Opal groaned. “At least the classes at the school are making my transcript sparkle. I hope I can get a scholarship to transfer after I finish this year.”
“About that…” I smiled wide. “I’ve got the money. You can apply and go anywhere in the world you want to go now.” My heart pounded so fast that I stood up and paced th e hotel room.
“Ruby, what do you mean?”
“Remember The Marriage Auction I told you about?”
“Ruby, I honestly thought you were joking. Selling yourself at auction to the highest bidder and marrying that person! For money? No. Tell me you didn’t do that!”
Shame, white and hot, slithered through my veins for a few seconds until I shook it off, steeling my spine with grit and purpose.
“Opal, I told you that I would do what I had to in order to get us the life we want. The life you deserve.”
“We deserve. Not just me. I’m not a baby anymore, Ruby. You’ve been protecting me since I was six years old. And I’m grateful, more than grateful. You know that. This is why I’m using the money you’ve been sending for college and working my booty off. When I have a bachelor’s degree, I’ll be able to get a high-paying job. And that will help both of us. Then you can go to school if you want, stop strippin’ and giving those nasty lap dances you hate to crusty old men with no teeth and grabby hands. And who knows, maybe you could do something with your art.”
My art.
I laughed out loud. “I fiddle with pottery, Opal, when I have extra money. You’re the art expert. And now, you can be the museum curator you want to be. I have $500,000 in my account right now. I’m going to transfer most of it to yours.” A thrill of excitement skittered down my nerve endings at what I’d already achieved.
“Ruby…” she said in warning.
I shook my head as I paced. “You do not get to make me feel bad about this decision. It’s done. I have two men, identical twins, who are going to woo me for the next month. At the end of that month, I will pick one of them to marry. And after that, I’ll stay married for three years. By the end of it, my bank account will be at six million. Six million dollars, Opal! Tell me that isn’t life-changing money?”
Silence met me on the other end of the line.
“Exactly,” I said. “You can’t.”
“But, Ruby, I want more for you. A man you love who will love you back for all that is you. Not just because you have a gorgeous face and a body that won’t quit.”
I smiled, wishing I was sitting in front of her on the bed, like we used to back when we were kids. We’d sit on the lumpy surface, knee to knee, touching foreheads, holding hands, and whisper all the amazing things we were going to do when we were older. When we could get away from Momma, her trailer, and all the bad men she brought home.
“This is how I’m going to get more for my life. I’m not afraid. I’m not ashamed. And I’m not scared. I’m choosing this life, for me and for you. I only have to make it through three years, and I walk away a very rich woman. In the meantime, you can go to a college of your choosing, wherever you want to be in the world. Get your degree and then we’ll both be free. You’ll be a college-educated woman, the first in our family, and I’ll be your rich sister, ready to take on the world with you.”
“I don’t know…” Her voice sounded strained, as though she was about to cry.
“Opal, I’m okay. I’m more than okay. I’m excited, even. It’s the first day of my new life and I’ve got identical, smokin’ hot twins vying for my attention.”
“How’s that going to work? Two bachelors—brothers, no less—fighting for the same woman?”
Right as I was about to tell her all the details there was a loud knock on my door. “Hold on a sec. Someone’s here.”
I looked through the peephole. Noah’s rugged, charming face stared back.
I frowned and opened the door. “Um, hi? I thought we were meeting tomorrow morning?”
He smiled and rested his hands against the sides of the door, leaning forward. He seemed to fill the frame with his form, making the space seem smaller. “I thought you might like a night on the town. I mean, you said you haven’t been here before. Why not experience what Vegas has to offer with a handsome escort?”
I held up a finger to Noah and waved him inside as I backed into the room and focused on my call.
“Um, Opal, I’m going to have to let you go and call you again tomorrow. Remember what I said. Start applying to those schools you want. Any of them. Sky’s the limit.”