“I believe we’ll start the bidding at three million for three years. Do I have a handsome gentleman who’d like to make this gem his?”
Lights started flashing in the audience. Signs with numbers that were backlit were being held in the air. It reminded me of an auction on TV for fine art or sculptures.
Except this time, the piece they were buying was me.
“I’ve got many of you willing to pay three million. Do I have four?” Madam Alana countered, and the lights kept flashing numbers.
My heart started pounding and along with it, an idea to help ramp up the bidding. I spun to the side, stretched out my leg, and bent over it, as if to fix the buckle on my heel, giving the men a great side shot of my ass.
“I’ve got four million… Do we have five?” Madam Alana pointed at someone toward the back who’d lifted his illuminated paddle. “Five, excellent. Do we have six?”
The lights disappeared except for one lonely light. Lucky number thirteen .
“I’ve got six million to number thirteen. Do I have seven?”
All of a sudden, the auction room went dead silent.
“Six million for the hand of the lovely Ms. Ruby Dawson. Going once…”
We both waited, and I held my breath.
Six million dollars.
It was more money than I’d ever seen in my entire life. And it would all be mine. Madam Alana’s company didn’t take a percentage from the bid; the buyer paid an additional percentage on top of what I would receive. Three years of marriage for six million dollars. I couldn’t believe it. My ears started to ring, and everything got really quiet, just like when I was first about to step on the stage.
“Six million going twice…”
No change. No new bidders.
Madam Alana smiled wide, lifted a golden bell, and shook it from side to side. The ringing reverberated throughout the entire room.
“Sold. To lucky number thirteen.”
Sold, for six million dollars, three years of my time, and unlimited access to my body.
I smiled as I realized all my dreams for myself and for my sister Opal were about to come true. I didn’t know if there was a God, because I’d definitely never felt blessed, saved, or protected before now. But I certainly believed I had me a guardian angel. And her name was Madam Alana.
As I waved out at the audience, trying to focus on the silhouette of the man who’d become my future husband, I realized the absolute best part of this day.
My life would never be the same.
I couldn’t wait to start living it.
Episode 11
Dakota’s Auction
DAKOTA
Swaths of floaty, swishy fabric fluttered around my ankles. The dress Madam Alana had chosen for me was long. As in, the damn thing kept catching on my cowboy boots.
Yeah, cowboy boots. Madam Alana didn’t know this, but the second she left the dressing room to start the show, I switched out those ridiculous stilts they put me in for my tried-and-true boots. Not that they’d notice. The godforsaken purple getup dragged along the floor. Who the hell would buy a dress that got dirty as they walked?
If I was being honest, I didn’t know, and I didn’t much care. All I cared about was getting that fat payday so I could help save my family’s ranch. The legacy of my grandaddy and that of Savvy’s future kids. Me, I didn’t think too much about having any of those little buggers. Too much to manage on top of a bustling cattle ranch. I’d rather spend my time on the back of a horse than carrying around a little one. I figured that was all Savannah and Jarod’s job.
A pang of guilt pierced through my heart at the now-uncertain future my sister had. I didn’t much care about what happened to me as long as the ranch was saved and left in working order. Savvy, however, had a bright future. She was a year away from securing the bachelor’s degree part of her ultimate goal, which was to become a livestock veterinarian. The ranch needed that skill set desperately and Savvy had taken it upon herself to achieve such skills and knowledge. And now…she was going to marry a man for money.
I sighed as I trudged toward the stage and got in position behind Jade and Ruby. The first two women who we didn’t know well, Stephanie and Elizabeth, had entered and left the stage, one in tears, the second one mad as the dickens. We had a kumbaya moment that I barely paid attention to as Ruby then Jade took to the stage and did their thing while the rest of us waited behind. After Jade went, I saw Ruby race down the stairs, smiling wide and heading to the changing room. Looked like she was going for round two which was great news since the first two hadn’t made the cut.