulling me closer as she reaches up for another kiss. “What exactly am I auctioning off?”

“An hour of your time.”

“That’s it?” she asks with a tilt of her head.

Glaring down at her, I pinch my brow together. “Did you have something else in mind?”

“Well, anyone can bid, right? Which means anyone can win.”

“Yes…”

“So, you’d be okay letting me spend an hour with some man I don’t even know?” She’s searching my features, trying to gauge just how much I care about her talking to other men, which, for the record, is a lot, but she doesn’t know that, and I can’t let myself grow any more attached to Charlotte than I already am.

“You’re not obligated to do anything with them, you know. And it’s entirely up to you what you want to auction off.”

She hesitates again. “So other girls are auctioning off more?”

I kiss her soft pale neck. “Yes. Some girls will auction off time in a room or a public display of some sort.”

“Isn’t that…”

“Loopholes and fine print, Charlotte.” My cock is getting painfully hard behind my slacks as I grind against her again.

“Oh…” she moans, trying to wrap her legs around me.

“We don’t have time for this,” I mutter uselessly against her chest, dragging down the deep neckline of her blouse.

“What if I told you I got my test results back?” she says in a breathy moan.

I pull away. “What test results?”

“You said I had to turn in clean test results in order to be a member of the club, so I did. I’m clean.”

My blood begins pounding so hard through my veins that my cheeks flush and my focus goes hazy, all from the image of sinking my fat cock into Charlotte without anything between us. “Fuck…” I stammer through clenched teeth.